A silver wave? Filipino shipmates’ experience of merchant seafaring

Abstract

Seafarers are an occupational group amongst those at the highest risk for stress, which may in turn influence their mental and physical health. The primary aim of this study was to explore perceptions and experiences of stress, resilience, and well-being amongst a sample of Filipino merchant seafarers. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with merchant seafarers working in a large shipping organisation. Four focus groups were conducted, each with eight ratings (n = 32) (all male). Participants were Filipino ratings across all departments (deck, engine and galley), and worked onboard liquefied natural gas carriers, product oil tankers and crude oil tankers, operating globally. Qualitative data was analysed using the descriptive and interpretive qualitative methods. Results: Ratings communicated their perceptions and experiences of stress, resilience and well-being in relation to 11 domains: workload; safety; social; support; salary; food; shore leave and signing off and on; nationality and culture; management; inequality; and optimisation. Two critical broader themes interlaced the findings. The first, recent changes, was highlighted by participants regarding the need for more socialisation and shore leave for example. The second, organisational justice, was emphasised by ratings regarding, for instance, the importance of an equal and fair work environment. Conclusion: Supporting the psychosocial well-being of seafarers may benefit both the individual seafarer and their employer, through improved well-being and increased work performance, comprising a virtuous reinforcing cycle. Importantly, a work environment seen as supportive and just is necessary to provide a good platform upon which individually focused psychosocial interventions can be optimally applied.

Μεθοδολογικό Πλαίσιο Αξιολόγησης Λογοδοσίας Και Διαφάνειας Απολογισμών Αειφορίας-Εταιρικής Κοινωνικής Ευθύνης (ΕΚΕ) Επιχειρήσεων

“…The experts that took part in our survey satisfactorily confirmed our findings and strengthened our suggestions for going beyond GRI's general provisions and setting extra sectoral-specific disclosure standards for the maritime sectors as it has already happened with other industrial sectors. Our findings are in line with previous studies investigating maritime's CSR and sustainability agenda (Fasoulis and Kurt, 2019;Lu and Tsai, 2008;McVeigh and MacLachlan, 2019;Sarvari et al, 2019;Zhou et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2020;Drobetz et al, 2014;Shin and Thai, 2014) We believe it is the time for the establishment of an open dialogue with maritime organizations, sustainability practitioners, policy-makers and other interested parties focusing on maritime sectoral key challenges and priorities and aiming towards a sustainable and socially responsible maritime industry.…”

Identifying Predictors of Stress and Job Satisfaction in a Sample of Merchant Seafarers Using Structural Equation Modeling

“…Crucially, however, the psychosocial well-being of seafarers is determined by a just, equal and supportive overall work environment. The maritime industry prioritizes “rationalization” and “optimization” of budgets and work practices, which may lead to violations of rights and standards for seafarers, jeopardizing their dignity, performance, safety and overall well-being (McVeigh and MacLachlan, 2019). Neither dispositional resilience nor instrumental work support can be expected to compensate for a work environment that is perceived as unequal, unjust and unsupportive.…”

Stress and strain among merchant seafarers differs across the three voyage episodes of port stay, river passage and sea passage

“…Slišković et al (2017) [34] emphasize that more intervention strategies should focus on moderating the main job-related stressors (primary measures) to reduce mental health risks among seafarers. Psychosocial interventions that focus only on the individual level while eschewing the broader work environment in which those individuals are expected to perform, may lead to further frustration and disengagement [35]. A limitation of this study is that only 22 container vessels could be examined in this time-consuming field study on board.…”