Among the findings in the NTSB report released this week on the Eagle Otome collision in Port Arthur, Tx. was a pilot's fatigue due to his untreated sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by irregular pauses in breathing or low breathing during sleep. This can result in fatigue and daytime drowsiness.
The Coast Guard is making sleep apnea an issue by requiring some mariners to undergo an annual sleep examination and submit evidence of compliance.
One U.S. flag master has spoken out on how the Coast Guard is "doing everything wrong" on his Merchant Mariners Credentials (MMC) process concerning sleep apnea mandates because of unfairly enforced medical standards.
He argues that if the Coast Guard is going to be responsible for determining mariners' special health circumstances, then it should also pay for the cost of the annual exams and be accountable to the public for any harm from all failures to disclose, comply or predict health problems that mariners may incur between renewals. Read his story in "USCG penalizing mariners with sleep apnea for renewal process" here.
The Eagle Otome collided withcargo vessel Gulf Arrow and then with the tow Dixie Vengeance at a bend in the channel of the Sabine-Netches Waterway on Jan. 23. 2010. 462,000 gallons of fuel were spilled.
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