The Linguist

thelinguist.uberflip.com 22 The Linguist Vol/60 No/4 2021 FEATURES Inadequate English-language skills were criticised by the official Norwegian committee that investigated the Scandinavian Star ferry disaster of 1990 in which 159 people died in a suspected arson attack while en route between Denmark and Norway. Several fruitless investigations have been carried out over the years into exactly what happened and why, but the report did state: "With regard to safety functions, the Committee does not consider that it was justifiable to sail with a crew consisting of so many persons with a poor command of English. The Scandinavian Star's emergency plan was in English, and since no fire and abandon ship drills had been held, many of the crew were unable to make themselves familiar with the emergency plan." Many were Portuguese with little or no English or Scandinavian language ability. A row in the Norwegian shipping industry shows how vital language policy is to safety at sea, says Andrew Draper A proposal to make the use of English mandatory in radio communication for large ships in Norway – even when one Norwegian is speaking to another Norwegian – has sparked protests from trade unions and the national language board. They are concerned it would worsen safety rather than improve it. "Every professional is against it," says Johannes M Sivertsen, Norwegian Maritime Pilots' Association (NMPA) Chair. Seafarers say it's unwise to force two Norwegians who maybe don't have great English language skills to speak English to one another, with possible fines if they don't. Politicians have joined the fray, arguing in defence of the national tongue. The proposal from the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) is part of a broader change to the rules that apply to particular coastal areas, last updated in 2015. It is now being considered by Transport Minister Knut Arild Hareide, who says: "We have to have good rules at sea. It's crucial for safety and for working conditions for employees along our coast. This regulation is important for Norway." If adopted, the rules will apply to ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication. The SafeSeaNet reporting system shows that 73% of registered calls from ships in Norway in 2019 had a non-Norwegian master. The assumption is therefore that the master had limited or no Norwegian and might communicate better in English. Such situations are part of the reason that the international Safety of Life at Sea convention (SOLAS) calls for use of English as standard. 40% of maritime accidents worldwide are linked to inadequate understanding between seafarers on board the same ship and poor communication between ship and shore. One notable example was the collision of the Polish ship Stanyslaw Kulcinsky with the Kattwykbrücke (bridge) on the river Elbe, Hamburg, in 1991. The German pilots, working with shore-based radar assistance during a fog, were speaking in German only – a language not understood by the Polish master. The recommendations for the manoeuvres were given in English too late. Standardised language Measures were first brought in to address these issues in 1977 in the shape of the Standard Marine Navigational Vocabulary. The MARCOM research project of 1997-98, coordinated by the Seafarers' International Research Centre at Cardiff University, referred to several reports which emphasised that safety is compromised where pilots are unable to communicate effectively with the crew. Pilots are used to guide ships through hazardous waters, utilising their local knowledge and expertise. The United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) went on to adopt Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) in 2001. They include phrases developed to cover the most important safety-related fields of verbal shore-to-ship, ship-to-ship and on-board communications. For officers in charge of large ships, the ability to use the SMCP is an international requirement. According to the IMO resolution on this: "The language used should enable the shore-based authority and the participating ship to understand each other clearly. Where language difficulties exist and in particular where requested by master or the shore-based authority, a mutually agreed upon language or English, using the Standard Marine Communication Phrases, should be used." An e-learning project, funded by the European Commission, was launched in 2019 to reduce the number of onboard accidents caused by poor communication. Coordinated by shipping company LAM France, and run with the EC's Erasmus education scheme, the Practical and Communication Based Maritime English pilot project was launched in France. Other developments include work by the International Association for Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities, which is preparing international standards and guidelines for operators of vessel traffic On board for English? Tragedy at sea

• Cover