It is well known in the industry that this is a major problem. The workload on a ships officer is immense these days. The added pressure is the amount of paperwork/admin every officer has to complete each day. This is compounded by the fact that crewing levels are at a minimum on all ships. Since the Chief Steward / Purser and the Radio Officer were removed, the amount of paperwork has increased beyond belief, with less people to do it.
Also most crews from Eastern Europe and Far East do 9 months tour of duty, with very little rest. Fatigue is a real problem, coupled with a poor skill level on many cheaper crewed ships, it is surprising there are not more accidents/ collisions
I believe MISC now employ an additional officer just to do the admin.
Perhaps the tide has turned and the manning levels will come back to a realistic figure soon.
When I was first at sea 30 years ago, fatigue was never a problem. OK, it was a different world then, but we had the manning levels at a sufficient number to deal with everything.
This is definately not the case these days.
Hopefully this report will get things changed for the better. I know the British officers union and the MCA are also doing studies, but if one flag state imposes a higher manning requirement for a ship, the owner reflags to a state that is happy for the ship to sail with a lower crew. The problem is very difficult to solve until the rules are fixed globally.
Most ship owners settle for the cheapest manning option available, even though it might have cost implications in other budgets.
PilotB10
www.harwichhavenshipsandyachts.com