• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2018

Purpose : The purpose of this study has been performed to find the relationship between seafarers' cumulative fatigue and stress by evaluating autonomic nervous functions and the results of surveys conducted using questionnaires. Methods : The subjects were seafarers working on various ships (home trade ships) of South Korea, who were healthy adults without any diseases, as confirmed through preliminary surveys were recruited through simple random sampling. A device that measures autonomic nervous functions by analyzing heart rate variability, which is also used often in clinical diagnoses and studies at universities, university hospitals, and general hospitals was used to measure the seafarers' cumulative fatigue and stress. Pearson's correlation analyses were also conducted to test the relationship between cumulative fatigue and stress measured by evaluating autonomic nervous functions and the results of surveys conducted with questionnaires. Results : There was no correlation between mean cumulative fatigue measured for each ship type and seafarers position through autonomic nervous functions evaluation and fatigue severity scale (FSS). There also was no correlation between the mean levels of stress measured for each ship type and seafarers position through autonomic nervous functions evaluation and survey scores of Korean occupational stress scale (KOSS). Conclusion : Therefore, in order to prevent man-made accidents in the sea among seafarers working with irregular port entry/departure schedules and under environments involving continued vibration, noises, and shaking, it is necessary to analyzed cumulative fatigue and stress scientifically and objectively, such as through autonomic nervous functions evaluation rather than through surveys.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.560-571
• /
• 2019

In line with the United Nations' Action Plan for the First and Second World Programme for Human Rights, countries around the world are making efforts to strengthen and develop human rights education through voluntary participation and improvement of the legal system. South Korea is also trying to spread human rights education under the leadership of the National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea, but there has been no significant progress so far. Moreover, it has failed to pay close attention to the human rights issues of seafarers on board. This study identified the phenomenological problems based on an analysis of domestic and international literature, and of cases of violation of seafarers' human rights. It utilized the interactivity research method to create an educational environment for improving the human rights situation of seafarers on board mixed-nationality crew vessels. In doing so, the research suggests the introduction of human rights education for seafarers and the implementation of a human rights education program in designated educational institutions as fundamental solutions to the human rights issues of seafarers, as these have been pointed out as the main cause of conflicts in mixed-nationality crew vessels.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.323-335
• /
• 2016

The main reason of marine casualties is the human error in respect of ship's operation. The human error of officers in charge of a navigational watch is related to their abilities to handle of navigational equipment. Navigational devices play a key role to help officers decide what to do for safe navigation. Thus, the abilities to handle of navigational equipment mean not only operation of devices but also entire understanding of the system such as interpretation of information obtained from devices, appropriate use of information considering navigational circumstance. Qualification of seafarers is in accordance with STCW and detailed training courses for their qualification are provided by IMO model course series. Recently, ships engaged on international voyages shall be fitted with an ECDIS not later than the first survey on or after 1 July 2018. As increasing use of ECDIS on ships, marine casualties related to ECDIS are on the rise. The primary causes of the accidents are lacking understanding of ECDIS system, wrong presentation of information on display, wrong safety setting by seafarers who use ECDIS, using small-scale chart and missing charts update. As a result of these primary causes, some problems like wrong route planning and use of limited or omitted information occur. It could be happening by inappropriate seafarers' training which is not sufficient to support improving abilities of officers to handle navigational equipment. For efficient training, it is need to develop training courses. Applying full mission simulation system to seafarers' training courses with case studies and best practices which are well-constructed scenarios based on true marine casualties can increase the effect of training. To use the simulation system, it is possible that seafarers are trained under condition that closely resemble real situation. It should be considered that IMO model course be revised depending on the level of seafarers also. It could be helpful for increasing seafarers' abilities of equipment operation in place of accumulation of experience spending much time. In the short term, effort of training courses improvement for seafarers is needed and long term, it should be tried to provide stable system and services relate to ECDIS.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.35 no.10
• /
• pp.829-836
• /
• 2011

This study aims to empirically identify how the antecedents of seafarers' social identity(i.e., socialization, social support, perceived organizational support, status in organization) affect turnover intention via social identity. In order to achieve this objective, this study conducted covariance structure analysis on the questionnaire data collected from 362 seafarers. The main results are as follows: First of all, as social identity of seafarers increases, their turnover intention decreases. Secondly, as socialization, social support, and perceived organizational support increases, seafarers' social identity also increases. Finally, while socialization and social support decrease turnover intention only through social identity, perceived organizational support decreases turnover intention both directly and indirectly via social identity.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.137-147
• /
• 2011

The prime objective set for paper is to identify what are the women seafarers' problems and concerns regarding employment on cargo ships. From the cargo ship point of view, the question then is how to provide sufficient solutions for women seafarers in the male-dominated workplace of the ship through Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activities. The methodologies of study combine qualitative and quantitative research methods. The progress of research is to conduct a survey by asking a consistent set of key opinion leaders from the Republic of Korea. Moreover, to evaluate the elements of the result, the research explores the way in which we should consider giving priority to aspects of the problem. Finally, based on the terms of CSR, the author recommends measures to support the needs of women when they are employed onboard the world's merchant vessels.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.925-935
• /
• 2016

It is provided that seafarers qualified in accordance with STCW(International Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers) convention and code in safety training shall be required, every five years, to provide evidence of having maintained the required standard of competence, to undertake the tasks, duties and responsibilities listed in Chapter VI, section A-VI/1 of the STCW Code A. Every party to the STCW Convention has amended the relevant national regulations according to the above international convention and code. These amended Seaman's Act require the updating safety training which is only five years valid for existing seafarers serving onboard ship on international voyage. And above specified existing seafarers must, as of the 1st January 2017, have documentary evidence of either having completed the training course or updated their training within the last 5 years. In relation to the above international trend, the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries also has completed an amendment to its Seaman's Act. But, the Korean Seaman's Act has a supplementary provision to exempt the seafarers who have completed STCW advanced safety training from basic safety training. The purpose of this study is to define the problems of above mentioned exemption provisions and to make better policies for improvement. In order to complete the purpose, the research team has conducted an in-depth survey of various foreign cases on STCW safety training. Moreover, the team has suggested an improvement scheme in consonance with Korean shipping industry and society through out this report.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.26 no.12
• /
• pp.195-200
• /
• 2021

Seafarers play an important role in shipping and logistics. However, seafarers are relatively vulnerable to mental illness because they have to board ships for a considerable period of time and work in isolation. In particular, in the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19, the crew change is delayed due to the closure of many ports around the world, increasing the mental burden on seafarers. The mental health management of the crew is important because these mental problems can lead to major accidents of lives and ships. This paper identified the necessity of mental health management of seafarers through a survey and identified problems with the currently operated mental health management program and curriculum. Especially, this study proposed VR-based programs to help crews receive mentally counseling treatment in a timely manner and to reduce the mental burden on them by preventing sensitive personal information exposure. Through this, it is expected to contribute to the stable development of the logistics industry by establishing a safe seafarers working environment.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.534-540
• /
• 2020

Like most developed countries, South Korea is experiencing a severe lack of seafarers. Because young people's demands for a high quality of life has led them to seek shore-based careers. The wage difference between seafaring and shore-based careers has been decreasing gradually, however South Korea's unique Boarding Service Reserve System Policy has helped recruit and retain young sailors and, since 2017, the government has focused on creating new jobs and stabilizing the status of irregular workers in both private and public sectors. It specifically established the Economic, Social & Labor Council to carefully analyze seafarers' employment stability, which previously had been overlooked in the country. This research used the Binary Logit Model (BLM) to analyze the determinants of seafarers' employment stability in both permanent and non-permanent positions. We found that seafarers' employment stability correlated highly with their education level. This means that seafarers who graduated from the above mentioned two maritime universities would have more job stablity than those who graduated from maritime high schools or general universities. Other independent variables, such as the shipping company, vessel, hip management companies, work assignment, rank, and license had no significant impact on employment stability.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.43 no.6
• /
• pp.384-394
• /
• 2019

This study investigated the current status of the management system for foreign seafarers boarding Korean ocean-going vessels and analyzed the problems and suggested measures for improvement through the survey of shipping companies, ship management companies, crew manning companies and related associations. The conclusion is summarized as follow. First, it is necessary to reorganize and apply the collective agreements or the laws applicable to the foreign seafarer separately in regard to the foreign seafarer related laws and collective agreements applied in the same way as the Korean seafarer. Second, it is necessary to change the decision-making to shipowner in deciding on the number of foreign seafarers employed by the Korean ocean-going vessels or if the decision-maker remains the same, the relevant laws must be clearly defined pertinent to the decision-maker. Additionally, the number of foreign seafarers should be applied for each position and ship's type. The third is to expand the recognition arrangement for certificate of ships' officers to Eastern Europe and Asian countries to expand the range of options for hiring foreign seafarers. The fourth is to prevent the waste of administrative manpower by simplifying complicated and unnecessary administrative procedures from hiring and boarding of foreign seafarers. The fifth is to establish a systematic training and education system for foreign seafarers in cooperation with related shipping companies and government authorities, associations and so on. This study will contribute to providing a more efficient and systematic management of foreign seafarers boarding Korean ocean-going vessels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.324-333
• /
• 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us again of the importance of essential workers who perform their roles in maintaining the stability of people's daily lives worldwide. Therefore, the International Maritime Organization and overseas countries designated seafarers as essential workers and proposed relevant measures for their protection to enable them to perform their role. In particular, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) urges related associations and member states to support safe boarding and disembarkation of seafarers. However, Seafarers were restricted from boarding or disembarking, shore leave and hospital treatment in certain countries owing to extreme nationalism. This study compares and analyzes the cases of international organizations and major overseas countries to provide a logical basis for the protection of seafarers who play an essential role in the safety of the global supply chain despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This study identifies the need to protect seafarers and their roles as essential workers in the shipping industry and suggests necessary aspects and institutional improvement measures for improving seafarers' working environment to strengthen the shipping industry's resilience. This study is expected to serve as future basic data for national policies aimed at reflecting the roles of seafarers as essential workers and the need to protect them.