Eliminating the bullying and harassment of seafarers
Today is the Day of the Seafarer, a day when we honor the dedication and sacrifices of seafarers around the world who help connect both economies and societies.
In honoring seafarers, we must also acknowledge the challenges they face. Many still experience harassment, bullying, and discrimination. This must end. As members of the maritime industry, we all have a responsibility to ensure safe, inclusive, and respectful workplaces for all.
How to protect seafarers from abuse
Knowing how to recognize bullying and harassment is key to preventing it from happening. Sometimes, abusive behavior becomes so normalized that we fail to call it out, thinking that’s just the way things are. One of the best ways to raise awareness about what counts as bullying and harassment is to provide concrete examples:
Bullying: Calling someone names, repeated embarrassment and humiliation, threats, insults, excluding someone from activities, and anger & rage over small things
Harassment: Making inappropriate jokes, making physical contact with someone when the other person did not want or ask for it, expressing sexual remarks, and making offensive gestures
There are times when bullying and harassment are also “hidden”, when people make excuses to justify bad behavior. Maybe you’ve heard some of these lines that have been used to hide bullying and harassment
“That’s just their management style”
“Mahigpit lang talaga siya”
“Ang sensitive mo naman”
“He/She is tough”
How to report bullying and harassment onboard
The Maritime Labor Convention (MLC), also known as the Seafarer’s Bill of Rights, makes it clear that Seafarers have a right to file a complaint if they are bullied, harassed, or discriminated against. You can read about this in section 5.1.5. of the MLC.
According to the MLC, seafarers who file a complaint are protected from being victimized. In other words, you cannot be treated badly, or less favorably, simply because you filed a complaint. You also can’t be blacklisted by your employer for reporting.
To file a bullying and harassment complaint, follow the policies and guidelines from your shipping company. Ideally, this should have been made clear to you during your pre-embarkation briefing. If not, the policies should be available to read onboard. Normally, a complaint is tackled at the lowest level, starting with your department head.
However, every seafarer, according to the MLC, has the right to go directly to the captain to file a complaint. You also have a right to reach out to external entities that aren’t even onboard, such as your Crewing Officer, an NGO like The Mission to Seafarers or ISWAN, or even the ITF.
Have you harassed or bullied someone onboard?
When someone is bullied or harassed, it usually results in the person on the receiving end feeling humiliated, embarrassed, scared, intimidated, and uncomfortable.
Ask yourself: Have you been hostile to someone onboard? Do you raise your voice at others? Do you criticize members of your team in front of everybody else? Have you been making fun of someone or spreading rumors about them?
If you think you might have bullied or harassed someone, ask for help. At Lydia Mar Manila, we’re committed to helping our crew become the best versions of themselves, and that includes providing them with assistance if they need to change their behavior. Please don’t wait until a complaint is made against you.
Our commitment to ensuring a safe working environment for seafarers
Lydia Mar Manila is committed to zero tolerance for bullying and harassment onboard. Here’s what we’ve been doing: Educational briefings, Clear guidance on reporting procedure, Leadership Training, Engage with principals to ensure they that they too are committed to anti-bullying and harassment
And most importantly, as a crewing agency, we strive to foster a safe and supportive environment where crew feel confident and empowered to speak up about their concerns.
To learn more about how to eliminate shipboard harassment and bullying, we encourage you to read this guide published by the ITF and ICS.