Seafarers always work within a crew, yet isolation is particularly pronounced in maritime shipping.
Voyages run up to the Maritime Labour Convention maximum of 11 months. Isolation is matched by confinement, with seafarers working and living in their workplace, under the employer’s control, with parallel physical restrictions on a seafarer’s ability to seek help or leave an abusive workplace. Seafarer isolation is therefore linked to and can exacerbate a range of other human and labour rights risks faced by seafarers.
Go deeper
For more on isolation and lone working, see the Risks Across Transport guidance