minimum safe manning

Minimum safe manning must not become shipping's commercial target

Steve Cameron, chair of the Nautical Institute's London branch, warns that minimum safe manning requirements are increasingly treated as commercial targets rather than safety floors. He argues that growing workloads — from tighter port turnarounds to new cyber and security procedures — are piling pressure on unchanged crew numbers, with fatigue weakening the last line of defence at sea. Cameron calls for honest manning reviews against current operations, not approved figures.