An Evaluation of the Engine-Room Resources Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach

Abstract

The resources in the engine room are comprised of many factors, meanwhile, numerous factors affecting these resources. All of these factors are necessarily simplified and hierarchized so that the studies or practice on the engine-room resource management (ERM) have clear priorities. As such, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was utilized as the study technique for this purpose. Five categories of resources in the engine room were specified as top criteria. These resources include personnel resources, consumable resources, information resources, equipment resources, and environmental resources. Twenty-two sub-criteria were identified in accordance with the five resources of the ERM. The ERM principles such as assertiveness and leadership were considered as sub-criteria for personnel resources. The sub-criteria were ranked by using a 1 - 9 Saaty scale. Results revealed that personnel resources were the most important resources in the ERM, followed by equipment resources, information resources, environmental resources, and consumable resources. And assertiveness and leadership were the most important factor in the personnel resources, followed by consideration of team experience, effective communication, obtaining and maintaining situational awareness, planning and time management, and allocation, assignment, and prioritization of resources. The findings imply that personnel resources are of vital importance in the ERM. Due to the significance of assertiveness and leadership in personnel resources, it is recommended that the non-technical skills of seafarers ought to be taken into account in seafarer training and ship resource management.