Insurers are attempting to raise awareness of seafarers’ mental health, in an indication they are starting to notice an increase in related incidences.
The American Club this month issued a loss-prevention booklet entitled What’s on your mind? Guidance for Seafarers’ Mental Health Awareness.
The booklet attempts to help crews spot seafarers with mental health problems and suggests measures to maintain positive mental well-being onboard ships. The club describes the issue as “overlooked”. It added: “In the seagoing community, an understanding and engagement in matters of mental health is vital.”
The club describes a seafarer’s life at sea as one in which they will encounter a combination of factors that could create a poor working environment for mental health.
These include seclusion from the outside world, the monotony of the work, the opportunity for substance abuse, language barriers on multinational ships and incidences of bullying, with 50% of seafarers saying they had suffered some form of harassment. Social isolation is a problem, with 76% of seafarers choosing not to go ashore.
The club’s guidance comes amid recent industry concern over worsening seafarer mental health, which was sparked by startling statistics from the UK P&I Club’s internal claims database. The UK Club said its records showed seafarer suicides had tripled since 2014 and were the cause of death in 15% of its mental health claims.
With concern growing, there has been attempts to better understand the problem.
The most recent academic study, written by the Norwegian Centre for Maritime Medicine, is entitled Seafarer’s Depression and Suicide. It suggested that mental health may differ widely depending on factors such as the vessel’s trade and the seafarers’ own background, rank and gender.
But its review of studies into seafarer’s life seemed to contradict the view that it is one conducive to low mood.
Firstly, a review of manpower surveys of the profession found most seafarers to be “happy”, “very happy” or “satisfied” with working life.
Quoting a 2012 study, the centre suggested overwork is no worse at sea than anywhere else.
“Compared to the majority of onshore occupations, the burnout risk of seafarers appears to be moderate,” it said.
It was also estimated that out of 388,000 repatriations of seafarers on health grounds in a five-year period, only 1.7% were attributed to mental health reasons.
“This indicates that a very small proportion of seafarers became troubled enough to be returned home during their time at sea for the sake of their own mental health,” the Norwegian study said.
The general conclusion of the Norwegian report was “while seafarers have had severe problems with mental health in the past, this appears to be improving".
However, the study did caution over high-risk sectors within the industry. One area it suggested needs particular attention is deep sea vessels where 87% of suicides take place and where ratings, who generally go for the longest periods without shore leave, are most at risk.
Female seafarers may also face pressure from gender discrimination, it claimed.
The Norwegian report suggested the most effective way to tackle depression and suicide at sea is to understand where the highest risks are.
“It is variations in mental health relating to rank and gender that require closer study in order to identify optimal policies for reducing the risks of suicide and depression among seafarers," the report said.
