Seafarers’ Welfare Conference at London International Shipping Week (LISW2019)

How do we help the seafarer of the future? This was the question at the centre of discussions at yesterday’s (11th September) successful conference on The Impact of Technology on Crew well-being, with an emphasis on mental wellbeing. 

The event organised by The Mission to Seafarers, in collaboration with Sailor’s Society, Apostleship of the Sea and Seafarers UK as part of London International Shipping Week (LISW) was attended by over 240 delegates from various organisations within the industry.

Keynote speaker Dr Grahaeme Henderson, VP at Shell, highlighted the importance of the work being carried out by the four nominated charities. He said:

“As an industry, we can do much more about caring for our own and other people’s wellbeing. We can become a leading industry in the challenging area of mental health”.

He spoke of HiLo, a maritime risk management project that was founded by Shell Shipping and Maritime, Maersk Tankers A/S and Lloyd’s Register Consulting which “analyses data points using a predictive risk model, producing recommendations for improved safety on board”.

Sponsored by Inmarsat, the event was made up of four panels discussions where key persons from the industry were able to address questions from the audience.

The day concluded with the ISWAN Awards, which allows seafarers to nominate their welfare heroes across four categories. MPA Singapore (with whom our MtS Singapore office have a close partnership) won Port of the Year, Shipping Company of the Year went to Teekay Corporation, Liverpool Seafarers Centre was recognised as Seafarer Centre of the Year and MtS’ Garry South won The Dr Dierk Lindemann Welfare Personality of the Year.