WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Atul Bhosale

Sr. Manager - Fleet Personnel

It is the Sailor who connects the world, mile by mile, along with his fellow seafarers. On this high-seas voyage, he encounters numerous unknown faces on board from different countries, states, and across borders, whom he is obviously meeting for the first time.

My journey as a seafarer has taught me many lessons that I will cherish lifelong. One incident occurred as we were preparing to take over a ship named MT Blessing, which I was joining as Third Mate. An entire ship crew, a total of 24 people (all Indians), were travelling from India to Ulsan, Korea via Singapore. The Master and Chief Engineer had already arrived in Ulsan two days before.

While travelling from India to Korea, we divided ourselves into two groups (Deck and Engine) led by the Chief Officer and the 2nd Engineer respectively.

Before boarding, the Chief Officer and 2nd Engineer would do a head count while calling the ranks of the relevant persons rather than addressing them by their names. The same practice was followed when we arrived in Ulsan, and this formed a practice to call each other by their different ranks.

As a result of the headcount obtained by calling ranks, we simply failed to recognise each other by name. We took over the ship, and on our maiden voyage from Ulsan, everyone was invited to gather on the bridge to get to know each other, especially the Master and Chief Engineer.

When the Master arrived on the bridge, he began greeting us by calling out our names and shaking hands with each one of us. We were all stunned but overjoyed because, despite the fact that he was meeting the ship staff for the first time, he addressed each of us by name. It was encouraging to know that he had gone to such lengths to learn our names by checking our passports and CDC copies that had been supplied to the ship by the office.

There's nothing wrong with being addressed by your rank, but it simply divides the team by rank, and the ship staff begin to differentiate, teaming up based on department and hierarchy.

On that day, I took the decision to address my juniors by their names rather than their ranks, because it gives them a sense of belonging, oneness, and respect.

Featured Seafarer: Seda Turhan