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Tim's comments resonate strongly with the real problems in shipping today. The fact that crew numbers are now so reduced that the ability to fight a fire manually is almost removed. In days gone by there would be more than one fire party so that in the event of real trouble more resources could be brought into play. As it stands there is little chance of back-up with such reduced numbers.
In addition the comments on testing etc., the reduced numbers coupled with the reduced port time, means that crews are fully on duty almost 24 hours a day, leaving little time for drills and other statutory and company requirements.
The separation of the engineers from their traditional watch keeping duties through the use of electronic monitoring etc., results in people divorced from everyday actual surveillance and familiarisation with machinery. Goodness knows what to expect with the headlong rush toward 'autonomous' unmanned ships.
But this has all been said before.
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