The crew-change crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is increasing stresses and strains across the entire shipping industry, but it is also giving it an opportunity to reassess — or more accurately, assess properly — some issues that have never properly been addressed.
One of the biggest issues, and perhaps least considered, is that of the mental health of seafarers.
Isolation, overwork, fatigue and pressure are issues that have been around forever, even if they have been increased by the industrialisation of shipping that has cut crew numbers and time off in port cities.
