NIMASA and ITF sign Africa's first seafarer mental health agreement

Nigeria's maritime regulator and a global transport workers' body have signed what both sides call Africa's first agreement on the mental health and wellbeing of seafarers.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Lagos on Monday, at the start of a three-day training programme themed "Stress: Understanding, Early Management and Coping".

NIMASA Director-General Dr Dayo Mobereola, who was represented by the agency's Executive Director for Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Jibril Abba, said Nigerian maritime training had for years concentrated on the technical skills needed to run ships, with little attention to the people who crew them.

He listed the pressures of life at sea: long working hours, broken sleep, months away from family, mixed-nationality crews and sometimes difficult working conditions. Left unchecked, he said, these can grow into chronic stress, anxiety, depression, burnout and substance misuse, and in the worst cases loss of life.

What the training will do

Under the deal, lecturers at Maritime Education and Training Institutions, NIMASA officers and union partners will be trained to spot stress early, manage it and give psychological first aid. Because it is a train-the-trainers programme, participants are expected to pass the knowledge on in their classrooms, offices and on vessels.

The wellbeing module is also to be built into the academic curricula of the maritime schools. Lagos is the first phase; with ITF support, NIMASA plans to extend the programme to Port Harcourt so it reaches nearly all maritime training institutions in the country.

Mobereola said that once faculty complete their training, NIMASA will issue a Marine Notice making the module a permanent part of preparing Nigerian seafarers for life at sea.

"A healthy seafarer is a safe seafarer, and a safe seafarer is the strength of our maritime industry," he said.

He cited a 2019 study commissioned by the ITF with Yale University, which found that one in four seafarers surveyed showed signs of depression and about one in six showed signs of anxiety. The COVID-19 crew-change crisis, he said, made things worse.

He noted that under the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 and the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, NIMASA is responsible for the health, safety and welfare of maritime workers, both on board and ashore.

Why it matters

Seafaring is a big employer and a source of foreign exchange for Nigeria, and cadets from Nigerian schools go on to work on ships flying the country's flag and others around the world. Supporters of the deal argue that crews under heavy stress are a safety risk to themselves, their shipmates and the cargo moving through Nigerian ports.

The ITF Africa Regional Secretary, Safiyanu Dauda Mohammed, who signed for the federation, said it was the first MoU of its kind the ITF has signed with any African country.

"It is very exciting for me because it is the first in Africa, and we are starting with Nigeria," he said.

Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria President-General Francis Bunu welcomed the move, saying seafarers need to be mentally sound while doing their job.

Also at the ceremony were ITF Africa Regional Secretary Safiyanu Daudu Mohammed, MWUN President-General Francis Bunu and Bob Joseph Yousuo, President of the Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association.

What happens next: The three-day trainer programme continues in Lagos. NIMASA says it will then take the training to Port Harcourt and issue a Marine Notice to lock the wellbeing module into seafarer training nationwide.