The shortage of qualified merchant marines in the United States requires State Maritime Academy (SMA) leaders to develop competitive retention strategies to retain merchant mariners aboard training vessels. The purpose of this single case study was to identify retention strategies that U.S. SMA leaders used to retain mariners aboard training ships. The conceptual framework of this study was Vroom's expectancy theory. The study participants consisted of 5 SMA leaders overseeing the mariners aboard a training vessel. Semistructured interviews and review of SMA documents pertaining to employment strategies provided the study data. The data analysis included collecting and coding data, and using the constant comparative method to identify the themes. Four themes related to successful retention strategies emerged from the data analysis: (a) the monetary value of employment and benefits must be comparable to what is available in the maritime industry, (b) professional development is necessary to maintain maritime industry credentials and improve employee performance within the organization, (c) recognition and understanding of the uniqueness of being a mariner as a profession is important to mariners, and (d) transparency and trust increase communication and improve retention. The findings of this study contribute to positive social change by providing best practices for SMA leaders to integrate retention strategies to improve employment satisfaction, enhance the training of mariners on U.S. waterways, and increase longevity of qualified mariners, which could create a healthy and positive work environment.

Global change-failure rates remain over 70%, despite over a half-century of research, theory development, and mitigation strategies. Although researchers studying the problem of change failure recognize that subcultural perceptions influence change success, especially in hybrid organizations where subcultural differences are more profound, the perceptions that predispose a subculture to support or resist organizational change remain relatively unknown. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to address the problem of the high cost of change failure by identifying perceptions that influence change success within a maritime organization. The study'€™s conceptual framework was founded on the interpretive paradigm and social constructivist epistemology, leveraging insights from change, conflict, social identity, attachment, cultural, and construal level theories. Data were collected from 20 shipboard workers attending a maritime institute through questionnaires, focus group discussions, and face-to-face interviews. Manual and software assisted analysis of the data revealed potentially influential perceptions related to trust, value, communication, inclusiveness, and respect that are worthy of future research and quantitative analysis, particularly in relation to their situational context and net combined influence. Researchers and change designers may use insights and methods from this study in developing future studies on subcultural perceptions. More successful perception-mitigating change designs could support positive social change by reducing operational costs associated with change failure and fatigue, as well as organizational stress and frustration associated with directed change.

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The use of tidal information and its application to, and value within, the study of climate change, sea-level rise and the tides effects on marine life is well known. However, little work has been done on the more technical aspects of tidal measurements and the use within maritime safety in accordance with international standards. This thesis will address the key technical elements in the design and realisation of the national tide gauge network around the South African coastline and how the data collected can be used to increase maritime safety around the South African coast, as well as the additional benefits the data may have both nationally and internationally. The South African Navy's national tide database, both actual records and predictions, as well as current and historical records, was used in order to establish the requirements for a sustainable tide gauge network. In addition, various case studies and data analysis were carried out, as were personal communications with various naval personnel. Establishing and maintaining a sustainable tide gauge network requires research and testing of various tide gauges. Identification of the correct locations to install the tide gauges is key to its success. Although the current South African Tide gauge network is not complete it does provide adequate coverage and is vitally important in the production of navigational products. The manner in which the raw collected tide data is processed and used for creating predictions meets international requirements and standards. Tidal predictions are a necessity for shallow water maritime operations and shallow water navigation, under keel and masthead clearances. The tide gauge network provides data to various organisations for storm surge and tsunami warnings while contributing to the “blue economy” through projects like Operation Phakisa. This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of South Africa's tide gauge network, investigates and justifies the reasons behind the locations and gives in depth examples of the essential use of tidal information for maritime safety.

Janet Taylor made major contributions to Victorian navigational practices. She did so through creating business opportunities for herself as an educator, author, and inventor of nautical instruments. / Master of Arts / Janet Taylor, a woman who made major contributions to Victorian navigation, is representative of a large historiographical gap in maritime and nautical histories. In these fields historians are typically inclined to look at famous men in navigation: John Hadley, John Campbell, and others who invented nautical instruments such as the octant and sextant. However, we have failed to contextualize the significant women who have innovated maritime practices throughout history. Taylor, for example, adjusted calculations for locating positions at sea according to the realization that the shape of the earth is not spherical, but spheroidal. She conveyed this new mathematical principle to the maritime community of London through the classes she taught at her nautical academies, the dozens of books she would publish, and the navigational tools she invented or innovated. Her multiple careers, and her success in each of them, were varied and far-reaching, making her truly a Jane of all trades. Her success as a woman in a male-dominated field was largely dependent on the industrial spirit of the nation and time in which she lived. As the industrial revolution created a need for advancement in technology and navigation, gender norms and the public/private dichotomy of Victorian England began to blur.

No / The authors provide a case study of a partnership agreement in the Tyneside maritime construction industry. They focus on the role of trade unions and the complex tensions that emerge between regional and local officials and workplace representatives. They argue that agreements can only be understood within the context of existing employee relations structures. Their conclusion suggests that the agreement had little impact on a ¿branch plant¿ of a national company and that it was often received with hostility and little commitment. As a consequence the partnership became a symbolic agreement with potential significance for external customers but no role in shaping workplace employee relations.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad lotsar, befälhavare och bogserbåtsbefälhavare ansåg om den verbala kommunikationen med hänsyn till säkerhet och effektivitet. Detta eftersom majoriteten av alla fartygsolyckor inträffar på grund av den mänskliga faktorn, där kommunikationen är en stor del. I studien genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med två lotsar, två befälhavare och två bogserbåtsbefälhavare. Genom de sex intervjuerna i studien gick det bland annat att utläsa att användandet av standardfraser och closed loop communication varierar. Om användandet inom dessa två områden blev bättre skulle säkerheten kunna ökas. I studien framkom det också att kunskapen i eng­elska varierar vilket kan leda till missuppfattningar. Bättre kunskap i det engelska språket och hur man kommunicerar kan vara två andra sätt att öka säkerheten. / The aim of this study was to examine how pilots, vessel masters and tugboat masters perceive the importance of verbal communication with consideration to safety and efficiency.  This is based on the fact that the vast majority of accidents involving vessels occur because of human error, where lack of communication plays a large part. In the study semi-structured interviews were held with two pilots, two masters and two tugboat masters. After conducting these six interviews it became apparent at the use of standard phrasing and closed loop communication could vary. Based on the information collected one conclusion is that if the usage within these two areas improved safety could increase. It was also apparent in this study that the knowledge of the English language differed greatly which also could lead to misunderstandings with the giving of instructions. A better proficiency in English and better knowledge of verbal communication could be two possible ways of increasing safety.

This thesis examines the expansion of private maritime security provision, its regulation and implications for national and global security. The main research question addressed is: How are private maritime security companies (PMSCs) regulated in the context of the contemporary trend towards international security privatisation? However, further questions stem from this: Is the complex framework of the PMSCs’ business model adequately regulated? To what extent could the existing practices and regulatory framework affect international security in governance and policy, strategic, social and commercial terms? Qualitative research methods were used, strongly supported by empirical data collection – available due to extensive professional experience and personal engagement of the author with the private maritime security industry. Using a case study of PMSCs’ operations off Somalia from 2005-2013, and a plethora of selected data from primary sources and semi-structured interviews, the paper argues that there is need for more effective regulation of PMSCs and the establishment of international standards. Following an analysis of the current conceptual framework of private security, focussing particularly on maritime security, in the context of contemporary academic literature and professional practice, the paper provides a detailed theoretical justification for the selection of the methodology used. After broadening and deepening the analysis of the privatisation of security ashore, the concerns raised are then transferred to the maritime domain. The situation becomes even more complicated in the high seas due to inconsistencies between flag states’ regulations, the unregulated vastness of the oceans and the reluctance of any international body (such as the IMO) to undertake the essential task of regulating PMSCs. Building on this, an analytical framework that enables the integration of maritime security and contemporary piracy into the contemporary paradigm of global security is developed. An historical overview of piracy then demonstrates that modern piracy is an ancient phenomenon with contemporary local characteristics. The maritime crime’s causal factors remain more or less the same throughout human history and, the paper argues, PMSCs serve as a short term response to address the symptoms rather than the root causes. Given that PMSCs have so far been used primarily as measures against Somali piracy, activities in this specific region provide an appropriate case study. The development of a typology of piracy offers a deeper understanding of the regional distinctiveness of the phenomenon, which is essential to acquiring a holistic picture of the operational environment in which PMSCs are deployed. The above considerations are used as a basis for analysing the complexities of the PMSCs’ business model, in legal, operational and ethical terms. The questionable practices involved in these are not fully regulated by national states. Hence, their contract and deployment raise ethical, legal and operational concerns. In the penultimate chapter, these are further assessed in terms of the extent to which the existing regulatory framework and PMSCs’ practices affect international security in governance and policy, strategic, social and commercial terms. The research indicates that states are increasingly outsourcing the monopoly they have exercised in security provision - a trend that has also expanded the private sector’s activities and business at sea. However, the lack of international laws and the consequent unstandardized plethora of flag states’ regulations has meant that the burgeoning private security services are dependent on the global market to regulate themselves. States’ reluctance and/or inability to regulate these companies has allowed controversial practices to persist and the lack of an international body responsible for their regulation and vetting on a worldwide basis has inevitable consequences in terms of global security. The overall outcome of this thesis is an elucidation of the potential implications of the privatisation of maritime security - both positive and negative. Most significantly, it suggests this could present a significant threat to international security in the near future.

La biodégradation du bois est étudiée pour comprendre et quantifier l’endommagement mécanique résultant. Il apparaît que le bois, et notamment le pin maritime, est sensible à une attaque fongique, faisant baisser sa résistance (en compression ou en fissuration) avant même la constatation d’une perte de masse. Cette observation oblige à développer des outils de détection précoce, comme la relaxométrie RMN, pour détecter l’apparition d’un pathogène sur des structures bois de plus en plus encouragées. Par ailleurs, l’emploi de composites à base de bois s’avère justifié pour rendre durable le matériau, et présente un avantage écologique, grâce au recyclage des éléments comme le plastique. Cet argument « vert » est d’une importance grandissante et requiert le développement de nouveaux procédés de préservation du bois. Ainsi, cette thèse étudie aussi le comportement à plus ou moins long terme des bois imprégnés d’anhydrides et d’huile d’origine végétale, ou encore du bois traité thermiquement. Des domaines autres que la mécanique sont abordés, afin d’expliquer l’ensemble des phénomènes intervenant durant une dégradation et comprendre les axes d’amélioration dans cette discipline « vivante ». / Wood biodegradation is studied in order to understand and quantify the mechanical damage. Wood, and especially maritime pine, is sensitive to a fungal attack that causes a decrease of its strength (compression or fracture resistance), before a weight loss occurs. This requires developing or ameliorating the tools of early detection, such as NMR relaxometry, in order to detect the appearance of a pathogen in wooden structures that are more and more appreciated. Besides, wooden composites are a good alternative to make the material more durable, and are ecologically interesting, as they permit to recycle some element, like plastics. This “green” effect is of main importance, which implies a development of new ways in wood preservation. This thesis, led in a short as well as in a long term scale, also studies the behaviour of wood, impregnated with anhydrides or oils from a vegetal origin, or even heat-treated wood. Not only mechanics is described, so that many phenomena are explained and perspectives are clarified.