Nippin 0:02
Hello, welcome to another episode of embracing differences with me. Nippin Anand, today I’m going to share a story about fatigue and why fatigue is not the real problem of the maritime industry, but I will not share data insights with you, because that’s not how it works. We are a meaning making species. We are not evidence seeking. And in order for us to find meaning in something, we need to find we need to find a visceral connection, and that is the power of a story. So here’s the story of why fatigue is not the real problem of the maritime industry. I’m in Gibraltar, returning home after a ship visit at the airport, I meet with a young Seafarer who is also going home after being on board for about six months. Gennaro’s vexed eyes look deeply sad. At first, I thought he was repatriating on medical grounds, or someone in his family had passed away. You okay? I asked janardo, no, I am not sir, he said. And I said, going home and you’re not happy. And he said, only six months. How can I be happy? Wait, I said, Is that why you’re not happy? What do you want? Nine months? Maybe 12 months. I thought I was being funny. Gennardo Took a little pause, and then he took his chance with a stranger who had he had just met 10 minutes ago. Of course, I want 12 months. We Filipinos don’t get paid when we are at home. Unlike the Europeans, we don’t even know when we will have a job again.

Nippin 1:58
Shocked by what I had just heard, I said to him, why don’t you say this to your company? They don’t care, sir, it’s six months finished, and they say you must go home because of this new thing called fatigue,

Speaker 1 2:14
some 30,000 feet above the clouds. I’m reminded of a proud, powerful story from the Italian author Ernesto ciroli, a group of Italians land in Zambia, and they are left surprised by the lazy attitudes of the locals,

Nippin 2:31
fertile soil, ideal climate, abundant manpower and streams of rivers. Why should these Zambians suffer from starvation? It is our duty to save them all,

Speaker 1 2:44
and so a bunch of Italians get together to plant tomatoes all along the Zambezi River, only to find a herd of hippos munching and destroying all their hard work just when the harvest was ready and ripe. Why didn’t you tell us before yelled the Italians to the locals, the locals laughed and responded because you didn’t ask ciroli’s Straight advice and his TED talk title, want to save someone first, shut up and listen.

Nippin 3:21
I’m left wondering what a mess we have created with maritime regulations and technical solutions. How are we any different from those missionary Italians in Zambia? First, we single out fatigue as our biggest problem, then we put artificial intelligence at work to prove our point, and then we create products and solutions. This is not the first time, of course, we have singled out many such problems and sold a range of products in the name of safety, bridge, navigation alarm systems, electronic charts, non technical skills. Ism code certification standard, and the list goes on, piece by piece, we create a catalog of solutions, but we never take a step back and ask, what is the problem we are trying to resolve?

Speaker 1 4:12
Fatigue is not even a problem for genado. He is more concerned about a steady employment to provide for his family. A few weeks later, the maritime industry meets, once again, Philippines for the crew connect conference. I was just looking at the website with a list of 85 speakers. Guess who is missing in this crew conference, the ship’s crew. Of course, I think Sierra le was right.

Nippin 4:41
And with that, I leave you to think, is fatigue the real problem of the maritime industry. Think again. Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoyed it and it made you think, have a good day. Bye. Bye.