A new report from an international research team led by the University of the Philippines Visayas funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s small grants programme reveals which interventions were offered to seafarers during the pandemic, and which were most valuable in helping to manage mental health and wellbeing.
The team identified 22 interventions as part of the pilot study, with 11 provided by company employers and 11 by other industry stakeholders such as seafarers, charities, and government.
Almost 80% of seafarers said the most common intervention provided by employers during the pandemic were regular updates on crew changes and COVID-19, followed by timely crew changes (57%) and provisions of sufficient and high-quality PPE (53%).
Furthermore, facilitating timely crew changes were listed by 79% of seafarers as the most useful action an employer could provide, while 68% said that the provision of immediate family support would have been the second most useful, something that only 21.9% of companies provided.
The most common interventions by industry stakeholders experienced by seafarers were positive collegial atmosphere on board (77%), physical exercise (70%) and casual counselling among crew members (70%).
However, those listed by seafarers as being most useful were communicating with family (87%) and being prioritised for vaccination (77.6%). Less than a third (30%) of respondents were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time of the survey.
There’s a real disparity between what has been provided and what seafarers believe they would have found most valuable in terms of mental health. While some seafarers have experienced timely crew changes and vaccination against COVID-19, there was more than could have been done
said Senior Programme Manager at Lloyds Register Foundation, Olivia Swift.
In fact, other options that would be useful but have either not been accessible or have not been used are meditation, mental health helplines, port chaplain services, an increase in WiFi data allowance and a reduction in overtime hours.
The findings have led to a series of recommendations for the industry:
- Governments should ensure that seafarers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
- Seafarers should be classed as essential, or front line, workers by governments to encourage vaccine uptake.
- NGOs and other seafarer organisations should review and update how they provide spiritual, pastoral and guidance counselling services, prioritising the usage of virtual platforms to effectively deliver support.
- NGOs should find creative and robust strategies to improve the awareness of, access to, and use of mobile mental health apps.
- Stakeholders should support companies to make, implement and strengthen policies to encourage the creation of ‘a positive and collegial atmosphere on board’ and ‘casual counselling or support among crewmembers’.
- Companies should better facilitate ‘communication with family’ for seafarers.
Overall, companies should improve their efforts to support seafarer’s mental health and wellbeing especially during crisis situations, with timely crew changes and provision of immediate family support. Governments should also make sure that seafarers are provided with COVID-19 vaccines, prioritising them as essential or frontline workers
concluded Dr Sanley Abila from the University of the Philippines.
EXPLORE MORE AT THE MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS REPORT
