Sailors’ Society urged the shipping industry to help seafarers and prevent a “mental health catastrophe”.
For this reason, the charity is building a new Wellness at Sea e-learning platform, which it will make available for free to all seafarers.
Companies urgently need to get on board the Wellness at Sea campaign and make crew wellbeing a priority
The call also comes as companies have increased fears that the crew change crisis will be worse than last year, considering the surges in crew supply countries and a number of ports closing to seafarers arriving from India.
More specifically, Sailors’ Society’s CEO Sara Baade, said:
Seafaring was already one of the most challenging jobs in the world, and now the Covid crew change crisis has added even more intense pressure on our crews. They are exhausted and anxious – they either face months of uncertainty at sea or the fear of being unable to work and provide for their families. It’s a mental health time bomb for the industry, which relies on their labour to keep our global economy moving
Now, the new Wellness at Sea e-learning platform is planned to launch later this year. Sailors’ Society is also offering a free 27-week Wellness at Sea awareness programme to shipping companies, which starts at the end of June and provides information and resources on mental health for their crews, as well as a free helpline for seafarers who are struggling with their mental health.
