The UK P&I Club informed that it extended its support of Sailors’ Society’s Emotional Wellness module for a further year. One of five sections in the global maritime charity’s “Wellness at Sea” coaching programme, the Emotional Wellness training aims to improve emotional well-being through early identification of mental health issues and to enable seafarers to handle challenging situations at sea.
The Club noted that a career seafaring is the second most at risk of suicide, with 15 per cent of deaths at sea caused as result. While it is rare to see crew fail their medical test due to mental health issues, UK P&I Club has seen an increase in mental health and suicide cases, which affect crew of all ages, nationalities and ranks and can lead to a maritime incident.
According to Sophia Bullard, PEME Director, UK P&I Club, Wellness at Sea equips crews to identify and manage the challenges of life at sea, in order to help prevent deterioration of their health while on board.
“The programme could lead to a decline in incidents and potentially save a life. We encourage all our members to consider the Wellness at Sea programme for their crew”, she said.
Wellness at Sea was launched in 2015 to combat issues by addressing wellness as a holistic concept made up of five areas of well-being: social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual. Since its inception more than 1,000 seafarers have completed the coaching programme.
Sandra Welch, Sailors’ Society’s deputy CEO and director of programme, said: “Seafarers who undertake Wellness at Sea coaching will be equipped to better meet their social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual needs, thereby helping to prevent and minimise poor health or incidents at sea. By focusing on people rather than problems, we seek to support the centre point around which our industry revolves.”
