SeafarerHelp AR2014 20150518.qxp Layout 1 · 4 Seafarer Help Annual Review 2014 There are 10 workers, mostly part-time, in the SeafarerHelp team. We provide a multilingual helpline

SeafarerHelpThe lifeline for seafarers

Annual Review 2014

Incorporating all services provided by the SeafarerHelp team.

2 Seafarer Help Annual Review 2014

Contents

Foreword........................................................................................................3

The SeafarerHelp team and how we work ..................................................4

2014 overview ..............................................................................................5

Case study – Help in a health crisis............................................................6

SeafarerHelp services ..................................................................................7

Case study – Seafarers Emergency Fund comes to the rescue ..............8

Number of cases ..........................................................................................9

Issues raised by seafarers ........................................................................10

Trends since 2011 ......................................................................................12

Case study – Successful repatriation ......................................................14

Seafarer nationalities..................................................................................14

Countries seafarers contacted us from ....................................................16

Flag states ..................................................................................................17

Organisations we refer to ..........................................................................18

Case study – Help following a seafarer’s death ......................................19

Methods of contact ....................................................................................20

Feedback from seafarers about SeafarerHelp ........................................22

Conclusion ..................................................................................................23

Cover photo: Vidar StronstaThis page: Julián PéterDesign: Dacors Design© 2015 SeafarerHelp

Seafarer Help Annual Review 2014 3

Once again it has been a very busy andeventful year for the SeafarerHelp teamand ISWAN as a whole.

Since I took over as Chairman of ISWANin November 2013 I have beenimpressed both with the languageabilities of the SeafarerHelp team andtheir willingness to take on new tasksand to respond to seafarers’ changingneeds.

ISWAN and SeafarerHelp are only ableto help seafarers and their families

because of the continuing support from ourfunders and other stakeholders. I wouldtherefore especially like to thank The TKFoundation, the ITF Seafarers’ Trust andSeafarers UK for their funding and ongoingcommitment.

The team faced the challenge of having to moveto new offices at short notice, but I am pleasedthat we are now able to offer our employees aworking environment which is of a far betterstandard than previously. As part of the officemove we took the opportunity to upgrade our ITsystems so that we are better placed to developour services for seafarers and to take on newincome generating opportunities. In July 2014we made progress in diversifying our fundingbase by entering into a contract to provide ahelpline for another organisation, through oursubsidiary Seafarers Welfare and AssistanceNetwork Ltd (SWAN Ltd).

ISWAN’s overriding mission is to providewelfare services to our colleagues at sea.There are many organisations which providevarious services to seafarers and it is ISWAN’sgoal, not to duplicate this work, but to ensurethat these efforts are optimised for the benefitof seafarers worldwide.

SeafarerHelp will keep on growing anddeveloping its role to meet seafarers’ evolvingneeds. It will continue to improve its services,carry on its training programmes toprofessionalise the team and increasepartnership working with other organisations.Although we are now co-operating with moreorganisations than ever before, we want toextend this activity even further. Developingmore formal partnerships is particularlyimportant because it allows us to provide moreservices to benefit seafarers and make moreeffective use of our funding. We are seekingeffective partnerships with shippingcompanies, unions, welfare organisations,ports and flag states to ensure that seafarers’rights are protected and that the provisions ofthe Maritime Labour Convention 2006 areimplemented.

I believe that SeafarerHelp is a unique andvaluable organisation that can play a centralrole in supporting and developing seafarers’welfare around the world.

Chairman’s Forewordby Per GullestrupChairman: International Seafarer’s Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN)


There are 10 workers, mostly part-time, in theSeafarerHelp team. We provide a multilingualhelpline service to seafarers and their families24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from our UKoffices in Croydon, south London. Within theteam we speak 11 languages fluently,including most of the languages used byseafarers, such as Filipino, Hindi, Russian,Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, and Urdu. We canalso communicate effectively in several otherlanguages and dialects.

The SeafarerHelp service is confidential andfree for seafarers and their families of anynationality or religion anywhere in the world.When a seafarer contacts us, we log the casedetails and any successive contacts from thatperson about the same issue. This means wecan easily follow the contact history for eachcase we deal with and ensure theSeafarerHelp team is operating effectively. Inthis annual review, all figures relate to initialcontacts, unless specifically stated otherwise.

SeafarerHelp is available through a range ofmedia, including telephone, email, Facebook,Live Chat, Skype, Twitter and SMS text. Thecontacts the team receive vary in complexityfrom simple enquiries for information, such asthe address of a seafarers’ centre in aparticular port, to very difficult cases whereseafarers have been injured or even killedwhile at sea.

One of our core principles is that we will onlyrefer a case to a particular organisation with

the seafarer’s consent. We are aware thatsome seafarers are concerned that theiremployment prospects might be harmed if aparticular union is involved, or do not want tobe referred to a particular faith group. In eachcase we do our best to balance the individual’sneeds and requirements to achieve the mostsatisfactory outcome for them.

The SeafarerHelp team answer basic requestsfor information themselves but refer morecomplex contacts to our colleagues inspecialist agencies who can provideassistance in the port or country where theseafarer is located. In this way, we help theseafarer receive the most appropriate support.

The agencies we use mainly specialise in themaritime sector and have shore-basedpersonnel in ports around the world. Thisenables them to give valuable, direct personalsupport to the seafarer. Most of our referralsare to the International Transport WorkersFederation (ITF) and port welfare providerssuch as the Apostleship of the Sea, Mission toSeafarers, the Sailors Society and theDeutsche Seemannsmission.

Where these maritime specialists do not havea presence in the country the seafarer is in,we work with organisations such as unions,welfare bodies, embassies, harbour or portauthorities and medical service providers.

We are greatly indebted to the invaluable helpthat all these organisations provide to bothseafarers and the SeafarerHelp team.

The SeafarerHelp team and how we work

“TheSeafarerHelpservice isconfidentialand free forseafarers andtheir families ofany nationalityor religionanywhere in theworld”


In 2014 the SeafarerHelp team:

Received 1,920 new cases, involving7,710 seafarers and their families. Inaddition, we received a further 2,305successive contacts.

Helped seafarers of 84 differentnationalities making contact from 113different countries.

Provided assistance free of charge, oftenin the seafarer’s own language, 24 hoursper day, 365 days per year.

Caseload review

Compared to 2013 there was a 52.7%increase in the number of new cases andan increase of 19.1% in the number ofseafarers assisted.

On average 5.3 new cases and 6.3successive contacts for existing casescame to the SeafarerHelp team every day.

The average number of seafarers involvedin each case was four.

Female seafarers accounted for 3.24% ofthose who contacted SeafarerHelp, wheregender was known.

2014 overview

The most common reasons for seafarerscontacting us were: requests forinformation, wages not being paid, seekingemployment, problems over repatriation,contract problems and health issues.

The contacts we received came from 113countries, including 27 in theCommonwealth.

Seafarers from 18 European Unioncountries contacted the team during theyear.

Of the 84 nationalities assisted, the largestnumber of seafarers were Filipinos,followed by Indians, Ukrainians andRussians.

We were contacted by seafarers of 20different Commonwealth nationalities – thelargest number were Indian, followed byBritish, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Ghanaian,Bangladeshi, Nigerian and Kenyan.

Although many cases involved more thanone referral agency, we referred mostcontacts to the ITF Inspectors, followed bythe ITF Maritime Operations (MOPs) team,employment agencies, the Apostleship ofthe Sea and the Mission to Seafarers.

Case study – Help in a health crisis

A Filipino seafarer was taken ill while on boarda ship in South Africa. He was admitted tohospital, where it was discovered that heneeded urgent heart bypass surgery. His wifewas in the Philippines and could not visit herhusband so she contacted SeafarerHelp tosee if we could arrange for someone to visithim and let her know how he was, as hisoperation was scheduled for the next day.

Our team contacted the Apostleship of the Sea(AoS) and arranged for their port chaplains tovisit the seafarer both before the operationand several times following it. We passed ontheir reports about his recovery to the man’swife. When the seafarer was fit enough totravel a flight was arranged fromJohannesburg to Hong Kong and then toManila.

When the flight reached Hong Kong theconnecting airline refused to allow the seafareron board without oxygen. His wife contactedus again to ask if we could arrange forsomeone to help as she wanted him home assoon as possible so that she could look afterhim. The SeafarerHelp team contacted the ITFinspector in Hong Kong, who quickly resolvedthe issue with the airline so that the seafarerwas able to board the flight to Manila.

The seafarer arrived safely home in thePhilippines and is now recovering satisfactorilyfollowing his surgery. The seafarer and hiswife were grateful for the assistance that hadbeen provided by SeafarerHelp, the AoS andthe ITF.

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It has been another productive but challengingyear for the SeafarerHelp team and ISWAN asa whole. Here are just some of the importantevents in 2014.

The office move. The building in which ouroffices were located was taken over by a newlandlord who decided to convert it into flats. Asa result we had to move to new premises atrelatively short notice and arranging the movewas a complex project that required significantstaff resources. However, we were lucky tofind alternative, and better, offices very closeby and we moved on 1st November.

Promoting SeafarerHelp. Throughout 2014we made more effective use of social media,particularly Facebook and Twitter, to promoteour services directly to seafarers. We alsocontinued to distribute our SeafarerHelpposters and cards. As a result, we sawanother significant rise in the number ofcontacts coming to SeafarerHelp this year.

Diversifying our funding arrangements. Wewant to be less reliant on grants to fundSeafarerHelp and ISWAN so for some timehave been exploring opportunities to generateincome by providing services to otherorganisations through our subsidiary company,Seafarers’ Welfare Assistance Network Ltd(SWAN). We already ran services for the ITFand Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response

The SeafarerHelp Services

Programme (MPHRP) and in July 2014, webegan providing a 24/7, year-round helplineservice for the Nautilus International tradeunion. We continue to pursue similarpossibilities with other organisations.

Training. The professionalism and expertiseof our team is essential to the service we offer,and we continued to provide a varied trainingprogramme for them in 2014. This includedthe Ship Welfare Visitors Course from theMerchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB),specific helpline training through the HelplinePartnership and visits to ports. Unfortunately,the office move limited the amount of trainingthat we were able to undertake but we aredeveloping an increased training programmefor 2015.

IT systems. The upgrade of our IT andtelephone systems to fibre optic has improvedour internet connectivity, allowed us torationalise the number of telephone lineproviders and put us onto Voice Over InternetProvider (VOIP), which will allow us to provideour service from any location.

Data. This was the first full year in which wewere able to gather better quality datafollowing the upgrade of our case-handlingsoftware. As a result we are able to provide awider range of statistical information in thisreview.

The SeafarerHelp service and ISWANreceives financial support from the ITFSeafarers’ Trust, The TK Foundation andSeafarers UK whose generosity allows thisvital service for seafarers and their families tocontinue. We are very grateful to them for theircontinued support.

Our sponsors

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Case study – Seafarers EmergencyFund comes to the rescueA Filipino seafarer was taken ill in the USAwith an acute medical situation. Followingmajor surgery, he was kept in the intensivecare unit for two months and remained inhospital for a further month. The shippingcompany that owned his vessel paid hisdaughter’s travel expenses to the UnitedStates so that she could help support herfather in his recovery.

She was worried, however, that when they gotback home, her father would not have anymoney to pay for food, medical care and otheressentials. It was highly possible that he would

be unable to work again and she did not thinkthat he would receive support from theauthorities in the Philippines.

The SeafarerHelp team told her that ISWANadministered the Seafarers Emergency Fund(SEF) which was available to help seafarers inemergencies. They explained that it could onlybe paid to a welfare agency and suggested thatshe approach the AoS to make an applicationon her father’s behalf. A SEF application wasmade and within days a grant of USD4,700was approved and sent to the AoS to be usedto support her father and his family.


1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

0

3,065

4,388

6,473

7,710

715931

1,257

1,920

2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of seafarers assisted

Number of new casesChart 1

Trends since 2011

From Chart 1 it is clear to see that there hasbeen a large increase, some 268.5%, in thenumber of contacts coming to theSeafarerHelp team since 2011, with acorresponding increase of 251.5% in thenumber of seafarers assisted over the sameperiod. There are a number of reasons forthese significant increases:

1. Most importantly, we have improved thepromotion of the SeafarerHelp servicethrough a range of methods, butparticularly through Facebook. We startedto direct Facebook more effectively towardsseafarers in October 2013 and have runcampaigns to specifically target seafarersfrom the Philippines, India and the Ukrainein their own languages. At the same timewe have continued to promote the service

through posters, SeafarerHelp cards andby working in partnership with otherorganisations.

2. We also provide helpline/out of hoursservices to both the ITF and NautilusInternational. These have increased ourbusiness and between them accounted forsome 19.3% of our contacts in 2014.

3. It appears that the new Maritime LabourConvention 2006 (MLC) has had an impactby making more seafarers aware of theirrights and the standards they shouldexpect. As a result, when those standardsare not met we believe that seafarers feelmore empowered to try and do somethingabout it, including contacting organisationssuch as SeafarerHelp for assistance.

Number of cases

In 2014 the number of new cases dealt withby the SeafarerHelp team was 1,920,involving 7,710 seafarers. These figuresrepresent a significant increase on 2013, andas chart 1 below shows there has been asustained high level of growth in the numberof cases and the number of seafarers we have

assisted over the last four years. During 2014there were an additional 2,305 successivecontacts relating to those new cases.Unfortunately, we were unable to recordsuccessive contacts separately in 2013 andso no comparison can be made.


Photo: Bigstock

Issues raised by seafarers

“I am a slave… he is a master. I have to

clean bridge toilets in free time and

forced to sign worksheets for 8 hours

but have worked for 12. There is no

internet or mail facilities on board ship. I

am a experienced 4th engineer... I fell in

to depression and weak day by day...

mind somewhere, and body

somewhere... I started having health

problems – dysentery, vomiting,

weakness… I was frustrated, out of

mind, weak, no one to help… Some

people want to get the favour of the

Captain, they warned me not to call the

ITF because the OWNER is very

Powerful, you will have problem going

home, may be they will keep your

documents.

I am forcibly working every day….

captain does not force the company to

get me to the doctor else he tells me

that it is too much expense…. Company

has a tendency of sacking officers and

crew without warning letter, without

wages. Too many sacking in the last 6 to

7 months, no salary paid to them….

Now I just want to go home, I don’t

want to stay single moment...”

These heart-wrenching words came from aseafarer during a Live Chat with SeafarerHelpin 2014. We contacted the ITF, who resolvedthe case and helped get the seafarer off theship and repatriated home.

Seafarers contact the team for a wide range ofreasons, including when they are in greatdistress like this man.

In 2014 the top three reasons for contactconcerned information requests, failure to paywages and seeking employment.

The most frequent contact was to requestinformation – this accounted for 17.7% of allenquiries. This is a positive developmentbecause it confirms that promotion of ourservices is successful, that seafarers know weexist and are confident about contacting us ifthey have a problem.

Failure to pay wages came next, andaccounted for 15.7% of all cases.Interestingly, in previous years this was the

most frequent reason for contacts and in 2013it accounted for 28.5% of all enquiries. Webelieve this major reduction is due in part tothe deletion of the ’no first referral’ category(see page 18). This has resulted in casesbeing allocated to other categories andtherefore changed the relationship betweenthe different types of cases.

Seeking employment requests accounted for15.1% of all enquiries, a marked increase on3.6% in 2013. We believe that this is also dueto the success of our Facebook promotion.

Other reasons

Problems of no specific category accountedfor 11.9% of all cases, a slight reductionfrom the 12.5% recorded for 2013.

Repatriation accounted for 9.4% of allcases, compared to 14.5% in 2013.

Contract problems accounted for 8.8% of all contacts, an increase from 6.5% in 2013.


Environmental issue - 2, 0.08%

Cargo handling violations - 3, 0.12%

Death/Bereavement - 16, 0.64%

Piracy/War zone - 12, 0.48%

Criminalisation - 5, 0.20%

Family problems - 15, 0.60%

Psychological/Mental - 6, 0.24%

health issues

Ship sunk - 5, 0.20%

Breach of contract - 65, 2.58%

Compensation/ - 58, 2.31%

Personal injury

Finance or Debt - 34, 1.35%

Contract helpline - 17, 0.68%

specific issues

Abuse or Bullying - 70, 2.78%

Ship or Living conditions - 64, 2.54%

Unfair dismissal - 55, 2.19%

Welfare emergency - 33, 1.31%

provisions

Abandonment - 16, 0.64%

Information - 446, 17.73%

Seeking employment - 380, 15.11%

Repatriation - 237, 9.42%

Health/Medical - 150, 5.96%

Wages/Salary - 394, 15.67%

not paid

Other - 299, 11.89%

Contract problems - 221, 8.79%

Chart 2

Issues raised 2014

“In 2014 the top threereasons for contactconcerned informationrequests, failure to paywages and seekingemployment”


Trends since 2011

The main changes in issues raised aredetailed in Chart 3.

Please note, however, that in 2013 there wasa change in the software which altered howsome of the statistics were gathered and in2012 and 2013 additional categories wereadded. The categories for 2011 were broaderand as a result they are not all directlycomparable with subsequent years, althoughthey do give an indication of general trends.

In addition to the increase in the number ofnew cases and the number of seafarersassisted, there has also been a change insome of the types of enquiry we receive. Wehave already explained the significant drop inthe percentage of contacts concerning unpaidwages and the increase in contacts regardingseeking employment.

The percentage of issues around repatriation,bullying and ship living conditions have alsofallen over the years, perhaps a reflection thatship owners are taking their responsibilitiesmore seriously following the implementation ofthe MLC. Other good news is that thepercentages of both family problems andpiracy contacts have reduced – these mayrespectively result from better communicationbetween seafarers and home, theinternational naval forces patrolling the IndianOcean off Somalia and the use of armedguards aboard ships.

There are also increases in more complexproblems, such as those relating to contracts,health and medical issues and unfairdismissal. It is therefore clear that the demandfor the SeafarerHelp service continues to grow.

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30%

10%

20%

0%

2011

2012

2013

2014

Info

rmat

ion

Wag

es s

alar

y no

t pa

id

Seek

ing

empl

oym

ent

Oth

erRepatri

ation

Contract problems

Health/Medical

Abuse or Bullying

Ship or Living conditionsCompensation/Personal injury

Unfair dismissal

Finance or Debt

Welfare em

ergency provisions

Contract helpline specific issues

Abandonm

ent

Death/Bereavem

entFamily problem

s

Piracy/War zone

Psychological/Mental health issues

Criminalisation

Ship sunk

Cargo handling violationsEnvironmental issues


Chart 3

Trends in issues raisedNote where no data appears that category didnot exist that year.

“There are increases inmore complex problems,such as those relating tocontracts, health andmedical issues and unfairdismissal”


Two Indian seafarers contacted SeafarerHelpvia Live Chat from Brazil to request assistanceregarding repatriation. Their contracts hadended months before but their company wouldnot send them home, despite repeatedrequests.

The company had apparently told theseafarers that it was impossible for them tosign off from the port where they were, but themen knew that the company had signed offseven seafarers from that same port the

previous year. The seafarers alleged that theircompany was delaying their repatriation tosave money. They missed their families andwanted help to get home as soon as possible.

With the seafarers’ consent, SeafarerHelpcontacted the ITF in Brazil, which quicklyraised the issue with the company. Withindays the seafarers were returned to India andreunited with their families. They later sent anemail thanking SeafarerHelp and the ITF forhelping them.

Case study – Successful repatriation

In 2014 the team assisted seafarers of 84different nationalities, including 20 fromCommonwealth countries and 18 fromEuropean Union countries. Chart 4 records

the main nationalities, where they wereprovided. It also shows that a significantnumber of seafarers, 17.4%, withheld theirnationality.

Seafarer nationalities

British 4%

Ukranian 8%

Filipino 32%

Indian 12%

Russian 4.5%

Withheld 17.5%

Chart 4

Top 5 Nationalities


Trends since 2011

From 2011 to 2013, the nationality of thehighest number of seafarers who contactedthe team was Filipino, followed by Ukrainian,Indian and Russian.

In 2014, however, the main changes were thatthe numbers of Filipino and Indian seafarerscontacting us increased significantly, as aresult of the Facebook campaigns, while thosefrom the Ukraine fell sharply, into third place,probably as a result of the political situationthere.

Other notable increases in 2014 are in thenumber of Pakistani, Sri Lankan,Bangladeshi, Chinese, Turkish andIndonesian seafarers. Chart 5 shows anincrease since 2011 in the number ofnationalities we have dealt with from 59 to84, reflecting the success of ourpromotional campaigns and widerawareness of our SeafarerHelp service.

20

40

60

80

76

72

84

2011 2012 2013 2014

59

4340

16

47

15

181716

20

– Total nationalites assisted

– Other nationalities

– European Union nationalities

– Commonwealth nationalities

Chart 5

Nationalities assisted


In 2014 the team received contacts from 113different countries, of which 27 wereCommonwealth and 21 were European Unioncountries. This year 8.8% of seafarers whocontacted us withheld the name of the countrythey were in, a reduction from 12.3% in 2013.Contacts from the Philippines accounted for

20% of all cases; 9% of contacts emanatedfrom India; 6.5% contacted whilst at sea; and5.1% of contacts were in the United Kingdom,3.2% were in the United Arab Emirates and2.4% were in Turkey and the United States ofAmerica.

Countries seafarers contacted us from


117

135

128

56

36

53

35

4449

N/A N/A

44

35

42

22 24

40

22

Panama (1) Liberia (2) Malta (9) Marshall Islands (3) Bahamas (7) Antigua & Barbuda (21) Singapore (5)

40

56

79

In 2014 the SeafarerHelp team dealt withships that were registered in 63 countries, ofwhich 15 were from the Commonwealth. Thesix most frequently encountered registries areshown in chart 6, together with the number of

Flag states

Trends since 2011

Chart 6 shows that the trend for flag statessince 2012 is mostly as would be expected,with the largest registries occupying most ofthe top seven spaces. However, Antigua and

Chart 6

Top six reported Flag states Note Figure in brackets: Registry size according to UNCTAD 2014

Bar = 1 Contact

2012

2013

2014

cases that relate to them and their relativeposition in terms of their size in the world fleettable, according to the UNCTAD Review ofMarine Transport 2014.

Barbuda and Malta appear in adisproportionately high number of our cases,given their UNCTAD registry size ranking.


The SeafarerHelp team will deal with anysimple enquiry that it can so that theseafarer’s issue is addressed as quickly aspossible. However, we are essentially areferral agency and in 2014 we referred casesto over 70 different organisations around theworld for more specialised help.

The trends in Chart 7 show important changesfrom previous years. In the past we were oftenunable to refer a case as a result of the veryfirst contact because we had not been able togather enough information. Our software wasunable to record which organisations thosecases were eventually referred to and theywere held in a category called “No firstreferral”. Following the upgrade of oursoftware we can now record exactly wherecases have been referred and that categoryhas been removed.

Chart 7 shows the trends for referrals since2011. It also shows that the SeafarerHelpteam is now dealing with more cases in-house, a result of the increase in the numberof contacts requesting general information.Similarly, the number of referrals to theApostleship of the Sea has increasedsignificantly because of the large increase inthe number of contacts from Filipino seafarers,who are mostly Roman Catholic.

The number of referrals to non-maritimeorganisations has increased because the teamis now much more proactive in seeking out awider range of agencies that can moreeffectively assist seafarers. The statisticsshow that we work in close co-operation withthe ITF Inspectorate and MOPs team, theApostleship of the Sea, the Mission toSeafarers, maritime unions, and governmentagencies all around the world.

Organisations we refer cases to

2013

SeafarerHelp in

house

2011

2012

ITF Coordinator/Inspector

ITF MOPs

Crewtoo

Apostleship of th

e SeaOther

Mission to

Seafarers

mar

2014

31.6%

23.0%

13.7%

11%

21.3%

15.1%

20.3%

23%

10.8%

16.7%

11.3%

10%

10.1%

0%

0%

0%

8%

3.9%

1.3%

5%

7.5%

5.1%

3.8%

6.7%

4.4%

4.9%

2.8%

5%

Chart 7

Main organisations referred to* Included in Other maritime agencies.


Case study – Help followinga seafarer’s death

SeafarerHelp was contacted by an Apostleshipof the Sea (AoS) seafarer centre in thePhilippines after a Filipino seafarer had died ofnatural causes in Taiwan. His body had beenin a funeral parlour for two weeks and his wifewanted help in speeding up his repatriation,but she was not getting assistance from themanning agency in the Philippines. The AoScontacted SeafarerHelp to see if we could helpin any way.

The AoS and the seafarer’s wife had nocontact details for the ship’s agent in the citywhere the funeral parlour was. Our Chinesespeaker researched the situation, found atelephone number and spoke to the agent.The agent told her that there had to be a

police investigation to confirm the cause ofdeath but that once they were satisfied it wasnatural causes, they would liaise with thePhilippine embassy in Taiwan to repatriate theseafarer’s body. The agent said repatriationwas likely to take two weeks from theconclusion of the police investigation. OurFilipino speaker then relayed the informationto the seafarer’s wife and the AoS in thePhilippines.

A few weeks later the seafarer’s wifecontacted us to say that her husband hadbeen repatriated and buried, and thanked usfor our help. She said that their family was stilladjusting to life without him but they weretrying to move on.

o Seafarers

maritime agencies*

Unions

Embassies/C

onsulates

Seafarers Emergency Fund

Sailors S

ociety

MPHRPSAIL

No first

referral

4.4%

4.9%

2.8%

5%

2.3%

4.3%

2.4%

2.5%

1.4%

0.3%

1.3%

1.75%

0.7%

0.6%

0%

1%

0.6%

0.3%

0%

0%

0.5%

0%

(*)0%

(*)0%

0.3%

0.1%

0%

0%

0.3%

(*)0%

(*)0%

(*)0%

0%

25.6%

43%

32%

Other


– Email

– Live Chat

– Telephone

– Facebook

– SMS text

– Other

30.1%

27.8%

23.9%

12.1%

5.6%

0.5%

29.1%

18.6%

41.2%

3.2%

7.8%

0.1%

27.3%

18.9%

37.9%

1.3%

13.9%

0.4%

25%

17%

40%

17%

1%

2011 2012 2013 2014

Methods of contact

At SeafarerHelp we try to make it as easy aspossible for seafarers to contact the teamthrough a variety of means. These include bytelephone on international toll-free lines, email,SMS text, Live Chat, Skype, Facebook,Twitter, fax and by post.

The information regarding communication ispresented in two ways. Chart 8 shows themethod that was used to make the initialcontact and the trends since 2011, while chart

9 shows the ways that successive contactswere made in 2014 only. Once we haveestablished contact with a seafarer or whoeveris contacting on their behalf, we prefer them touse email or the telephone for successivecontacts, as they are easier mediums throughwhich to gather information. However, wherethis is not possible, we will use any method ofcontact that they wish.

Chart 8

Initial contact methods

Email1269

55.1%

SMS text249

10.8%

Facebook154

6.7%Telephone

46520.2%

Live Chat1627%

Other6

0.3%


Trends since 2011

Since 2011 the initial methods of contact havechanged dramatically.

In the past the most frequent initial method ofcontact was by telephone but in 2014 this wasrelegated to third position after email and LiveChat.

Interestingly, although SeafarerHelp dealt with1,920 new cases in 2014, an increase of 663on 2013, the actual number of initial contactsby telephone dropped from 523 in 2013 to 458in 2014. The number of contacts by emailincreased from 370 in 2013 to 577 in 2014, thenumber of Live Chats increased from 236 in2013 to 534 in 2014 and the number ofFacebook contacts increased from 41 in 2013to 233 in 2014.

These notable changes reflect three things:

The use of the internet is increasingbecause seafarers’ access to it hasimproved through the availability of mobiledevices such as mobile phones, tabletcomputers and laptops.

Access to the internet is improving all thetime, both on ships at sea and in ports.

It seems that seafarers are tending to usemethods of contact that are cheaper orfree, such as email, Live Chat andFacebook. As a result, telephone and SMStext contacts have fallen.

Chart 9

Successive contact methods 2014

“It seems thatseafarers aretending to usemethods ofcontact thatare cheaper orfree”


Feedback from seafarers about SeafarerHelp

In order to gain more information and insightinto seafarers’ experience of the SeafarerHelpservice we have recently started to ask thosewe have assisted to complete a short surveyon Survey Monkey. We want to find out whatseafarers think of our service and we want touse the information to help us continuallyimprove our services so that they meet theirchanging needs.

Seafarers are requested to complete thesurvey after their case is closed. It is sent to allof those where the team has had a significantinvolvement, not to those who made simplerequests such as seeking information oremployment.

Of those surveyed 83% said that theSeafarerHelp service was either excellent orgood. 89% said that they would recommendthe service to other seafarers.

These are some of the quotes from seafarers:

“they respond quickly and feels good

because there is someone always

ready to help.....we felt comforted.”“It was nice to have you for us, knowing

that you were there we need help.

Contacting you during the time that we

need help in having you response

immediately was amazing thing for us.”

“...your service is

excellent...my problem

is solved they gave me

my sickness benefit.”

“I would like to say that the reply to my

queries before were prompt and helpful.

Again thank you for all your help. Your service

truly deserves a pat on the back. Keep it up.”

“I am very thankful that you take action accordingly

when I called you in time of my troubles. I feel now I am a

very lucky seafarer in the world because at that time I was

hopeless to resolve my problem but you came into the

situation to rescue me. Now my problem subsided restore

my confidence and perform my job well.....I want to say

1 million thank yous for helping.”


Conclusion

The increase in the number of contacts withSeafarerHelp has again been significantwhich has been the result of our social mediacampaign and also due to seafarers knowingmore about their rights. With the MLC cominginto force it does appear that seafarers feelempowered to challenge employers andcontact organisations such as SeafarerHelpwhen they have a problem. Seafarersknowing their rights can only be a good thingbut the number of seafarers contacting uscontinues to rise which indicates that there isstill much more work to do. From thefeedback from seafarers it is clear that theywant the SeafarerHelp team to carry ongiving them support. We will continue to dothis and are initiating new trainingprogrammes for the team to develop theirknowledge and skills.

Our marketing campaigns have beensuccessful as we are now being contacted bymore seafarers from around the world. Asseafarers gain better access to the internetmore contacts are coming via email and LiveChat than by telephone. In the past it hadalways been that the telephone was the mostcommon method of initial contact howeverwithin the space of a year it has beenovertaken by email and Live Chat. Seafarershave turned to the internet and social mediaas ways to not only keep in contact with theirfamilies but also to contact us. It confirms ourdecision to invest in upgrading our IT andinternet connectivity so that it is easier for

seafarers to contact us. This also increasesour capacity to take advantage of otheropportunities. We will continue to look at themethods that seafarers use to communicateand we will implement new systems if there isa need. We will continue to meet the changingneeds of seafarers.

We are diversifying our funding through oursubsidiary SWAN Ltd. We entered into asecond contract in 2014 and we are activelyseeking new business to either operatehelpline services or to provide an officelocation and IT facilities for otherorganisations. Any income that is generatedthrough our subsidiary is donated to ISWAN.The more we can do to diversify our fundingthe more services we can provide toseafarers.

Over the year ISWAN and SeafarerHelp havestarted to work in partnership with moreorganisations that are involved in seafarers’welfare and this is an area that we intend todevelop.

2014 has been a very busy but rewarding yearfor ISWAN and the SeafarerHelp team. Thework that we have done has put us in a goodposition to further develop and improve ourservices, increase our capacity, and servemore seafarers and their families. We believethat the future for ISWAN and SeafarerHelp ispositive and we are looking forward to 2015and the challenges that it brings.

“The work thatwe have donehas put us in agood positionto furtherdevelop andimprove ourservices,increase ourcapacity, andserve moreseafarers andtheir families”

International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network(ISWAN) is a Registered Charity, number 1102946 and aRegistered Company Limited by Guarantee, number 3171109

If you would like more information about ISWAN, theSeafarerHelp service or the Seafarers EmergencyFund (SEF) please contact us directly or check ourwebsites. Details are given below.

Similarly, if you would like to know more about therange of services we provide, please feel free to talk tous using the contact details below.

SeafarerHelp telephone: +44 (0) 207 323 2737SeafarerHelp email: [email protected] ISWAN office telephone: +44 (0) 300 012 4279ISWAN email: [email protected]

ISWAN and SEF: www.seafarerswelfare.org SeafarerHelp: www.seafarerhelp.org

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SeafarerHelp AR2014 20150518.qxp Layout 1 · 4 Seafarer Help Annual Review 2014 There are 10 workers, mostly part-time, in the SeafarerHelp team. We provide a multilingual helpline