Maritime English – Is This the Only Way to Communicate?

Takeshi NAKAZAWA

Professor, World Maritime University

Nakazawa

Abstract

Several discussions and investigations to develop the effective use of Maritime English have been intensively made by academic staff of maritime institutions since the establishment of the Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP). Most of the outcomes obtained deal with the improvement of course syllabi and teaching methods and some deal with the relationship between the SMCP and the regulations of the STCW convention and the ISM code.

"Is Maritime English the only way to communicate?" This question has been arising in the authors' mind ever since he asked himself whether non-native speakers could speak proper English even in case of emergency in which almost all of the people involved are in a panic and chaotic situation.

In this paper, the author proposes establishing a type of non-verbal communication, similar to sign language, as a complementary communication method, especially at the time of emergency, by re-introducing sign language, which used to be used in the noisy machinery space until the 1950s in Japan.