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Mental health support at sea

Isolation, fatigue, family separation, and unpredictable rotations make seafaring a high-risk occupation for depression, anxiety, and suicide. Mental-health support is available 24/7 from specialised helplines that understand shipboard life — you don't need to wait until crisis. Reaching out early protects your career; a documented downward spiral is much harder to recover from than an early conversation.

Step-by-step

  1. Recognise the signs — sleep disruption not explained by watch pattern, loss of appetite, withdrawal from mess-room life, intrusive negative thoughts.
  2. Talk to someone — a trusted colleague, the Master, or one of the 24/7 helplines listed below. All calls are confidential.
  3. Contact ISWAN SeafarerHelp (+44 20 7323 2737 / [email protected]) or Mission to Seafarers Chaplaincy — available in most major ports.
  4. If you are in immediate crisis — tell the Master or Chief Officer. MLC A4.1 requires medical care to be provided; this includes mental-health first response.
  5. Document the contact + response — protects your MLC entitlement + shipboard medical record.
  6. Follow-up ashore — request that your medical repatriation, if needed, be to a specialist facility rather than a general hospital.

Evidence to save

What NOT to sign

Legal basis

MLC 2006 Regulation 4.1 covers mental health as part of medical care onboard. Chapter 4.3 covers health + safety protection including psychosocial risk factors. ISM Code 6.3 requires operators to establish procedures for the reporting of health hazards + non-conformities.

Related terms

Organisations that can help

Disclaimer. General information only — if you are in acute crisis or considering self-harm, call ISWAN SeafarerHelp or your local emergency number now. This is not medical or crisis advice.