4th International Symposium of Maritime Safety
Security & Environmental Protection
“PROMOTING & DEVELOPING
SEAFARERS’ WELFARE UNDER MLC:
A RESEARCH AGENDA”
D R . M . P R O G O U L A K I m.progoulaki.aegean.gr
D R S . A . K A T R A D I , akatradi@chios.aegean.gr
D R . I . T H E O T O K A S gtheotokas@aegean.gr
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 Research Aim
 Introduction
 Welfare in the shipping industry
 Research Methodology
 Results concerning Greece
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Port-based welfare
Onboard welfare
 Conclusions and a Research Agenda
Provide insight on whether interventions onboard & ashore could
develop & promote seafarers’ well-being
Focus on the case of Greek-owned shipping
Identify & analyze the existing knowledge on provision of crew
welfare facilities & services, as well as the role of stakeholders
involved in the provision of such facilities
Examine the current conditions and whether the MLC standards
are met
Discuss possible gaps & propose actions for policy makers
Provide a fundamental base to understand & analyze the
meaning of crew welfare
Offer a base of dialogue on the different areas that it affects
Introduction
 Welfare: embodies various high quality services, policies, benefits &
facilities aiming to provide better life & health in the workplace (Keyes et al.,
2000).
 Employees’ well-being might affect their behaviour &
thereby, organisational productivity (Rasulzada, 2007; Tehrani et al. 2007)
 Seafaring has a special pattern of work, as working &
living conditions are combined (Carter, 2005)
 Crew’s long separation from family & friends, long stay on
board, isolation make welfare facilities necessary (Progoulaki et al.,
2006; Sampson, 2008)
Welfare: recreational facilities, communication services, access to medical care,
decent accommodation among others (Titles 3 and 4 in ILO, 2006).
Reg. 4.4: “Ensure that seafarers have access to” shore-based facilities & services
to secure their health & well-being
A4.4: where facilities exist, shall be “available to all seafarers irrespective of
nationality, race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, social origin, flag of the
vessel they work on.”
Facilities should be provided in the Member States by:
 Public authorities, and/or
 Shipowners’ & seafarers’ organisations, and/or
 Voluntary organisations.
Member states shall cooperate in the promotion of welfare of seafarers at sea &
in ports
The onboard welfare facilities and services will be subject of inspection and
certification while these of shore-based will not be
1. Literature review (secondary data)
2. Qualitative Research using Semi-structured personal
interviews in 10 Greek-owned shipping companies (more
than 430 vessels in total: representing 10% of the Greekowned fleet), aiming to:
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Examine the perception of shipping companies’ representatives
Examine the general perception of the meaning of crew welfare
Examine knowledge of existing port-based crew welfare practiced by
Greek-owned shipping companies
Investigate the crew welfare facilities & services offered onboard
Examine the assessment of seafarers’ job satisfaction & welfare from
offered onboard welfare facilities
Investigate the effect of MLC implementation to crew welfare policies
& offered services & facilities
Only 1 seafarers’ centre in Piraeus (“DeutschSeemannsmission”) offering:
 Available to all seafarers regardless nationality
 German branch of the Seaman’s Mission in Piraeus
 free transport from/to port,
 accommodation,
 telephone, wireless internet &
 open 24/7.
National Seafarers’ Hearth Centre in Piraeus
is only available to national seafarers
promoting their financial, mental & social condition
No other evidence of welfare centers in Greek ports.
 Theoretical confusion about meaning of welfare
 No definition by MLC; thus related to seafarers’ rights, CSR, job satisfaction,
etc.
Offered onboard facilities include:
Comfortable accommodation
Recreational facilities
Gym equipment, TV, karaoke, library/books, DVDs
Internet access
Advanced medical care
Information about facilities provided by manning agents
Seafarers’ satisfaction from port-based facilities not formally
evaluated
Main European & American ports considered quite satisfying by
seafarers
Attracting qualified seafarers & increasing retention rate by
providing welfare services onboard & financial incentives
Offer a high level of onboard welfare facilities and services equally to
all types of vessels and all nationalities
The provisions, offered onboard vessel, were positively associated to
physical and psychological well-being of seafarers
Not only MLC standards are met, but also shipping companies offer
quality and quantity of welfare facilities and services onboard vessel.
Greek shipping companies seem to be sensitive delivering various
additional welfare provisions in order to assure seafarers’ quality of work
and living.
Have the ability to promote a working atmosphere where employment
relationship is shaped
Although in main ports internationally welfare facilities are offered (i.e.
Communication and transportation services), shipping companies
themselves are responsible of their seafarers’ ashore welfare as well.
Results from the survey cannot be generalised, however a first and
thorough insight in some key points of the issue is offered, with a special
focus on the Greek shipping case.
Examination of the existing knowledge is provided on crew welfare in
the voluntary period before the implementation of MLC.
 Need for further research in 3 levels:
the management level
the policy level
the theoretical level
Stream
Topic
Management
level:
Shipping
companies’
strategies
• Shipping companies’:
• best practices of onboard crew welfare facilities;
• policies on examination of seafarers’ overall job
satisfaction & from the use of onboard welfare
facilities;
• perception towards the existence of shore-based
welfare facilities;
• Promotion of shore-based welfare facilities in major
ports among seafarers of different nationalities;
• Examination of security policies applied by port
authorities & shipping companies in the frames of the
ISPS Code;
• Examination of national &/or corporate cases.
Stream
Topic
Policy level:
Member
States’ and
Port State
Authorities’
policies
• Cooperation potentials between Member States to
promote, develop & share port-based welfare facilities;
• Promotion of offered crew welfare facilities &
information of concerned bodies;
• Examination of seafarers’ satisfaction from offered
shore-based crew welfare facilities & services;
• Examination of cases of seafarers’ abandonment;
• Examination of seafarers’ access to shore-based
facilities;
• Examination of fund raising for development of portbased crew welfare facilities;
• Utilisation of know-how & offered services of voluntary
organisations (e.g. ICSW);
• Examination of offered services & facilities in national
level.
Stream
Topic
Theoretical
level:
Application of
theories in the
case of
shipping
• Define crew welfare based on welfare definition used
in other industries;
• Examine relation of company’s profitability with
labour productivity & crew welfare;
• Examine relation of psychological contracts with
implementation of welfare policies by the shipping
companies;
• Application of evaluation schemes for job satisfaction
& welfare, as well as motivation theories.
Thank you for your attention
Any Questions?
D R . M . P R O G O U L A K I m.progoulaki.aegean.gr
D R S . A . K AT R A D I , akatradi@chios.aegean.gr
D R . I . T H E O T O K A S gtheotokas@aegean.gr