Maintenance management influencing the effectiveness of MMEA vessel operation (a qualitative analysis)

Effective maintenance is always important in any organizations that is responsible for procuring and managing complex assets. The research thesis aims to study the maintenance management system practiced in Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), to analyse the main factors which hinder the effectiveness of MMEA ship's availability and to recommend some practical solutions to improve the MMEA vessel operation. This is because, based on the report finding from the National Audit Department in 2018, MMEA was unable to achieve their Key Performance Index (KPI) due to lack and impairment of marine assets. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the study to be conducted. The paper employs qualitative approach by conducting interview with eight (8) officers from MMEA Headquarters in Putrajaya. The study also refers to secondary data which is database prepared by Engineering Division of MMEA to support and describe further the analysis from the interview session. The paper has revealed the measures which commonly practiced in MMEA. It was also discovered that the main reasons which influence the asset level of readiness in the agency are incompetent staff, insufficiency of financial allocation, old maritime assets and shortage of technical staff. The result depicted that an optimum solution for maximising ship's availability is needed. Thus, the researcher has provided some suggestions to address these problems. It is also recommended for future study to evaluate from multiple perspectives too, such as technical system used by MMEA ships in order to identify the ship readiness in the future.