An evaluation of fatigue factors in maritime pilot work scheduling

ABSTRACT

Maritime piloting operations involve on-call work schedules that may lead to sleep loss and circadian misalignment. Our study documented pilot work scheduling practices (n = 61) over a one-year period. Most pilots worked a week-on/week-off schedule. Work periods averaged 7.6 hours in duration and pilots worked up to four ship assignments during a given work period. Work weeks averaged a total of 35.0 hours with pilots working on average three consecutive days. Night work was common (19.0 hours/week) with 02:00 h the most common starting hour for a work period. On-call work periods occurred at irregular times with a high degree of start time variability between consecutive work periods. While typical individual and weekly work total hours were not high, there were instances with long work periods, minimal rest opportunities, and extended total weekly work hours. Fatigue-model predictions based on work schedules were similar to objective outcomes collected among other groups of maritime pilots and may prove useful in identifying potential fatigue risks within on-call work schedules. Future studies should be conducted using objective measures to provide further insight on how on-call maritime operations influence sleep timing, alertness, and performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Marine pilots
• shift work
• on-call work
• fatigue

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the San Francisco Bar Pilots who assisted with data collection and in our understanding of their operations. In particular, Port Agent Captain Joseph Long was available for communications, meetings, and facilitated transfer of the dispatch records files. From the San José State University Research Foundation, Zachary Caddick and Gregory Costedoat supported various aspects of the study.

Declaration of interest

All authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

1. An Offshore Station boat remains positioned about 11 miles outside of the Golden Gate to transfer pilots to and from arriving and departing ships. Pilots board ships here for movements through the Golden Gate and into the bay waterways, while pilots assigned to outbound ships disembark here and await an incoming ship.

Additional information

Funding

This study was performed under contractual agreement 15M900007 between the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and the San José State University Research Foundation.