Originally Posted by
framer
What are they? I’m sure you’re probably right but I’d be interested to know what other jobs have you starting at 6pm on Monday and finishing 12 hours later after two 3.5 hour sectors, then having one day off before starting at 5 am ( 3 am alarm) and doing another 12 hour Duty. Then on Saturday starting at 2pm for another 12 hour day, having another single day off before starting at 5 am again ( 3 am alarm) etc etc etc.
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Merchant Navy Officer,
I work 3months on 3 Months off, 12 hours a day when on operations (subsea) can sometimes be midnight to midday or midday to midnight depending on circumstances (changing often) when not on operations i work 4 hours on 8 hours off (normally 8-12/20-00). This sounds fairly routine however then you have to factor everything else into it. Jet lag from flying too your ship, the fact your ship is moving constantly you cannot guarantee a good night sleep but you are a watchkeeper so need to be on watch regardless, drills; fire, abandon, oil spill etc do not come under your working hours and if the drills are taking place during your rest hours your rest will be interrupted. At the moment there are 8 mandatory drills to do each month, so thats a few hours out your 12 hours rest 8 days a month. Then there is arrivals and departures, the whole bridge team needs to be on standby regardless of if you have just finished or are about to start watch (usually a nice 4am arrival) and of course inspections and surveys that happen once a month. Thats not to mention the personal inspections you have to carry out yourself outside of working hours.
Thats just my example, we are regulated by things such as MLC under the ILO however its often said that the Shipping industry is 10-15 years behind aviation in terms of safety etc.