International Journal of Management (IJM)

Volume 11, Issue 3, March 2020, pp. 155–165, Article ID: IJM_11_03_017
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=3
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ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510

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PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF FORMING

SHIP CREWS AND DETERMINING THE
OPTIMAL LIFE PROJECT CYCLE
R. V. Mann
Economics and Entrepreneurship Department, Cherkasy State Technological University,
Cherkassy, Ukraine

A. J. Kuliiev
Maritime Law Department, Odessa National Maritime University, Odesa, Ukraine

O. V. Stovpets
Department of Criminal and Administrative Law, Odessa National Maritime University,
Odesa, Ukraine

V. V. Baryshnikova
Department of Economy and Finance, Odessa National Maritime University, Odesa, Ukraine

M. A. Sadova
Department of General, Social and Behavioral Sciences,
Higher education institution: Odessa Institute "Interregional Academy of Personnel
Management", Odesa, Ukraine

ABSTRACT
The essence of management activities in projects from the point of view of the
largest corporations, shipping companies and project management professionals is
the high requirements for business processes and the competencies of project
managers – crew operators and their shipowners. The crew of ship, as the project
team has a number of psychological features compared to other types of project teams
that due to the specific objectives and conditions of realization of the products of sea
transportation and industry projects. As a result, was developed the behavior of the
“ship-operator” system simulation model. This model considers the conditions of
incomplete determination of the volume of work on the vessel by operators, taking into
account the characteristics of individual project participants and groups, which
allows optimizing the composition of the project team – the crew of the ship.
Keywords: project management, psychological component, ship crew, ship system
team forming

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 Psychological Features of Forming Ship Crews and Determining the Optimal Life Project Cycle

Cite this Article: R. V. Mann, A. J. Kuliiev, O. V. Stovpets, V. V. Baryshnikova,

M. A. Sadova, Psychological Features of Forming Ship Crews and Determining the
Optimal Life Project Cycle, International Journal of Management (IJM), 11 (3), 2020,
pp. 155–165.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=3

1. INTRODUCTION
One of the main concepts in project management is the concept of “project team”, and in
project management – the project’s human resources management, which includes the
planning, formation and creation of a team (Team Building), its development and support
activities (Team Development), transformation or disbanding a team. A team in this case is
defined as a group of people complementing and mutually replacing each other in the course
of achieving their goals using the example of a ship’s crew [1, 2].
The increase in the number of projects where the product is a person can be considered as
soft projects. Soft projects are projects in the product of which a significant part is occupied
by the soft psychological component. The soft psychological component is people, sailors,
because the result of a project product cannot be obtained without these people (when forming
project teams for sea ships) [3].

2. ANALYSIS OF PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH PROBLEMS

Many works of scientists in the field of control systems have been devoted to the study of the
issues of forming project teams [1-10]. Unfortunately, an adequate model that would allow for
simultaneous qualitative optimization of the composition of the project team, especially in
conditions of incomplete determination of the volume of work, does not exist today. In
addition, the existing methods do not take into account the specifics of the formation and
conditions for the implementation of projects by such teams as the crew of the ship, namely
the increased level of danger, the inability to make replacements during the voyage,
psychological compatibility, international composition, language barrier, etc. And taking into
account the catastrophic consequences of the erroneous actions of almost every member of the
crew, the proposed study can be considered relevant.

3. STATEMENT OF THE MAIN RESEARCH MATERIAL

The main features that lead to difficulties in the formation of the optimal crew should include:
- high uncertainty in the nomenclature of planned elementary operations;
- non-deterministic nature of most of the initial data, and the laws of distribution of random
variables often have a large dispersion due to the lack of sufficient amount of statistical
information [11];
- the almost complete absence of duplication of functions among individual crew members;
- the inability to make a replacement in the crew during the implementation of the project,
including in case of illness;
- mismatch of the goals and interests of the project team with the project management team
(shipping company);
- performance of most work in conditions of increased danger;
- insufficient information support, the difficulty of organizing communications between the
crew and other project stakeholders (stakeholders) [12].
At the same time, some features positively affect the crew formation process. This is the
need for documents confirming certain competencies, which protects against unqualified

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 R. V. Mann, A. J. Kuliiev, O. V. Stovpets, V. V. Baryshnikova, M. A. Sadova

personnel entering the crew of the vessel. Mandatory professional selection of candidates
reduces the likelihood of illness for sailors during the voyage.
Expert system for forecasting vessel repair work in voyage [4].
Despite the diversity of species, all hazards can be classified for reasons of their
occurrence as follows:
- natural, arising as a result of geophysical, climatic and space changes on the planet;
- operational, as a result of erroneous actions of operators;
- technical, due to the occurrence of failures in the operation of ship systems or the
unsatisfactory condition of elements of ship technical equipment (STE) and ship structures
(SS) [5, 6].
A review of numerous works devoted to wear [13-15] shows that engineering studies of the
wear of systems as a whole are not even for those cases where the wear of individual elements
could be studied in advance. Almost all ship wear researchers deal with only one category of
elements – machine parts. However, data on wear of even all parts does not allow to give a
complete description of the vessel-operator system.
For example, the unsatisfactory state of the lubricant does not express any wear on the
individual elements, but expresses a certain wear on the ship’s mechanism. A functioning
system of a sea, river ship wears out not only all its separately existing parts, but also such
elements as painting, adjustment, etc.
Today, several methods for determining the wear of maintainable technical systems have
been developed and recommended:
- a method for assessing wear on the technical condition of the system as a whole;
- a method for assessing wear on the technical condition of individual elements;
- a method for assessing depreciation by service life (or the amount of work performed by the
ship’s crew).
The method of assessing the deterioration of a machine or a ship by the technical
condition of an object as a whole can fundamentally be considered correct, since experienced
experts are able to give a correct assessment of its wear using the knowledge of the laws
governing changes in the state of a ship’s system and its individual elements. However, given
the increasing complexity of modern technical systems and the subjective approach, the
likelihood of such an assessment will be insufficient.
The method for determining the wear of complex technical systems of a vessel by their
service life (or by the volume of work performed) can also find only limited use due to the
large inaccuracy in determining these terms. In addition, this method can only be applied to
systems that have a uniform load over time and stable operating conditions.
The method for determining the wear of a ship’s mechanisms according to the technical
condition of its structural elements is considered the main and most accurate and is usually
recommended for assessing the wear of complex systems that have a significant life time at
sea, etc.
In works on economics [16-18], there is no proper consideration of either wear issues or
reproduction issues of modern technical systems of ships in which not only initial samples,
but also a whole complex of replaceable parts repeatedly inserted into the same systems wear
out during their service life its short-lived elements.
It is proposed to use the functional state parameter as the main parameter characterizing
the technical condition of individual elements of the equipment and the system as a whole [7].
“Under the functional state (generalized characteristic of the service properties) of the ship-
operator system is understood its ability and potential capabilities to perform its functions

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 Psychological Features of Forming Ship Crews and Determining the Optimal Life Project Cycle

within the tolerance for quality and economy during its service life, subject to the optimal
repair strategy” [2, 19].
The parameter of the functional state of the system can be divided into parts, each of
which expresses a generalized characteristic of the service properties of any element of the
vessel-operator system.
In each ship operator system, two groups of elements should be distinguished:
- constructive – all separately manufactured parts that are part of the system, regardless of the
material of manufacture, size and shape;
- non-constructive – inseparable elements providing active communication or normal
functioning of all elements during system operation;
Non-constructive elements of the system are presented in the finished sample not in the
form of separate parts, but in the form of their material essence distributed throughout the
system (painting, lubrication) or fixed labor in the form of structural elements distributed
throughout the active communication system (assembly, adjustment), availability which
makes the ship system suitable for the performance of its official functions and tasks.
Thus, one component of the parameter of the functional state of the ship’s system
expresses the sum of the parameters of its structural, and the other of its non-structural
elements:

=  FS Ki +   FS
n m

FS 1
к 1
Н H

where FSKi – feature state parameter value;

n – number of structural elements;
к – coefficients of influence of the parameter of the functional state of a given
structural element on the state of the ship;
FSHj - value of the state parameter of a non-structural element;
m – number of non-structural elements;
н – the coefficients of the influence of the parameter of the functional state of this
non-structural element on the state of the ship.
If we ignore the non-structural elements of the system due to their apparent insignificance,
then the provision on the conservation of matter and the law of conservation of energy will be
violated: the total amount of matter and energy spent on the creation of the ship-operator
system is always more than the amounts of matter and energy spent on everything its
structural elements (details, ship mechanisms). The difference between the values of the two
indicated values of any vessel-operator system corresponds to the value of the total parameter
of the functional state of its non-structural elements.
The functional state of an element of this group is uniform; it is formed during its design
and production. The value of the parameter functional state of the structural element of this
group, the maximum when the ship system is put into operation, is equal to the cost of this
structural element [8]. During operation, the functional state of the element is reduced to a
minimum value at the end of the operation of the vessel-operator system, crew, which
corresponds to the residual value of the completely worn-out element, taking into account the
cost of disposal of the ship:

at tx = 0  FS = FSmax = Q1
at tx = Tс  FS = FSmin = Qост

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 R. V. Mann, A. J. Kuliiev, O. V. Stovpets, V. V. Baryshnikova, M. A. Sadova

where tx – the service life of the system from the beginning of its operation to the considered
moment in time of the project life cycle;
Тс – full service life of the ship operator system;
Q1 – initial cost of a ship element;
Qост – residual value of the element, the further functioning of which is impractical.
In any intermediate term of operation of an element, its functional state is determined by
the equation of the normal distribution law of parameter FS [8]:
2

−
tx
FS = Q  e 2 ,
2

where  – coefficient that can be determined from the expression:

Tсл2
= −
2 ln(Qост Q1 )

The change in the parameter of the functional state of an irremovable non-repairable

structural element is shown in Fig. 1. This schedule can be called the “aging” schedule of the
corresponding element of the ship-operator system (crew).

1.2

FSmax
1

0.8

FS
FS/Q

0.6
FSx

0.4

0.2
FSmin

0
tx Tс
T

Figure 1. Change in the parameter of the functional state of the vessel

Based on this parameter using an integrated system of technical maintenance and repair of
ships [9], the authors of the work developed an expert system (ES) for assessing and
predicting changes in the condition of ship technical equipment (STE) and ship structures
(SS) [10].
The proposed expert system (see Fig. 1) operates in two modes: result voyage and detailed
diagnostics (DD). In the result voyage mode, input and calculation of the main operational
parameters is performed (blocks 2 and 3 in the figure), after which they are evaluated and

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 Psychological Features of Forming Ship Crews and Determining the Optimal Life Project Cycle

issued a conclusion on the satisfactory technical condition (TC) of the unit with writing data
to the database (block 1) or, if the condition is unsatisfactory, transition to DD mode.
In the DD mode, the user is provided with information on the number of breakdowns and
the most probable nodes and details that could cause a malfunction of the vessel, obtained on
the basis of processing all previous diagnostic results.
Choosing one of the nodes, the values of additional diagnostic parameters are entered,
evaluating the state of this node, and determining the causes of the malfunction, determines
the optimal technological process of ship repair [20].
To predict the “aging” process of maintainable technical systems of the vessel, it is
possible to use the method of small deviations. The essence of the method is as follows and is
shown below in Fig. 2.
Let known functional dependence of the parameter of the functional state of the system
from the diagnostic parameters which characterize the current technical condition of the ship
installation:

FS=f (Dn) = f (D1; D 2; …D n)

With a small change in the arguments, the increment of the function is determined by
expanding it into a Taylor series, according to the formula:

FS FS FS

∆ FS = ∆D1 + ∆D2 + … ∆Dn + R(y),
D1 D2 Dn

FS FS FS

where ; ; - private derivatives; ∆D1; ∆D2; ∆Dn – final increments of
D1 D2 Dn
diagnostic parameter values D1; D2; … ;Dn; R(y) – the remainder term characterizing the
accuracy of the calculations when discarding the subsequent members of the Taylor series.
Representing this expression in relative increments – variations, and discarding the
remainder term, it is easy to obtain:

FS FS D1 D1 FS D2 D2

0 0
FS Dn0 Dn
= + +…+ .
FS 0 D1 FS 0 D10 D2 FS 0 D20 Dn FS 0 Dn0

In the presented expression, the index “0” indicates the initial values of the arguments,
that is, the values; D10 ; D20 ; … Dn0 should be taken equal to the passport values of the
diagnostic parameters in the respective operating modes of the ship power plant, FS0 =1.
Denoting the relative increments of the diagnostic parameters and the parameter of
functional states through FS ; D1 ; D2 ; …; Dn , we get:

FS =  D1D1 +  D 2 D2 +…+  Dn Dn ,

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 R. V. Mann, A. J. Kuliiev, O. V. Stovpets, V. V. Baryshnikova, M. A. Sadova

FS 0 FS 0 FS 0

where  D1 = D1 ;  D 2 = D2 ;…  Dn = Dn – pair correlation coefficients
D1 D2 Dn
between the values of the FS parameter and the FS value is diagnosed if the value of this
diagnostic parameter changes by 1% [21].

Project start

Yes
Entering the
Malfunction cause of the
was eliminated? previous
malfunction
No

Entering the
main diagnostic
parameters

Calculation of the main

parameters of the TC
mechanism of the ship

TC mechanism
assessment

Unsatisfactory Satisfactory

Selecting a node for

detailed diagnostics

Enter additional
diagnostic
parameters

Calculation of
diagnostic parameters End of project
TC of node FSi
Unsatisfactory

Selecting Writing data

Assessment of malfunctions to the
the knot state causes database
knot

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 Psychological Features of Forming Ship Crews and Determining the Optimal Life Project Cycle

Figure 2. Block diagram of the expert system vessel operator

Thus, the following parameters are the result of modeling an expert system for assessing
and predicting the condition of ship equipment:
- the necessary time for the diagnostic work of the vessel;
- the expected time points at which certain refusals on the ship will take place;
- optimal technological processes of ship repair;
- an institution, a responsible crew member for the condition of this type of ship equipment
[21].
Thus, according to the results of the assessment and prediction of changes in the technical
condition of individual elements of ship engines and mechanisms, it is possible to form a base
of elementary operations for each of the functional groups of the project team. To conduct
simulation, it is necessary to determine the quantitative parameters of each of the operations
on the ship by the crew [22].
In terms of performance marine vessel can be compared to now, where everything rotates
continuously and is working – the sailors can not leave at the end of the working time home,
retire to a distance.
As a result, we get crews that are tired and exhausted by the intense labor imposed on
them in search of greater returns, psychological burnout. The large number of simulation runs
performed on the computer, each option allowed us to obtain an average increment of damage
R in the process of “aging”. However, in our opinion, additional studies should be conducted
to identify the elements of the vessel that have the greatest impact on the magnitude of
potential damage [22]. Such an experiment was not included in the objectives of this study.
Analysis of the workload of sailors during the cruise. During the simulation, the results of
each run determined the value of the load factor for each crew member separately. These
values varied over a fairly wide range: from 0.65 to 1.5. Further growth was not allowed: a
full-time unit of the appropriate qualifications was added to the project team.
The complexity of the problem lies in the presence of specific technical competencies for
each of the specialists i.e. crew of the ship. The way to solve this problem lies in the mastery
of related specialties by sailors: sailor – minder, mechanic – electrician, etc. This approach
will allow you to redistribute daily tasks depending on the workload of a specialist in the main
specialty. Optimization of the duration of the contract (project life cycle – ship cruise).
An important task that the management of shipowning companies has to solve is to
optimize the project life cycle, that is, the period of time for which a contract is signed with
the crew of the ship.
A graph of the magnitude of the relative damage to the duration of the contract of the crew
of the ship is presented in Fig. 3.
An expert assessment shows (the period of acquaintance with colleagues of the crew and the
features of the object, vessel), then it is at a constant level, and then begins to decline (the
effect of fatigue, degradation). Furthermore, over time it reduces the accuracy of the forecast
changes in the technical condition of the ship and increases the probability sailor's disease
[14].
Analysis of the obtained dependence shows that the optimal duration of the project for the
considered ship is about 3 to 4 months. Of course, this value corresponds to real cruise tasks.
However, the simulation results show that contracts of 6 months or more, which are often
used by shipping companies, are not optimal.

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 R. V. Mann, A. J. Kuliiev, O. V. Stovpets, V. V. Baryshnikova, M. A. Sadova

R/Ropt

1,05

T,
мonths
1,00

2 4 6 8

Figure 3. Optimization of the project life cycle

Of interest is another study of more efficiently changing the entire project team - the crew
of the ship at the same time or as separate functional groups, while maintaining continuity of
service and experience on board the vessel in accordance with good marine practice.
According to the results of such projects, the feedback of the ship operator – management of
the shipping company must be implemented. The goal is to obtain, maintain effective work
results, profits, knowledge and experience of the crew obtained during the implementation of
the project, for more efficient and high-quality implementation of similar projects in the
future. Therefore, it is necessary to archive all the project results – ship's voyages, document
crew experience, project lessons and suggestions for improving the repair technology,
performing daily work and project management.

4. CONCLUSIONS
The model of simulation modeling the behavior of the “ship-operator” system developed by
the authors with the aim of quantitatively optimizing the crew of the ship depending on the
characteristics of the ship (type, age, technical condition), the cargo transported, and the
planned voyage. The model provides for the possibility of seafarers owning several
professions and allows them to be used in extreme situations not in their main specialty. In
addition, the model allows you to take into account the psycho-physiological, moral state of
the crew member of the vessel, which affects the efficiency and quality of the functions and
work performed on the vessel. By conducting simulation, it is determined:
- the dependence of the functional state of the ship's technical equipment and ship structures
on the optimal crew composition and the cost of the shipowner's cost to the project team;
- the optimal duration of the contract (project life cycle).

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