SSI & IHRB: Governance drives seafarer welfare outcomes

SSI & IHRB: Governance drives seafarer welfare outcomes
The Editorial Team January 14, 2026 https://safety4sea.com/ssi-ihrb-governance-drives-seafarer-welfare-outco...

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) have published the Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights 2025 Progress Report, highlighting the continuing gap between policy commitments and lived experience on board.

The Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights 2025 Progress Report, draws on welfare data from 710 companies covering more than 13,000 vessels, alongside input from seafarers and welfare organisations. The report finds that welfare outcomes are shaped by how clearly responsibility is defined and embedded into governance and commercial decision-making.

Outcomes improve when welfare is embedded into commercial decision-making. When it is not, the cost is borne by seafarers. Closing this gap now requires coordinated action across the value chain. …said Ellie Besley-Gould, Chief Executive Officer, SSI.

Key findings include:

*Evidence across the report reinforces the link between seafarer welfare, safety and operational resilience, with fatigue, isolation and psychological stress posing direct risks to safe shipping.
*Stronger outcomes where expectations and accountability are clear, including in safe manning and medical cover.
*The findings highlight the influence of charterers and cargo owners in driving welfare outcomes when expectations are built into commercial relationships. Weaker performance where responsibility is fragmented, notably in onboard connectivity, family support, and recruitment-related debt.
*A continuing gap between policy commitments and lived experience on board, underlining the need for greater alignment across the shipping value chain.
*Wide variation in welfare performance between vessels, including within the same company, underlining the limits of company-level commitments without ship-specific visibility.
*Evidence from seafarers and welfare organisations shows that illegal recruitment fees remain a systemic risk, with enforcement gaps allowing exploitative practices to persist across recruitment chains.
*Growing recognition of seafarer welfare as a safety, liability and risk issue, with insurers, P&I clubs and assurance providers emerging as important leverage points in driving higher standards.

This year’s report shows a sector that is starting to confront the realities of seafarer welfare with greater honesty and urgency. Engagement with the Code of Conduct continues to grow and the conversations across this year’s work reflect a clearer understanding that welfare is integral to the safety and resilience of global shipping.
The Code of Conduct establishes a baseline understanding of a company’s operations and their delivery of seafarers’ rights. Seafarers continue to face uncertainties, and it remains pertinent to provide the tools and guidance needed for more stakeholders to acknowledge and begin assessing their obligations to seafarers.

At the same time, seafarers continue to face significant pressures. Recruitment fees place ongoing strain on families, shore leave remains restricted in many locations, and connectivity and family support are deteriorating as the pace of change on board accelerates.

These challenges span the entire maritime value chain and can only be addressed through coordinated action and a shared understanding of where intervention is most needed.

The 2025 results show areas of progress along with areas that require further attention:

*Female seafarer employment increased from 49 % to 52 %.
*Provision of 12 month private medical insurance ashore increased from 18 % to 23 %.
*Reports of vessels without private cabin bathrooms decreased slightly from 32 % to 31 %.
*Safe manning practices remain steady, with 98 % of companies exceeding minimum levels when trading conditions require it.
*Access to free or reasonably priced internet declined from 32 % to 31 %.
*Support services for seafarers’ families fell from 56 % to 48 %.

The data shows positive movement in gender inclusion, medical coverage and manning awareness. These areas indicate where companies appear to be strengthening their approach to welfare. Connectivity and family support remain the weakest performing indicators.

Both are consistently highlighted by seafarers as essential to wellbeing, mental health and retention. The downward trend in these areas signals where renewed focus is needed.

In addition, the SEAFiT crew survey conducted in Q2 and Q3 of 2025 shows that the 2025 SEAFiT Index—a measure of overall wellbeing—stands at 70.1%, down from 72.5% in 2024. This decline reflects a downward trend and also highlights the mounting pressures on seafarers’ wellbeing.

We continue to work for improved seafarer rights and welfare through the Code of Conduct and issue-specific initiatives with our collaborators and through collective action with industry and government. …Francesca Fairbairn, Institute for Human Rights and Business, highlighted.

Call to action

The conditions that matter most to seafarers can be improved, but improvement will only come through coordinated action and sustained pressure across the value chain.

Every actor has a responsibility. Eliminate recruitment fees. Protect shore leave. Ensure safe manning. Provide connectivity. Support families. Respect the people who keep global trade moving. Let us commit to these priorities and deliver change that is visible in the daily lives of seafarers, not only in policy documents.