Sleep Duration in Rough Sea Conditions

Environmental motion can affect shipboard sleep of crewmembers. Slamming and similar harsh motion may interfere with sleep, whereas mild motion and sopite syndrome may enhance sleep. If sleep needs vary by sea condition, this factor should be considered when assessing human performance at sea. The goal of this study was to assess sleep duration in different sea conditions.

Crewmembers (N = 52) from a U.S. Navy vessel participated in the study while performing their normal daily schedule of duties. Sleep was assessed with wrist-worn actigraphy. Motion sickness and sopite syndrome were assessed using standardized questionnaires.

In rough sea conditions, crewmembers experienced increased severity of motion sickness and sopite syndrome compared to their ratings during calmer sea conditions. Crewmembers slept significantly longer during sea state 5-6 compared to sleep on days with sea state 4 (25% increase) and sea state 3-4 (30% increase). Specifically, daily sleep increased from 6.97 ± 1.24 h in sea state 3-4, to 7.23 ± 1.65 h in sea state 4, to 9.04 ± 2.90 h in sea state 5-6.

Although the duration of sleep in rough seas increased significantly compared to calmer sea conditions, causal factors are inconclusive. Accumulated sleep debt, motion-induced fatigue, and sopite syndrome all may have contributed, but results suggest that motion sickness and sopite syndrome were the predominant stressors. If sleep needs increase in severe motion environments, this factor should be taken into account when developing daily activity schedules or when modeling manning requirements on modern ships.