Arctic Maritime Safety: The Human Element Seen from the Captain’s Table

Abstract

The maritime industry is safety critical, where the element of uncertainty is present especially when entering high-risk shipping areas like the Arctic. The element of uncertainty increases, as the working environment gets more unpredictable and systems more complex. Unpredictability and complexity is making it difficult to define comprehensively and in advance which exact courses of action one should take when facing challenging ad hoc situations while navigating the Arctic. The human element is a vital part of successful and safe shipping in the Arctic. Recent resilience engineering and safety studies see the human element and their ability to adapt and adjust their performance to emerging situational needs, possible shortages in work descriptions and resources as a key to successful operations. High performance of the crew strongly contributes to the high performance of the ship where the captain plays a key role. This chapter addresses the safety issues in a more holistic way including uncertainty and unpredictability as a part of safety management in the Arctic shipping.