Prisoners at sea: The psychosocial effect that the Covid-19 pandemic had on seafarers

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyse and discuss the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on seafarers globally. Moreover, this research’s focus is on the psychosocial distress that the seafarers experienced, and continue to experience, since the declaration of pandemic. The paper’s premise is that these psychosocial stressors in the maritime industry are not new, but it was exacerbated since the onset of the pandemic. Methodologically netography will be used as the primary source for the collection of data and first-hand contact with seafarers on social media platforms, of which one is a Facebook group, ‘Seafarers Forum’ managed by the author.  In addition, with the permission of seafarers’ missions, this data was extracted from their social media platforms. This data was compared with existing scholastic research that focused on pre-existing psychosocial conditions that exist and are at work in the maritime industry.