The UK P&I Club has confirmed its commitment to making a positive impact on seafarer welfare by extending its support of Sailors’ Society’s Emotional Wellness module.
One of five sections in the global maritime charity’s Wellness at Sea coaching program, the Emotional Wellness training aims to improve emotional well-being through early identification of mental health issues and to enable seafarers to handle challenging situations at sea.
Well-being of crew is a priority for UK P&I Club, who recently revealed that a career seafaring is the second most at risk of suicide with 15 per cent of deaths at sea caused as result. While it is rare to see crew fail their medical test due to mental health issues, UK P&I Club has seen an increase in mental health and suicide cases in the claims presented by members.
Sophia Bullard, PEME Director, UK P&I Club said: “Mental health issues affect crew of all ages, nationalities and ranks and sadly can lead to an incident. In some severe cases, they even led to the death of the seafarer.
“Wellness at Sea equips crews to identify and manage the challenges of life at sea and this can help prevent deterioration of their health while on board. The program could lead to a decline in incidents and potentially save a life. We encourage all our members to consider the Wellness at Sea program for their crew.”
Wellness at Sea was launched in 2015 to combat issues by addressing wellness as a holistic concept made up of five areas of well-being: social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual. Since its inception more than 1,000 seafarers have completed the coaching program.