Effects of alcohol intoxication on ship operational ability using ship handling simulator

Abstract

It has been estimated that up to 80% of all marine accidents have human elements as a cause. Out of these, human elements of crew fatigue are main causes of marine accident. Crew fatigue involves sleep, schedule, workload, off-time, alcohol, health and stress. With a ship handling simulator, the effect of alcohol on ship operational performance is studied for each 0.05 and 0.08 g% blood alcohol concentrations. The 8 participants were volunteer deck officer cadets in their senior year, at least 22 years of age, with previous experience on a bridge simulator. For baseline and performance trials, participants were randomized to one of four bridge simulator scenarios according to the current and the direction of the wind. A main effect for alcohol was found indicating that ship operational performance was significantly impaired by this alcohol relative to performance in the non-alcohol condition. The results of this research can be applied to minimize marine accidents as basic data. ？ 2005: Royal Institution of Naval Architects.