The Sea Archive

Restrictions on shore leave mean seafarers are confined to their ships By Helen Sampson and Iris Acejo Anyone who has been to sea for more than a few weeks will have experienced the relief and joy...

The industry needs a ‘radical shift’ in its thinking about seafarers By Dr Martin Slade Seafarers are the salt of the earth, responsible for 90% of goods that are transported throughout the wo...

Good chief cooks are worth their weight in gold By Michael Grey If an army, as was allegedly said by Napoleon, ‘marches on its stomach’, what effect might the quality of the food have on the p...

There are many health benefits to spending down-time solving puzzles. Lower stress levels, better memory, improved mood, improved problem solving abilities, and better work performance are just some o...

seaV promises an all-encompassing social community for seafarers By Will Eillson seaV is more than a community and social network; it’s the only fully automated digital logbook for seafarers. ...

Seafarers are entitled to the same access to medical care as workers ashore By Felicity Landon Covid-19 has thrown a harsh spotlight on seafarers’ rights, not least their rights to medical care....

Setting the Mission’s global strategy for the next five years By Verity Relph The past two years have affected seafarers’ lives dramatically, as they have the maritime welfare organisations wh...

Ship designs need to put more emphasis on how the environment can best support the crew By Yahaya Sanusi and Rangel Vassilev The pandemic and resulting crew change crisis thrust seafarers into the...

Period of hope gives way to confusion and frustration for seafarers By Steven Jones In closing out 2021, we unfortunately saw a drop in the overall average figure for the Seafarers’ Happiness In...

New platform aims to modernise maritime employment By Fraser Matthew The recruitment process for maritime professionals is traditional, slow and laborious for both the seafarer and recruiter. As t...

The release of new data standards will underpin an ECDIS evolution By Carly Fields Change is coming to the way seafarers navigate the world’s waters. The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is moving ...

The maze of life can be better navigated with God’s support By The Revd Canon Andrew Wright Mazes are a collection of paths leading to a goal. They are not simple. Finding the right path can be ...

Seafarers encouraged to confidentially report near misses as well as actual incidents By Carly Fields Adam Parnell took over as director of maritime at the Confidential Human Factors Incident Repo...

Award recognises seafarers for their commitment, heroism and courage By The Revd Canon Andrew Wright Let us now praise famous men”, says the Book of Ecclesiasticus. I write at the time of the...

Protection of a ship’s underwater parts is now a big and important business By Michael Grey In the effort to reduce the negative impact ships have on the environment, quite a lot of the battle g...

More action needed to shift the dial on seafarers’ rights By Felicity Landon When the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention 2006 entered into force in 2013, it was hai...

Industry champions are on a mission to revolutionise seafarer wellbeing By Carly Fields Grahaeme Henderson, chair of Together in Safety, is on a mission to convince all chief executives of shippin...

Code of Conduct and self-assessment created for a safe, healthy and secure onboard work environment By Frances House and Andrew Stephens The pandemic and resulting crew change crisis thrust seafar...

Vaccination rates among seafarers are improving, but we need a shared global standard By Susanne Justesen and Kasper Søgaard, Global Maritime Forum For the past 20 months seafarers all over the w...

Seattle has found novel ways to help seafarers get their Covid protection By Verity Relph As key workers who are vital to the global economy, there can be little argument against seafarers being p...

Not every ship is suited to carrying every cargo type By Capt Akshat Arora The exceptionally high demand for container shipments has prompted charterers to explore the possibility of utilising ves...

It’s time to take a fresh look at resolving welfare challenges By Nick Chubb When it comes to better understanding seafarer welfare issues, I believe there are three key topics to consider: the ...

Eyesea welcomes seafarers with a desire to help tackle at-sea debris By Graeme Somerville-Ryan, Eyesea Environmental compliance, regulation, and oversight. Fun topics that get the average seafarer...

Many seafarers see a job ashore as the natural progression of their career, but is the grass greener? By Felicity Landon There is an accepted narrative around seafarers and the expected pattern of...

The Mission is here for those at sea, whatever their sexuality or gender identity By The Reverend Timothy Tunley Over the years I have helped to support several lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender...

A trauma-informed approach to dealing with the aftermath of critical incidents at sea By Captain Terry Ogg There is a saying that is sometimes used by English-speaking land-dwellers: “Worse thin...

The Mission’s WeCare e-learning modules aid financial and social wellbeing By Verity Relph At a time when mental wellbeing is more of an issue than ever for seafarers, one of the many questions ...

Now is the time for collective action By The Revd Canon Andrew Wright The weather seems to be changing in so many places. As I write, the last few weeks alone have seen record-breaking and dangero...

The Mission’s latest WeCare initiative supports seafarers in addressing barriers By Pam Kern The Mission to Seafarers has elevated its wellbeing resources with a series of free webinars and podc...

The IWSF aims to improve the conditions for women seafarers worldwide By Carly Fields Founded by three pioneering women seafarers of India in 2017, the Inter- national Women Seafarers Foundation (...

Happiness levels down across the board By Steven Jones Every quarter the results of the Seafarers’ Happiness Index (SHI) are compiled. Throughout the past 18 months the responses have held up su...

Ship designers need to ‘live’ the space they are proposing for seafarers By Michael Grey At a time when seafarers are often trapped aboard their ships for months on end, with no shore leave an...

Celebrating the men and women that keep international trade moving June 25 marks an important day for global at-sea workforce. For 11 years, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has co-ordin...

A champion for seafarers By Carly Fields Throughout the pandemic, Bjørn Højgaard has championed tirelessly for seafarers’ rights. He has staunchly promoted key worker status for seafarers and ...

Teaching has not kept pace with change in the shipping industry, leaving crew ill-equipped to handle challenges By Carly Fields This year’s UK Chamber of Shipping conference featured a People Pa...

Do not underestimate the huge amount of regulatory review necessary to bring autonomous ships into the commercial shipping fold By Michael Grey With plenty of other things to worry about in the la...

Jarin Chowdhury is the first female cadet from Bangladesh to sail on foreign-flagged ships. She was awarded the Cadet Award at The Mission to Seafarers annual Seafarers’ Awards, presented to the cad...

By Yrhen Bernard S Balinis The evening sky is illuminated by the colourful city lights visible in the distance. The sounds of revving vehicles rushing to reach their destination reverberate. It’s...

MtS chaplains bring considered gifts to crews to let them know that they are cared for By Verity Relph Most of the world will never get the chance to hear about, never mind taste, a Welsh cake, bu...

By Felicity Landon What has changed since Captain Knud Præst Jørgensen, master of the Elly Maersk, first went to sea with Maersk in 1981? That’s an easy question to answer, he says: “I would ...

Crew must be properly trained on the use, storage and maintenance of pilot ladders to avoid serious injuries to pilots By Sudhir Malhotra Pilot ladders are critical equipment for ensuring the saf...

By Renat Besolov Working as a seafarer offers many opportunities. I work in the fishing fleet; we fish for snow crab in the Barents Sea. The work is physically hard, but it brings in a good income ...

A Lloyd’s Register-led survey sets the foundations for improvements in seafarer well-being By Verity Relph As of December 2020, as many as 400,000 seafarers were stranded on ships working beyond...

Seafarers demand respect for the life-critical services they have tirelessly provided during the pandemic By Michael Grey Some years from now, when the historians get to work on the Great Pandemic...

How increasing awareness of maltreatment of seafarers can help to tackle the issue By Eliza Ader It was a late August afternoon when my brother – Matthew – and I were dis- cussing project idea...

Some owners have risen admirably to the challenge of lifting the spirits of seafarers By Steven Jones The latest report from the Seafarers Happiness Index (SHI) has been released, and features fee...

Adjustment of seafarers’ records is a widespread problem that urgently needs to be addressed By Carly Fields New research from a project team at the World Maritime University (WMU) has uncovered...

Paying more than lip service to seafarer welfare By Carly Fields In these distressing times a “tiny sliver of positivity” is emerging from the chaos of the pandemic, according to Vroon Offshor...

Shipping is an international, multicultural industry – we all know that. But what does that mean for those at sea? By Felicity Landon One word keeps coming up when discussing the priorities arou...

The ICS’ Guy Platten explains why seafarers are absolutely not forgotten 2020 has been one of the toughest years in living memory. While the pandemic itself has taken its physical toll, the mental ...

Let’s make sure that there is a proper review of remote processes before we fully embrace them In this strange and horrible pandemic, much has been made of the need for everyone to minimise human c...

Better motivation and a retention rethink needed to encourage and keep women at sea By Felicity Landon Let’s start with statistics: when it comes to women at sea, most people quote the Internati...

The Mission’s WeCare initiative has put an emphasis on relationship guidance The Mission to Seafarers port chaplains and welfare teams know only too well the challenges that seafarers face. They un...

Who will be the onboard expert for future fuels or electronic equipment? By Michael Grey What a lot there is for the modern seafarer to learn, beyond the old established skills passed on from thei...

The Mission has reached out to help seafarers during the Covid-19 pandemic By Verity Relph The Covid-19 crisis has hit crews and their families across the globe hard and the Mission to Seafarers h...

An army of knitters offer literal and spiritual warmth for seafarers By Verity Relph Even at the best of times, life on the ocean can be challenging. Rough seas, the threat of piracy and shipwreck...

Could owners and crewing agencies do more to support less able seafarers? By Felicity Landon The rules are clear: all seafarers must pass strict medical examinations before they can set foot on a ...

Past crises have demonstrated the flexibility of shipping and Covid-19 is proving no different By Michael Grey In all the economic and transport turmoil caused by Covid-19 and violent movements in...

Celebrating Sea Sunday is all the more important in these challenging times By Verity Relph For 160 years, churches have united every July to celebrate Sea Sunday. It is an opportunity for people...

Seafarers today need a blend of education tools to ensure continuous and appropriate development By Manish Singh Having been a seafarer and a ship manager for over 25 years, I believe that learnin...

Crews voice Covid-19-related concerns in the Seafarers Happiness Index By Steven Jones Seafarers Happiness Index (SHI) gauges the big issues affecting those at sea, and there can be few things in ...

Celebrating the rescue efforts of those at sea in the pre and post Covid-19 world By Ben Strong A familiar question in our home is: “Hey Dad, when is the package going to get here?” As more an...

Facing up to unprecedented challenges in moving seafarers on and off ships By Felicity Landon At the start of May, 12% of the 5,500 seafarers on board ship manager Thome’s ships had gone past th...

What does the threat of criminalisation really mean to seafarers? By Charles Boyle The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges for the maritime sector with seafarers facing pr...

Taking the opportunity to rediscover, rethink and re-evaluate our global community By The Revd Ramaçes Hartwig I am writing this reflection in Easter week in the midst of the turmoil brought by t...

Meet those working around the clock to help seafarers caught out by Covid-19 By Felicity Landon On May 1, in response to a call from the International Chamber of Shipping and International Transpo...

Oceanographer Art Allen has spent his life's work improving the capabilities of offshore search and rescue teams By Carly Fields As an oceanographer employed at the US Coast Guard, one would be fo...

Shore leave for Seafarers is not easy to come by, as they have to overcome a myriad of hurdles in order to take advantage of it… By Felicity Landon Early in February came the news the Singapor...

Fuel scapegoating worries and rising racism issues have come to the fore By Steven Jones The Seafarers Happiness Index allows crews to share detailed feed- back on the challenges facing them at ...

Entering enclosed spaces might be just part of the job, but never forget the hazards such a task presents By Phil Belcher As a first trip cadet, one incident is imprinted upon my memory when I b...

The Mission’s safeTALK training programme champions a community-based approach By Verity Relph It is a distressing fact that close to 800,000 people lose their lives to suicide every year. Thi...

Companies need to recognise the operational and environmental factors that affect mental health By Katie Higginbottom Mental health in the maritime sector, as in other sectors, has been swept un...

New research proves that stable crewing strategies can be transformative for both seafarers and ship operators By Carly Fields Onshore there’s a great deal of reliable data confirming the bene...

A serious re-think is needed on the subject of seafarer training By Michael Grey Why should it be such a struggle for cadets and other trainees to find berths aboard ship to give them the sea ex...

Seafarer Vikas Mishra, abandoned on the cargo ship Tamim Aldar  for almost three years, speaks to The Sea about his ordeal By Kate Jones In October 2016, Vikas Mishra boarded the Tamim Aldar ca...

Knitters around the world take great solace in making items for seafarers By Andrew Wright The Mission to Seafarers, along with a number of its colleague societies, continues to give out very la...