Britannia P&I is delighted to announce that, as part of its recently launched BSafe initiative, it is supporting Sailors’ Society’s Wellness at Sea awareness campaign. The campaign was developed in response to the COVID-19 crisis and aims to increase awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues, motivate crew and provide practical support to help seafarers through challenging times.

The awareness campaign, which reflects Sailors’ Society’s experience in wellness training and supporting mental health at sea, will be rolled-out by Britannia to its Members throughout 2021. A variety of resources and materials will be made available on Britannia’s BSafe website, including podcasts, videos and posters. Each part of the campaign includes ‘seafarer activities’ which are designed to encourage seafarers to engage and take active steps to support their mental health and general wellbeing.

Britannia’s BSafe initiative is a proactive safety campaign targeted at seafarers on board its Members’ ships. Under the three main themes of onboard safety, seafarer health and onboard security, the aim of the campaign is to help influence behaviours and prevent onboard injuries and losses. By sharing relevant information and developing initiatives to support various aspects of onboard operations, the objective is to help Britannia’s Members’ crews to be safe. Crew welfare and wellbeing is particularly relevant at this time given the extra demands and pressures under which seafarers are operating due to the global pandemic.

“As seafarer wellbeing is such a critical issue and a key theme for our BSafe campaign, we felt that Sailors’ Society’s Wellness at Sea awareness programme represented the perfect opportunity to support a worthy charitable initiative and supplement our campaign,” said Graham Wilson, Divisional Director, Loss Prevention at Britannia. “We shall be rolling out the Wellness at Sea materials as part of BSafe campaign over the course of the year, with a new module being introduced every month. We encourage our Members to make their seafarers aware of the campaign and use the available resources to support their own efforts to assist their crew members to keep mentally fit.” he added.

Sara Baade, Sailors’ Society’s CEO said: “In these challenging times, it is particularly important that we continue our vital aid to seafarers and their families. We’re delighted that Britannia P&I have recognised this and have chosen to care for seafarers’ mental health by partnering on our Wellness at Sea Awareness Campaign and rolling support out to crews via their members.The most important element of the Wellness at Sea Campaign is to let seafarers know that they are not alone, with the emphasis on where they can seek help if needed.”