Crews still getting raw deal on rest breaks, food and medical care

SEAFARERS serving on merchant ships typically get fewer rest breaks, less access to medical care and lower levels of shore leave than counterparts on cruiseships, according to research from academic sociologists.

Problems include sleep deprivation and chronic fatigue, particularly on vessels with smaller crews.

These conditions were found to correlate with short-term anxiety and depression. More than 40% of senior officers in the cargo sector reported symptoms of mental distress.

There was also particular dissatisfaction with catering on board, especially the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables and the prevailing standards of food preparation.

More positively, the work also found that many seafarers are taking steps to improve their lifestyle, with consumption of alcohol, tobacco and fried food all down on the levels revealed in earlier studies.

Some 60% of respondents working on merchant vessels said they did not drink alcohol at all while at sea.

The study also found that incidents of sexual harassment and assault remain underreported, often due to fear of retaliation, disbelief, or losing one’s job.

The findings are based on replies to more than 2,200 questionnaires and 200 interviews with seafarers on both merchant and cruise vessels, conducted by a team of sociologists from Cardiff University’s Seafarers International Research Centre, led by Professor Helen Sampson.

Funding was provided by Stiftelsen Sveriges Sjömanshus, a Swedish grant-making organisation, and the Sjöbefälsföreningen, a Swedish trade union for merchant marine officers.

Officers are frequently responsible for round-the-clock operations during port calls, ship-to-ship transfers and cargo loading, with little possibility for rest.

One second officer commented: “Over-fatigue is not exception, it’s like normal. I never get enough sleep during cargo operations.”

Another seafarer linked his health issues to his inability to leave the ship. “I tell you, if you can’t do shore leave, it feels different, it does something to your brain,” he said.

However, the ability to take shore leave remains severely limited for those working on merchant vessels. While 84% of cruise workers had taken shore leave in the previous two weeks, that figure fell to just 42% for merchant seafarers.

Some 15% of merchant seafarers reported having had no shore leave at all for 43 days or more. Some vessels, such as very large crude carriers and other tankers, almost never came alongside, making disembarkation impossible.

Others pointed to port-specific immigration rules or political tensions between countries that barred them from disembarking. A Pakistani master contended: “If you are Pakistani and you are going to discharge cargo in India, you won’t be allowed to go out because of the political tension out there.”

Even when ships are anchored close to shore, shore leave was often blocked by company unwillingness to pay for launch services. One third officer recounted: “The vessel will stay, for example, in anchor two days. The company won’t pay for the boat [that] will take you from vessel to the port.”

Publication of SIRC’s findings comes just after the 2025 amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, which affirm that seafarers “shall be allowed shore leave to benefit their health and well-being, consistent with the operational requirements of their positions”.

The amendments further state that “shipowners shall allow shore leave to seafarers when off duty, upon the ship’s arrival in port, except when leaving the ship is prohibited or restricted by relevant authorities”.

However, the study’s authors point out that there is no requirement for companies to organise or pay for transportation to facilitate seafarers’ shore leave.