THE CHAIN LOCKER
Mariner's Fatigue. . .
A few days ago I posted a video about a study that has just been done (click Fatigue Video in the Categories list on the right side of the page). As a professional mariner I've been subject to the problem at times in my varied career, and at times (as Captain) I've probably been part of the problem, as well. No one who looks into the issue of mariners' fatigue can say it's a simple! And like many such stubborn conundrums, the more you look at it the knottier it becomes.
In a perverse way, I enjoyed this post on the Safety4Sea site by Apostolos Belokas:
http://www.safety4sea.com/analysis/1/102/stcw-hours-of-rest:-have-you-done-the-math-lesson--
Apostolos does the math and comes up with some amusing, amazing, or perhaps troubling results - depending on your point of view. He does at least illustrate the thicket of thorns that recording and enforcing rest hours could become! I'd not look forward to documenting this if I was Master. And yet it's an issue we must come to terms with somehow, if shipping is to join the modern age in human terms.
Shipping has advanced rapidly on the technical side; but manpower issues - from finding numbers of qualified mariners, to finding ways to keep them alert and productive - still lags.
Are you on a vessel where these regulations are in place? Have you found it to be a blessing or a curse? Let us know.
Or, are you in charge of documenting these regs - what's your opinion? Please comment!