Seafarer fitness fears

The physical fitness of seafarers to do their jobs has been in the news again, with fresh concern over the number failing their medical tests. With an “obesity epidemic” said to be sweeping the developed world, it might surprise some that fish-loving Norway is finding some seafarers being classed as unfit for work because they are overweight under the widely-used but by no means infallible Body Mass Index (BMI) method.
Launching a new seafarers’ fitness website this month, the head of the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMD) said seafarers were losing their health certificates because their BMI scores were over 35 and were becoming “vulnerable to diabetes and heart conditions through lack of exercise and poor diet”.
The ideal BMI is said to be between 18 and 25, while a score of over 25 is classed as overweight and over 30 obese. In 2010, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, 57% of males in Norway (average BMI 26.28) and 55% of Danes (BMI 25.75) were overweight or obese, while the corresponding figures in India (BMI 22.50) and The Philippines (BMI 22.73) – two major labour-supplying countries – were 20% and 22%, respectively.
One P&I Club recommends that seafarers undertaking pre-employment medical screening should be classed as temporarily unfit if their BMI scores are between 33 and 34.5 and as unfit if over 34.5.
A 2011 study into obesity rates found 71% of male Danish seafarers were overweight, while severe obesity was most common among officers aged 45-64. Higher levels of obesity in the general population also means that new entrants are more likely to be classed as unfit for work. The survey found 53% of Danish male cadets, based on their BMI scores, were overweight.
The Danish researchers echoed the concern of the Norwegian authorities on the threat high BMI scores posed for employment prospects, pointing out new regulations under the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) convention meant some seafarers would be forced to leave “the maritime business”.
Over the last two decades, both Norway and Denmark have witnessed a dramatic decline in employment of their own seafarers as, through their countries’ international registers, owners have been able to man their ships with crews from eastern Europe and Asia.
This trend was noted in the Danish study as a likely factor influencing the results of their research. Most Danish seafarers were, it said, employed on passenger ships and on domestic and regional ferry trades.
Explaining why obesity rates had increased since an earlier study using data from 2001-02, the researchers suggested that seafaring used to be “hard work”, requiring a high calorie intake that was supplied by “easy access to abundant…food”. Now, they added, most of the work – perhaps on those domestic ferries – was “sedentary”, so, as the amount of food had stayed the same, the calorie intake was likely to be excessive.
So the industry has to cope with higher levels of obesity and general unfitness not only in the existing workforce but also among a higher proportion of new recruits. At the same time it has to find economical ways of providing the multinational seagoing workforce with food of the right quality.
It should be wary, however, of making the assumption that obesity and related “lifestyle” diseases are confined to rich countries. While India and The Philippines may now have relatively low BMI scores, the danger is that, as they become richer, they succumb to the illnesses generally associated with the developed world.
In The Philippines for example, the number of people classed as overweight is already rising, leading to a higher incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Similar trends are being observed in India, with “fast-paced” lifestyles being blamed in part for the fact a quarter of heart-disease victims are under the age of 40.
The seafarers’ fitness website, developed by the NMD for the International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW), allows users to check their fitness levels with an online calculator and encourages fitness-scoring competitions among crews and between different ships.
The “Training on Board” website also makes the link between exercise and diet. The quality of food served on board is one of the most important factors seafarers consider when assessing quality of life at sea, but they often have very little say in what and when they are fed and so find it hard to follow health advice.
Almost two-thirds of those taking part in a recent survey conducted by European officers’ union, Nautilus International, said they had no choice in the food they were served. Only 3% said they were able to eat when they wanted, more than 20% were forced to miss meals because of their shifts and 90% claimed they had to rush their meals to get back to work.
Almost a quarter described their food as “poor” or “very poor”, a figure echoed in a separate survey by the UK-based Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) in which 18% of respondents made the same judgment, while a fifth said food on board was insufficient.
One Nautilus member complained that the choice of food had become limited, while another said the catering budget was so low, food ran out before the next scheduled supply. With fruit, vegetables, juice, bread and coffee often unavailable for more than a week, every meal was “chicken legs with rice”.
On some ships with multinational crews only one kind of food, aimed at a particular nationality, was available. One complained that the absence of “national” food increased feelings of homesickness and loneliness.
The standard of cooking also came in for criticism; when asked to suggest how the quality of food could be improved, almost 30% made “better trained/qualified cooks” their top choice. As the SIRC survey commented, the ship’s cook is often described, half-jokingly, by other crew members as “the most important person on board”.
As tougher standards weed out the unfit and overweight, ship owners might have to consider how they can help keep those who are left fit and not feeling fed up with their food.
Source: BIMCO