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London International Shipping Week 2025 (LISW) once again brought together the global maritime community to reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
For The Mission to Seafarers, the week was marked by two cornerstone events; the Seafarer Welfare Breakfast Seminar and the Power of Partnerships Lunch. Together, these gatherings underlined not only the pressing issues seafarers face but also the remarkable impact that can be achieved when industry, government, and welfare organisations work side-by-side.
The Seafarer Welfare Breakfast Seminar – co-hosted by The Mission to Seafarers, Stella Maris, Sailors’ Society, and The Seafarers’ Charity – explored the urgent theme of “The Future of Seafarer Welfare.” The panel included Partner at HFW, William MacLachlan, Sustainability Director and Head of Secretariat at UK P&I Club, Patrick Ryan, Managing Director of OCIMF, Capt. Karen Davis and Trustee of MNWB Capt. Louise Sara.
As global shipping grapples with geopolitical instability, climate change, crewing shortages, and the demands of the energy transition, it has become increasingly clear that the human element is at the sharpest edge of risk. Safety, as the discussion made clear, can no longer be defined solely by hard hats and lifeboat drills. Instead, it must be understood in its broadest sense, encompassing physical, psychological, emotional, and even digital wellbeing.
Speakers reflected on how the pandemic revealed deep vulnerabilities around isolation and mental health, while present-day threats such as piracy, abandonment, and detentions continue to place seafarers in precarious situations. A powerful theme that emerged was the need to ensure seafarers’ voices are heard. One speaker noted that seafarers are often silent because they fear that speaking up could bring punishment, and urged that the industry must provide safe ways for their perspectives to be shared.
The seminar also made clear that charities cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. Industry leaders and governments must commit to working alongside welfare organisations to protect crews, provide connectivity, and ensure long-term mental health support. Listening is no longer enough – action is essential to building sustainable systems of welfare in the years ahead.
Reflections ranged from the evolution of safety from a purely physical concern to one that embraces mental well-being, to the importance of ensuring that welfare is embedded in the sustainability of shipping itself.
As the week drew to a close, the Power of Partnerships Lunch at Stationers’ Hall gathered senior leaders from across the maritime industry in a moment of reflection and collaboration. First launched in 2023 and warmly welcomed back this year, the lunch combined the chance to network and relax after a busy week in the historic surroundings of Stationers’ Hall.
The event held 34 guests, including four speakers – The Mission to Seafarers’ very own Secretary General, Peter Rouch, Director of Development, Jan Webber and Chairman on the Board of Trustees Tom Broadley. UK P&I Club’s Sustainability Director, Patrick Ryan, also addressed guests.
Taken together, the breakfast seminar and the lunch highlighted The Mission to Seafarers’ long-standing conviction that seafarer welfare must sit at the heart of industry decision-making. Both events reinforced the need to listen carefully to the experiences of seafarers, to support them in every dimension of safety, and to recognise that partnerships are essential to achieving lasting change.
As The Mission enters its new strategic period, it does so with a clear focus: to ensure that the voices of seafarers shape the future, and that their welfare remains central to the sustainability of global shipping. Without seafarers, there is no shipping. Without welfare, there can be no sustainable future for the world’s trade.
