Examining the Influence of Safety Climate on River, Lake, and Water Transportation: A Case Study of South Sumatra Ferries

Indonesia, with approximately 17,000 islands, is the world’s second-largest archipelagic nation after Canada. With its huge geography at sea, maritime transportation is an essential vehicle for providing the mobility of people and goods and building the socioeconomic existence of coastal communities. However, maritime transportation has several problems, particularly with regard to safety risks, which are often caused by three important reasons: technical deficiencies, human error and nature. Natural causes include poor environmental conditions, while human causes include negligence and lack of procedures. On the other hand, technical causes include unsafe work practices and operational deficiencies on vessels. The conclusion of this study highlights the importance of instilling a good safety culture in the shipping industry. With a focus on ferry transportation at Tanjung Api-Api Port in Banyuasin Regency, an important transit location between Bangka Belitung Province and South Sumatra Province. This study investigated the relationship of communication, leadership, management commitment, and organizational trust shape the safety climate at two major ferry ports in South Sumatra. Through the application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the research assessed the validity of the safety management model and identified key factors. These include the role of open communication in proposing leadership and management commitment, as well as the impact of leadership in increasing organizational trust.