Safety of lives at sea in focus on World Maritime Day 2024

In June 2024, the UN and IMO marked International Day of the Seafarer by remembering those killed in attacks on commercial vessels. 

Statements from the Secretaries General of the United Nations (UN) and shipping’s UN-based global regulator, International Maritime Organization (IMO) paid tribute to the four crew who have lost their lives and many more injured in Houthi attacks in the Red Sea region while acknowledging the myriad difficulties facing those who work on merchant ships at sea.

A Houthi missile that struck the Barbados-flagged, 50,000-dwt True Confidence bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden in March 2024 took the lives of three mariners and left at least four others injured, three severely. 

Another seafarer’s life was taken in mid-June 2024 when 82,000-dwt bulk carrier Tutor was targeted in a Houthi drone and missile attack. The crew was forced to abandon ship, and the vessel was reportedly sunk in a follow-up attack.

“Seafarers have been sorely tested in recent years – facing hostile acts from piracy or in conflict zones. I humbly acknowledge seafarers’ resilience and sacrifice in the name of work,” IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said. "Without seafarers there would be no shipping. And shipping is a lifeline for global trade."

Difficulties faced by women in maritime

International Day of the Seafarer also highlighted the difficulties faced by women who work in international shipping, with the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) launching a six-month women’s safety at sea awareness campaign.

"The personal safety campaign was launched amid the backdrop of research which shows that women seafarers face specific safety issues at sea, such as a lack of access to women’s healthcare, appropriately sized protective clothing and equipment, and designated spaces for women on board. Women are also more likely than men to suffer bullying and harassment."

ISWAN said its campaign is needed because the industry is slow to recognise and tackle the problem; has failed to enact the required culture change; and that male seafarers do not yet understand that they have an important role to play or what that role is.

Mental health at sea and high-speed satellite internet

Mental health is yet another significant challenge for seafarers of both sexes that has been highlighted as an ongoing crisis. Mental health issues at sea saw a spike during the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the course of 2020 and into 2021, fears around the spread of the virus stopped companies and governments around the world from allowing seafarers to leave the vessels they worked on. Some seafarers were left stranded at sea without being able to return home or have a respite from their jobs for more than 15 months.

Technological advances, and in particular high-speed satellite internet connections, have been widely touted as possible solutions to some of the mental health concerns facing workers who spend long stretches at sea. There is little doubt that ships’ crews mirror the rest of society in a strong desire for access to high-speed internet for communication with loved ones far away and entertainment. However, concerns of increased isolation prompted by access to high-speed internet and its impacts on seafarer mental health have risen alongside the widespread adoption of high-speed satellite internet services.

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