ITF runs ‘training of trainers’ in Romania for ten maritime universities from seven countries.
Trainers from across seven countries located on or near the Black Sea are now ready to prepare students for the wellbeing challenges of a maritime career – thanks to training led by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
A total of 23 faculty members from ten maritime universities in Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Montenegro, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine attended the training in Constanta, Romania last month.
“Mental health and wellbeing is increasingly becoming a major issue of concern for seafarers – especially young seafarers undertaking their cadetships and looking ahead to their future careers,” said training leader, ITF Wellbeing Coordinator Asif Altaf.
“At the ITF, we know only too well about the challenges seafarers face and, because of their role as keyworkers for economies everywhere, just how vital they are to the lives of everyone around the world. So, it’s very good news that the ITF is doing more work with maritime academies around the world to help ensure that seafarers can cope with the stresses of their work.”
The number of seafarers and cadets reaching out to ITF for support has increased significantly over the last few years. In response, the ITF has developed a module on wellbeing and stress management specifically for incorporation in maritime academy curricula - and, at the same time, the ITF is organising ‘training of the trainer’ sessions for the faculty members of maritime academies in major seafaring supplying countries.
The ITF also continues to provide support to cadets and young seafarers through its global networks of ship inspectors.
Siyana Lutzkanova from the Naval Academy in Verna, Bulgaria, attended the training in Constanta. She said: “This training will help us to build the knowledge base and skill set of our students and prepare them for the challenging seafaring career.
“This training also gave us an opportunity to create networks and share experiences with maritime universities in the region, and also to explore possibilities of conducting joint research projects on fatigue, mental health and other wellbeing issues of seafarers.”
In 2019, the ITF Seafarer’s Trust and Yale University released the ‘Seafarer Mental Health Study’. Among its survey-based findings were that 25% of surveyed seafarers had scores suggesting depression, 17% suggesting anxiety, with 20% of surveyed seafarers reporting suicidal ideation. One of the report’s recommendations was that “maritime training institutes should address seafarers’ mental health issues and train for resilience”.
Subsequent academic research has confirmed the stresses and mental health issues faced by seafarers, which play a significant role in their determination of whether or not they stay in the maritime industry.
The training builds on six similar train the trainer sessions run by the ITF at Indonesian maritime academies, which targeted 200 instructors, lecturers and government officials on the mental health issues and stresses faced by seafarers.
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- Seafarers experiencing mental health issues at sea can contact the ITF via its Wellbeing Directory, where support is available in different languages, here.
- The ITF also has a wellbeing app available for iOS and Android, available here.
