Maritime english proficiency's impact on safety culture and environmental compliance

Maritime Institute of Jakarta, Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Pelayaran-Jakarta, Indonesia

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Abstract

This phenomenological qualitative study investigates the causal relationship between Maritime English proficiency and three critical outcomes in Indonesian shipping: safety culture, environmental compliance, and multicultural crew integration. Through semi-structured interviews with twelve purposively selected participants—five maritime educators, five active seafarers, and two port state control officers—supplemented by questionnaires and document analysis, the research identifies four dominant communication challenge patterns: procedural-conceptual gaps contributing to 35% of MARPOL violations, emergency communication breakdowns rated 9.1/10.0 severity, cultural-hierarchical barriers inhibiting safety reporting, and compensatory multiliteracy strategies. Current Maritime English effectiveness averaged 6.2/10.0, with particularly low ratings for emergency response (5.2/10.0) and MARPOL compliance (5.8/10.0). Findings demonstrate that curricula emphasizing linguistic accuracy over pragmatic communicative competence create critical operational vulnerabilities. The proposed Three-Layered Communication Competence Model integrating linguistic foundation, pragmatic-multimodal competence, and cultural-operational integration provides evidence-based framework for curriculum reform and targeted interventions strengthening maritime communication effectiveness.