Fighting fatigue on the watch

ABOUT 40 years ago, I worked for a UK-based company operating small dry cargo ships of up to about 3,000 dwt. We used to sail widely around the European coast, from the Mediterranean to northern Russia.

These ships had a master and two deck officers. The officers kept four-on, four-off watches, with the master usually taking the four hours up to midday. Sailing on those ships was, I thought in those days, hard work. It was certainly more tiring than the traditional deep-sea practice of having three watchkeeping officers, in addition to the master.

However, I never got to the point where I felt dangerously tired, or was in danger of falling …