MARITIME NAVIGATION: EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF MARITIME ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON SHIP CREW COMPETENCE

Ship crew members are responsible for the arrival of ship to the final destination safely during the voyage, irrespective of the various marine environmental conditions such as wavy sea, wind strength, direction, currents, and tides which supports or hinders navigation. Adequate crew competence is essential to navigate these challenges effectively. Therefore, this research examined the relationship between marine environmental conditions and ship crew competence in controlling the ship. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires to 175 crew members of an Indonesian-flagged merchant ship and analyzed using the SEM-SmartPLS method. The results showed a positive and significant influence between marine environmental conditions and crew competence with coefficients of 0.818 and 0.212, respectively. Furthermore, both marine environmental conditions and crew competence showed a moderate effect on ship management, as illustrated by an R square value of 0.362.