Maritime Work and Communication
Peter Andersen · AJIS. Australasian journal of information systems/AJIS. Australian journal of information systems/Australian journal of information systems · 2001
positively toward some particular meaning and intends it under the form of "is" or "ought".Luhmann 1990: 27-28 AN OVERVIEW OF MARITIME WORK AND COMMUNICATIONIn this section, we give a broad overview of characteristics of maritime work and communication, as it can be observed on the bridge.The next sections give examples and suggest ways of analyzing the findings by means of the framework in Section 1. Work:• Purpose.The purpose of bridge work is to move the ship from departure to destination (produce) in a safe (prevent) and efficient way and with cargo intact (maintain).From this formulation particularly three concepts seem relevant: Goal (arriving at destination), Maintenance (maintaining cargo and ship), and Avoidance (avoiding accidents).• Tasks.Bridge work fall into two intertwined tasks: Maneuvering is the art of pitting the controllable forces (such as rudder and propeller) against the uncontrollable ones (such as wind and current) in order to achieve one's purpose (DMI1995: 1).Navigation is the art of fixing the correct position of the ship.• Division of labor.There is a strict division of labor defined by the hierarchy (2 nd , 1 st and chief officer, captain) and the watch schedule.However, planning and execution are not disjoint since the captain who is responsible for the planning is also hi charge in critical situations.• Reciprocity.The officer must be able to reconstruct the intentions of the captain on the foreign ship, and imagine how the foreign ship conceives of himself. Control• Control chains.Bridge work involves chains of control that change regularly during the voyage and which involve human and mechanical components.Control changes can be simple or complex.Controlactions can be the target of other control actions, such as maintaining telephone lines in order to prevent accidents.