Maritime logistics disruptions caused by human element

Maritime Logistics is the primary means of transporting parts and finished goods on a global scale. Disruptions in maritime logistics may have detrimental effects on global supply chains and in turn on international trade. Shipping mishaps at sea have disruptive effects on maritime logistics. These effects may continue even long after the incident. The mishaps may lead to subsequent investigations, potentially major repairs, cargo disputes, costly environment cleanup operations, lengthy court-cases, insurance problems, replacement of seafarers, training and familiarisation of new seafarers. Albeit global effort in curbing the mishaps, the recent rate of maritime accidents and incidents is alarming. Investigations probing the underlying causes of accidents at sea revealed human element as the primary cause, and task deviation is a leading human factor attributed to accidents at sea. This paper presents findings of a qualitative ethnographic research investigating what causes seafarers to deviate from their tasks disrupting safe sea transport of cargo. The outcome of the research shows that six factors cause task deviation leading to disruptions in maritime logistics.