A coalition of UK-based organizations concerned about seafarers’ welfare has come together to address abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence at sea. The organizations – The Seafarers’ Charity, The Nautical Institute, the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), Human Rights At Sea (HRAS), Safer Waves, the UK Sailing Academy (UKSA), the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP Maritime), Befrienders Worldwide and Tineke Zoet (a maritime wellbeing ambassador) – believe that their unified voice will send a powerful message that there is support for seafarers and seafarers do not, and should not, have to tolerate inappropriate behavior and toxic leadership when working at sea.
The UK-based organizations each have international reach and shared values and have agreed to form a network to support the personal and psychological safety of seafarers working in the global maritime industry. The network aims to promote effective joined-up working, avoid duplication, and complement, contribute to, accelerate, and amplify existing initiatives to create safe, positive working cultures for all seafarers.
The focus of the network will be to empower seafarers with education, awareness, support, and solutions that center around their personal and psychological safety. The network intends to increase understanding of the prevalence of abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence in maritime, and to coordinate effective, preventative solutions to these issues. As a network, the organizations will come together at regular intervals to share ideas and updates, identify opportunities for collaboration and support, identify gaps in services and resources, consult on important decisions, and work together on a joint, long-term, sector-wide campaign which raises awareness of the importance of the personal and psychological safety of seafarers.
Several charitable welfare support services already exist to support seafarers impacted by bullying, harassment, and sexual violence at sea. These include the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) which provide free, 24-hour multi-lingual helplines SeafarerHelp and Yacht Crew Help; Safer Waves, which delivers an email-based emotional support service to seafarers who have experienced sexual assault or harassment onboard; Salute Her UK who offer women-centric trauma therapy and counseling; Befrienders Worldwide, who offer emotional support in response to suicide ideation; and a number of ships visiting maritime ministry charities with global networks of staff offering practical, emotional and spiritual support to seafarers.
The network also includes Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), which maintain an independent role in investigating cases brought to the NGO’s attention alongside state authorities’ interventions, and CHIRP Maritime which maintains a confidential accident and incident reporting program. As part of a potential longer-term solution, The Nautical Institute, which represents and supports the career development of seafarers, is currently developing new training which aims to enhance the leadership and management skills of seafarers.
The Seafarers’ Charity, a significant maritime grant funder of maritime welfare services, is also a member of the network and is a funder of all the charities involved, as well as funding CHIRP Maritime and the new leadership and management training from The Nautical Institute.
Deborah Layde, Chief Executive at The Seafarers’ Charity explained why The Seafarers’ Charity is backing this new network: ‘I am saddened by seafarers’ reports of the issues they face while working at sea. But I am delighted to see so many organizations willing to come together to work on potential solutions to support the personal and psychological safety of seafarers. The Seafarers’ Charity is committed to ensuring that this network has the resources needed to build the evidence and support required for seafarers experiencing bullying, harassment, discrimination, and sexual violence onboard. This Maritime Safety Week I am calling on the shipping industry to take a stance and act to stamp out inappropriate behaviors and toxic leadership that can have such a damaging impact on seafarers’ personal and psychological safety and has no place in a modern working environment.’
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
