Raising the reef

On the tiny island of Bonaire, scuba divers tend to an underwater nursery, slowly plucking off the algae that smothers young coral dangling from fibreglass trees. The island's entire coastline is a protected marine park and a major draw for tourists, but like elsewhere in the Caribbean Sea, coral cover has declined since the 1970s due to warming sea temperatures, disease outbreaks, coastal development and pollution. A team of scientists and volunteer divers are working tirelessly to restore the dying reef in the hope that it will serve as a model for the rest of the Caribbean.

Above water, Bonaire has a semi-desert landscape dotted with giant cacti and low shrubs, which trap sediment and help prevent soil erosion. There is one problem, though: feral goats and donkeys, descendants of those once brought in by Spanish settlers, love to gobble up the scant vegetation. The loss of plant life, combined with powerful winds and hurricanes, increasingly pusbes sediment and waste into the ocean, where it chokes the clear water.

As Bonaire is located outside of the hurricane belt, it provides a safe haven for boat owners to moor their vessels, but this can also have a negative iropact on the coral. "We now have increasing number of boats mooring in the town area, very close to shore. They just release their waste water into the ocean, right here, on top ofthe reef," says Francesca Virdis, a marine biologist and project co-ordinator at Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB). Waste water introduces bacteria, viruses and disease to the shallow reef, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus that can fuel the growth of algae. As algae and corais both require sunlight to survive, they compete for space on the seabed.

(Adapted from: W,red, 2020)

Raising the reef

On the tiny island of Bonaire, scuba divers tend to an underwater nursery, slowly plucking off the algae that smothers young coral dangling from fibreglass trees. The island's entire coastline is a protected marine park and a major draw for tourists, but like elsewhere in the Caribbean Sea, coral cover has declined since the 1970s due to warming sea temperatures, disease outbreaks, coastal development and pollution. A team of scientists and volunteer divers are working tirelessly to restore the dying reef in the hope that it will serve as a model for the rest of the Caribbean.

Above water, Bonaire has a semi-desert landscape dotted with giant cacti and low shrubs, which trap sediment and help prevent soil erosion. There is one problem, though: feral goats and donkeys, descendants of those once brought in by Spanish settlers, love to gobble up the scant vegetation. The loss of plant life, combined with powerful winds and hurricanes, increasingly pusbes sediment and waste into the ocean, where it chokes the clear water.

As Bonaire is located outside of the hurricane belt, it provides a safe haven for boat owners to moor their vessels, but this can also have a negative iropact on the coral. "We now have increasing number of boats mooring in the town area, very close to shore. They just release their waste water into the ocean, right here, on top ofthe reef," says Francesca Virdis, a marine biologist and project co-ordinator at Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB). Waste water introduces bacteria, viruses and disease to the shallow reef, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus that can fuel the growth of algae. As algae and corais both require sunlight to survive, they compete for space on the seabed.

(Adapted from: W,red, 2020)

Tackling the challenges of cultural differences onboard

The phenomenon of manning a ship with a culturally mixed crew is nothing new in the shipping industry. However, working along with mixed crews on board ships can easily lead to potential misunderstandings or miscommunication issues. As a result, shipping coropanies and operators need to provide cross-cultural training to every crewmember before boarding a vessel.

Given the matter of multi-nationaJ crews' employmeot, the industry must be well-prepared, in order to cape with manning diversity, while realize the hidden risks of mixed crews. Multiplicity of persons whose ethnicity involves differences, not only language but also culture and religion are a major challenge to overcome when facing prolonged periods of on board.

According to a study conducted by World Maritime University, cultural complexity on ships has become an issue of intensive attention, due to the fact that a growing number of maritime accidents are attributed to ineffective communication and misinterpretation of different behaviors on multilinguaJ and multicultural vessels.

"Seafaring professional culture, seafarers ' national cultures, shipping company organizational culture and the industry-hailed safety culture ali exert influences on seafarers ' individual altitudes, values, and team interactions and can lead to positive or negative performance on board ships." ... as World Mari time University stated.

What is more, it is observed that poor command of ENglish, wrong stereotyping, different understanding of safety/work culture and different attitude toward risk, can all lead to severe marine accidents and impact a sbip's operational performance.

"The development of cross-cultural competency is absent from the agenda of maritime education and training, despite the fact thal the shipping sector is highly globalized and the maritime labor market widely multicultural. "

ln addition, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Maritime Studies conducted a survey noting that companies should not only focus on the acquisition of appropriate technical skills for navigation and engineering, but also on the non-technical, i.e. soft skills, such as communication skills and intercultural competences and understanding of how culture can impact coromunication.

Therefore, it is of vital importance for shipping industry and the seafarers to tackle the challenges of cultural differences onboard, by taking into consideration the following points: boost a cultural awareness environment; develop a global mindset; practice of language skills; enhance intemational work experience; boost diverse social contacts; promote appreciation of cultural differences.

"Cultural differences should not separa/e us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit ali of humanity. Intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee of a more peaceful, just and sustainable world." ... Robert Alan, American writer, artist and social activist noted.

(Adapted from: hnps://safety4sea.com/cm-tackling-thechallenges- of-culturnl-di1Terences-onboard/)