A Study on Writing Competence of Standardized and Non- Standardized Maritime Documents of Third Nautical Officer Students at Merchant Marine Polytechnic of North Sulawesi

Abstract

Writing competence is an essential component of written maritime communication, particularly in the preparation of operational documents such as incident reports and handover notes. This study analyzes the writing competence level of Third Nautical Officer students and identifies the challenges they face when writing maritime documents in English. This qualitative research design combines document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The data used in this study consists of thirty maritime documents produced by fifteen student officers, including fifteen incident reports and fifteen handover notes. The documents were analyzed based on a rubric aligned with the Maritime English curriculum (IMO MC 3.17) and CEFR language proficiency levels and profiles, and thematic analysis was used for interview data. The findings indicate that the majority writing competence level of participants is predominantly at the B2 (Upper-Intermediate) level, representing 67% of the total participants. Most students were able to communicate operational information and fulfill the basic communicative purpose of maritime documentation, although recurring limitations were observed in grammatical accuracy, precision of maritime terminology, and completeness of operational explanations. Students generally demonstrated stronger performance in writing handover notes than in incident reports, which require more detailed analytical reporting. There are three major challenges influencing students’ writing performance: First, linguistic and maritime terminology difficulties. Second, limited understanding of maritime document conventions. Third, insufficient exposure to authentic writing practice. Therefore, this study provides valuable insights for Maritime Institutions and instructors by emphasizing the integration of authentic materials, structured writing practice, and instructional feedback in Maritime English instruction to support the development of professional writing competence in maritime education