In response to the operational disruption the pandemic has caused to crew changes, which has subjected seafarers to increased levels of stress and anxiety, Steamship Mutual announced a partnership with Mental Health Support Solutions, aimed directly at the wellbeing of ships’ crews.
The partnership, through the Club’s Ship Safety Trust, aims to allow crew members free access to confidential and professional psychological support.
Available from 1st September 2020, this service will be delivered by MHSS’s team of qualified psychologists with experience in the maritime sector giving 24/7 support, as one-to-one confidential counselling, on board and ashore.
This service follows several other such initiatives in the last months, as the travel restrictions posed by COVID-19 pandemic have left thousands of seafarers stranded onboard ships, isolated from family for months, and additional thousand unable to sign in.
The situation has been characterized as a ‘humanitarian crisis‘ and has been condemned by international civil societies, but few things have changed.
The latest Seafarers Happiness Index, released earlier this week, revealed that the second wave of COVID-19 has decreased seafarers’ hope for repatriation.
