Issue 216
New rest hour rules come into force
Los artículos en español aparecen en las páginas 6y7 Статьи на русском языке приводятся на стр. 6 и 7
Costa Concordia disaster page 3 Life@Sea photo contest page 4/5 Wages: your rights page 6 The Mission to Seafarers Founded in 1856, and entirely funded by voluntary donations, today’s Mission to Seafarers offers emergency assistance, practical support, and a friendly welcome to crews in 250 ports around the world. Whether caring for victims of piracy or providing a lifeline to those stranded in foreign ports, we are there for the globe’s 1.2 million merchant seafarers of all ranks, nationalities and beliefs.
The Sea Editor: Jane Spence News: David Hughes The Sea is distributed free to seafarers through chaplains and seafarers’ centres. You can also arrange to receive it regularly at a cost of £3.50 or $5 per year (six issues). To find out more, contact: Anna Emerson, The Sea, The Mission to Seafarers, St Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill, London EC4R 2RL. Tel: +44 20 7248 5202 Email: anna.emerson@ missiontoseafarers.org www.missiontoseafarers.org Registered in England and Wales: 1123613 The Mission to Seafarers in Scotland: SC041938
mar/apr 2012
Naval action reduces success of pirate attacks LATEST International Maritime Bureau (IMB) figures show Somali pirates have been less successful in hijacking ships in recent months than in the first half of 2011. The IMB credits the marked reduction in ship seizures to effective action by
naval forces, particularly against pirate motherships. Pictured here, the UK civilian seafareroperated Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessel Fort Victoria deploys a Royal Marines boarding team to detain a pirate skiff.
Following an attack on a Spanish fishing vessel 350 miles from the Somali coast, the RFA ship’s helicopter located two suspect craft which were detained and the suspects arrested. (Photo: NATO) See story, page 2.
Over 40 per cent fell asleep during simulated watches
Fatigue study results are a ‘wake-up call’ for industry M
ORE than 40 per cent of watchkeepers taking part in pioneering research on fatigue and sleepiness fell asleep on watch at least once during simulated “virtual voyages”. This effect was most marked for those following a twoperson “six hours on/six off” pattern, which should serve as a wake-up call to the shipping industry, according to seafarers’ union Nautilus. The initial findings of Project Horizon, an 11-partner European research study, provide an initial benchmark for understanding and predicting how different watch systems influence the level of fatigue or sleepiness of ships’ officers. The 32-month, EU part-funded project brought together academic institutions and shipping industry organisations, with specialist input from some world-leading transport and stress research experts. The project made pioneering use of bridge, engine room and cargo simulators to assess scientifically the impact of fatigue in realistic seagoing
The Project Horizon fatigue study monitored seafarers’ brain activity during watches. (Photo: Warsash Maritime Academy) scenarios. A total of 90 experienced deck and engineer officer volunteers participated in rigorous tests at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteberg, Sweden and Warsash Maritime Academy at Southampton Solent University, England to measure their levels of sleepiness and performance during the most common watchkeeping patterns – four hours on/ eight off and six hours on/ six off. Some volunteers were also exposed to a “disturbed” off-watch period, reflecting
the way in which seafarers may experience additional workloads as a result of port visits, bad weather or emergencies. Key findings showed that the most marked sleepiness detected was in the six hours on/six off teams, where at least one occurrence of falling asleep on watch was detected among 45 per cent of officers on the midnight to 6am watch. There was also one occurrence of falling asleep for about 40 per cent of those on the midnight to 4am watch in
the 4/8 group. The six hours on/six off regime was found to be more tiring than the four hours on/ eight off rotas, and disturbed off-watch periods were found to produce significantly high levels of tiredness in both watch systems. The disturbed off-watch period was also shown to have a profound effect on levels of sleepiness: while there was evidence that routine and procedural tasks could be carried out with little or no degradation, participants appeared to find it harder to deal with novel “events”, such as collision avoidance or fault diagnosis. As the “voyages” progressed researchers also noted a decline in the quality of information given by participants at watch handovers. Watchkeepers were found to be most tired at night and during the afternoon, and sleepiness levels peaked towards the end of night watches. Project co-ordinator Graham Clarke commented that “seafarer fatigue is one of the biggest safety issues in the shipping industry, and this research Continued on page 2
MAJOR revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and its associated code entered into force on January 1. While many of the ‘Manila amendments’ will be phased in during a five-year transitional period, new, stricter rules on seafarers’ rest hours and more stringent requirements for preventing drug and alcohol abuse came into effect worldwide at the start of the year. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says that the new STCW minimum rest hour requirements are likely to be vigorously enforced by port state control officers, who will have the authority to check that ships maintain accurate records for individual seafarers, demonstrating that they have been provided with the required minimum rest. For example, seafarers must now always have at least ten hours’ rest in any 24-hour period. Mandatory limits for alcohol consumption are also being introduced, with a limit of not greater than 0.05 per cent blood alcohol level (BAC) or 0.25 mg/l alcohol in the breath. Individual flag states may choose to apply stricter rules.
Solar disruption ‘threatens GPS’ HIGH levels of solar activity forecast for the next two years could cause extensive disruption to GPS services, warns Ulrich Jurgens, the council chairman of seafarer’s union Nautilus International. He says there could be no electronic navigation for “months at a time”. Noting that mariners could suddenly be looking at blank screens, Mr Jurgens adds that “if they are unlucky enough to be operating on a paperless ship or they only operate on ECDIS, they will be lost”. He also warns that mariners should be worried by the “vast number” of GPS signal jammers and spoofers now available.