This month marks some success from ITF negotiations for upgraded mental health training and support for seafarers at some of the world’s biggest shipping organisations.
Under an agreement signed this month the Indonesian state-owned oil company fleet, Pertamina International Shipping, has partnered with the OTF and the Indonesian seafarer’s union KPI to bring mental health training and services to its crew members.
Also signed this month, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government agency Philippine Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and the ITF to provide enhanced mental health and wellbeing training to their seafarers, including a new module titled ‘Mental Health and Stress: Understanding Early Managements and Coping’.
The Indonesian MOU signing was immediately followed by a two-day ‘First Responder and Peer Educator’ training seminar in Jakarta for a group of Pertamina’s top officers and engineers. This training is very important for seafarers, who are often working far away from family. “They have jobs with limited social outlets, so, this is very, very important,”said a senior master at Pertamina, Captain Steven.
The ITF and KPI plan to hold three more first responder trainings for officers and ratings, as well as a more in-depth ‘Training of the Trainer’ seminar later in 2025, alongside establishing an emergency call centre run in Indonesian – Bahasa Indonesia – later this year.
Of the Philippines MOU, ITF General Secretary, Stephen Cotton, said: “We’re delighted to finalise this agreement with the Government of the Philippines.”
“Seafaring can be an extraordinarily demanding job, and that’s exactly why the ITF is forging ground-breaking agreements like this with the world’s leading seafaring nations,” said Mr Cotton.
Read more: Pertamina Shipping Partners with ITF on Mental Health | ITF Global
ITF and Philippines strike vital agreement to protect seafarers’ mental health | ITF Global