stress – particularly among those working at sea.
For comparison, the report points to another study of
350 seafarers in international shipping which showed that
higher levels of resilience, longer seafaring experience and
greater work support were significantly associated with
lower levels of self-reported stress, but caution that more
research is needed to objectively measure stress levels.
A combination of the significant number of seafarers
showing signs of ‘starting problems’ and the fact that more
than half did not feel happy with the precautions adopted
by the shipping company in response to Covid ‘indicates
an urgent need to establish a care-taking programme for
the seafarers on the personal level and the organisational
level in the companies’.
A preventive programme would be as effective for those
seafarers showing higher levels of personal resilience to
stress factors during the pandemic as those showing signs
of stress.
A combination of person-focused and organisationfocused
approaches appears to be the most promising way
of helping seafarers. ‘On the personal level, guidelines of
prevention for the crew onboard and the crew exchange,
with test of infection before embarkation of new crew is
recommended,’ the report states.
Seafarers should be given ‘extensive communication’
during the pandemic, including the possibility to disembark
their ships, flights home, and their economic situation.
Seafarers should have unlimited internet access to keep
in touch with home and to get tele-medical advice. They
should also have a chance of being tested onboard before
disembarking their ship.
‘In some cases, individual crisis consultations with the
company psychologist and occupational doctor may be
useful, but for the population at large there is no good
evidence that programmes with individual consultations
have any effect on the longer perspective.’
While the primary aim of the study was to evaluate the
wellbeing of seafarers during the Covid-19 pandemic, it
could also form the basis for permanent monitoring of
seafarers’ health and wellbeing from an international
perspective. Such research could serve as the scientific
evidence base to assess the effects on seafarers flowing
from the implementation of the Maritime Labour
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FINLANDS SJÖFART SUOMEN MERENKULKU 51
47%
OF SEAFARERS
WERE LESS HAPPY
THAN USUAL.
for their health.
Researchers found that 30% of
seafarers were suffering insomnia to
the point of being concerned and more
than one-quarter were unhappy and depressed. Around
three-quarters of seafarers said the pandemic had affected
the way in which they perceived their health and wellbeing.
The results show the need for companies to alleviate
the risks posed by increased levels of work-related stress
caused by the Covid crisis. Employers should use a
combination of person-focused and organisation-focused
prevention to tackle the problems.
Work-related stress among seafarers is well known, and
the researchers established the study to investigate how
the pandemic is affecting the physical and mental wellbeing
of seafarers, to analyse the ways in which additional
stress is serving as a risk factor, and to gauge the effectiveness
of the measures being taken to support ships’
crews during the crisis.
EARLY REACTION
The findings are based on feedback from seafarers serving
on containerships visiting the Italian port of Trieste over a
four-month period during the early stages of the pandemic.
Just over half the seafarers were from Asian countries,
28% from Russia and eastern Europe, and 17% from
European countries.
Overall, the feedback suggested more than half the
seafarers had no significant wellbeing problems, but
almost 40% were ‘starting problems’ and 1.3% had serious
problems.
The survey showed that 47% of the seafarers were less
happy than usual and 40% had been less able than usual to
carve out free time for themselves. Almost one-third were
less able to resolve problems than normal, and 25% less
able than usual to concentrate on what they were doing.
Engineering personnel and seafarers from Russia and
Asia had the highest levels of problems.
The researchers also sought to investigate the level of
satisfaction among seafarers regarding the Covid-related
measures implemented in ships and ports, as well as their
subjective perceptions of risk and safety.
Almost two-thirds of the ratings and 55% of the officers
did not consider that everything had been done to ensure
their health at work during the pandemic. A further 54% of
ratings and 52% of the officers did not feel safe doing their
job during the epidemic.
CAREFUL EVALUATION
The importance of careful evaluation of work-related
stress is demonstrated by other studies of psychological
problems, depression and suicide risk, the report warns.
However, the difficulty of detecting and measuring psychological
problems that can be exacerbated by work-related
” 54% of ratings and 52% of the
officers did not feel safe doing their
job in relation to the epidemic.”