SAFER at Home: Why we’re introducing insurance for seafarers on leave

It happens every season: a crewing manager gets the call. A seafarer can’t return.

And whatever the reason – physical illness, mental health crisis, family emergency or bereavement – it’s another gap that needs to be filled at short notice.

The human side of the equation is increasingly hard to ignore.

Not least because crew turnover is a big problem in the shipping industry. Whether officers or non-officers (ratings), seafarers typically work on fix-term contracts – usually spending six to nine months at sea, followed by a similar time on land – and shipping companies aren’t legally obliged to pay them during their leave period. While this may sound like a saving, it actually means that seafarers are under no obligation to return to the company that contracted them. The result? Structural uncertainty that makes it hard to retain top talent in a highly specialised industry. 

And this is a costly business. The average cost of last-minute seafarer replacements ranges from $15,000 to $30,000, once medicals, training, onboarding, last-minute flights and the loss of an experienced crew member are taken into account. For a mid-sized operator of 15 vessels and 600 seafarers, this can easily reach thousands of dollars.

The human cost of seafaring

Unfortunately, the costs aren’t just financial. The loss of expertise can lead to more accidents, with Allianz reporting that 75-96% of marine accidents involve human error. Every time an experienced seafarer is replaced by someone unfamiliar with the vessel, its operations or the company, the risk of human-related incidents increases. Allianz’s analysis of almost 15,000 marine liability insurance claims found the human element was the primary factor in 75% of cases, accounting for over $1.6 billion of losses. 

Master Mariner, Captain Karen Davis of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and Global Ambassador, Mission to Seafarers has seen the consequences firsthand. As she puts it: “When people are distracted, tired or lonely, sometimes they’re not thinking as clearly as they could.”

Critically, increased claims usually lead to increased insurance premiums.

While shipping companies have tried to fix the retention problem via increased salaries and improved contracts, one important factor is often overlooked: personal insurance that goes beyond the seafarer themselves. 

Around 75% of the world’s ratings come from four countries: Indonesia, India, Myanmar and the Philippines. A rating from the Philippines may earn between $1,000-$2,500 a month while on contract, but when that contract ends, both their income and, in many cases, their insurance cover disappear. Without insurance, a family medical emergency, such as a hospitalisation or cardiovascular event, can easily cost more than $3,000 without insurance, leading many seafarers to ignore medical problems. With lack of healthcare at sea, they might end up endangering their own life or the lives of others on board, costing everyone in the long run.

Yet, a proactive focus on improving seafarers’ lives and closing this protection gap could help prevent accidents before they happen. 

Four key benefits: reward, retention, recruitment and reputation

For shipping companies, SAFER at Home can offer four significant benefits:

• Reward: the premium is a fraction of the cost of crew turnover. Plus, a small donation from every policy goes directly to seafarer welfare charities. Unlike traditional insuarance products, this solution protects seafarers and their families, funds the welfare network that delivers the protection and helps reduce its own cost over time.
• Retention: an experienced seafarer whose family is protected during leave has a huge incentive to stay. Nina says it’s a major motivation: “Seafarers perform their best when they know the families they’ve left behind are safe, supported and financially secure.” Happy seafarers also equal brighter balance sheets. Every percentage point improvement in retention across a 600-person workforce could save up to $80,000 in replacement costs. 
• Recruitment: this helps strengthen the future recruitment pipeline. A career at sea still pays significantly higher than staying ashore in some countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and India. But that equation is changing. We’ve seen it before in maritime nations like Britain, Norway, Japan and South Korea. As economies develop and shore-based wages rise, the financial advantage of a seafaring career begin to diminish. The same pattern is beginning in the Philippines. We can already see it: according to the Seafarers Happiness Index, 16-to-25-year-olds are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with life at sea, citing wage scales and a growing awareness of the benefits of life on land. The industry has a narrow window to get ahead of this trend. By improving the range of benefits available during the off-contract period, SAFER at Home can play an important role in making a seafaring career more attractive and sustainable for the long term. 
• Reputation: companies with SAFER at Home cover will have an auditable, measurable commitment to seafarer welfare through the Mission to Seafarers. This matters because signatories to the Poseidon Principles, along with major lenders and charterers, are placing greater emphasis on crew welfare through frameworks such as the Tanker Management Self-Assessment (TMSA) and the Dry Bulk Management Standard (DryBMS). Major banks have indicated they could restrict lending to shipowners who put seafarer welfare at risk.

Meanwhile, amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, due to take effect in December 2027, will further expand welfare obligations further. What is voluntary today could become mandatory tomorrow. So, why wait?

As Captain Karen says: “Seafarer wellbeing is not a side issue; it is central to safe and responsible operations. The more people believe in and commit to it, the more it will benefit not just crews but companies and the industry as a whole.”