Last year, the findings of a key industry report by ‘Project MARTHA’ were presented, identifying growing levels of fatigue, particularly among Masters and Watch Keepers and noting that motivation was a major factor in fatigue experienced by seafarers.
Fatigue factors
A long-term fatigue may result in health disorders (physical and mental), insidious onset, persists over time, multi-factor causes, significantly affects behavior and wellbeing. Issues which were repeatedly mentioned by seafarers as contributing to their fatigue and sleepiness levels were:
- New regulations and more requirements placed on seafarers
- Increased inspections and more paperwork
- The bad condition of ships’ accommodation
- The lack of proper maintenance
- Work in port
- Working onboard a new ship
- The quality and professionalism of work colleagues
Based on these findings, our tips below suggest ways to increase crew awareness on fatigue at sea which has significant impact on the safety and welfare of seafarers.
Do’s for seafarers
- Keep proper ‘sleep hygiene’
- Eat well-balanced and regular meals
- Fight against boredom
- Take strategic naps
- Exercise regularly
- Drink sufficient amount of water
- Consider relaxation techniques (i.e. meditation &yoga)
Do’s for masters
- Include fatigue-related lessons learned in safety meetings
- Increase crew awareness on the long term consequences of fatigue
- Ensure shipboard conditions are well maintained
- Apply job rotation to break up monotony and keep crew alerted
- Schedule drills in a proper manner to minimize the disturbance of rest/sleep periods
- Control watch-keeping practices and assignment of duties to ensure adequate rest is received
- Give crew sufficient time to overcome fatigue
- Both sleepiness and fatigue have safety and long-term physical and mental health implications
- Long tours of duty (over 6 months) may lead to increased sleepiness, loss of sleep quality, reduced motivation which could contribute to ‘near-misses’ and accidents onboard
- Night watch keepers are most at risk from falling asleep on duty
- Captains feel stressed and fatigued at the end of their tours of duty and need recovery time
- Fatigue risk management can ensure sleep is easier for those onboard
- Improved vessel design could make a significant impact in reducing the effects of sleepiness and fatigue
