Crew Mental Health during Covid-19 Crisis
In these difficult times, Crew and shore-based companies are facing various unique and unprecedented challenges. Most yachts are not authorised to sail or carry out maintenance work with contractors, and in many countries, the crew remain under complete “lock-down” onboard. Swiss Ocean identifies some of the stresses facing crew during the Covid-19 crisis.
In addition to this stressful situation faced by the crew, most crew changes or crew rotations are simply not possible. Ongoing regulatory changes by each country make advance planning almost impossible, thus causing additional stress. Dealing with multiple challenges can become overwhelming for crew, especially when far from home and their loved ones. The mental health of our valued crew is at increased risk during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s our industry’s responsibility to urgently respond.
Mental health has been overlooked in the past by yacht owners and management companies. In this high-pressured and demanding environment, Crew mental health must be treated with higher priority.
We are facing a situation that has never been experienced on this scale in our industry before. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure crew receive the necessary support during this period so they do not feel alone with their worries. People react differently to situations where circumstances are beyond their control, especially over an extended period of time. It’s crucial to acknowledge this and to provide professional support.
This is why as a key step in ensuring the wellbeing of our captains and crews, Swiss Ocean has launched a dedicated Mental Health Hotline for our crews. The Mental Health Freephone number is strictly confidential and available 24/7. By providing this service, we aim to raise mental health awareness at sea - the bravest thing that someone can do is ask for help.
In addition to this support, unique in the yachting industry, a customised programme has been put in place for each yacht under Swiss Ocean management, based on their location and status, to provide the best possible protection against Covid-19 threats. These measures include: Personal Protective Equipment, tracking of visits and interactions with third parties, quarantine coordination and supervision, health and hygiene guidance and adapted protocol.
The Swiss Ocean team, globally, is working hard to ensure the crew receive daily updates, with immediate response for any crew requests.
One of the immediate and positive effects of the current crisis is that it has brought the human factor to the forefront of yachting operations – the value of our crew: we are particularly grateful of the support and understanding of the Owners during this time, valuing the great personal effort that crew are making to keep the yachts safe.
With offices in Singapore, Switzerland, Germany and Cyprus, Swiss Ocean is the yacht management arm of Columbia Ship Management (one of the biggest ship management companies in the world).