Tracking the impact of social interaction with wearable and mobile technology
By Georgia Allen
In unique and first-of-its-kind research, the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) is harnessing the power of wearable and mobile technology to provide insights into crew wellbeing and the impact of social interaction.
ISWAN’s Social Interaction Matters (SIM) Project is a long-term initiative to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of seafarers by promoting increased quality social interaction and rest time. In this latest research, ISWAN partnered with AIDA Cruises, V.Ships, Y.CO and another yacht management company to engage seafarers from a diverse range of vessels – including, for the first time in the SIM Project’s history, superyachts and cruise ships – to provide valuable insights for improving crew welfare. ISWAN will use the research findings to develop its existing guidance and recommendations to become a valuable and inclusive tool for bringing crew together across the maritime sector.
The research launched in June 2024, beginning with two superyachts, MY Savannah and a 74m superyacht, followed by AIDAluna and AIDAbella, then completed by V.Ships’ Excelsior and Liberty. Each vessel appointed two Social Ambassadors – one on board (although some vessels had two) and one shoreside, usually a crew manager or agent. These Ambassadors facilitated social activities, encouraged engagement with the research among crew members and acted as liaisons with ISWAN’s SIM Project team.
All participating crew were equipped with Fitbit Inspire 3 devices to track key health metrics – including sleep time and quality, step count, and active time – and the impact of social activities on their overall physical health. Alongside this, participants used their phones to anonymously respond to a daily wellbeing-related question using project partner PsyFyi’s data collection technology, SeaQ.
The questions, answered over a period of three months per vessel, collected unique responses from crew about their everyday life, including how important they consider certain influencers – such as time pressure, rest and fatigue, communication, teamwork and collaboration, and social environment –their satisfaction levels for each, and what improvements they would suggest.
Early indications
The data collected has provided some fascinating early insights into the different factors affecting crew wellbeing in relation to social interaction. Chronic fatigue, which has both personal and operational safety implications, was an issue on board all the participating vessels. Further, mental exhaustion, which increased over the project duration, was an issue onboard the majority of the vessels. Lack of rest and lack of quality rest on board was linked to reports of dissatisfaction across the wellbeing metrics, with women seafarers reporting lower satisfaction than their male counterparts.
Comparing the shipping, superyacht and cruise industries, there were some notable differences relating to social interaction but there were also many commonalities which applied across all. These included the importance of good connectivity to allow interaction with family and friends, and the need for adequate rest time so crew are not too tired to engage with social activities. In fact, common feedback about fatigue and mental and physical exhaustion across the board revolved around lack of time, feeling tired and not being able to relax or recover. Some of the suggestions crew made for improvements included better time management, shorter working hours and reliable WiFi.
ISWAN is analysing the wealth of collected data and plans to publish the findings in the first half of the year. Regular project updates will be posted on ISWAN’s website and social media, and readers can subscribe to the SIM Project mailing list for direct updates here.
Georgia Allen is projects and relation-ships Manager at ISWAN. ISWAN’s SIM Project is funded by the Trinity House Maritime Charity Department for Transport (DfT) Fund and sponsored by Seaspan Corporation.
