A DNV recent study has revealed that “25% of all ships caused 51% of marine accidents and one reason behind these accidents is seafarers’ fatigue.” Shipping industry is conscious about increasing number of seafarers’ fatigue onboard. All seafarers and decision makers are well aware of the bad effects of the fatigue.
Two main types of fatigue are physical fatigue and mental fatigue. The primary symptom of fatigue is loss of productivity. In the next stage it can cause accidents, groundings or collisions. At the advanced stage it can lead to the extent of sinking the ship.
There are several causes for the fatigue of the seafarers. The main causes are long period of stay away from home, consistently high workloads on them and limited communication among themselves and with their family. Some other causes of fatigue are odd shift pattern, negative environmental factors, poor sleep quality, high job demand and high stress. Some factors that nurture fatigue are health disorder, adverse work condition and frequent port visits. If a ship is more than 15 years old, it may face accidents for different types of machinery failures. In this type of ship, panic workload increases seafarers’ fatigue.
There are close connection between fatigue and accident at sea. In the past few years many accidents have taken place due to crew-errors who had lack of physical fitness. Seafarers’ physical difficulties may lead to mental disorder such as depression, anxiety and sleeplessness. Many researchers have found that the present working condition of seafarers, especially under-manning, have greatly increased the risk of fatal injuries and consequences.
To know more on fatigue log in :
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/fatigue-at-sea-7005.html
http://www.active.com/sailing/Articles/Fatigue_at_Sea_Can_Transform_Reality.htm