Seafarers’ mental health is being damaged by long working hours and isolation away from home according to research by Cardiff University.
It recommends shipowners and managers help seafarers tackle anxiety and depression by offering “internet access, improved accommodation and recreational activites.”
More than 1,500 seafarers were interviewed in the study which was funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.
One seafarer told the study, “Between pressure, workload, no days off and you are a gazillion miles away from home with limited communication, what do you think is going to happen?”
Another commented : “Three months on land is nothing.
