Thome Group has been presented with the Secretary General award in a ceremony hosted by The Mission to Seafarers at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Singapore. The award was in recognition of the Group’s sustained efforts in improving seafarers’ welfare both at sea and ashore.

The Thome Group was able to demonstrate how it has made a difference especially during the extra pressures and strains on its workforce during the pandemic.

Some of the services it has provided crew include a 24/7 helpline in partnership with ISWAN where seafarers could call specially trained counsellors to help and advice. Thome also introduced a telemedical service linking again with ISWAN and The International Radio Medical Centre (CIRM) which provides medical advice to seafarers, a Fridate (Friday date) to keep in touch with seafarers under quarantine using zoom calls to keep their spirits up and a Livewell@sea programme designed to encourage social engagement activities onboard to promote positive interaction amongst crew and prevent feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Another major initiative was the introduction of the TSM Privilege card for Thome’s crews.  The card offers seafarers and their families exclusive rates and special benefits from car and housing loans, car insurance, healthcare and postpaid mobile packages, to special hotel room rates, restaurant discounts, appliance store deals and much more.

Accepting the award virtually on behalf of the Thome Group, Simon Frank, Chief Human Resources Officer said, “I am deeply honoured and proud to accept this award on behalf of the Thome Group.  We aim to ensure that our workforce is at the centre of everything we do and making sure that we look after our employees’ mental and physical health is paramount. This has been especially the case during the past 18 months which has put extra strain on seafarers’ working conditions with the extra protocols brought about by the pandemic and lack of crew changes during the peak of the global spread of the virus. This is why we felt it was very important to provide as much help and support as possible to show how much we value the sacrifices they make on a daily basis to ensure that the global supply chain is maintained.”