3 hours ago
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Alamy
The Royal Navy has tightened the rules of alcohol use aboard its ships to a maximum of 14 units a week per sailor.
Under the new rules, Royal Navy personnel should not consume more than three units of alcohol per day and ships must enforce two alcohol-free days per week.
Ships will now sell a range of zero and low alcohol drinks to encourage responsible drinking.
The Navy said the new policy was in line with the UK chief medical officer's health advice and would "ensure our people remain fit for naval operations".
The new restrictions do not apply to sailors when they are not on board ships - including when on on-shore bases.
Previous guidelines allowed sailors to have two cans of beer a day, which is roughly equivalent to more than three units, dependent on the strength.
These had to be signed out so there was a record of what had been drunk on board, and were paid for by the sailors themselves.
A Navy source told the BBC that the new alcohol limits will be monitored in the same way, with sailors still paying for their own drinks.
The new rules apply to all ranks but senior ratings will be able "to use their discretion" when applying the rules to themselves, the source added.
If there were to be an incident on board where anyone drank too much and wasn't able to perform their duties effectively, the Navy source said that this would be dealt with in much the same way that it is now, which is on board the ship.
The modern guidelines are a far cry from previous Royal Navy traditions.
"It was badly received. There was a lot of muttering below the decks," Commander David Allsop said at the time.
The current UK chief medical officer's drinking guidelines, which were introduced in 2016, says men and women who drink regularly should consume no more than 14 units a week - equivalent to six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine.
At the time the current guidelines were announced, the UK's chief medical officers said that research showed that any amount of alcohol could increase the risk of cancer.
