European fatigue research underway

A European Commission-funded project aiming to tackle the problem of seafarer fatigue has been launched with an inaugural meeting at Warsash in the UK. Project Horizon brings together 11 academic institutions and organisations with a broad range of interests from the shipping industry in a 30-month research programme to examine the way in which fatigue affects the cognitive performance of ships' watchkeepers. The project seeks to improve safety at sea by developing a fatigue management toolkit for the industry, as well as recommendations for improving work patterns at sea.

"Whilst we now have evidence to show the scale of the problem associated with fatigue amongst seafarers, this project will take the understanding to a new level based on robust and reliable empirical data that can be used to make concrete fact-based recommendations for avoiding or mitigating the dangers," said project manager Graham Clarke.

Sixty deck and engineer officers will be taking part in the project, with their performance being measured by researchers as they undertake typical watchkeeping duties on simulators over a succession of seven-day periods. Experts will use a variety of scientific methods to measure the fatigue levels experienced by the officers and any resulting degradation in performance during a wide range of regular onboard operating conditions.

(Source: Maritime Global Net)