Conflict Related Incidents on Board Ships: An Online News Content Analysis

Abstract

Conflicts, while being unavoidable in an unorthodox workplace such as the ship, might produce serious consequences. This study aims to identify and classify the reasons and the consequences of conflict related incidents on board that have made the international news. For this aim twenty-two news articles on conflict related incidents have been gathered from eight maritime industry specific online news outlets and a content analysis has been carried out to illustrate the role of conflict in these news-worthy incidents. The results show that conflict can be observed in three categories: (1) Conflict between the crew members and the shipowner/ship management companies; (2) conflict between superiors and subordinates; and (3) conflict among crew members. In the first category, “unpaid wages” and “inadequate working conditions”, in the second category, “abuse of power and authority” and “intolerance to criticism”, and in the last category “fight among crew members” due to various reasons, such as ethnical differences and exclusion are found to be prevailing reasons for conflict situations that may result in dire consequences. Even though these incidents are irreversible, the content analysis carried out in this study highlights several policy implications that can be implemented to alleviate the intensity of conflict situation on board.