Reducing crew aboard the vessel just results in more accidents. All this will result in is a loss of public trust in the company. It appears to some companies that it might be, as they are reducing crew sizes. They don t realize what they are setting themselves up for. Fatigue originates in biology.
Fatigue erodes alertness and performance.
Fatigue leads to a catastrophic outcome. Companies and employees are looking at making changes to have 10 to 14 consecutive hours off each day to allow the blue water mariners to get adequate rest. Living on 4-5 hours of sleep per day for just 1 week is as if you were awake continuously for 40 hours. Forget even considering 3 or 4 weeks of only 4-5 hours sleep per day. Stated another way, at 4 hours sleep per day, after just 5 days you reach a point as if you had been awake for 24 hours straight.