Building positive relationships with others is important for our wellbeing. For seafarers working away from home for long periods, it can be difficult to remain in close contact with family and friends, so the opportunity to connect with other seafarers can be a major benefit. However, long working hours, smaller crews, and cultural differences mean there can be barriers to socialising with shipmates.
Aims and objectives
Our Social Interaction Matters (SIM) project aims to help shipping and ship management companies improve seafarers’ social interaction on board, and to positively impact the wellbeing of their seafarers through using programmes with proven success. The project will:
Benefits to shipping and ship management companies
Shipping and ship management companies can make a big difference to the happiness of their seafarers with some relatively straightforward changes. In most cases, this is also likely to contribute to a seafarer’s job satisfaction, motivation and productivity.
Along with the moral motivations for providing opportunities for social activities on board, there are likely to be a number of business benefits:
Phase One
The first phase of the SIM Project began in April and May 2020 with a large survey of seafarers and other maritime stakeholders as well as 10 in-depth telephone interviews. These examined the relevant drivers and barriers to the promotion of social interaction and specific activities which seafarers around the world identified as helping to engage people.
On 9 July 2020, we held a webinar to present the initial findings from the research:
READ: Summary of webinar discussions and Q&A
From 29 June to 10 July 2020, we held a two-week digital campaign called 'Connecting Crew' to highlight the importance of connecting with others for crew wellbeing:
DOWNLOAD: Connecting Crew campaign resources
On 5 January 2021, we published a report for Phase One of the SIM Project:
DOWNLOAD: Phase One - Summary of findings
We also published a series of articles focusing on the themes emerging from the research:
Phase Two
In November 2020, Phase Two ‘The SIM Trials’ began. We partnered with a number of shipping companies to investigate the impact (or lack thereof) of social engagement initiatives on crew living and working on board their vessels.
A total of 21 vessels from 10 different companies participated in the trials, which began by selecting a Shipboard and Shoreside Ambassador to represent each vessel. The Shipboard Ambassadors each completed daily and weekly logs to record the details of life on board, and to describe any social activities that had taken place and the impact of these on overall crew mood. Each crew member was also encouraged to complete a weekly online survey which asked confidential questions about their individual wellbeing and mood.
After the Phase Two trials ended, we conducted exit interviews with each of the SIM Ambassadors, and held an ‘Ambassadors’ Round Table’ so those from different companies could share their insights and experiences from the trials and beyond.
Phase Three
For the SIM Project’s final phase, on 21 June 2022 we released a report detailing the findings from phase two of the project and providing actionable guidance and recommendations for shipping and ship management companies, seafarers and other maritime stakeholders.
DOWNLOAD: Phase Two Report - Executive Summary
DOWNLOAD: Phase Two Report - Guidance and Recommendations
Looking to the future, we plan to explore key themes that have emerged from our research, such as the link between fatigue, safety, social interaction and wellbeing. We also plan to continue the development of SIM as a long-term project for seafarer wellbeing, starting with a controlled evaluation of the effectiveness of the project’s guidance and recommendations, which we hope will lead to its establishment as a continuing resource for the sector.
1 https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/news/cbi-front-of-mind/
2 https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-support-mental-health-work
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