The general alarm on a bulk carrier docked in Galena Park, TX. (c) 2010 Robert Almeida

In an ideal world, shipping companies would give captains a blank check to purchase all the latest equipment and materials to help make their ships safer, however considering the financial difficulties facing the global shipping industry, we are certainly not in this ideal world.

Considering the budget constraints that we all work under, here are a few ideas that make a big impact on safety with little or no cost to the owner.

Emergency Escape
Photoluminescence signs can get expensive especially if you select the top packages from companies like Seaward Safety. These sign packages include a full audit of the ship and a comprehensive plan of options that make a big difference in the ability of crewmembers to escape topside during blackouts or emergencies.

Every ship should have basic photo-luminescent  signs showing lifeboat and emergency muster locations, however that’s just a start. It’s an established fact that in most cases, it’s not the fire that kills, but the smoke.  Smoke and heat rises forcing victims to crawl to safety rendering the bright escape lights and signs at (or above) eye level useless.  To escape from a fire you need low level escape signs.

If you cannot afford a comprehensive package, there is a cheap and effective solution… Purchase rolls of tape with arrows, cut out each arrow, then consult your station bill for escape routes. Visit each route and place arrows every 5-10 feet along the baseboards.

Confined Space Entry
gCaptain has written about technology that makes confined space entries safer including PASS Alarms and portable radio repeaters, but these both come at a cost. A simple solution for emergency communication is a wrench and training. Come up with a plan that uses a series of knocks on the bulkhead to communicate with the entry watch in the event of radio failure.  I like to use:

1 knock = I’m ok
2 knocks = I’m backing out
5 or more knocks = Send help

Each knock is repeated by the tank watch and the sound can always be heard loud and clear.

Radio Communications
The biggest failures of internal emergency radio communications are a lack of radios and battery failure. These issues can only be resolved by issuing each crew member with emergency duties, a radio that is carried with them at all times, and a charger they can keep in their staterooms.  There is no cheap solution to this problem.  Batteries are expensive, but are usually included in yearly budgets.  Most people reorder the same batteries each year without much thought, but for only a few dollars more, you can slowly upgrade to lithium-ion technology by simply changing the order. The cost of lithium ion batteries is slightly more than the older technology yet they will last longer on-scene, and they have a longer life expectancy… a true win-win.

So, I’m writing this no reason other than to help other Navy guys that wish to transfer over to the Merchant Marines. I’m a newbie myself, but this is just some advice and experiences.

So a brief Background. I served 8 1/2 years in the US Navy. The first 18 months in Nuclear Power School, the following 7 years as a mechanic on board Fast Attack submarines. I left the Navy as a Chief and started my transition.

So up to speed, I started this whole process in Febuary 2010, It’s now Dec 2010 I just completed testing and should have my 3 A/E STEAM in about two weeks. Following issuing I still need to get a one month course to add HFO diesels to my license. End result about a year to be fully licensed to sail on all vessels.

Now, Much of this time delay was due to me not knowing how to get things done and nearly all of it was waiting on one thing or another. Hence me writing this to help others avoid the same mistakes I made.

Step 1) If you are even considering this career before you get out of the Navy, get your TWIC card. You need this to even apply to the US Coast guard for evaluation. It takes a few weeks to a month and can save you some time if you start early.

Step 2) Get plenty of character/Professional recommendations while you are in service. As all military members know the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I waited nearly a month to get the Letters of recommendations I wanted. You need at least 3 to apply for a Merchant Mariner Document. If you have them in hand from Chiefs, Div o’s, Department heads, CO’s ect early you have saved some time. These people may have appreciated you when you were there, but are very hard to get to things from when you are out of the service.

Step 3) Get a Sea Service Transcript before you get out….. I don’t know if this is even possible. Mililington writes them once you are out, but will not recieve your record until after you are DISCHARGED… This doesn’t mean terminal leave. I had to wait 3 months after my EAOS to receive mine. So 60 days terminal + 3 months = 5 months waiting on a stupid piece of paper…. My advice. Your Current CO can write a sea service letter for the time served at your current command…. But not previous commands. Get PSD to figure out what a Sea Service Transcript is, Have them write one to date and have the CO sign one when you leave your ship on terminal…. Send BOTH into the coast guard for evaluation.

Step 5) Send your record into the NMC for evaluation. Request the Highest thing you can reasonably imagine you deserve. Then send them as much supporting paperwork as possible, Schools, Evaluations, Letters of Commendation/ NAMS ect. I was approved for 3 assistant Engineer STEAM only… I know others who have slid by and received a Diesel endorsement too. But request anything you can.

Step 6) This is debatable and really depends on your dedication to become a Merchant Mariner at all costs and how rapidly you want. The NMC will take up to 60 days to evaluate your application and determine what you are eligible for. If you recieve an officer endorsement you will need certain classes before you take an exam…. I can’t tell you what these are so you will just have to wait. I needed a one week Fire Fighting course. HOWEVER, if you plan on doing any work outside of the US international law requires a series of courses for a STCW 95 certification. These are basic courses everyone needs so you could spend some money while you are waiting and take these. These requirements are going to change soon (2012 i think) but any for profit maritime school will be able to help you figure out what you need. Mine were as follows

1 week Basic safety training (Personal survival technics, First aid/CPR, personal Safty Social responsibility, and Fire fighting) – Cost $950

Furthermore on training, If you want to ASSUME what the NMC will approve you for, You could take more STCW courses. This may save you some time but could also become a costly mistake if you assume wrong.

In total I had the following classes

Basic Safty training mentioned above $950
Proficency in Life Craft – $995
Medical First aid provider – $650
Basic and Advanced Fire fighting – $750

I also took a non-required 3week Exam Preparation course – $2000

Step 7) After you complete all you classes and are ready to take an exam, Take your exam and get your credentials!!!

Other tips and Advice. Marine schools are expensive but food and lodging can be expensive too. PRICELINE dot com saved me a ton on hotels and such (although I only need them 4 days a week as I lived about 3 hours from the school). But Crew houses are another good option. Search for a crew house with shared accomodations and I would guess about $300 a week with everything included.

once the coast gaurd (NMC) approves your application for some rating QMED, Engineer, Mate, etc call around to a few unions. I found one that offered to pay for all my room, board and schools if I commited to working for them 3 years…. I politely declined, based off my financial situation and the whole being afraid of contracts now…. But it was a great opportunity, schooling paid for and an employer all at the same time.

I know this is a long and drawn out post with mostly personal experiences but maybe it can help someone. If anyone has any further advice or feels I am off basis please comment. Like I said, I’m very new and lack experience in the industry and could be wrong on a few points.

Happy sailing,
-Matt

Looking for a good knot tying tutorial? Then Animated Knots by Grog is the place to visit. While SUNY Maritime instructor GPS is famous for saying “You can do anything with these two knots…” there are others I tend to use a lot including the rolling hitch, figure eight and square knot. Grog has the knots you need in an easy to learn format.

Bonus points to the commenter who correctly identifies GPS’s two favorite knots.

The Deepwater Horizon tragedy teaches the general public and regulators about the safety culture in the offshore industry and the environmental risk associated with deepwater drilling.  As a seagoing professional, here are five things you can do to keep you safer while working at sea.

Proximity And Preparedness

The physical and mental state of the Deepwater Horizon survivors varied considerably from minor cuts and burns to traumatic head injury and panic. The extent of these injuries where directly related to two factors; proximity to the initial explosions and personal preparedness.

Brent Mansfield, the rig’s 1st Engineer and graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy, was as well trained as anyone on the rig in emergency procedures yet he was the most critically injured with a deep fracture to his skull. That night Mansfield was in the Engine Control Room adjacent to the first explosion which occurred in a main diesel generator. There is little Brent could have done to avoid his injuries, his physical proximity to the explosion being the primary cause of his injuries.

The second most critically injured that night was Buddy Trahan who had suffered multiple bone fractures and significant burns after being pinned beneath a cabinet near the explosion. The fractures Trahan received where directly related to his proximity to the blast but the burns might have been avoided if he had been wearing fire resistant coveralls.

Lower on the list of injured persons was the rig’s OIM who had been taking a shower in his cabin, a fair distance from the first explosion. According to his testimony he found a towel and some clothes but struggled to find his boots and coveralls in the darkness of his cabin. He had no communication with the bridge and, therefore, was unaware of the dangers he would encounter. During his escape to the bridge subsequent explosions blew insulation and debris onto him, essentially tar and feathering his body and rendering him functionally blind.

Apart from their initial proximity to the flames a second factor determined the types of injuries these three individuals suffered, the time between knowledge of a problem and the time of injury. Brent Mansfield had the shortest interval of time with only seconds between high gas alarms sounding and unconsciousness. He had no time to prepare. Buddy Trahan, having checked in with the subsea engineer minutes before the explosion,  was the first to know something was wrong that night yet he did not know the immediacy of the problem in time to don coveralls or other PPE that would have prevented burns. The OIM was relatively safe in his cabin during the first blast with a modest amount of time to prepare himself yet he received his injuries during the escape.

Mansfield had no time or options but Trahan’s burns could have been prevented if company policy mandated coveralls inside the accommodation but, in reality, he had few options to protect himself. The OIM’s injuries however where completely avoidable. This article is not an indictment of the OIM’s actions, I personally would have faired no better, or that of the crew. Rather, I am writing about it so others can learn the important lessons of that night which include:

(1) Time, Distance and Shielding – The critical factors of survival

In CBRD training mariners working aboard navy supply ships are taught that during a nuclear, chemical or biological strike three factors are critical to your survival:

Time – The Longer you remain in the area, the higher your risk of fatal expose.
Distance – The further away you are from the incident, the more likely you are to survive.
Shielding – Be it a what you where (e.g. Fireman’s or Chemical Exposure Suit) or where you are located (e.g. standing behind a thick steel bulkhead or water curtain) the more physical barriers between you and the incident, the more likely you are to survive.

The same is true of blow-outs, fires and other emergencies aboard your vessel. To be safe you want to take action quickly and remain within reach or danger for as little time as possible (time). You want to distance yourself first from the blast area then, with abandonment, from the ship itself (distance). Last you want to wear PPE and keep physical protection between yourself and danger.

The lack of time, distance and shielding proved fatal for 11 men and where primary factors in the injuries of all persons that night. Make sure you are aware of these factors and use the knowledge to plan your escape.

(2) PPE – Personal Protective Equipment

Had a spare set of coveralls been hanging in the subsea office Trahan visited he might have put them on and prevented burns. The same applies if company policy had mandated that he wore them inside the accommodations. Personally I do not wear PPE inside the accommodations and do not think companies should start mandating this but it is important for all companies and individuals to ask “What If?”. Do not assume any area aboard your vessel is safe, consider the danger and develop plans to mitigate risk.

What if your xx happens aboard your vessel in proximity to yy? Brainstorm ideas today to be prepared for tomorrow.

(3) Communication

As fire team leader I keep my radio near me at all times including at night where it charges within reach of my bed. The radio remains off much of the time but, if the general alarm starts to ring, I can quickly turn it on and start learning about the emergency from the second I wake up. Time is a critical factor.

If you are a team leader and wait until you’re at your muster station to call the bridge or, worst yet, you wait for the bridge to call you - you’re are wasting valuable time. Keeping a radio nearby at all times to get yourself up to speed fast and put your mind immediately on the problems confronting you.

(4) Availability of gear

An emergency gear locker is of no use if a fire is between your team and their gear. Make sure your vessel has multiple lockers and that, at least, one is available in all conceivable situations to don’t require immediate abandonment of the ship.

If your company is unwilling to buy additional equipment you need to take action on an individual level by identifying potential fire zones near the lockers. Determine alternate access points to the gear. You should also determine the availability of equipment elsewhere on the ship. Does the vessel have a safety gear locker with spares? Does the engine room have an ax and crowbar? It will be much easier to find this equipment if you know where it is located before the fire starts to burn.

(5) Availability of PPE

More important than the radio near my bed is the flashlight hanging next to it. If the ship loses power you will not have time to look through drawers to find the flashlight.

But a flashlight is not enough. Hanging behind my door are the following:

1 set of fire resistant coveralls – with gloves, a flashlight and knife tucked in the pockets
1 pair of eye protection & hardhat
1 pair of steel toe boots with socks tucked inside

This spare set of PPE is critical to your survival and, had it been available, would have saved the OIM from injury. But remember, time is critical, to be effective the gear needs to be hanging, neat and organized, in your cabin not stowed away in drawers drawers.

Further this equipment need to be in addition to your work clothes! The fire resistant coating on your coveralls becomes less effective each time it is washed so your spare set should be in “like new” condition. You also don’t want your gear to be in the laundry or in the change room when crisis emerges – it must be hanging in your room and ready to don.

Gear To Abandon Ship
Many ships have an emergency grab bag packed with an EPIRB, handheld VHF, flashlights and other supplies to assist you we it is necessary to abandon ship. It is time that we all update this bag with the right gear.

When the Deepwater Horizon exploded in April of this year there was little need for such a grab bag as the workboat Damon Bankston was ready and available to haul in survivors. Yet a few items would have been helpful. Had an extra EPIRB been available and tossed in the water at the time of abandonment, its natural drift would have given search and rescue personnel an estimate of where to look for survivors. The second item is a handheld satellite phone, these are now relatively cheap and provide a level of communication with shore that can not be matched by radio.

When was the last time you looked in your abandon ship bag? Do you even have one? Today is the time to consider the usefulness of each item contained in that bag and to fill it with additional supplies that may be needed.

Here is a unofficial pick of 10 things that you should remember if you are shipwrecked. These tips come from Yan Martel’s prize-winning novelLife of Pi, via listverse.com

1. Shelter yourself. Exposure can kill faster than thirst or hunger.

2. Do not drink urine. Or sea water. Or bird blood

3. Do not eat jellyfish. Or fish that have spikes. Or fish that have parrot like beaks. OR that puff up like balloons.

4. Turtles are an easy catch and make for excellent meals. Their blood is a good, nutritious, salt-free drink; their flesh is tasty and filling; their fat has many uses; and the castaway will find turtle eggs a real treat. Mind the beak and the claws.

5. If a castaway is injured, beware of well-meaning but ill-founded medical treatment. Ignorance is the worst doctor, while rest and sleep are the best nurses.

6. Put your feet up at least 5 minutes every hour

7. Do not go swimming. It wastes energy. Besides, a survival craft may drift faster than you can swim. Not to mention the danger of sea life. If you are hot, wet your clothes instead.

8. As long as no excessive water is lost through perspiration, the body can survive up to 14 days without water. If you are thirsty, suck a button.

9. Beware of far-off clouds that look like mountains. Look for green. Ultimately, a foot is the only good judge of land.

10. Don’t let your morale flag. Be daunted but not defeated. Remember: the spirit, above all else, counts. If you have the will to live, you will. Good luck!

Let’s face it, we could all use a few tips to help us stay awake especially those mariners working the late watch. From split watch schedules to operations requiring “All hands On Deck” sleep not only comes at a premium but is a critically important factor in accident prevention and remaining healthy. To highlight these issues we have brought you many articles on the subject including the popular “Night Shift A Cause Of Cancer” and “Get Some Sleep! Accident Photo Of The Week“.  We will continue the series with tips on how to cheat sleep.

Editorial Note: Sleep loss and driving ships is a deadly combination. We don’t suggest you ever attempt to cheat sleep, we simply hope to broaden your knowledge in the subject.

The Basics Of Sleep

Quality not quantity. No matter how much your mother tells you that you need eight hours of sleep, if you’re not tired and you can’t truly relax, your sleep time will be worthless.

The key factor is the number of complete sleep cycles we enjoy. Each sleep cycle contains five distinct phases, which exhibit different brain- wave patterns. For our purposes, it suffices to say that one sleep cycle lasts an average of 90 minutes:

• 65 minutes of normal, or non-REM (rapid eye movement), sleep
• 20 minutes of REM sleep (in which we dream)
• Final 5 minutes of non-REM sleep.

Source: CentACS

00-04 Watchkeepers: Maximize “Core Sleep”

“Core sleep” is a variant of Uberman sleep that adds a block of sleep, usually several hours, to the Uberman schedule, replacing one or two naps. (This term is also sometimes used to describe accidental oversleep by someone following Uberman, though one will more likely see the term “crash”, and occasionally “reboot”.) Another variant is called Everyman sleep schedule. Buckminster Fuller advocated Dymaxion Sleep, a regimen consisting of 30 minute naps every six hours. A short article was published about this schedule in the October 11, 1943 issue of Time Magazine. According to this article, he followed this schedule for two years, but after that had to quit because “his schedule conflicted with that of his business associates, who insisted on sleeping like other men.”

Source: Wired How-To

Keys to the Midday Nap

A successful midday nap depends on two things: timing and (no kidding) caffeine consumption. Experiments performed at Loughborough University in the UK showed that the sleep-deprived need only a cup of coffee and 15 minutes of shut-eye to feel amazingly refreshed.

1. Right before you crash, down a cup of java. The caffeine has to travel through your gastro-intestinal tract, giving you time to nap before it kicks in.

2. Close your eyes and relax. Even if you only doze, you’ll get what’s known as effective microsleep, or momentary lapses of wakefulness.

3. Limit your nap to 15 minutes. A half hour can lead to sleep inertia, or the spinning down of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which handles functions like judgment. This gray matter can take 30 minutes to reboot.

Source: Wired

Tips To Optimizing Sleep Value

• Do not take sleeping pills. This includes over-the-counter pills and melatonin.
• Don’t go to bed until you’re sleepy. If you have trouble sleeping, try going to bed later or getting up earlier.
• Get up at the same time every morning, even after a bad night’s sleep. The next night, you’ll be sleepy at bedtime.
• If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep, get out of bed and return only when you are sleepy.
• Avoid worrying, watching TV, reading scary books, and doing other things in bed besides sleeping and sex. If you worry, read thrillers or watch TV, do that in a chair that’s not in the bedroom.
• Do not drink or eat anything caffeinated within six hours of bedtime.
• Avoid alcohol. It’s relaxing at first but can lead to insomnia when it clears your system.
• Spend time outdoors. People exposed to daylight or bright light therapy sleep better.

Source: Live Science

Foods For Sleep

An all- carbohydrate snack, especially one high in junk sugars, is less likely to help you sleep. You’ll miss out on the sleep-inducing effects of tryptophan, and you may set off the roller-coaster effect of plummeting blood sugar followed by the release of stress hormones that will keep you awake. The best bedtime snack is one that has both complex carbohydrates and protein, and perhaps some calcium. Calcium helps the brain use the tryptophan to manufacture melatonin. This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods.

These are foods high in the sleep-inducing amino acid tryptophan:

Foods that are high in carbohydrates and calcium, and medium-to-low in protein also make ideal sleep-inducing bedtime snacks. Some examples:

Meals that are high in carbohydrates and low-to-medium in protein will help you relax in the evening and set you up for a good night’s sleep. Try the following “dinners for sleep”:

Source: Dr. Sears

Become an Early Riser

It’s hard to become an early riser using the wrong strategy. But with the right strategy, it’s relatively easy.

The most common wrong strategy is this: You assume that if you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. So you figure out how much sleep you’re getting now, and then just shift everything back a few hours. If you now sleep from midnight to 8am, you figure you’ll go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6am instead. Sounds very reasonable, but it will usually fail. The solution is to go to bed when you’re sleepy (and only when sleepy) and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week). I always get up at the same time (in my case 5am), but I go to bed at different times every night.

After a few days of using this approach, I found that my sleep patterns settled into a natural rhythm. If I got too little sleep one night, I’d automatically be sleepier earlier and get more sleep the next night. And if I had lots of energy and wasn’t tired, I’d sleep less. My body learned when to knock me out because it knew I would always get up at the same time and that my wake-up time wasn’t negotiable.

A side effect was that on average, I slept about 90 minutes less per night, but I actually felt more well-rested. I was sleeping almost the entire time I was in bed.

Source: Steve Pavlina

Sleeping Blogosphere Posts:

• Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better
• Everything You Wanted To Know About Sleep
• 40 Amazing Facts About Sleep
• Funny Sleep Photos
• Sleeping In Airports Guide
• Night Shift Cancer Concerns
• Do Whales Sleep?

Sleep Reading List

• Nature on Sleep
  
• How Stuff Works: Sleep
• The Sleep Industrial Complex
• Lifehacker’s Sleep Posts

Sleep Gadgets

• The Sun Alarm
• Sleeptracker Watch
• Dreamate Biofeedback
• TOCKY – For Those Who Can’t Wake Up On Time

You’re looking for a job overseas and you send an email message to a few people you have worked with in the past.

Something like:

Hello Rodney,

How’s life treating you in Durban? Is Claire still keeping you busy fixing up the boat?

Well the project ends so the job search begins. Attached is my CV if you have any leads.

-Jill

He writes back:

It’s great to hear from you Jill!

I’ve passed your resume on to Michelle Vantz in Korea. Give her a call: 010-9255-5555

Rod

Ok, you have a great lead but how the heck do you dial that number?? Here’s the answer:

For international calls the best website is TimeAndDate.com. They have an international dialing code tool that really works. We tested it with a few different numbers at it works great. Just chooseyour locations, paste in the number and you receive the exact number to dial on your phone. It also gives you a:

• Breakdown of each code (country, area, city…)
• The local time in each location.
• “Find a suitable time to call” time comparison sheet.
• Time conversion calculator.

This site is great as it contains many other goodies for the world traveler. Looking for..

…the amount of time left before the meeting: International Countdown Timer
…time between two dates: Date Duration Calculator
…time in all the major cities: World Clock Sheet
…need to plan a meeting with London, Tokyo & NY: World Meeting Planner
…daylight saving observance by country: World Daylight Savings Sheet
…PST, WET, ACSD which time zone is that: Time Zone Codes
…If it’s 3 pm in NY, what time is it in Sydney: Time Zone Converter
…If it’s 3 pm in NY, what time is it worldwide: Fixed Time Calculator
…a complete list of tools: World Time and Date Tools.

Can’t find the country code? Try the Reverse Lookup Map. or Google Map it with Phone Number Geolocator

Poodwaddle.com

Other Time Links:

• The Coolest Clock on the Web
• 2nd Coolest Clock on the Web
• Online Alarm Clock
• The World Sunlight Map – Real Time
• World Time For Your Firefox Browser

Random (but good) phone links:

• Grandcentral (runs all of gCaptain’s incoming calls & voicemail)
• Skype (runs most of gCaptain’s outgoing calls)
• Google Map U.S. Phone Numbers
• BiPass 1-800 # Link1 Link2
• Free 411 information (ad supported)
• Do Not Call Registry (US Only)
• Disposable Phone Numbers (great for ebay)

Articles:

• How to dial 911 in foreign countries
• *Tips For Catching Your Next Flight

Video:

• A Very Funny Commercial on International Communication
  

A must see tool is CallTheFuture.org which allows you to alter Caller Id settings and set personal wake-up calls. Also if you are travel or skiing fanatic check out our sister site UnofficialAndes.com

Quick Tools:

Poodwaddle.com

How about handing the mate a plotting sheet and sending him to the AIS? Before the look of confusion leaves his (or your) face here’s what he needs to do:

1) Remember his grease pencil plotting skills.

2) Identify the critical targets, get their bearing off the gyro repeater along with an approximate range.

3) Find the targets on the AIS, get their actual range / bearing and plot them on your plotting sheet ( or maneuvering board ).

4) Repeat every 6 or 12 minutes.

For those who have never seen one, a PASS device (sometimes called a Man Down Alarm) contains a motion sensor and high pitched alarm. The firefighter clips it on his bunker gear and if he passes out the motion detector senses his lack of movement and sets off the alarm. It also has a panic button that can be pushed to inform the scene leader the team is in trouble or to help the back-up team locate a lost firefighter.

We all know how unreliable UHF radios are during tank inspections. While the old trick of banging a wrench 1 time to signal OK, 2 times to signal GET OUT and 5+ times to signal SEND HELP works inside the tank it won’t an unconsciousness victim. At a cost of around $225 these devices are an inexpensive way to protect your life.

Still doing tank entries without a personal O2 meter? Sniffing the tank at the point of entry is no longer enough, instead bring along a Personal Gas Detector

*Note read more about this tip in the Confined Space Entry Handbook

Here is a video describing the P.A.S.S. device including it’s shortcomings:

Click here to view the embedded video.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you’re really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you’re in the right state of mind?

Simple and effective. While some have suggested breath analyzers be installed on the bridge of all ships might the solution be much simpler? Is intoxication still a major problem among watchkeepers or is the occasional lack of sleep, stress and disorientation among watchkeepers a larger problem? Regardless, a few simple math problems could help determine your ability to stand watch and give confidence to the person you are relieving.

So the question to you is;

Illustration by Lars Leetaru of the NYTimes.