Investigation of Watchkeeping Officers' Watches Under The Working Hours Ineligible to STCW Regulation

Abstract

In parallel with the increase in the volume of world trade, cargo handling rates and seafarers' pace of work has increased. Although the STCW regulations and restrictions on working hours has improved, this tempo has brought with it insufficient resting hours, especially in short sea transport. It is known that individuals under stress and intensive workloads are more prone to making mistakes due to fatigue. In this study, the officers’ working hours are simulated in full-mission simulator at short sea transport to investigate errors made during the navigation and port watches. For this purpose, the data were obtained from 7 volunteers watchkeeping officers with the help of video monitoring and check lists in the full-bridge simulator system and also, system records in cargo handling simulator. With this study, introduced what types of errors made during navigation and port watches by watchkeeping officers under the intense pace of work. And the errors are evaluated under the legislation of international maritime. As a result, to comply with the limitations of working hours, it is necessary to increase the number of officers responsible for operations on short sea transport.

Keywords

• Ship Watchkeeping
• STCW Convention
• Working Hours
• Officer of the Watch (OOW)
• Full Mission Bridge Simulator (FMBS)
• Watchkeeping Officer
• Liquid Cargo Handling
• Resting Periods