06/034 - Deeply disheartening

Dear sir,

 I think the nautical institute has taken up a very serious issue  which usually gets ignored by shipping companies, maritime organisations and Masters aboard ships worldwide.

I work for a very good company operating OBO combination carriers. The safety/salary/living standards are of commendable standards.Ships are in great condition as well, but it’s the hectic schedule these ships are being run on.

I personally feel that STCW rest hour norms are being followed only on paper to satisfy oil major,ism,portstate inspectors.I have talked about this issue to lot of seafareres serving on different ranks , in different companies. The general scenario on most of the ships is that usaully it’s a nominated officer who is incharge of filling up the rest hour reports of all personnel working onboard and it is thereby the duty of this officer to “fabricate” a report which satisfys the STCW/ILO norms.

It is deeply disheartening to note that it is the poor Master who has no other choice but to push his crew to get the job done within a specified period of time under industry pressures.

I don’t see any remedy to this problem unless seafarers will stand up to it and make it a point while working onboard that the clock is ticking and they too are human beings who require adequate rest. In this report i have avoided mentioning about incidents/accidents which occur due to fatigue and get covered up as “human error” or the “incompetence” of the modern seafarer.

Thank you