Call for centralised statistics on suicides at sea

The charity’s ceo Catherine Spencer said she was “astonished” that a single source of reliable information on suicides did not already exist, especially during the pandemic when many seafarers have found themselves stranded at sea aboard ‘mothballed’ vessels such as cruiseships.

“Unless we know the true extent of the problem,” Spencer said, “how can we target our support for seafarers and those working on the frontline to support seafarers’ welfare?”

Seafarers UK is therefore urging the International Labour Organization to “consider what steps need to be taken, with regard to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, to ensure that all seafarer suicides are accurately identified, recorded and shared with organisations” responsible for providing pastoral care.

Seafarers’ Awareness Week, which this year focuses on the effects of Covic-19, is organised annually by Seafarers UK and is timed coincide with the UK Department for Transport’s Maritime Safety Week.

The charity has also launched a Covid-19 Emergency Appeal for donations to support the charity’s increased funding of services for seafarers and their families during the pandemic.

Separately, fellow UK-based national maritime charity the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society has also announced establishment of a £1m Covid-19 Rescue Fund to provide financial support for UK seafarers and fishers.

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