Burnout syndrome in seafarers in the merchant marine service

Abstract

Compared with the majority of on-shore occupations, the burnout risk in seafaring seems to be moderate. To reduce the EE among seafarers, it is recommended to extend the sleeping time, to avoid long working hours, to improve the superiors' communication and leadership skills, to diminish the superiors' stress load caused by organisational duties and to support low-price telecommunication possibilities at home.

Seafarers’ depression and suicide

“…Their main conclusion was that with the exception of galley staff, officers were the most stressed rank of seafarers due to their "high responsibility for the crew and the ship and by permanently changing job demands (port clearance, district routes and watch-keeping at sea)" ( [26], p. 413). This was given support in their later study which found that "officers stayed on board for considerably shorter periods (4.8 vs. 8.3 months for ratings) but had significantly more often an extremely high number of working hours (…) Correspondingly, officers complained more frequently of a higher stress level due to time pressure" ( [18], p. 96). In regards to rank, it would therefore seem, on the basis of self-reported stress levels, that officers are the group which is at most risk.…”

“…In two studies done by Oldenburg et al [18,26] there were some surprising findings. Their main conclusion was that with the exception of galley staff, officers were the most stressed rank of seafarers due to their "high responsibility for the crew and the ship and by permanently changing job demands (port clearance, district routes and watch-keeping at sea)" ( [26], p. 413).…”

“…Not only is there direct evidence for this in terms of self-reported stress [18,26], but there are also other indications such Haka et al's [29] study on motivational factors and the reported importance of connectivity. The development of communication technology over the last ten years may have played a part in reducing the sense of distance between seafarers and their spouses, family and friends.…”

“…This is corroborated by such reports as The Manpower Report [17], which found that a clear majority of the sample population of seafarers reported themselves to be "satisfied", "happy", and "very happy" in response to a question about their levels of satisfaction. In an article from 2012, Oldenburg et al [18] studied stress and burnout syndromes and found that "compared with the majority of on-shore occupations (…) the burnout risk in seafarers seems to be moderate although seafaring is repeatedly considered as a particularly demanding occupation" (my emphasis, p. 413). Similarly, Besikci et al [19] found that fatigue and distress were not particularly pronounced in seafarers' self-reports.…”

“…More recent publications indicate a similar pattern. In listing the biggest stressors on board, a clear majority of participating seafarers reported separation from their families, and this comes before other factors such as time pressure and long working days [18,26]. Similarly, Haka et al [29] found that the biggest factor motivating seafarers to quit their job was "time away from home" as over 50% of their respondents reported this as their biggest issue with seafaring ( [29], p. 24).…”