Challenges and Considerations in Seafarer Feeding in the Merchant Navy: A Literature Review

Abstract

Objective: To identify, verify and analyse the scientific literature specific to seafarer feeding in the merchant navy and to synthesise its findings on the challenges and considerations of the problem.

Methods: Bibliographic review with descriptive bibliometric analysis. Targeted searching by thematic blocks with a publication cut-off date of March 2024, backward searching from key reviews and verification of each record against the publisher's source. The corpus (47 articles plus the MLC 2006) was classified by year, journal, study type, population and theme, and an evidence map was built.

Results: The corpus is concentrated in International Maritime Health (40.4\%) and in observational studies (34.0\%); only 9 of the 36 seafarer-focused works specifically address food (6 since 2018), and no controlled trials in seafarers were identified. Studies describe diets with high access to meat, processed foods, sugary drinks and alcohol and low fruit and vegetable intake, with pooled prevalences of 41.7\% for overweight and 18.6\% for obesity. Challenges are logistical, educational, organisational, cultural and regulatory. Links between diet, mental health, fatigue and operational safety rest mostly on indirect evidence.

Conclusion: The specific literature is scarce, concentrated in few journals and groups, and rarely interventional. On-board studies with objective indicators and intervention designs, and a replicable multi-database search, are needed.