On World Mental Health Day, the ITF launches a campaign to bring wellbeing conversations into ship visits and press for stronger protections for seafarers and their families.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is launching Mind At Sea, a global mental health and suicide prevention campaign to help seafarers access support and make their wellbeing a routine part of ship visits.
Launching tomorrow – World Mental Health Day, 10 October – in Sydney, Australia, the campaign carries the message ‘It’s ok not to be ok’ and will run across multiple countries on different continents until early December.
“Life at sea can put enormous strain on seafarers, and too many still feel they have to keep that to themselves. We want every seafarer to know that it’s ok not to be ok, and to know where they can turn for help,” said Dr Asif Altaf, the ITF’s Wellbeing Programme Coordinator.
“Our global network of ship inspectors and unions already talk to seafarers about their pay and working conditions. Mind At Sea will help make talking about mental health part of those conversations, so we can recognise when someone is struggling and connect them with the support they need.”
The ITF plans to run the campaign annually, with the longer-term aim of including mental health and wellbeing in routine ship visits by all ITF inspectors. Initial activities will focus on selected countries across continents.
The campaign will support the ITF’s longer-term goal of including suicide in death compensation provisions in all its collective bargaining agreements. It follows a commitment made by India’s Directorate General of Shipping at an ITF event in April 2025 to ensure compensation for all deaths on board Indian-flagged ships, including suicide, under new and existing agreements.
Long periods away from family, isolation, fatigue and demanding working conditions can all affect seafarers’ wellbeing. A 2019 study by Yale University, funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, surveyed 1,572 seafarers and found that 25% had scores suggesting depression. Twenty per cent reported thoughts of being better off dead or of hurting themselves during the preceding two weeks.
During participating ship visits, inspectors will be encouraged to hold informal wellbeing discussions of around 10–15 minutes, covering issues such as stress, fatigue, sleep and isolation, and where to get help. They will share campaign materials and promote the ITF Seafarers’ App, mental health helplines and welfare services.
Built around four actions — reflect, recognise, respond and reach out — the campaign will encourage open conversations and help seafarers recognise when they or a colleague may need support. ITF-affiliated unions will also be encouraged to develop peer support and share resources with seafarers’ families.
ITF Maritime Coordinator Jacqueline Smith said: “Seafarers’ mental health is a workplace health and safety issue, and it must be treated as one. Adequate rest, protection from bullying and access to professional help are essential to a healthy workplace.
“Shipowners and governments must do much more to protect seafarers from mental ill-health. Families who lose a loved one to suicide deserve support and financial protection – and we want to see death compensation for suicide included in all our collective bargaining agreements. This has been done in the Norwegian Seafarers' Union's cruise agreements, but it now needs to be the standard for all agreements, everywhere.”
The ITF has struck a series of agreements in recent years to expand its pioneering mental health work with transport workers, including partnerships with the governments of India, Indonesia and the Philippines, and with Pertamina International Shipping – these cover mental health training and the development of support services for seafarers, dock workers, civil aviation and rail workers. The ITF and its affiliated seafarer unions worldwide are also working to ensure the inclusion coverage of suicide as death compensation in bargaining agreements.
Seafarers and their families can find information about available support services through the ITF Wellbeing Directory.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Mind At Sea runs from 10 October to early December 2026. The initial phase envisages 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.
- At an event in Mumbai on 7 April 2025, India’s Directorate General of Shipping committed to ensuring compensation for all deaths on board Indian-flagged ships, including suicide, under new and existing agreements. See here.
- The ITF Wellbeing Directory lists organisations providing confidential advice and support in different languages.
- The ITF Seafarers’ App is available for iOS and Android.
- 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.
About the ITF: The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is a democratic, affiliate-led federation recognised as the world’s leading transport authority. We fight passionately to improve workers’ lives, connecting more than 760 affiliated trade unions from over 150 countries to secure rights, equality and justice for workers’ globally. We are the voice for more than 16.6 million transport workers across the world.
Media contact: media@itf.org.uk
