Fatigue

Fatigue is defined as severe tiredness caused by either lack of sleep or prolonged physical or mental exertion. Regardless of rank, seafarers tend to work in shifts when onboard. Work hours might be long and rest hours change all the time, and this constant time change and shift pattern all contribute to fatigue.  There are two different types of fatigue, physical fatigue and mental fatigue.

Physical Fatigue 

Physical fatigue occurs when a person finds it physically hard to do simple things which were done without problems before. This includes muscle weakness.

Mental Fatigue

Mental fatigue occurs when a person cannot seem to concentrate on things and stay focused on specific tasks. Such fatigue will result in a person feeling constantly sleepy and even having difficulty staying awake.

A big 82% of recorded accidents such as collision and grounding tend to occur between 0000 and 0600 hours and are deemed to be caused by fatigue. When seafarers are employed on longer contracts, the constant lack of good sleep and reduced motivation become a large contributing factor to human error resulting in near-misses, incidents, or even accidents onboard. 

Hours of Work and Rest

To avoid fatigue, the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 was introduced. MLC stipulates the limits on hours of work and rest, as follows:

• Maximum hours of work shall not exceed: 14 hours in any 24 hours, and 72 hours in any 7 days, or
• Minimum hours of rest shall not be less than 10 hours in any 24 hours, and 77 hours in any 7 days.

In addition to that, the seafarers can take specific measures themselves to aid in reducing fatigue, such as ensuring that during their off-period, sleep is prioritized over other activities.

Emotional Exhaustion

Emotional exhaustion occurs when a person feels excessive stress in their work or personal life for a longer period. This results in a constant feeling of tiredness and lack of focus. The most common symptoms of fatigue include:

• Lack of motivation.
• Irritability.
• Insomnia.

Interaction onboard such as simple social events like BBQs, movie nights, or karaoke nights breaks the monotony of life at sea. These assist the seafarers in socializing with each other and forming relationships which in return results in the reduction of stress. When seafarers are provided with means of contacting their family, friends, and loved ones, their quality of life increases. This connectivity aids in keeping the crew onboard ships happy. Shore leave and food are two other important factors in ensuring the welfare of seafarers. Therefore, the following is considered to ensure the well-being of seafarers onboard;

• Interaction.
• Connectivity.
• Training.
• Shore Leave.
• Food.

Different cultures and diets should be taken into account when it comes to food onboard. 

Unfortunately, fatigue onboard continues to increase throughout the years due to higher demands and bigger ships requiring the same number of crew as small ships. The International Maritime Organization decided on the importance of issuing Guidelines on Fatigue. These can be found in the following link.