To ensure good seafarer health onboard starts from the top. The concept of leadership bears the responsibility and shapes the work culture, ultimately having a major impact on seafarer health, concluded experts in a panel discussion during 2023 Crew Welfare Week.
The panel, moderated by Capt. Yves Vandenborn, Director of Loss Prevention, NorthStandard, focused on seafarers’ health. The following stakeholders took part in the conversation: Marinos Kokkinis, Managing Director, OneCare Solutions and OneLearn Global; Dr. Christian Lubaton, Medical Director, Nordic Medical Clinic; George Pitaoulis, Head of Marine Personnel, Nakilat; Johan Smith, Project Manager, Sailors’ Society and; Ronald Spithout, Managing Director, OneHealth by VIKAND.
Key opportunities arising from the pandemic
Experts noted that one of the silver linings of the pandemic is the focus on mental well-being; now companies are more and more focusing on mental health. Furthermore, many other positive outcomes emerged from the pandemic.
‘’Covid gave a new focus, it was almost like a springboard that catapulted mental health into the spotlight. In our own experience, we saw a significant rise in the number of calls that came through our helplines and our peer support groups.’’, said Johan Smith, adding that the pandemic, in essence, highlighted the interconnectedness of things, how vulnerable supply chains to changes and how important seafarers are. Now that the pandemic is over, Johan Smith noted that we should never forget seafarers’ significant contribution to trade.
Above all, Covid highlighted the benefits of both cooperation and co-petition in the sense that companies in competition with one another, they came together to address an issue in a global sense. ‘’There is real power in that, if going forward, we want to address mental health in a bigger way than today, co-petition is an important word in order to get things smoother and move a lot quicker.’’, said Johan Smith.
Adding his takeaways from the pandemic, Marinos Kokkinis noted that Covid made industry to realize the need for a holistic health and well-being support for the seafarers. ‘’Since the start of the pandemic, we have supported around 4,000 on mental health’’ informed Marinos Kokkinis to highlight the need to shed focus on seafarers’ wellbeing.
Apart from mental health focus, we should recognize as well the need for telemedical support, which shall not be only for emergencies but also for every aspect of seafarers wellbeing
Marinos Kokkinis argued and stressed that telemedicine can save lives.
From the owner’s perspective, George Pitaoulis from Nakilat noticed that the global population realized how it is to live as a seafarer. ‘People were stuck indoors, whether they like it or not, they had to work from the same environment. So, that was a good idea of how a seafarer’s life is. If everybody ashore started complaining about that, they should take a minute and think the people who are actually onboard and do this for four, six or eight months at a time.’’
In addition, the whole health system substantially improved with the improvement of the data bandwidth onboard and overall, the perception around seafarers’ health radically changed. The older generation, which had a ‘macho’ perception, is slowing moving away, giving space to the young generation who are more sensitive and openly express their feelings.
Moving on, Ronald Spithout noted that Covid brought virtual events to our lives and many technological advancements. The pandemic also revealed the need to invest in seafarers and that seafarers are not a cost but an asset.
Previously, when we were talking about ESG, everything was surrounded around the environment and clean shipping but nowadays, as an outcome of the covid time, the S of investment – aka the Social Investment – is coming up and many stakeholders engage in discussions around crew welfare.
We should be investing in people. When we care for the environment, let’s also look into the environment within the ship, the interconnections of people because the shore and sea connection is very important. We need to always be aware that people can fail and need care
…highlighted Dr. Christian Lubaton.
Another interesting aspect that Dr. Christian Lubaton brought to the discussion was that in the pandemic, we forced ourselves to become from competitors to collaborators. Lastly, we were pushed to do things that we hadn’t done before such as pushing our technologies, telemedicine, services got better and processes were renewed.
Tackling with the stigma of mental health
Discussing about the different perspectives that the young generation brings onboard, it was highlighted the need to train cadets on what to expect onboard. Apart from training on soft and hard skills, there is also a need to educate seafarers around mental health and highlight the difference between mental health and mental illness, noted Marinos Kokkinis in a way to debunk any myths and address the stigma.
‘’Ultimately, apart from awareness and trainings, the goal should be to create a positive working environment and foster a supportive culture and encourage crew members to speak freely and provide positive feedback. These are the key elements that could break the stigma and enhance seafarers’ health and safety’’, Marios Kokkinis said.
Johan Smith agreed there is a ‘culture of silence’ in the industry as people are afraid to express their feelings.
Mental health is such an overwhelming and major topic that we should continuously look at ways to keep on building awareness
…he said, adding that we also need to see some institutional changes in IMO, STCW policies to support this topic.
‘’Every seafarer comes from a very unique culture, so cultural sensitivity and educating leaders with regards to the culture awareness of different understanding of mental health can really help the industry in taking the next step’’ Johan Smith concluded.
Ronald Spithout agreed with the aforementioned viewpoints, however, he highlighted, the biggest piece of the puzzle is trust. ‘’I think it is time that healthcare, whether physical or mental, is becoming part of a proactive healthcare situation onboard. Checking how sailors are feeling, their health situation, as part of a holistic healthcare program, can do wonders. ‘’.
In essence, Ronald highlighted the need to step over to a proactive healthcare program for people onboard, to exercise early intervention on any kind of health issues that may arise. Once again it was mentioned that it is essential to focus on trust and inclusion in order people to be encouraged to talk about their problems.
In order to break the stigma of mental health, ‘’you have to walk the talk’’, George Pitaoulis said from the owners’ perspective. ‘’The stigma of mental health does not exist when someone is trying to find the risk to be repatriated. I would say 80-90% of those require to be departed is for mental exhaustion.’’
‘’In my experience, it’s all about leadership both on a personal scale and an organizational level’’ added Dr. Christian Lubaton.
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