Fostering positive mental health and wellbeing among seafarers at sea

Abstract

Seafarer shortage continues to plague the global seafaring labour market due to the ongoing retention issues, which remains a key concern within the industry. High attrition rates that are prevalent during various stages in the career of seafarers arise due to factors such as difficulties coping with the demanding nature of life at sea and the discouraging learning environment onboard ships. All too often, seafarers are subjected to poor working conditions onboard ships, which are influenced by increased workload, fatigue, stress, loneliness, cultural diversities, and social isolation. According to BIMCO/ICS’s Seafarer Workforce Report 2021, the global seafaring labour market has witnessed a shortage and surplus of officers and ratings respectively. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, this has brought to the fore the importance of the shipping industry and the role of seafarers in keeping international trade moving, with minimal disruption in the global supply chain. As global shipping operations are vulnerable to seafarer shortage, this signals the importance of building a resilient seafaring community so as to align with sustainable crewing in shipping and meet the challenges ahead. As part of preparatory research work, review of literatures were conducted to gain detailed information from sources such as past research studies and existing maritime regulations that are relevant to the research topic, following the identification of the research scope; ‘Fostering Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Seafarers at Sea’. Based on the research scope identified, qualitative virtual interviews and quantitative google surveys have been conducted to extract in-depth and detailed insights from employers, industry stakeholders, MET’s and seafarers respectively.

It was recognised and confirmed that the resilience of the seafaring community, primarily the seafarers themselves has been severely tested due to the unprecedented events and outcomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This unexpected occurrence has further highlighted the importance of a resilient seafaring community under such exceptional circumstances. The long-standing issues associated with the seafaring profession which have an impact of seafarers’ mental health and wellbeing became more apparent as a result of the pandemic. It is evident that all stakeholders, particularly the seafarers’ employers have a crucial role to comply and ensure a supportive and caring environment onboard for seafarers to enable them to better cope with the inevitable seafaring stressors that comes with being a seafarer. This would go a long way in developing a more resilient seafaring community and ultimately result in sustainable crewing.