Shining a light on seafarer wellbeing

Safety has been the core focus at Lloyd’s Register since we were founded in 1760. The protection of people, ships and the environment is at the heart of all we do. Maritime is a safety-critical industry in which seafarers play an integral role in maintaining safe ship operations. 

A Lloyd’s Register Safetytech Accelerator survey of marine industry professionals found 41% of risk on a vessel is managed by the crew and life at sea can be accompanied by many mental and physical challenges. 

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the mental impact of working at sea was recognised as a growing concern. A 2019 study by the International Transport Workers’ Federation Seafarers Trust and Yale University found “significantly higher” prevalence of depression in seafarers: 25%, compared with 6% among the general population. The study found 17% of seafarers had anxiety and 20% had suicidal thoughts. 

We all know how our outlook and our state of mind can affect our ability to focus on our work and the decisions we make. And the impacts of mental health and wellbeing extend beyond to the individual concerned, as they can affect our loved ones and colleagues too.

Wellbeing impacts also come at a cost. A recent study led by the World Health Organisation estimated that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion each year in lost productivity, a cost projected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030 according to the medical journal The Lancet.

However, the personal costs to those facing mental health and wellbeing challenges are much more difficult to quantify. They can be devastating for an individual and for those around them. Many people suffer in silence and far too often these feelings, when not shared, can end in tragedy.

Creating an environment where everyone in our industry feels empowered to talk about health, mental health and wellbeing without fear or stigma is vital for seafarers. It is key that there is an increased understanding of common wellbeing challenges for our seafarers and support mechanisms in place and how we as an industry can offer better support. We hope this Lloyd’s Register report goes some way to addressing the importance of seafarer wellbeing

Around 90% of traded goods are carried across the oceans. Thanks to 1.65 million seafarers, this global transport network keeps products moving, providing us with everything we need in our daily lives. Keeping this critical workforce healthy and safe is vital. From the evidence we have built and collated, Lloyd’s Register and Lloyd’s Register Foundation believe that psychological and physical health are equally important for occupational safety – and that occupational safety doesn’t end at the gangway.

Being safe on a ship means being protected from physical injury, and it also means minimising the risks to mental health – of which there are many examples: social isolation, long working hours, demanding working conditions, precarious employment, the threat of violence, bullying or harassment, little or no shore leave and periods at sea, away from home, of up to 11 months, which during COVID often stretched well beyond that. Without action, a career in seafaring, which offers so much opportunity but is already struggling to compete with land-based alternatives, risks being rejected entirely by future generations.

Some of these risks are minimised by employers’ proactive action and maritime charities offer seafarers excellent pastoral and practical support. There is a role for everyone – regulators, flag states, employers, unions, charities and seafarers themselves – in keeping seafarers safe and well. To its clients, Lloyd’s Register is a trusted advisor, while Lloyd’s Register Foundation, which shares the same mission to enhance safety, is uniquely placed to support seafarer wellbeing in two main ways.

The first is by building the evidence base for how wellbeing affects safety, and for what works, what doesn’t work and why when it comes to practical steps employers and others can take, with a focus on long-term and sustained change. Secondly, the Foundation is well placed to convene others in the use of this evidence and in making sense of the myriad of frameworks and terminologies that have emerged around occupational wellbeing and safety – particularly during COVID – so that individual organisations and employees can take evidenced-based action for the good of seafarers, the wider sector and society.

COVID and the resulting crew-change crisis challenged seafarers, and highlighted their vital nature of their work like never before. As the maritime industry emerges from COVID, it simultaneously faces the momentous transition to green fuels alongside increasing automation and digitisation. Seafarers, and their wellbeing and safety, is more important than ever before.

With this in mind, we’re proud to feature here the highlights of Lloyd's Register and the Lloyd's Register Foundation's activity that relates to this endeavour, which we hope provides both inspiration and actionable insight.