Appropriate Crew Calculations. A brief guide!
Completing a risk assessment for the number of crew required to operate your vessel in emergency situations is not as easy as you may think.
There are many factors to take into account including but not limited to:
- The class or classes the vessel operates under
- How many Certified crew are required
- How many uncertified crew and/or Special Staff are required
- The general layout including the number of decks and considerations relating to access to different decks, passenger exit points (if applicable)
- Abandon ship locations
- Access to and deployment of lifesaving appliances and equipment
- Location and deployment of firefighting appliances and equipment
Once you’ve got all that together you then have to calculate emergency response capabilities for all crew members and Special Staff if included in emergency response actions.
Now you’ve identified your emergency response capabilities you can then go through the appropriate crew calculations taking into account but not limited to the following:
- Minimum crewing or what used to be Core complement
- Design factors
- Operational factors
- Emergency response
It’s no wonder most people just give up when trying to put together a risk assessment for their vessel. AMSA does have a basic and I mean very basic template on their website. You can find it by clicking on the link below.
If you operate a passenger and are involved in a marine incident where crew numbers come into question you may be asked to produce your risk assessment or appropriate crewing evaluation as AMSA call it.
This is to assist in identifying if you had an appropriate number of crew onboard to safely and efficiently deal with the emergency under investigation.
If you can’t produce it or your crew numbers are too low you can find yourself in a world of hurt!
Shorlink’s Recommendation
Number one recommendation is if you operate a vessel that carries passengers or multiple crew get to work and complete an Appropriate Crew Calculator or an appropriate crewing evaluation as AMSA call it.
If in doubt or unable to complete one contact our office for assistance.
Tip
While it might sound like it’s not too hard to do to get it right requires quite a bit of training in risk assessment and vessel operations and that’s where Shorlink comes in.
We use a detailed Appropriate Crew Calculator to cover all the areas identified and more to ensure your crewing requirements cover the vessel and its operations.
Don’t waste time trying to do it yourself, its much easier and cheaper to get the professionals at Shorlink on the job for you!
