Pertamina International Shipping, partnered with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and Indonesian seafarers’ union and ITF affiliate, Kesatuan Pelaut Indonesia (KPI), to bring mental health training and services to its crew members.
Under an agreement, Pertamina, the ITF and KPI agree to provide multiple trainings and emergency outreach services related to seafarers’ mental wellbeing over the next three years.
The ITF-Pertamina the memorandum of understanding (MoU) builds on an agreement on mental health and stress management training, signed last week between the ITF and the Government of the Philippines. While the Philippines ranks as the world’s largest supplier of ratings and officers, Indonesia is also one of the world’s main providers of seafarers, ranking third in terms of ratings and fifth in terms of officers.
Moreover, the MoU follows a similar agreement struck between the Government of Indonesia, the ITF and KPI in September last year, which the ITF’s Global Wellbeing Programme Coordinator, Dr Syed Asif Altaf called “hugely significant”. Under the 2024 agreement, seafarers’ mental health education is now mandatory in the country’s maritime academies.
The agreement signing between the parties was immediately followed by a two-day ‘First Responder and Peer Educator’ training seminar in Jakarta for a group of Pertamina’s top officers and engineers.
Muhammad Irfan, Director of Fleet Management for Pertamina International Shipping, hailed the signing and initial seminar as a positive step forward.
We will have a program to build a healthy mentality. A healthy mentality and healthy crew will support the business sustainability of Pertamina International Shipping into the future.
…said Muhammad Irfan.
The ITF and KPI plan to hold three more first responder trainings for officers and ratings, as well as a more in-depth ‘Training of the Trainer’ seminar later in 2025, alongside establishing an emergency call centre run in Indonesian – Bahasa Indonesia – later this year.
