New research by marine insurer Gard demonstrates that 74% of all seafarer deaths are caused by some kind of illness.
“Of course, this category of claims should ideally be zero. However, as an industry we are unfortunately far from where we would like to be, and over the past 5 years, Gard has recorded over 400 crew fatalities. The frequency of death claims is fortunately low at 0.01 deaths per vessel year with the worst recorded year being 2021 in the last five years,” Gard noted in its “Crew Claims Report 2024”.
Gard added that the seafarer death figure correlates well with the death tally in the general population, noting that, according to the World Health Organisation, 74% of all deaths are due to non-communicable illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory illnesses and diabetes.
Deaths by suicide
Gard also noted a “concerning trend” in that 11% of crew deaths were caused by suicide.
“This is a worryingly high number and we believe that the actual number could in fact be much higher due to under-reporting. We also believe that many cases of crew deaths are preventable,” Gard said.
Gard noted that it registered an annual average of 47 cases of mental health disorders, 18 cases of suicide, and 16 cases of missing persons.
“The number of mental health-related cases unfortunately grew significantly during the pandemic, probably as a direct consequence of the mental strain and prolonged isolation many seafarers experienced at the time,” Gard noted.
Gard also took some time to emphasise that there is a close correlation between physical and mental health, especially for seafarers. Key risks of poor mental health include poor physical health, exposure to noise / vibrations, feeling unsafe, high job demands, long working hours, night shifts or irregular shifts, and long periods at sea. Gard pointed to studies that give recommendations on how to prevent mental health issues and these include a healthy lifestyle, getting proper rest, reduction of noise, and an increase in safety.
Illnesses generally
Illnesses (non-fatal; excluding COVID) accounted for about 64% of the total. COVID was, unsurprisingly, the most frequent illness during the pandemic however, by 2023, the situation started to normalise and, today, COVID is no longer on the top ten list of most frequent illnesses. However, over the period (which includes the pandemic), the top three illnesses were, in order, COVID (over 900), abdominal pain (just under 500), and back pain (about 450).
Gard urges early action if any seafarer suffers an illness. Pointing to the frequency of abdominal and back pain, Gard points out that the symptoms can be caused by different underlying illnesses ranging from harmless to severe. “A condition that starts out as the symptom ‘abdominal pain’ could in fact be an indication that the seafarer is suffering from appendicitis. Appendicitis is dangerous if not treated promptly, so immediate medical attention to clarify the diagnosis is important. Sometimes these cases require urgent medevac to avoid rupture and severe illness or death. Given the relatively high frequency of these cases, it is important to understand the symptoms and take immediate action,” Gard urges.
Other illnesses frequently encountered were heart issues, appendicitis (see above comments about abdominal pain / appendicitis), infection, mental disorders, kidney stones, eye issues, and hernia.
Gard examined more than 20,000 people-related claims between 2019-2023 and focused on crew-related claims (i.e. excluding non-seafarer related claims). People-related claims over the period accounted for about 49% of all claims, and that was followed some distance behind with cargo-related claims with 38% of claims over the period.
