Assessing Occupational Stress in Seafaring: A Fuzzy Delphi Approach to Develop Effective Management Strategies in Offshore Support Vessel Operations

The maritime industry has long been a crucial component of Malaysia's economy. Seafarers in this industry face unique psychosocial, work-related, and environmental stressors, which can negatively impact their health, safety, and well-being. The operations of offshore support vessels (OSVs) are particularly hazardous and require effective strategies for occupational stress management. The Fuzzy Delphi method was used to identify the key enablers of occupational stress in OSV operations. The study has found that the main enablers of occupational stress in seafaring include vulnerability towards occupational hazards


INTRODUCTION 1.Background
Ocean and coastal water transportation, better known as shipping, is one of the critical sectors in maritime industry (Cheryl R.K., 2015).Maritime industry been defined as anything related to the ocean, sea, ships, seafarers, ship owning and other related activities; while shipping business or sector, within the context of maritime industry, is the act of carriage of cargo from point A to point B, using ships (Hariesh Manaadiar, 2020).Shipping is vital to the world supply chain in the maritime cluster 9Othman, 2011).It provides a highly energy-efficient way of transportation of goods, such as chemicals, petroleum, textiles, and so on (M.B.C.Dorathy, 2017).Currently, more than 90% of the world's trade relies on shipping (IMO, 2019).Based on the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS, 2019), approximately 1647,500 seafarers are serving on international trading merchant ships.The safety and security of ships at sea highly depend on the competence and professionalism of seafarers.
With an exponential growth in international trade, the number of ships and seafarers has increased dramatically over the years.Seafaring is a special profession as the working duration per trip is in general much longer than normal work, and the working environment is extremely constrained in comparison to on land jobs.Many studies pointed that occupational health, including both physical and psychological health, plays an important role in marine incidents and accidents (D.Shan, B. Neis, 2020).While we are paying exceptional attention to reduce the impact of shipping activities on the sea concerning sustainable development, the working conditions and occupational health of seafarers should not be neglected.To reduce the potential maritime accidents, minimalise the environmental and economic loss, ensure the decent work condition, and promote the wellbeing of seafarers for sustainable development, it is necessary to systematically investigate the occupational health of seafarers onboard offshore Support Vessel (OSV).

The Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) and the Working Condition and Occupational Health of Seafarers
There are many types of ships/vessels designed for different purposes and functions, such as container ship, bulk carrier, tanker ship, Roll On-Roll Off (RORO) ship, passenger ship, naval ship, offshore support vessel, fishing vessel, special purpose ships, high speed craft and dredger (Raunek Kantharia, 2020); and offshore support vessel (OSV) is one of the vessel types that support upstream activities in oil and gas industries.
The history of OSV started in the mid1950s; where they start to use a supply vessel to support oil exploration at Gulf of Mexico (Bjornar Aas et al, 2009); and since then, OSV businesses has started to expand.There is a different type of OSVs which have served for different purposes, including seismic survey vessel, platform / straight supply vessel (PSV / SSV), anchor handling tugs, anchor handling tug and supply vessels (AHTS), utility vessel, fast crew boat, stand-by vessels, accommodation work barge / boat and others.Dependency of oil and gas industry upon OSVs is highly critical as it plays significant roles in ensuring required activities at offshore field which need to be executed.Among common roles of OSVs in offshore industries, one is to mobilise crew and offshore materials, to serve as an accommodation for offshore workers, to serve as standby boat at offshore field for the purpose of safety, security patrol and emergency preparedness, to perform anchor handling works and towing operations, and to support other oilfield activities during production, exploration, drilling, maintenance, diving, and survey operation.(Nurul Azni M & M Faiz M Azani; 2018), upstream shipping activities, such as exploration and development (Mohamad Rosni Othman, 2021).Roles and contributions of OSVs is highly desired to fulfil logistics need of upstream segment, which then will enable oil and gas extraction from seabed to be feasible.Being a part of the cycle in oil and gas industries, the presence of OSVs is much critical as one of the catalysts to spur the economy for the benefit and wellbeing of nations and societies.
Onboard OSV seafarers face high-risk working conditions.For instance, the adverse weather conditions, security threats, and high noise and vibration levels.The food supply can be limited onboard OSV.Strategies for improving food procurement for OSVs, emphasising the importance of advanced technology, comprehensive procurement procedures, qualified personnel, extensive logistics networks, and training programmes for food quality and safety need to be particularly addressed.These elements are critical to enhancing the quality of food for seafarers.In addition, seafarers lack exercise and recreational activities due to the shortage in space.Considering the emotional and psychological aspects, working onboard normally implies isolation from family members.Co-workers onboard normally change quite frequently and working as a seafarer requires a high level of resilience and adaptability, as they must constantly deal with the challenges of isolation and a changing workforce while performing their duties at sea.Despite all the challenges and risks faced by the seafarers at sea, occupational stress has been acknowledged as one of the contributing factors that cause impairment to the seafarer's health and well-being, potentially leading towards incidents (J.Rengamani &M. S. Murugan, 2012 andAna Sliskovic &Z. Penezic, 2015).For instance, MT Exxon Valdez oil spill incident in 1989 was one of the catastrophic marine tragedies in history, closely linked with occupational stress issues.In fact, other than risk of incident, stress onboard vessel has also been acknowledged as a cause of severe depression and suicide among seafarers (Alex Mellbye & Tim Carter, 2017).UK Protection & Indemnity (P & I) Club in year 2017 had revealed that suicide was the top cause of seafarers' deaths, accounting for 15% of deaths at sea (Safety4Sea, 2019).Once in February 2019, Malaysia OSV industry has been shocked with one case of suicide committed by Sarawakian seafarer at Kemaman Supply Base anchorage, where his body was found hanged at the ship's side (Rosli Ilham, 2019).He was reported having a depression, but further investigation did not reveal what were the hidden causes underlying his action.Also, in Terengganu waters in July 2019, another case of suicide was reported involved foreign crew, where the his body was found hanged in the generator compartment of the ship.The vessel during that time was underway from Vietnam to Kemaman (Rosli Ilham, 2019).Due to these special working conditions on board OSVs, the potential impact on the occupational health of seafarers has raised the awareness across this sector.

The Occupational Stress of Seafarers Serving Onboard OSV
The issue of occupational stress among seafarers has garnered much attention from researchers, as the demands of the maritime industry, such as long working hours and trips, have been linked to negative impacts on the health of seafarers (Abaya et al., 2018).In addition, work-family conflicts and interpersonal conflicts among seafarers have been identified as factors contributing towards fatigue (Shan and Neis, 2020).Similar issues have been observed in other industries, such as manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and public services, where high workload, long working hours, and poor interpersonal relationships have been identified as common stressors.
A recent survey conducted by AIA Bhd., in 2019, as part of its "Malaysia's Healthiest Workplace by AIA Vitality" programme, found that Malaysian employees are facing significant levels of stress and sleep deprivation, with 51% of the 17,595 surveyed employees from 230 organizations reporting at least one dimension of work-related stress, and 53% getting less than seven hours of sleep in a 24-hour period.It is evident from these findings that occupational stress is a prevalent issue across various industries and requires a comprehensive solution, from both employers and relevant stakeholders.
The study aims at investigating the working environment and occupational stress of seafarers working onboard OSV (Offshore Supply Vessels) in the Malaysian shipping industry.The industry heavily relies on foreign seafarers, particularly from the Philippines and Indonesia, as shown by the data from the Malaysia Marine Department in 2017.Occupational stress among seafarers is a well-recognised issue in the high-tech shipping sector, and a proper understanding of the work environment and its relationship with occupational stress is crucial for the improvement of seafarers' health and well-being.Previous research has focused on individual factors affecting the life of seafarers, but a comprehensive study of the overall working environment and its impact on occupational stress is lacking.The research aims at filling this gap by exploring the issue of occupational stress among seafarers and offering strategies for identifying and reducing stressors in order to enhance the health and well-being of these workers.

Research Objectives
The main objective of the study is to investigate the occupational stress experienced by Malaysian seafarers working onboard OSVs and to identify effective strategies for managing this stress.The study is aimed at achieving this objective by conducting a literature review, collecting data through surveys and interviews with Malaysian OSV seafarers, analysing the data, developing evidence-based recommendations, and disseminating the findings and recommendations to relevant stakeholders.The study seeks to provide practical solutions for promoting better occupational health and well-being for Malaysian seafarers, with a particular focus on development of stress management strategies in dealing with stress in the unique context of working onboard OSVs.

LITERATURE REVIEW
ILO defined stress as the harmful physical and emotional response caused by an imbalance between the perceived demands and the perceived resources and abilities of individuals to cope with those demands.Work-related stress is determined by work organisation, work design and labour relations, and occurs when the demands of the job do not match or exceed the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker, or when the knowledge or abilities of an individual worker or a group to cope are not matched with the expectations of the organisational culture of an enterprise (ILO, 2016).)The impact of stress has three categories which are physical health (such as fatigue, disordered eating, cardiovascular diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders), mental health (such as sleep disturbance, lack of concentration, emotional exhaustion, depression, anxiety, intolerance), and social health which will eventually lead towards interpersonal conflict (Ali M. Mosadeghrad, 2014).
Seafaring is known as one of the oldest profession of the mankind (Jabeth S.J.A Dacanay, 2003) and, like other professions in the world, it is not immune to occupational stress or workrelated stress problems.Issues on occupational stress among seafarers is a global issue which has drawn the attention of many researchers.Marcus Oldenburg (2009) who id a study on seafarers serving onboard a German flag ship, and identified a few stressors.His studies found the separation with family to be the most significant stressor.Ana Sliskovic (2017), in her study of a number of Croation seafarers, said that occupational stress among seafarers could not even be compared with shore job due to a large number of stressors, risks, and challenges that the seafarers are facing, which could exacerbate their physical and psychological health.A study by M. Khairuddin Othman et. Al. (2015), conducted among the Malaysian seafarers, found that the element of working conditions, food/nutrition, and individual factors constitute the thee3 highest-ranking factors that could affect psychological condition.A few more factors that could influence occupational stress onboard OSVs have been identified: vulnerability towards occupational hazards and risks, mental burnout situation, onboard living condition, skill of human capital, and strength of governance capacity.Thereby the statement of Delphi has been developed to identify the main enablers towards reducing the occupational stress and developing the strategy for effective occupational stress management in OSV operation (See Table 1).

Vulnerability to Occupational Hazards & Risks (Safety, Health, and Security)
The term 'hazard' is closely interrelated with the term 'risk'; where risk is defined a combination of the likelihood of an occurrence of a hazardous event with a specified period or in specified circumstances, and the severity of injury or damage to the health of people, property, environment, or any combination of these caused by the event (DOSH, 2008).Seafaring is one of the occupations that expose an individual with various workrelated hazards and risks, consisting of safety, health, and security hazards.
Among the emerging hazards and risks faced by the Malaysian seafarers onboard OSVs are adverse weather conditions (IMO, 2007), COVID-19 pandemic exhaustion (IMO, 2020), and fear and maritime security threats (Ana Sliskovic, 2017;AGCS, 2020).All those hazards and risks will create a stressful situation to the seafarers, due to the greater risk that they need to bear if it not properly been tackled, where the consequences could even lead to life threatening situations.

Mental Burnout Situation
The mental burnout classifies as an occupational phenomenon, not as a medical condition (WHO, 2019).The body burnout is defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress which not been successfully managed where it has been characterised by three dimensions, including feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one's job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job and a reduced professional efficacy.People with signs of burnout will feel the following emotion: every day is a bad day; caring about work or home life seems like a total waste of energy; exhausted all the time; the majority the day spent on the tasks feels either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming; and, feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is adequately appreciated (HelpGuide, 2021).

Onboard Living Conditions
Decent living condition is one of the seafarer's rights, as has been proclaimed and spelled out under Maritime Labor Convention (MLC, 2006), and the concern about the subject has not only drawn attention to the seafarers alone, but also to other stakeholder such as regulators, charterers, seafarers' unions, etc.

The Skills of Human Capital
Human capital refers to the production factors, coming from human beings who create goods and services.People's knowledge, skills, habits, creativity, and social and personality attributes are part of the human capital that contributes towards the creation of goods and services.(marketbusinessnews.com, 2021).The seafarer is the most important human capital for OSV's company, as he is the one who runs and operates the ship's owner critical asset which is the ship itself.Managing human resources and finding a way to improve their motivation and reduce job stress is very important for an organisation in order to improve the performance of employees and organisations in the era of industrial society (Sri Harini, 2020).
Thus, among the aspect of human capital that needs to be explored regarding the occupational stress are competency and seamanship (Zeke Quezada, 2021 of shore-based staff (Anish Wankhede, 2019;IMO, 2010).These elements represent very important dimensions in reducing the level of the occupational stress in OSV operations.

The Strength of Governance Capacity
The governance capacity as the ability of societal actors to work together in order to solve collective problems, consisting of institutional capacity and governance performance (Thi K P Dang et al, 2015).The governance capacity refers to how occupational stress among Malaysian OSV's seafarers can be collectively managed at the shipowner or management levels, and other relevant stakeholders, such as maritime bodies, authorities, charterers, etc.
The elements of marine regulations and procedures (MLC, 2006;STCW, 2010;IMO, 2019), management leadership and commitment (Metin Bayram,2018;Dominic Cooper, 2015;Malaysia Standards, 2018), OSH management system / HSE Management System (ILO, 2011;Mark Hammar, 2019), safety and health committee (Thomas J. Bukowski, 2014), and extended support from seafarers' association (Louise Gaille, 2017& Jenn Hagedorn et al, 2016) have been identified as a composition of elements that complement each other in governing and overseeing occupational health aspect and occupational stress issues among the Malaysian OSV's seafarers.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Based on the literature review and with the technical description of the occupational stress on Malaysian seafarers serving onboard offshore support vessels as the foundation, the present research aims at revealing the criteria of the of the occupational stress on Malaysian seafarers serving onboard offshore support vessels.The construct of the research dimension, based on five (5) major enablers and 17 sub-indicators, that has been developed based on the literature reviews, includes the main pillars comprising the following: vulnerability to occupational hazards & risks (safety, health, and security); mental burnout situation; onboard living conditions; skills of the human capital, and the strength of governance capacity.Therefore the dimensions listed reflect the consensus of the experts from all the participating surveys.A total of seventeen sub-indicators or items have been developed based on these five major enablers or indicators.
This study is a quantitative one, applying the Fuzzy Delphi Technique to obtain expert consensus on the main components of the occupational stress and to identify the position of each component of effective occupational stress management based on the experts' consensus.This method involves the use of fuzzy set theory, which has been incorporated into the classical Delphi method, where the Likert scale chosen by the experts will be converted to a fuzzy scale using fuzzy numbering consisting of binary terms (0, 1).This fuzzy numbering integration will produce three values, namely the minimum value (1), the most reasonable value (m), and the maximum value (u), to be chosen by the expert.This study uses questionnaires as instruments for obtaining quantitative data on the components of occupational stress.This questionnaire is based on the expert opinion and is used to meet the criteria and conditions of the Delphi fuzzy technique, which involves the use of mathematical formulas to obtain expert consensus.The instrument used by the researcher is based on the needs of the researcher.The data analysis Delphi statements questionnaires have been carried out based on the enablers and items (see Table 1).

33
Additional training enforced by charterer to Malaysian OSV's seafarers will enhance their knowledge and skills.

34
Good seamanship attitude, combined with competency and training, is a guarantee that the seafarers will be able to perform the job safely and cope with work demands and pressures.

35
Training related to mental health or stress management is beneficial for Malaysian OSV's seafarers, helping them to improve their mental health and deal with the stress issues onboard.

36
OSV's operation at sea cannot rely on Master and crew alone; instead, it requires fullest and solid support from shore-based personnel to ensure the ship to operate smoothly.

37
Having a pool of competent shore-based workforce, with a right attitude to overseeing and managing vessel operation at sea will ensure the fullest support that can be given to OSV's seafarers.
38 Shore-based staff shall be adequately trained, so that OSV's operation can be performed safely, efficiently, and within the time limit.

41
Procedures from charterers, such as Petronas Technical Standard (PTS) and Marine Manual of Permitted Operation (MOPO), providing a guide to OSV's seafarers to perform the work safely; which indirectly will ease work pressure of vessel's crew to execute the critical tasks.

42
Management's leadership and commitment to OSH is the most important element to ensure OSH culture and a climate to be adapted to the organisation, including a OSV company and onboard vessel.

43
Top management in OSV company clearly portrays their leadership and commitment towards OSH in the policy.

44
OSV company is recommended to have Mental Health Policy, where the policy shall state company's vision regarding mental health.

Safety and Health Committee
48 Safety and Health Committee, with strong and visible support from top management and active worker's participation, will make an impact on OSV's safety and lowering the rates of injury and illness.

49
Safety and Health Committee is the good venue and platform to identify problems and find a resolution pertaining to issues of mental health and occupational stress onboard OSV.

50
Malaysia Seafarers union, i.e.IKMAL help Malaysian OSV's seafarers, contributes a lot towards safeguarding their rights, promoting mental care, and mitigating occupational stress.

Fuzzy Delphi (FD) Technique
The Delphi technique is a method of obtaining a consensus among a group of experts through a series of surveys.It was first invented in the 1950s and is widely used in social sciences research.The technique involves experts providing their opinions, which are then analysed and used to reach a consensus.The Delphi method is based on verbal expressions, but has limitations in accurately reflecting the experts' thoughts.A modified version of the Delphi technique, called the Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), uses fuzzy numbers to better reflect human thinking.The FDM method involves two main components: the Triangular Fuzzy Number and the Defuzzification Process.The Triangular Fuzzy Number consists of three values (smallest, most plausible, and maximum) and is represented as a triangular graph.The FDM method can be used in a single round and provides a clear solution for ending the rounds of the Delphi technique.In addition, the FDM is a methodology used for consensus building and decision making in groups.It combines elements of the traditional Delphi method with the principles of fuzzy logic.The key points of the FD technique are: • Group Decision Making: The FD technique is used to reach consensus among a group of experts or stakeholders on a particular issue or problem.The group provides their opinions and insights through multiple rounds of feedback and refinement.

•
Fuzzy Logic: The FD technique incorporates the principles of fuzzy logic to handle imprecise, uncertain, and vague information in the decision-making process.This approach allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive evaluation of the information being considered.

•
Iterative Process: The FD technique follows an iterative process where the experts provide their opinions and feedback, and this information is refined and consolidated in subsequent rounds.The process continues until a satisfactory level of agreement is reached among the experts.

•
Expert Feedback: Expert feedback is a crucial component of the FD technique.The opinions and insights of the experts are gathered and analysed to reach a consensus on the issue under consideration.
• Flexibility: The FD technique allows for a flexible approach to decision making.It can be applied to a wide range of issues and can be tailored to the specific needs and requirements of the group.

•
Confidence Intervals: The FD technique also calculates confidence intervals to provide a measure of the level of agreement among the experts.This allows the group to make more informed decisions based on the level of consensus reached.
There are two main things in the Fuzzy Delphi (FDM) method, namely the Triangular Fuzzy Number (Fig. 1) and Defuzzification Process.The Triangular Fuzzy Number is composed of the values 1, m, and u, where 1 represents the smallest value, m represents the most plausible value, and u refers to the maximum value.The three values in this Triangular Fuzzy Number can be seen in Figure 3, which shows a triangular graph against triangular values.Based on the diagram below, it is evident that these three values are also in the range 0 to 1, and it corresponds to a fuzzy number (Ragin, 2007).Given the membership function of triangular numbers, it is revealed that if x is between l and m, then the larger x is the larger its membership function is, so that for x=m, the membership degree is 1.If x is between m and u, the larger x is the smaller its membership function is and in x=u the membership degree is 0. Therefore, it can be said that the membership degree of x in the interval [l, m] is monotonically incremental and in the interval [m, u] monotonically decreases.If l = m = u, the fuzzy number will become a crisp number.Membership function of a triangular fuzzy number includes both left and right linear parts that are joined together at (m, 1).Triangular fuzzy numbers are formed based on partial information.Suppose when dealing with uncertain values, the smallest and largest possible values can be determined.Hence, the supporting interval [l, u] can be defined.If we can determine m as the most probable uncertain value, then the peak will be at (m, 1).Therefore, with three l, m, u, triangular fuzzy number can be generated, and its membership's function is written.Due to its simple mathematical operations, the computational efficiency of triangular fuzzy numbers is very high.Mathematical operations on fuzzy numbers F1 and F2 can be done simply as follows: (1) After fuzzy aggregation of experts' opinions, the values should be defuzzified.In different methods that are done with fuzzy approach, the researcher ultimately converts final fuzzy values into a crisp and understandable number.Typically, the aggregation of triangular and trapezoidal fuzzy numbers can be summarised by a crisp value, which is the best average.This operation is known as defuzzification.There are several and complex methods of defuzzification.One of the simple methods of defuzzification is represented by average triangular fuzzy numbers: (3) if F = ( l, m, u ) Then F = ( L + M + U) / 3 (Cheng et al, 2009;Hsu et al, 2010;Wu and fang, 2011) In the defuzzification process, there is also a condition that must be met to indicate the acceptance of a specialist group for a component studied in which the expected use of the median value, known as the alpha-cut (α-cut) value, is used.

QUESTIONNAIRE OF EXPERTS
The fuzzy Delphi technique is a method of determining the importance of criteria and screening key criteria using a fuzzy approach.This method uses a single round to summarise and sort items and includes four steps: 1) identifying an appropriate spectrum for the fuzzification of linguistic expressions; 2) fuzzy aggregation of fuzzified values; 3) defuzzification; and 4) selecting the threshold and screening criteria.To collect and fuzzify expert opinions, an appropriate fuzzy spectrum is developed for the fuzzification of respondents' linguistic expressions.A common fuzzy spectrum, used is the triangular fuzzy number for a 5-point scale on the significance of criteria, is as follows: Very Important (0.75, 1, 1); Important (0.5, 0.75, 1); Moderately Important (0.25, 0.5, 0.75); Unimportant (0, 0.25, 0.5); and, Very Unimportant (0, 0, 0.25).

Part I -Expert Demographic Insights
This study has involved eighteen experts.Most experts have 5-26 years of experience and are directly involved in maritime education, maritime service providers, maritime activities manager, maritime workers and port and shipping agents.Based on the argument presented by Creswell & Creswell (2017), it is explicitly concluded that experts who have served between five and ten years can be categorised as experts.These experts are also selected on a voluntary basis.The number of experts in this application of Delphi's Fuzzy Technique agrees with Jones and Twiss (1978), who stated the number of experts in Delphi studies to be between ten and fifty experts.It has also been asserted by Adler and Ziglo (1996) that the number of experts is ten to fifteen in the event of a high level of expert agreement and uniformity.

Table 2.
Summary of pre-requisites requirements of the Fuzzy Delphi analysis.
The threshold "d" value is important in determining the levels of agreement among the panel experts upon the items.The data from this exercise has been entered onto a Microsoft Excel worksheet and analysed with the following formula: The threshold "d" value is lower or equivalent to 0.2 (≤ 0.2), therefore it can be said the panel of experts have achieved their consensus on the items.The feedback form experts have been analysed to quantify the threshold value "d".From the FD analysis it has been found that the overall scores of the "d" value for 50 items is 0.161, which means it surpasses the requirement (≤ 0.2).To proceed to the next Fuzzy Delphi process it is necessary to determine the group consensus percentage.The consensus of the panel experts must exceed the minimum requirement of 75 percent before it can be submitted to the next process.From the results, it is evident that the overall percentage score for this process is 82 percent, which means the group agreement has exceeded the minimum percentage value by more than 75 percent.The decision whether to retain or discard some items that have scored low percentage values has been determined by the final process, that is determining or identifying the ∞-cut value or defuzzification value.In summary, the rejection of the items is due to not meet Fuzzy Delphi (FD) pre-requisites, as shown in Table 2.

Part III -Findings of the Key Components of the Seafarer's Occupational Stress Indicators of OSV Operation
The study has been aimed at determining the level of agreement among experts regarding the main components of occupational stress in OSV operations.These components have been selected based on expert recommendations and are considered crucial for OSV service providers to acknowledge and implement.The results seem to indicate that the first main component, enabler number 1, consisting of items 5, 7, 4, 6, 3, 2, 10, 36, 38 and 37, has received the highest level of consensus among experts (see Fig. 2).The second main component, enabler number 2, consisting of items 34, 32, 33, 35, 30, 31, 29, 26, 25, 39, and 41, has emphasised the significance of human capital skills.The third main component, enabler number 3, highlights the importance of onboard living conditions, such as items 30, 31, 29, 26, and 25, in reducing occupational stress.The fourth main component, enabler number 4, describes the strength of governance capacity and consists of items 48, 49, 42, 44, 45, 47, 46, and 50.Finally, enabler number 5, ranked fifth, addressed the issue of mental burnout and consists of item 20 and 19. 17 items, Table 3.
Defuzzification results of aggregated Expert's values.
including 1, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 40, and 43, have been rejected due to the prerequisites of the Fuzzy Delphi method of accepting and rejecting criteria (see Table 4).These findings have implications for OSV service providers and can be connected to the previous research in the field of occupational stress and human capital skills.
Figure 2 shows the fuzzy score values that have been ranked based on expert consensus.Table 3 shows the ranking of each item in the main components of safety and health implementation.As it has been noted, different methods could be used for fuzzy aggregation and defuzzification of calculated values.The main enablers for occupation stress of seafaring have been ranked based on the Fuzzy Delphi analysis.Table 5 shows the summary of the main enablers' statements of the occupational stress that have been ranked based on the priority, consisting of the following: 1. Vulnerability to occupational hazards & risks; 2. Skills of human capital; 3. Onboard living conditions; 4. Strength of governance capacity; and, 5. Mental burnout situation.

Figure 2.
Summary of the result of the main enabler or key components of the occupational stress using FD analysis.
Finally, the strategy of effective occupational stress management in Offshore Support Vessels (OSVs) operation can be developed using the Fuzzy Delphi results.The priorities implementation of the strategy are based on the ranking of these enablers, as summarised in the Fig. 2. The strategies are devised to improve maritime safety in the five key areas: vulnerability to occupational hazards & risks, skills of human capital, onboard living conditions, strength of governance capacity, and mental burnout situation.The strategies include identifying and mitigating hazards and risks, improving training programmes for seafarers, providing a safe and comfortable living environment, developing and enforcing regulatory frameworks, and addressing mental health issues.These strategies require a collaborative effort from all stakeholders in the maritime industry.

CONCLUSION
The researchers have found that the enablers and items agreed upon by the experts in the fuzzy Delphi analysis are essential for designing effective occupational stress management strategies in Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) operations.These enablers focus on reducing the vulnerability to occupational hazards and risks such as safety, health, and security.The experts have prioritised the importance of managing scheduling and Trans.marit.sci.2023; 02: xx-xx implementing Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to reduce the difficulty in sign on/sign off processes, prioritising Malaysian OSV seafarers in Covid-19 programs, increasing Covid-19 awareness programmes, and reducing the level of occupational stress.These enablers play a crucial role in reducing or mitigating occupational stress and ensuring compliance with Covid-19 protocols, improving safety and health standards in the maritime industry.The application of these strategies can lead to increased competitiveness and resilience in the shipping sector and provide a new dimension to the world's most pressing problems in the field of occupational stress management and Covid-19 compliance.
and MLC 2006 is one of the key factors that will ensure safe operation onboard OSVs.40MSC.1/Circular1598 -Guidelines of Fatigue developed by IMO (sometimes incorporated in company's SMS) provides practical guidance to Malaysian OSV's seafarers in managing fatigue issues onboard.
System / OHS Management System Adoption of HSEMS / OHSMS (or equivalent) will assist OSV company in complying with Regulation 4.3 -Health and Safety Protection and Accident Prevention, MLC 2006, and flag state laws.
One of the maritime bodies that have interest in this are Port State Control (PSC) authority.Port State Control Committee of the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region is the authorised body overseeing port State control regime in the Asia-Pacific region (Tokyo MOU, 2019) and Malaysia is one of the full members of the body.Based on the Tokyo MOU 2019 Annual Report, 74, 550 deficiencies have been recorded and 9.62%, or 7, 171 out of the number is related to working, living, and labour conditions.Hence, based on the figures available, it may be concluded that crew welfare is among the common instances of negligence committed by ship's operators, which requires the fullest attention of all interested stakeholders.Among the common issues in seafarers' welfare aspect are access to online communication (Thu N.

and seamanship of Malaysian OSV's seafarer 32
Malaysia OSV's seafarers also need to deal with threat from foreign fishing vessel which illegally encroach upon oil platforms in the vicinity.10CompliancetoISPSCode requirement is crucial in dealing with maritime security threats.Homesickness could potentially impair the physical, cognitive, and psychological functions of Malaysian OSV's seafarers (such as disruption in sleep and appetite, depressive mood, loneliness, and anxiety).25Goodaccess to online communication would help Malaysian OSV's seafarers to reduce seasickness and improve their mental health and well-being.Master will ensure cleanliness and housekeeping onboard vessel being kept at an optimum level.Regular visit and inspection from ship management team will ensure vessel to be kept in a presentable state.
13Sleep deprivation is bound to affect seafarers' health (such as cardiovascular disorder, emotional distress and impair cognitive function and memory) and, what is even more concerning, it could lead to sleepiness in watchkeepers while performing their duty.14Employingadditionalwatchkeeperswill enable a better shift arrangement, allowing more convenient shift regime to be executed (i.e. 4 hours on / 8 hours off ).23Long separation from family is a common stressor to OSV's seafarers, and the situations make them feel homesick.24Competency is an important aspect for Malaysian OSV's seafarer, enabling him to cope with work demand and pressure.