During a discussion at the third day of the 2022 Crew Welfare Week, panelists discussed about the topical issues and challenges that are related to crew welfare and ways to move forward.
Beginning the conversation, the panelists were called to describe their organizations’ approach towards crew welfare. As Capt. Faouzi Fradi, Group Director Crewing and Training, Columbia Shipmanagement, said: “We are offering to the ships a 24/7 hotline for mental health support. We also focus on the fitness of the crew. In fact, we made a survey at the beginning of the pandemic asking seafarers what they think we should do better and the improvement of fitness equipment on board was number one.”
For his part, Nikos Toumazatos, Crew Manager, Latsco Marine Management, noted that an initiative that took place in his company was a vaccination bonus. “Internet is also vital, and for that reason we provided free internet to all the seafarers on board, giving them the chance to come closer with their families and not have the sense of isolation.” In the same wavelength, Ioanna Vernardou, DPA / CSO, Blue Planet Shipping Ltd, explained that they provide a number of initiatives. “First of all we have a crew welfare officer in house who attends the ships’ needs. We are also upgrading our onboard satellite systems in order to achieve better internet speeds and to be able to offer a free internet especially in our older fleet.”
“As an ESG focused digital maritime platform, we work with a range of different industry stakeholders to champion the cause for our seafarers and with the view to creating a safer more sustainable and socially accepted acceptable environment for them. Moreover, through our inspections program we are able to check welfare standards and include this as part of the vessel assessment criteria that we have.” added Andrew Roberts, Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, RightShip.
Continuing, Gabriele Dado, Commercial Director, Safetytech Accelerator, mentioned that: “In terms of the campaigns and the initiatives that we have launched during this period, all of them really revolve around the technology and its role, and most importantly its role as an enabler towards crew well-being but most importantly safety.”
All of these initiatives have one common goal. To improve seafarers’ accommodation onboard, and make their lives easier overall. To achieve that, Mr. Toumazatos believes that “the technology significantly supports and assists the well-being and the happiness of all onboard, but the pandemic has negatively affected the lives of seafarers.” For this reason, Latsco concluded that the wi-fi and the internet needs to be free to all at the accommodation. Agreeing with Mr. Toumazatos’ last point, Ms. Vernardou stated that: “Our approach is to have all the options open, to have free internet, good connectivity in the cabins, and to also develop initiatives to revive the mess rooms.” However, she noted there is a big discussion about how seafarers are more disconnected from the ship, as they want to talk to their families, which sometimes make them take their family’s burdens onboard and not develop relationships with the rest of the crew.
Offering a different approach, Mr. Roberts shed a lens of diversity, equity and inclusion on the discussion.
We need a diversity of options for the seafarers. The internet is hugely important for connectivity and communication with their families, and if you look at the recent proposed changes to the MLC Convention that’s very much a focus on having that internet.
For these options to succeed however, Mr. Roberts stressed that…
shipping must create an environment where irrespective of what options people would like to choose, they feel included.
Continuing the conversation, the panelists shared their views on what are the next steps towards a physical, mental and social well-being, after COVID. According to Capt. Fradi: “Going forward we need to have sustainable solutions because sustainability is what we are looking for. We need solutions that will last, and will become part of the routine, rather than initiatives.”. With regards to lessons learned from the pandemic, Ms. Vernardou highlighted that “mostly governments failed seafarers, and not managers or owners. With regards to their welfare, we need a roadmap of best management practices and not the minimum requirements.”
Moving Mr. Toumazatos’ point on technology one step further, Mr. Dado added that “we can roll on board methods to get many more data points and accurate data points, asking seafarers if they are happy on board, how are they feeling, and this can be done relatively cheaply on a consistent basis.” However, one crucial question remains, and that it is “do seafarers feel valued?” According to Capt. Fradi: “Seafarers want more to feel valuable and part of a big family. They also need to communicate their problems, as that gives a lot of comfort.” For this reason, “now more than ever the seafarers have to feel that they are valued in our lives, and the human element has really proved be important to the global commercial chain,” explained Mr. Toumazatos.
Nevertheless, the importance of seafarers is often overlooked, Ms. Vernardou believes: “Seafarers’ role and importance is not recognized by the general public or politicians. I believe it would be helpful if IMO or ILO launched campaigns, for the general public to learn about the importance of seafarers.” To highlight the crucial role of seafarer, Capt. Fradi suggested need to showcase more what seafarers do on a day-to-day basis, with Mr. Roberts concluding that:
It is time for us to learn from the past and work together to call out the bad actors and elevate standards.
