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More needs to be done to prevent suicides at sea

More needs to be done to prevent suicides at sea
Dubbing it the "silent killer" International SOS medical director Olivier Lo said at a panel at the Asia Maritime Breakfast briefing on -Seafarers Welfare post-MLC 2006, that more needs to be done to prevent suicides at sea.

There is not enough recognition of its existence and if the industry does not do more the numbers will continue to rise, he noted.

Among the suggested solutions are employee assistance programmes. These however are harder to implement while seafarers are out at sea, he acknowledged.

Other means are the use of support services such as having a chief health officer onboard who is trained to recognise the early signs of mental health issues.

Lo noted that often mental health issues do not emerge from seafarers initially in that form but rather as complaints in seemingly minor forms such as stomach upsets and so on. It is important to recognise the signs of this he added.

Another way is to encourage companies to provide shore support for families. Lo noted that an increase in cases often occurred after seafarers contact with family when they feel a sense of powerlessness that they are not able to deal with a problem back home.

Earlier this year the UK P&I Club highlighted that suicide was the highest cause of death at sea, accounting for 15% of fatalities.