Project MARTHA in Inter manager dispatch-issue-18
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Capt Szymanski presented research from Project MARTHA showing that over long voyages, fatigue negatively impacts social cohesion aboard ships. Prof Barnett argued that fatigue is a serious issue that is often ignored, and that seafarers working for six months or more show reduced motivation and carelessness. Capt Szymanski hoped the research would prompt ship owners and managers to revise attitudes and procedures around fatigue, such as ensuring timely crew changes and engaging seafarers in decision making.
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Project MARTHA in Inter manager dispatch-issue-18
- 1. March 17 / InterManager Dispatch Issue 18 /54 InterManager Dispatch Issue 18 March17 Capt Szymanski presented a slide that was not in the report, which showed that over time, social cohesion on board was also affected by fatigue. “By the end of six months, people are sick of the sight of each other and just want to go home,” he said. Prof Barnett called on the global industry to get fatigue out in the open: “Fatigue is something that is swept under the carpet. Issues to do with near-misses which are caused by fatigue need to come out into the open. People who were on board for six months or more are beginning to show signs of reduced motivation; they are beginning to not care about the job,” he told the audience at the IMO. Similarly, Capt Szymanski hailed the study and its findings as a turning point for the industry and said: “I sincerely hope the results of our research will be read and acted upon by ship managers and ship owners who will go on to revise their attitudes and procedures. There are a number of low hanging fruits which, with a little adjustment, could make big differences. These are not necessarily costly changes - such as having seafarers relieved on time and organising work on board with humans and not regulations in mind and engaging sea staff in decisions - but empowering seafarers to take more care of their lives than they do today.” Project MARTHA was conducted by multiple stakeholders, including Warsash Maritime Academy, University of Southern Denmark, Dalian Maritime University, Stress Research Institute, University of Stockholm, University of Southampton and InterManager. For key statistics and facts from the report turn to Stats & Facts (page 11).Fatigueatsea: no-oneonboard getsadequatesleep T he IMO is set to revise its seafarer fatigue guidelines as it digests the results of a three-year study into the long-term effects of tiredness on crew. Project MARTHA was presented at the IMO in January and was described as a “wake-up call” to the industry tackling the growing issue of seafarer fatigue. Among its surprising revelations the report found that no-one on board gets adequate sleep, with the night watchkeepers being particularly at risk of falling asleep while on duty. This is particularly worrying as the report also found that high levels of sleepiness can occur at any stage of the voyage, but the quantity and quality of sleep deteriorates over long voyages. Presenting the report and its findings to IMO delegates and invited guests, InterManager Secretary-General Capt Kuba Szymanski and Professor Mike Barnett of Southampton Solent University urged the industry to take note of the report. Of the four companies that took part in the project, two operated large container vessels and the other two ran small product tankers. The project was sponsored by the TK Foundation and follows on the work carried out for its predecessor, Project HORIZON. The report described significant differences between the working hours of Chinese versus European seafarers. Specifically, Chinese seafarers averaged 15.11 hours of work a day compared with the 10.23-hour daily average for European seafarers. This could go part-way to explaining the evidence of higher levels of fatigue and stress in seafarers from Chinese-managed ships compared to European-managed vessels. “This suggests that differences in organisational factors are significant in affecting fatigue mitigation on board,” according to the report. Triggers for fatigue reported by seafarers included increasing pressure from competitive voyage schedules and having to handle tasks with fewer crew members. Crews also reported increased fatigue levels when employers did not relieve them of their duties on time. News