Maritime transportation is a high-risk industry where safety is a top priority to ensure seafarers' well-being and operational efficiency. This study examines the role of shipmasters' leadership styles in fostering safety awareness and shaping the safety climate. The research has two primary objectives: (1) to explore the relationship between shipmasters' leadership styles and the safety climate perceptions of ship personnel, excluding shipmasters, and (2) to investigate the dimensions mediating this relationship.
A mixed-method approach was adopted. The quantitative phase involved a survey of 198 seafarers with unlimited certificates, while the qualitative phase included in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven shipmasters, analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Findings reveal a moderate, positive, and significant correlation between transformational leadership and safety climate perception. A weak but significant positive relationship was found for transactional leadership, whereas laissez-faire leadership exhibited a weak but significant negative relationship. Qualitative results indicate that shipmasters predominantly adopt transformational leadership, prioritizing "safety" and emphasizing "safety management and scope." These themes were also reflected in the safety climate dimensions, with "safety management and scope" emerging as a recurrent code. Survey results highlighted the strongest correlation between transformational leadership and the "safety management and scope" sub-dimension of the safety climate.