Problems that occur in a team: learning from maritime accidents via simulation training

Despite the efforts of all stakeholders maritime accidents still occur, most commonly caused by human failure. Efficient team work is a vital tool in preventing occurrence or rectifying the errors and violations. Therefore Bridge Resource Management course focuses on developing and sustaining work teams. Unfortunately, team work can be hampered by many factors, including poor organisation, cultural differences, improper attitudes and behaviours, as shown by analysis of many accidents and it is important to address these issues during trainings. As a starting point for a discussion simulation training can be used. In this paper we propose three scenarios based on real accidents, which address problems that are usually not familiar to students: authority gradient, desire for harmony in a group and antagonism between specialties.