The pandemic has raised the curtain on the workings of the supply chain, and the maritime industry is far more visible and public-facing than ever before. Current issues of the supply chain are highlighting longstanding seafarer health and welfare issues, and affecting how the industry as a whole is perceived. 

Public perception of ongoing challenges that are increasingly high profile—such as access to vaccinations, vaccination passports,  the crew change crisis, challenges with mental health, amenities onboard, etc—will undoubtedly impact recruitment and retention to the various fields in the maritime sector.

This perception comes at a time when the recently published 2021 BIMCO/ ICS Seafarer Workforce Report raised concerns about the shortage of trained and experienced seafarers.

While some challenges are situational such as a lack of access to crew change and COVID-19 vaccinations, they indicate an ongoing issue of poor crew wellbeing by some operators. Although some companies genuinely care about seafarers and implement best practice to ensure crew mental, physical and emotional needs are met, sadly most crew are well aware that their wellbeing is largely viewed as the remit of charities.

On the 26 November we hosted a hybrid conference Supporting Seafarers into the Future which included our bicentenary celebrations. Dr Tim Carter made a presentation on where SHS began and there is an excellent video which shows the link with our past trustees and trustees today. Click here to watch the video. This conference showcased the full results and recommendations of the Meta Study into Seafarers' Health and provided an opportunity for all those with a stake in seafarer health and wellbeing, from shipping companies to maritime welfare organisations, to discuss the way forward. The final report will be available shortly.

The conference also saw the launch of the report of the SeaFit Programme and provided an opportunity to hear about future plans for the project. To see the Seafit programme in action click onto this link.

In 1877 the Society published a Dickensian style Christmas story written by the Secretary, Henry Burdett. Dickens had visited the Dreadnought 20 years earlier and Burdett obviously felt confident that the late author wouldn’t mind him appropriating one of his most famous characters to encourage donations to the hospital! 

In 1880 the Society’s Assistant Secretary, James Michelli went even further and wrote an entire nautical melodrama to entertain donors.

By the time of the First World War and into the 1920s, the Society’s nurses were key to organising Christmas events. A much loved feature of a Greenwich Christmas was the annual Dreadnought ‘Great Stir’. Every year the Australian High Commission donated the fruit for a giant Christmas pudding for all the hospital patients to enjoy on Christmas Day. Before it was cooked, Dreadnought staff and patients attended a well-publicised ceremony where the pudding was ‘stirred up’ - much to the delight of all involved.