Fatigue threatens safety, health of all mariners

Fatigue threatens safety, health of all mariners

International Transport Workers' Federation links problem to insufficient manpower

Fatigue threatens the health and safety of merchant mariners worldwide, according to a study commissioned by the International Transport Workers' Federation, or ITF.

The Cardiff University Center for Occupational and Health Psychology in Wales conducted the study and linked fatigue at sea directly to inadequate manning levels on merchant vessels.

The center's study report, released Jan. 16, said the international shipping industry has been slow to address the problem. The International Maritime Organization of the United Nations, for example, generally permits seafarers to work for up to 98 hours a week. By contrast, the International Civil Aviation Organization limits pilots' flight time to between 70 hours and 100 hours a month.

The report -- Adequate Manning and Seafarers' Fatigue: the International Perspective -- cited an "evident" connection between fatigue and accidents at sea, as well as individual health problems resulting from stress and excessive work hours. It called for additional officers and crews aboard all merchant vessels and additional regulation by the IMO and flag-state control authorities.

The ITF study found that:

One in four seafarers have fallen asleep on watch

Nearly half of all seafarers participating in the study reported working an average of 85 hours a week

50 percent said working hours had increased in the last 10 years, despite regulations intended to address fatigue

Approximately 37 percent of the mariners participating in the study said their hours of work jeopardized the safe operation of their vessels

"This report confirms what we already know," said John Bainbridge, assistant secretary of the ITF's Seafarers' Section. "Seafarers are routinely working excessively long hours, endangering themselves and the marine environment. It's time to stop putting seafarers at risk and to learn from the examples of best practice in other industries."

The Maritime Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations in Washington also commented on the study.

"The report detailed the widespread nature of the problem," the MTD said. "Even so, little is being done to correct it, either by individual companies or the international community as a whole."

The MTD added: "The problem in the international industry is exacerbated by the existence of the flag-of-convenience system, which has created a business culture based on secrecy and a thorough lack of transparency, from the ownership of the vessel itself to an epidemic of false record keeping. Moreover, many of these 'runaway' flags simply do not have the means or desire to ensure that the regulations they do have on the books are meaningfully implemented."

Seafarers International Union President Michael Sacco said mariners accept an "inevitable" amount of risk in their work, and that some risks -- weather, for example -- cannot be minimized through training, labor agreements or cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard and other authorities. But fatigue is manageable, he added.

The report "shows how long stretches at sea can affect a mariner's mental and physical health, which can lead to accidents and other safety concerns," Sacco wrote in the latest issue of Seafarers Log.

Sacco, who also serves as president of the MTD in the AFL-CIO, said: "The report concludes that the maritime industry and its regulators must acknowledge that serious risks and consequences are undeniable when vessels are crewed by fatigued mariners. Among these dangers are the potential for economic and environmental disasters, economic losses due to fines and increased insurance premiums, and serious health implications for the mariners themselves."

Sacco said U.S. seagoing unions would join the ITF in a call for "immediate action to end the plight faced daily by men and women who simply are trying to make a living for themselves and their families -- all work is important, and all people should be treated with dignity. That treatment must include proper rest and fair oversight to ensure it."

Meanwhile, the International Maritime Organization in January began new consideration of the problem in response to pressure from the ITF (which includes the SIU and AMO), the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and other labor organizations.

According to media reports, the IMO will evaluate the issue in the context of its mandatory International Safety Management Code, which went into effect for vessels 500 gross tons or above in size in July 2002. The code requires in part that each merchant ship registered in an IMO signatory country be "manned with qualified, certified and medically fit seafarers."

IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos said IMO delegates should adjust safe manning standards to give flag state control authorities greater ability to evaluate compliance.

"Debating whether to supplement those principles possibly by some examples or norms against which maritime administrations would evaluate watchkeeping arrangements for the issuance of safe manning documents to ships would certainly assist to take the matter forward," he said.

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