In a webinar organised by the Maritime Authority of Jamaica this week, some of the top names in the maritime world came together to endorse the International Maritime Organization’s Day of the Seafarer initiative.

This year Day of the Seafarer took the theme of ‘My Harassment-Free Ship,’ stating that bullying and harassment was unacceptable in all its forms, with those on the webinar looking at ways bullying could be stamped out.

The webinar examined in particular the issue of ‘How to foster a positive culture’ and how the industry needed to band together across all levels to achieve this.

Hosted by industry expert Sean Moloney, the illustrious panel comprised of Captain Steven Spence (Head of Safety, Environment and Certification at the Maritime Authority of Jamaica), Dr Carolyn Graham (Senior Lecturer, Marine and Nautical Studies at the Caribbean Maritime University), Dr Hortense Ross-Innerarity (Superintendent of Pilotage at the Port Authority of Jamaica), Captain Kuba Szymanski (Secretary General at InterManager), Georgia Allen (Projects and Relationships Manager, International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network [ISWAN]) and Dr Maria Ali (Lead Psychologist at the OneCare Group).

The panel agreed that the issues of bullying and safety went hand-in-hand, whereas often they are separated and bullying therefore not taken as seriously as it should be – often the assumption being safety should always take first place.

Dr Graham said safety considerations focused heavily on the technical side rather than so-called ‘soft skills’ and mental health.

She said: “Seafarers are not empowered to speak out about these things. Lip service is being paid for seafarers to speak out.”

Ms Allen backed this point up, by saying ISWAN had received over 100 calls from seafarers in the past six months alone suffering mental health issues while serving at sea, which had originated from being bullied.

She added that seafarers not only needed physical safety, but they should be made to feel safe mentally too.

Captain Spence pointed out that eliminating harassment on ships would lead to better relationships, collaborations and co-operation amongst seafarers.

The panel was also critical at the fact there was no robust system to allow seafarers to make an official compliant on the issue.

Towards that, Dr Ali stated the industry needed to make seafarers aware that if they had reason to complain they would be protected and supported – not punished.

She said: “This shows the start of quite a big shift in the industry – going beyond the training and measures.”

Captain Spence added that the Maritime Authority of Jamaica was one of the flag States that has an established system, with a Registrar of Seafarers in place who is also a trained social worker. He said the registrar can be approached by anyone trained in Jamaica and working on a Jamaican ship with any issue in full confidentiality.

Dr Ross-Innerarity said the initiative of My Harassment Free Ship was effectively a call to action to everyone in the maritime industry ‘to foster a safe, inclusive and respectful working environment for all seafarers, irrespective of their rank, race, gender, nationality and background.’

“They deserve our unswerving advocacy and support,” she added.

Captain Szymanski endorsed this point, calling on everyone watching and listening to not take the high moral ground, but to look at themselves and ask what they can do as individuals on this issue.

“Often we don’t believe we are responsible for a lot of things. We are very happy to tell others what to do, but not necessarily ourselves,” he said.

He added charterers, owners and flag states also need to look to themselves and see what they can do, rather than assume others would take on that responsibility.