Pioneering pact agreed between the ITF and Nigeria’s maritime safety agency.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has signed a landmark deal in Lagos which supports the mental wellbeing of seafarers in Nigeria.
The agreement, signed with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is the first partnership of its kind between the ITF and the maritime administration of an African country: for the first time, mental wellbeing will be included in maritime training for seafarer cadets in Nigeria.
The pioneering agreement, signed on Monday 26 October at the opening of a three-day ‘Seafarers’ and Cadets’ Wellbeing Awareness and Training of Trainers Programme’, is the latest in a series of wellbeing and mental health agreements spearheaded by the ITF across the world – and comes shortly after the launch of the ITF’s Mind at Sea mental health and suicide prevention campaign.
“This is a strategic milestone,” said ITF Africa Regional Secretary, Mohammed Dauda Safiyanu.
“It’s the beginning of a partnership between the ITF and NIMASA where new seafarer cadets will get stress management tools for the first time. In time, we hope to roll out this approach to other African countries.”
Faculty members of Nigerian maritime education and training institutions and NIMASA officers will be trained in mental health protection under the legal agreement, and wellbeing will be embedded into maritime training curricula.
“Life at sea puts huge mental pressure on seafarers,” said Dr Asif Altaf, the ITF’s Wellbeing Programme Coordinator. “Long periods away from family, isolation, fatigue and challenging working conditions can all erode seafarers’ wellbeing – that’s why greater awareness and coping strategies are urgently needed.”
Seafarers experience high levels of mental distress. A 2019 Yale University study of 1,572 seafarers, funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, found that one in four had signs suggesting depression, while one in five reported thoughts of being better off dead or hurting themselves during the previous two weeks.
“These are not merely distant statistics,” said Jibril Abba, NIMASA’s Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services. “They represent the young men and women enrolled in our cadet programmes, as well as the seafarers who carry Nigeria’s flag and engage in trade worldwide. Their wellbeing is fundamental to safe shipping.”
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Notes to Editors
ITF agreements, events and trainings on mental health and wellbeing include work with the Indonesian government in 2024; ‘training of the trainers’ in Romania for ten maritime universities from seven countries on or near the Black Sea; an agreement and subsequent training with the Philippine Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) in 2025; Pertamina International Shipping in 2025; training and events for seafarers, dockers and railway workers around World Mental Health Day 2025; Indonesian civil aviation workers in 2026.
Mind At Sea runs from 10 October to early December 2026. The initial phase will include activities in two countries per continent. The ITF plans an annual campaign, with the aim of making mental health and wellbeing part of routine ship visits by all ITF inspectors in coming years.
The 2019 Seafarer Mental Health Study by Rafael Lefkowitz and Martin Slade of Yale University was funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust. Among 1,572 respondents, 25% had scores suggesting depression, 17% had scores suggesting anxiety, and 20% met the study’s measure of suicidal ideation. That measure covered thoughts of death or self-harm over the preceding fortnight. These are survey findings and screening measures, rather than clinical diagnoses or current industry-wide prevalence estimates. Study and full report available here.
The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) requires seafarers to demonstrate competence in caring for people on board, including recognising signs of distress and knowing where to seek assistance.
