Seafarer's Wellbeing

[AKBJR]

I remember well the P&O Ferry travesty, but don’t recall the resolution, if there was one.

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Sailors stressed and exhausted after months trapped by Strait of Hormuz...

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Standard blah , blah

The maritime industry moves more than 80% of global trade — yet behind every successful voyage stands a team of dedicated men and women working long hours, far from home, under challenging conditions.
For many seafarers, the sea is both a career and a calling, but it can also test their mental strength. Extended contracts, social isolation, limited communication, and fatigue can gradually erode motivation and happiness.

5 Ways to Improve Mental Health at Sea - Seafarers Wellbeing

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#shoreleave #crewwelfare #maritimereality #humanrightsatsea #mlc...

We are drowning in hypocrisy.
No vetting inspector ever asks, “When did your crew last go ashore?”
No audit cares whether seafarers are mentally breaking down.
And yet, everyone ticks the Crew Welfare box proudly.
I personally rejected my last command at the final briefing stage not for lack of will, but because the company enforced an “active COVID protocol”… in late 2024.
At a time when every global authority had already withdrawn such measures, they still used it to justify denying shore leave.
I told them this wasn’t just irrational - it was unlawful.
And I walked away. Even though, I needed the job.
Meanwhile, crews are still denied shore leave under outrageous pretexts like
“It’s a Private Dock.”

Excuse me?! Since when does a private company have the authority to revoke a human right?
Let’s be crystal clear:
The only inalienable right enshrined in maritime tradition and recognized even in war and from every maritime court is the right to recreation and rest ashore. It’s not a favor. Shore leave is the only sacred, time-earned right seafarers have ever had.
The right to feel human, not caged.
To smell earth instead of steel. To hear laughter, not alarms.
To see something beyond rust and regulations.
To breathe freely. To walk among people and remember what life feels like-even for a few hours.
Because that short moment on land is what gives us strength to return and to fight nature with blistered hands and sleepless eyes.
It’s what keeps a man from becoming a machine.
And now even that is denied by signs, by people who own the dock!
This is beyond unacceptable.
It’s not about “safety” anymore. It’s about control and liability evasion.
No dock operator has the right to override international conventions like the MLC.
No terminal operator has the authority to strip a human being from their fundamental dignity just because they own the concrete slab under your gangway.
If states allow private entities to systematically deny seafarers their right to shore leave, then these states are complicit.
They must be held accountable.
Private docks that restrict shore leave should be prosecuted.
Not protected. Not ignored. Prosecuted by the very states they operate in.
Enough with the excuses. Enough with the PR
Crew Welfare isn’t a checkbox. It’s a responsibility.
And as long as we keep pretending that “Private Dock” or “COVID Protocol” are valid reasons to imprison people on board for months…
…then this industry deserves every bit of the scrutiny it gets.

PS: Read comments below for more opinions.

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Crew wellbeing has become a strategic leadership priority for shipowners

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BIMCO seeks industry input on crewing levels and rest hour compliance

Crew Welfare Week 2026: Tackling fatigue is key to a healthier life at sea

Added due to 3 consecutive post restriction. 23.07.25

Seafarers cannot remain the shock absorbers of geopolitical risk

Ship’s crew often feel forgotten in public discussions around freight rates, insurance premiums and disruption to trade.

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/crewing/seafarers-cannot-remain-the-shock-absorbers-of-geopolitical-risk

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Minimum safe manning must not become shipping’s commercial target

Fatigue weakens the last line of defence at sea, and regulatory minimums do not always reflect the workload crews now face, writes Steve Cameron, chair of the London branch of the Nautical Institute.

https://splash247.com/minimum-safe-manning-must-not-become-shippings-commercial-target/

[Hogsnort]

I’ve just caught up with this discussion.

Minimum safe manning is a travesty. A 3500 TEU container vessel engaged on Transpacific voyages if manned according to the certificate did not have a third mate, 3rd Engineer, electrician or cook.

None of the Filipino officers to my knowledge wanted their children to follow in their footsteps and the industry is not prepared to man vessels with 1st world crews unless there is no alternatives.

Attempts to attract females to an industry whose general conditions suit people with such wretched living conditions ashore are doomed to failure. The countries where one could expect decent conditions are racing ahead with developing autonomous ships.

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IFSMA Calls for Stronger Protection of Merchant Seafarers in Conflict Zones

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Video material from the conference included in the article.

And they are ALL SO EFFING WORRIED ,that they will never ever stop talking and blah , blah blahing abt it.

The 4th CSN Mediterranean Crewing Conference – Panel discussion: “Mental...