ISWAN and crew wellbeing

Chris Clifford

Amy Liebthal from ISWAN looks at the work the organisation carries out to drive change within the maritime sector for better health and wellbeing amongst seafarers, together with the recent YachtCrewHelp 2023 Annual Review

Working on superyachts is a rewarding experience for many, offering fantastic opportunities to learn new skills, travel the world, and form lasting friendships.

However, those working in the superyacht industry face many of the same challenges as those working on board merchant ships and other vessels – living and working in the same environment, in close confinement with colleagues for extended periods, and being a long way from home, isolated from family and friends.

In 2018, the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) partnered with MHG Insurance to survey over 400 crew working on superyachts to investigate welfare issues specific to the superyacht industry. In its report The Welfare of Superyacht Crew, ISWAN reported findings which included that 82% of superyacht crew experienced low crew morale sometimes, often or always, and 55% of female respondents found accessing mental health care to be an occasional or regular challenge.

Prompted by these findings, ISWAN set up a steering group of representatives from across the superyacht industry and launched the long-term Welfare of Yacht Crew project, which is seeking to increase understanding of the challenges faced by crew working in the industry and to develop effective, collaborative solutions. The project’s first initiative was the establishment of YachtCrewHelp in November 2020 – a free, confidential, multilingual helpline available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing emotional, wellbeing and practical support to yacht crew and their families of any nationality.

YachtCrewHelp builds on ISWAN’s expertise from operating SeafarerHelp, the organisation’s long-established helpline for the maritime sector. The service offers a safe space and a non- judgmental listening ear for yacht crew and their families to share their thoughts and feelings and talk through any hardships they face. It also provides support, information and/or resources to empower them to find a resolution to the issues they are facing. Since its launch in 2020, awareness of YachtCrewHelp has grown each year around the world – crew members of 46 different nationalities contacted the helpline in 2023.

Through YachtCrewHelp, ISWAN has the opportunity to hear directly from crew about the challenges they are facing on a daily basis. ISWAN’s recently published YachtCrewHelp 2023 Annual Review highlights that yacht crew are reporting higher levels of mental health difficulties and experiences of abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence (ABHDV) than seafarers working in other maritime industries, particularly merchant shipping.
www.iswan.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/YachtCrewHelp-2023-Annual-Review.pdf

In 2023, the proportion of contacts relating to ABHDV on YachtCrewHelp was more than double the level received by SeafarerHelp, accounting for 7.3% of all issues raised compared to 3.1% on SeafarerHelp. The annual review shares examples of cases where ISWAN’s helpline officers provided one-to-one support, including a crew member seeking emotional support and guidance after being sexually assaulted by a senior officer, and a captain whose mental health was severely impacted by bullying from the yacht owners.

KEY TRENDS
The annual review also reports that women were more than five times more likely to report an experience of ABHDV to YachtCrewHelp than men in 2023. As part of its efforts to address this issue, ISWAN recently launched a new awareness and behaviour change campaign, Safe at sea…it takes all of us!, focusing on the personal safety challenges faced by women seafarers and the importance of allyship for creating safer environments for all. More information about this campaign and how to get involved can be found on ISWAN’s website here: www.iswan.org.uk/our-work/safe-at-sea-campaign/

Another key trend reported in the annual review is a 13.5% year-on-year increase in contacts relating to mental health, with the proportion of issues relating to mental health almost four times higher on YachtCrewHelp compared to SeafarerHelp (15.3% of all issues raised compared to 4.0%). ISWAN’s data consistently finds that experiencing ABHDV is a leading factor in mental health difficulties among seafarers across its helplines. ISWAN suggests that a number of factors may contribute to the differences in issues reported by these industries, including a relative lack of HR structures, support services and union coverage available to yacht crew compared to merchant shipping.

The-Welfare-of-Superyacht-Crew — Download the report here

The YachtCrewHelp 2023 Annual Review also reports a 116.7% year-on-year increase in contacts from those seeking work in yachting – the most common reason for crew to contact the helpline in 2023 – indicating the challenges that green crew in particular experience in finding secure employment. In one highlighted case, YachtCrewHelp provided information to a mother concerned about a suspicious job offer her daughter received on social media.

In 2023, ISWAN worked in partnership with other yachting industry stakeholders to develop guidance on safe job-seeking for crew seeking both paid and voluntary roles. This was in direct response to an increase in calls and messages the previous year from crew who had experienced serious personal safety issues whilst working on board.

Many had secured their roles through unregulated means and/or were part of what is sometimes termed the ‘nautical hitchhiker’ community. Personal safety precautions for job-seeking yacht crew provides guidance to support crew throughout the process of finding work and joining a yacht, starting with how to find reputable agencies and practise safe dock-walking, as well as an individual’s rights and what checks to make before embarking.

The resource also addresses boundary-setting, personal safety while on board, and what to do in the case of an incident, and provides a list of organisations which offer vital support to marine crew.

ISWAN supports seafarers and their families around the world with the free helpline services, educational resources, relief funds and humanitarian support. The team also work to drive change within the maritime sector for better health and wellbeing amongst seafarers, using data from the helplines and the various support teams to identify areas of need and inform new projects and research.

YachtCrewHelp is at the core of ISWAN’s work to improve the lives of yacht crew, but this is not possible without vital funding and support from the industry.

The helpline operates 24/7/365 is at risk if the necessary funding cannot be secured to continue delivering the service without interruption.