A mental health and wellness helpline service set up to support sea and shore-based maritime personnel worldwide is receiving increasing requests for assistance as the coronavirus pandemic crisis mounts. ‘We had a forty per cent jump in messages and calls in February and coronavirus is an issue,’ says Dr Aparna Joshi, Director of iCALL.
iCALL for Seafarers is a free, confidential and anonymous psychological helpline for the worldwide maritime community established by Singapore-based shipmanager Synergy Group in October 2018 in partnership with India’s renowned Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Now available in ten languages, iCALL for Seafarers is available 24/7 via phone, email and the chat-based nULTA App. ‘We’ve now added a fifteenth counsellor to ensure all seafarers and their families receive the help and support they need,’ adds Joshi.
Seafarers under pressure
‘Seafarers are working under tremendous pressure and doing an amazing job keeping world trade moving,’ comments Captain Rajesh Unni, CEO and Founder of Synergy Group. ‘But many are, understandably, anxious about when they can see families again because of restrictions on crew changes and quarantine periods being enforced on arrival at some countries.’
The virus has seen severe restrictions put in place on seafarers calling at ports across the Asia Pacific region. Crew manning the world’s commercial fleet of tankers, commodity-carrying bulk carriers and container ships are not allowed to leave vessels when calling at ports in China, the epicentre of the virus.
Restrictions preventing crew leaving the ship or denying seafarers access to a visa-on-arrival are also in place at a range of countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Australia and South Korea. The logistics of managing crew changes when there are restrictions in place in so many countries has meant in some cases diverting vessels to intermediate ports where crew changes are possible.
Counselling
All fifteen counsellors have at least a Master’s degree in Clinical or Counselling Psychology and are trained to help with over twenty wellness issues including mental health, career anxiety, relationships, suicide & self-harm, substance use and work-life concerns.
A first year report into the counselling conducted by iCALL for Seafarers found that the top three mental challenges seafarers and their families raise with counsellors relate to emotional distress, relationship issues and work-life concerns.
