Onboard Work Environment

The International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) is a membership organisation that works to promote and support seafarers' welfare all over the world. Seafarers bring us 95% of the things we use every day and take care of us when we travel by sea, but their lives are often tough. They experience long periods away from family and friends with limited or no communication, fast turnaround of ships in ports with severely restricted shore leave, reduced crew numbers and increased workloads. Welfare services and facilities both onboard and ashore can be a lifeline for seafarers. Our free, 24-hour, multilingual helplines, SeafarerHelp and Yacht Crew Help, are among the direct welfare services we provide to seafarers. Others include our relief funds for seafarers and their family members in need and a range of health information resources. We work with companies, unions, governments, welfare organisations, and ports to implement the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. We support those who establish and provide welfare facilities and services in port and on ships. We are funded by membership subscriptions, grants from foundations, sponsorship and earned income. We are grateful to our main funders – the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, The TK Foundation, The Seafarers' Charity and Trafigura Foundation – for their continued support.