The Cadets Experience in Applying Standard Marine Communication Phrases During Training on Board Ship

Abstract

The aim of the International Maritem Organization Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) is to get round the problem of language barriers at sea and to avoid those misunderstandings which can cause accidents. But, is it used at sea? The key to improve verbal communication is in the recruitment of seafarers who have an understanding of the English language. The training cadets are going to be officers on board ship, otherwise their English communication have to be well prepared weather in campus or on board ship. The objective of this research was to find out the cadets’ experience in applying Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) during training on board ship.This research applied qualitative description. The respondents were the cadets of Barombong Maritime Polytechnic who were sailing on any ships as training cadets. The respondents consisted of 34 Nautical cadets of Batch 58. The research data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by using goggle form to reveal the cadets’ experience in using standard marine communication phrases (SMCP) on the ship.The research result conveyed that the cadets were seldom to use English, particularly SMCP on board ship generally, in fact around 70% of the respondents who were sailing in domestic routes reported that SMCP was used to communicate when their ships passed with foreign ships. Otherwise, more than 80% stated that English is important for seafarers’ profession and SMCP is regarded as one of the communication tools to avoid miscommunication at sea.