SEAFiT Crew Survey Report 2023

Crew Survey Report | 2023 3 seafit.safety4sea.com SUMMARY terms of seafarer wellness, includ- ing issues related to wages and shore connectivity. It underscored that the industry tends to react to problems rather than taking a pro- active approach. The survey took place during Q1 & Q2 of 2023, asking from peo- ple onboard and ashore to provide feedback on how they perceive several wellness/ wellbeing fac- tors regarding their work and life at sea. In particular, participants were asked to answer questions that cover the following key aspects of crew welfare: Wellness; Communi- cation on Physical/Mental health; Wellbeing Factors During onboard; Happiness issues; Physical Well- being issues; Mental Health Barri- ers and; Social Wellbeing Barriers. The survey questionnaire was answered by a total of 18,352 Seafarers, serving on board 1,574 Ships. The majority of nationalities came from Asia and Europe and the majority of participants were from Philippines (37.3%). Other countries with high participation were Ukraine, India and Georgia. (Graph 1). The ship category that involved the majority of participants was ‘Bulk Carriers’, as they form the 31.7 % of the fleet involved. (Graph 3). Key Findings ● ● Welfare on board is defined by a variety of factors; many critical elements regarding life onboard are at satisfactory levels. In particular, the overall Crew Well- ness Index – the SEAFiT Index - revealed that satisfaction level is at 74.2%, higher than 2021 (71.2%). ● ● The 2023 SEAFiT Index as- sessed the satisfaction level of the following: Wellness Index (WNI 80.5%), Communication Index (CMI – 76.9%), Happiness Index (HPI – 73.8%) and Well- being Index (WBI -65.5%). ● ● The satisfaction level of Mental Wellbeing Index in 2023 showed a decrease in comparison with previous years (Graph 5). The survey highlighted many Men- tal Health Barriers (Table 2), revealing as three top barriers being: the absence of informa- tion about symptoms linked to mental health concerns (58.8%); inadequate healthcare cover- age for mental health issues (59.8%); and a lack of guidance on coping strategies for mental health challenges (60.5%). Internet connectivity is the number one well- being factor for seafarers Today we are talking about a ho- listic approach of wellbeing as we have shed focus not only on seafarers’ mental health but also seafarers’ physical health and social life onboard and overall, on seafarers’ happiness. There are many factors that can im- prove the quality of life onboard and ensure a happier crew. With that in mind, latest SAFETY4SEA survey, revealed many mental health barriers as well as that physical wellbeing is the most ignored among other aspects. T he 2023 SEAFiT Crew sur- vey, which is the largest sur- vey on crew welfare conduct- ed worldwide with the participation of 1.6K ships and 19K seafarers, highlighted as a key outcome that the internet plays a vital role for life onboard. Over 70% of the crew members don’t experience difficul- ties in establishing good relation- ships with their colleagues and rely on high-quality internet access to maintain connections and commu- nicate with their loved ones back on land, a need expressed by an astounding 91% of participants. Also, the survey brought to light several critical concerns that the industry has not given priority to in CREW SURVEY SUMMARY