CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATIONS AT SEA

CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATIONS AT SEA

“even carrots can talk-but to survive,we need to communicate”

We live in a world  in which communication is paramount. That is why we should be able to get our messages across properly. The right message at the right time can lead to sweet success.

I.Business letters

Letter writing is an essential part of business. In spite of telephone, fax and e-mail communications the writing of the letters continues, in fact, most telephoned and e-mail messages have to be confirmed in writing.

                The letter is often evidence of an agreement or a contract and must, therefore, be written with care.

                A question frequently asked is “ how long should a good letter be?”-The answer is :” As long as it is necessary to say what has to be said.”

                Letter writing is something which can be learnt-here is a set of simple tools and guidelines which help get your message to the people who matter:

To begin with:

1. Start from the end.Decide what you’d like to happen as a result of your letter. Remember, the best letters have a strong sense of purpose.
2. Get to the point early.If your reader wanted a mystery, he’d be reading Raymond Chandler.
3. Put yourself in your reader’s place. Thereforr, be friendly.Be nice.And find ways to turn negative statements into positive ones.
4. Say it plainly.Write the way you talk, naturally. Keep you sentences short –one idea in each.
5. Clear the deadwood.Chop out words,sentences, and even whole paragraphs, it they don’t contribute. In particular ,cast a questioning eye on adjectives.They can sap the strength from our words, or stretch your credibility. As Voltaire put it,” the adjective is the enemy of the noun”
6. Use active verbs. Face it, the passive voice is wimpy
7. Be human. Device a way to handle the problems in an upbeat manner.Your chances of success will  multi tenfold.
8. End it with an action step. The last sentence of your letter should suggest the reader’s next move.Or your own next move. Never write:” if you have any problems, please don’t hesitate to call”
9. Be professional .Set up a clean, logical format for your letter!

LAYOUT OF LETTERS

Note: Use the block arrangement of the letter, a neater and quicker form or writing The letter-head or heading of a letter normally inclues: -The company’s name and address -telephone numbers and e-mail address -The type of business it it engaged in There are several ways of writing data, eg : -30.06.2014 -June 30th,2014 Usually Messrs( an abbreviated form of Messieur) procedes the name of a firm or partnership. If you begin the letter with a person’s name, end with “ Yours sincerely”, “yours truly” The Americans prefer: Truly yours” ( Sincerely yours). In front of the titles or rank “ Mr” in omitted ,e.g :Dear Professor Brown,/Dear Captain Weeks If there is any particular subject-matter of the letter it is indicated after the salutation:Re: Damage to acetic cargo by fire, or Your order No …15 March 2010 If  the letter is to be delivered to another person/firm too, use the abbreviation:c/o(care of) If another person signs the letter, put “for” or “p.p” in front of the name/ If you are enclosing any documents, write Enclosure/Enc/Encl. after the signature in an e-mail: Attach/attachment.

Continuing 

Introduction

  We live in a world in which communication is paramount.Shipping is totally incoceivable without reliable means of communication and abilities to communicate.Weather forecasts have to be received,the ship’s position to be established.VHF distress, urgency and safety messages to be sent and received, incidents during the voyage to be reported, the eventual time of arrival and departure to be advised,requests for fresh water,bunker, foodstuffs and repair to placed, pilot and tugs to be required, claims to be laid, debatable issues to be solved, accounts to be settled, assistance to be required by a ship in distress and rendered to her. Messages are sent from ship to shore,from shore to ship and from ship to ship.Communicationsa on board have become more essential regarding work in multi-national crews

   Elaborating on the Maritime Communications we have set the task of meeting the enhanced requirments for a more effective communications through the various channels, modes and means of communication, which the contemprory merchant vessels gave at their disposal. The authors have preserved the logic of structring as for acquisition of terminology they have introduced terminological collocations, email messages, which nowadays come closer and closer to business letter writing and are an indespensable part of communications, as well as a lot of new situations that come from every day practice. This 5^th edition has been thoroughly re-newed wwith more than 30 letters and exercises. Two new units cocerning the new challenges at sea-Hazzards that nowadays inlude piracy and the different forms of control of shipboard and port operation have been developed.With respect to these new issues the authors stress on the students’ knowledge of conventinal rules and regulations ( both navigators and engineers) an on board precedures.

   Our aim Is to encourage the improvement and enlargement of the linguistic and practical skills of all those who have dedicated themselves to the maritime profession so that the deck officers and marine engineers sailing on board ship can fill the conventional checklists, receive and send GMDSS messages, use the IMO standard Maritime Phrases in VHF communications, write more precise and appropriate letters. Master’s Reports,Witness Evidence, Sea Protests;the  maritime specialist working ashore in the administration, the ships operators and agents can more sucessfully operate and provide the ships, thus minimizing the risks of handling the ships and eventually of polluting the marine environment. The contents of the book fully coincideds with the ESP sillabi for all learners studying at the Maritime Academy. The sameple messages included will serve as as good basis for acquiring the specific character of the text both in business letters and in GMDSS messages and their linguistic and terminological characteristics

 To this effect the book is designed for all those who are engaged in the shipping business, for the commanding staff of the merchant vessels, for teachers of Maritime English and for their students.

Cordial thanks to all who have helped us collect relevant materials, design and write the book.

-Authors-