Making Announcements

Communications onboard are critical - it is important that they are accurate and comprehensive because language difficulties can cause problems. The ship's public address system (PA system) is used to inform everyone onboard that an emergency has occurred.

According to EU Shipping Law, Member States must ensure that there always are means in place to have effective communication with all persons onboard. This applies to all ships flying the flag of a Member State, and to vessels operating, in a Member State port. 

A working language must be established to ensure an effective way of working on safety matters. The chosen language should be recorded in the ship’s logbook. Plans and lists need to be translated into the working language. 

The personnel who assist guests in an emergency must have communication skills that are sufficient for that purpose. "Sufficient communication skills" includes one or several of the following aspects: 

• Using the language, or languages, of the majority of the nationalities onboard at that specific moment. Can elementary English vocabulary be used if the guests and staff don’t share a common language?
• Communicating in more ways than with words, if talking is impractical. It could mean body language, demonstrations, hand signals, or calling attention to evacuation routes.
• Having in mind whether the guests got safety instructions in their native language or not.
• What language was used in the emergency announcements? This may affect the amount of guidance the guests receive and can facilitate crew members in assisting them.

When in port and during state controls, Member States check that ships comply with the EU Shipping Law. 

Vary the Order of the Languages

Experience shows that people start to talk to each other once they have understood what is said in announcements. For every new language that is spoken, it becomes more difficult to hear what is being said. Therefore, the order of the languages should be varied when repeating announcements. Above all, it is important not to start with the same language every time.

Being forced to speak a language other than your mother tongue limits your ability to express yourself, therefore, more thinking will be required to be understood. The problems become worse with acute stress as the ability to communicate deteriorates further. 

In an emergency, it is especially important to be able to express yourself so that everyone involved understands, i.e., "loud and clear". You are expected, by both guests and colleagues to use standard phrases in a professional manner.