Seafarer wellbeing has declined for the second consecutive quarter as heavy workloads, restricted shore leave and concerns over pay increasingly weigh on crews, according to new research from The Mission to Seafarers.
The Christian maritime welfare charity’s latest Seafarers Happiness Index gave overall happiness a score of 6.87 out of 10 in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 7.18 in the first 3 months of the year and 7.26 at the end of 2025.
Published in association with Idwal and Inmarsat Maritime, the quarterly index is based on voluntary and anonymous responses from seafarers around the world across 10 areas of life and work at sea.
The report describes the index as a “window into the human realities behind international trade” and argues that conditions have shifted from the “acute shock” seen earlier in the year, when conflict and security concerns dominated responses, towards a more prolonged period of…