Just grin and bear it?

First the good news. The Seafarers Happiness Index, published by the Mission to Seafarers, took a move upward in the second quarter of this year as a range of efforts to improve crew welfare bore fruit.

The Christian seafarers’ charity said overall happiness increased to 7.21 on a scale of 10, from 5.85 in the previous quarter. The rise in the index, which is put together with the support of insurer Standard Club and vessel inspections firm Idwal, showed that home-grown solutions were beginning to help seafarers after almost three years of lockdowns and supply chain crises.

The Mission to Seafarers said that vessel crews are starting to see light at the end of the COVID tunnel, with some port and crew change restrictions easing, even though it is unclear whether the post-pandemic world is fully open to them.

Despite the positive vibes, SHI founder Steven Jones, writing for industry website Splash247 was rather more honest in his appraisal of the steps taken by the industry to improve morale. His view is that morale-boosting might work in the short-term, but the bigger changes required will need a deeper shift in attitude and practice.

Jones too, is pleased by the jump in the index this quarter, as crew changes began to improve, COVID rules relaxed and revisions to the Maritime Labour Convention regarding internet access became public. He says that among the responses to its survey, the compilers spotted a worrying trend suggesting a strong divergence between superficial attempts to raise morale and more fundamental needs.

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