Susanne Justesen, director of human sustainability at the Global Maritime Forum, writes for Splash today, delving into seafarer wellbeing.
The global shipping industry faces a paradox: while it is the backbone of international trade, it lags in transparency and human sustainability standards. Amid growing environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns, geopolitical uncertainty that directly impacts seafarer wellbeing (such as the Red Sea attacks), and labour shortages at a 17-year high, the industry must urgently address issues of human rights, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), and worker wellbeing.
Facing increasing demands, seafarers are facing rising levels of fatigue, caused by being at sea for too long without proper shore leave and work weeks averaging over 70 hours. In turn, this is having severe impacts on mental health of workers at sea, who are often isolated from their support networks. Drawing lessons from other industries, like textiles, shipping can establish global standards that protect its workforce, strengthen supply chains, and future-proof the industry against rising challenges.
A global challenge
Shipping’s global nature creates regulatory gaps, with regulations varying from country to country. Seafarers also operate largely outside domestic labour laws, heightening risks to their wellbeing. Working conditions are primarily governed by the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention. But rather than offering minimal standards, they have unfortunately become the standard for many. As a result, poor working conditions, rampant discrimination, and low living standards remain pervasive. This is particularly true for seafarers from the Global South, who constitute the majority of the global maritime workforce but often lack adequate protection under national legislation in their respective home countries.
The issues facing seafarers extend beyond human well-being—they directly influence the resilience of the entire industry. This coincides with emerging challenges such as labour shortages, recruitment crises, and ESG investment risks — all posing significant threats to global trade stability. Some major banks have even threatened to curb lending for shipowners who put seafarers’ welfare at risk.
Lessons from the textiles industry
The textiles industry may seem like an unlikely one to draw inspiration for shipping, but both involve complicated global supply chains and navigate a myriad of international labour laws.
Historically, the textiles industry has grappled with exploitation, but significant progress has been made to improve supply chain transparency and address these issues. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is an international certification and demonstrates how agreed-upon certifications can raise worker standards, ensuring fair wages, safe environments, and sustainability in textiles. There’s also the well-known Fair Trade movement, which shows how consumer demand for ethical sourcing can drive compliance and improved working conditions across global supply chains.
By adopting similar certification frameworks we could ensure transparency in shipping, particularly as the EU introduces regulations holding cargo owners accountable for labour conditions. The benefits of this would be vast – from competitive differentiation based on working conditions and improved seafarer wellbeing, to attracting ESG investment, and stabilised global supply chains.
Diversity@Sea Pilot Project
The Diversity@Sea project, an initiative by the Global Maritime Forum, took the first steps in defining these standards and identifying what equitable conditions look like for both men and women at sea. While drafting these standards, it was imperative to ensure they promote inclusivity for everyone working in the maritime industry. It required 12 first-mover shipping companies to have a minimum of four women on board their vessels during the 10-month pilot, ensure gender appropriate facilities including appropriate conditions for menstrual needs and private hygiene, provide 24/7 Wi-Fi access, and provide inclusive personal protective equipment.
The project engaged 400 seafarers on a daily basis to assess the impact of various measures, providing valuable insights into what truly matters to them. The preliminary findings from this research were published in September 2024, with comprehensive guidelines aimed at making life onboard ships more inclusive and appealing for all seafarers set to be released by the end of March 2025.
The preliminary findings identified seven key areas for meaningful change:
- Zero tolerance for abuse and harassment: To tackle the issue of 25% of all seafarers experiencing harassment and bullying (over 50% for female seafarers).
- Improved contracts: To avoid the pressure seafarers feel to work excessive hours and/or spend too long away from home – working practices that can result in severe anxiety, depression, and fatigue.
- Enhanced internet and social connectivity: To help seafarers maintain contact with friends and family, access news, and pursue online education, without which seafarers report feeling frustrated, isolated, and lonely. Currently, around 13% of vessels globally offer no internet access at all, while others introduce a cost for seafarers accessing onboard Wi-Fi.
- Guaranteed helpline access: To help seafarers who often work in isolated and stressful environments to access vital anonymous and confidential advice which can prevent mental health challenges, conflicts, and incidents of abuse or harassment.
- Parental support: To ensure that being pregnant or having family responsibilities at home does not prevent seafarers from working or making a living at sea.
- Inclusive personal protective equipment: To ensure PPE provisions adequately address the need for diverse sizing, and limit safety risks – for all.
- Transparent training and appraisal systems: To promote fairness and equality and improved career progression at sea.
The path forward
Industry action is essential. The Global Maritime Forum is currently working to align on a more ambitious set of human sustainability standards that define what “good,” “better,” and “best” look like for living and working conditions at sea — drawing inspiration from frameworks such as GOTS and Fair Trade. These standards should be clear, easy to communicate, and independently verified by third parties to ensure greater transparency and mutual accountability across the entire maritime value chain. For instance, they could help cargo owners more easily distinguish between responsible practices and areas in need of improvement.
To achieve this, we must see increased levels of collaboration and buy-in between seafarers, industry leaders, and regulators to create universally accepted standards. By increasing transparency, all parties will stand to benefit. Seafarers will be able to more easily distinguish between high and low standard companies and companies that become first movers and continually maintain high standards will see increased rates of retention, benefits to reputation and be able to attract new talent. The competitive advantages as certified operators can then lead to attracting investment from ESG focused funds. For the financial and insurance sector, greater transparency will increase certainty for risk assessments, lowering their exposure to risk. This will help to ensure the stability of the global supply chain, protecting the global economy from external shocks.
Improving seafarer conditions is no longer optional; it is essential for the health of the global supply chains. A thriving maritime industry where transparency and worker wellbeing are the cornerstones of resilience and sustainability. Shipping must seize this moment to embrace transparency, learn from other industries, and safeguard its future by committing to ambitious, human-centred standards.
