Crew Welfare: Challenges for ship managers post-COVID-19

Contrary to 10 years ago, the shipping industry has noted great progress in the level of attention it pays to mental health, promoting open discussions on the issue, noted Karin Orsel, Chief Executive Officer, MF Shipping Group. Despite the industry’s progress and the efforts to name seafarers key workers, there has been no major breakthrough in recruiting, with difficulties in crews’ sign-in and sign-off likely to persist, added Mr. George D. Gourdomichalis, President & Managing Director, Phoenix Shipping & Trading S.A.

“I hope that we learn; that the lessons learned will be picked up fairly quickly and that we don’t end up in the situations where seafarers are unable to board a vessel or actually more important to go home,

…said Ms. Orsel for the near future.

“I think we have a lot of challenges ahead to overcome and when you think about the number of crew change ports and the airlines in the world, there are literally thousands of people that have an impact on the seafarers’ life and it is extremely difficult to bring them all together,

…added Mr. Andy Cook, Crewing Operations Director, V.Group.

Social media: Hurt or helped?

The world has dealt with several pandemics before, but the unique conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic were partly shaped by the presence of social media, providing instant access to the whole world that did not exist before. This has proved to have both negative and positive effects, panelists agreed.

For example, except for contributing to less socialization and thus more isolation of crews onboard, social media allow the continuous connection of seafarers with their people, which may sometimes increase their burdens when there are occurrences onshore that they cannot control, stressed Mr. Sunil Kapoor, Director, FML Ship Management Limited. However, most importantly, shipping has to understand that being constantly connected is a reflection of the whole society, not a specific characteristic of seafarers onboard, the experts said.

“This is the world we live in; this is the same thing onshore…If this is what the world is then how can it be differently onboard?”

…argued Mr. Gourdomichalis.

“That’s the world we live in we have to adapt to that, but at the same time, we do need to do whatever we can to create the right culture onboard,

…added Mr. Cook.

Crew wellbeing and shipping attractiveness

Among the key challenges ahead with respect to crew welfare, the pandemic also diminished the industry’s attractiveness for a potential career path, especially among younger generations, argued Ms. Boriana Farrar, Vice President – Chief Legal Officer, Patriot Contract Services, LLC, when talking about the US shipping sector.

People are choosing, again and again, other professions especially the younger generations, because I think the COVID crisis…indicated that being stuck on a ship for a year or two away from your family is really a hard thing to go through,

…she said.

As such, the industry needs to pay attention to promote a more comprehensive and consistent image to the external world, added Mr. Cook:

We, as an industry, need to promote seafaring as a quality profession, and I don’t think that the general public really appreciates the work that seafarers do…So I don’t think that seafaring has a really positive viewpoint from the general public.

Welcoming more female seafarers

With respect to gender diversity, the culture onboard is what ship managers have to focus on, making sure that there is no special treatment for anyone and that underreporting in sexual harassment cases is eradicated.

“A senior officer, particularly a master on a vessel with a female seafarer, needs to be educated and understand what their responsibilities are. I think it doesn’t need to be over the top in a way that we’re going to treat people differently. We’re going to treat people all the same, but we need to be aware of their concerns and a little bit extra things that we need to do to ensure their welfare is promoted,

…said Mr. Cook.

“What we should do is make sure that the people who are onboard and their officers have the correct culture, which is everybody should be protected from whatever they feel danger. Nobody gets special treatment at the expense of somebody else and those who are joining ships should have the liberty the freedom of choice of where they want to do and what they want to do,

…added Mr.Gourdomichalis.

“The focus should not be too much on a single group onboard. I think we live in an international world and diversity is in the broadest sense something which we’re all working on very hard and of course it also again starts with ourselves and showing lead by example,

…added Ms. Orsel.

The way forward

Collaboration of the private sector with the national authorities, rather than among the shipping companies themselves, is a main way forward for the shipping industry, if it is to deal with the potential adverse effects of COVID-19 again, argued Mr. Gourdomichalis.

We are definitely engaging more than what we were. But are we engaging enough? No, we’re not engaging enough, which is why we’re not getting the results we want,

…he said.

“One of the lessons learned during COVID-19 is that we are not living in isolation. We are not safe unless everyone is vaccinated. So, in a similar way, we also realize in the shipping community, whether manager or owner, that we need to collaborate and work together,

…stressed Mr. Kapoor.

“I think that we need as an industry again to break away from the real lockdown where we believe that a ship should be manned with Indians or Ukrainians or Russians…That’s the traditional way that we’ve looked upon crewing a ship and I think we need to move away from that and think a little bit more internationally and think about the right people for the job,

…argued Mr. Cook.