Maritime Medical Conclave Held in Mumbai

Padmesh Prabhune

The ‘Sea Bird-MAREX India Maritime Medical Conclave and Awards, 2024 was held on the 9th of January at the ITC Maratha Hotel in Mumbai. This first-of-its-kind maritime medical conclave deliberated on overall wellness of seafarers with a specific focus on mental health.

Following the Indian, tradition of lighting the ceremonial lamp, signifying the removal of darkness & ignorance, and spreading the Almighty’s grace and divine energy – Tamso Ma Jyotirgamaya – Capt. Kamal Chadha, MD & Chief Editor, Marex Media, welcomed everyone, thanking the guests who had travelled from far and wide to attend this unique event.

Elaborating on the significance of the meet, Capt Chadha said, “This is an event of great magnitude and significance, for it is the first time that all the various stakeholders in seafarer health, the administration, shipowners, ship managers, and training institutes, are meeting with doctors and medical experts to discuss the pressing issues of seafarer health.”

The conclave was graced by Chief Guest, Mr Shyam Jagannathan, IAS, Director General of Shipping, along with eminent personalities of the likes of Capt Girish Phadnis, Chairman, MASSA; Capt Shiv Halbe, CEO, MASSA; Capt Rajesh Tandon CEO, FOSMA; Capt Venzy Viegas, MLA, Benaulim, Goa; Dr Ilona Denisenko, former President of International Maritime Health Association, and President, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA), Russia; Capt Tushar Pradhan, General Secretary, MUI; Dr Vijay Z Belani; Dr Jacob Mathew; Capt Anshul Rajvanshi; Dr Sanjay Bhavnani; and several others.

While the first panel discussion was moderated by Capt Shiv Halbe, the second discussion was moderated by Capt Mohan Naik, MD, Dynacom Tankers Management Pvt Ltd.

At the conclave it was accepted that safety and overall health of seafarers was paramount and all remedial recourses should be undertaken to ensure wellness on board. It was further highlighted that along with relevant regulations, human approach and truthful self-declaration by seafarers would help immensely, while leveraging technologies is also equally essential.

Acknowledging medical professionals for their long service of over 25 years in the maritime industry, they were felicitated with recognitions. These included Dr. HS Bhatia, Dr. Jagdish Manghani, Dr. Vijay Z Belani, Dr. Corinne Idnani, and Dr. Jacob Mathew. While Dr. Girish Katagiri was felicitated with an Honorary recognition, Dr Mohan Koppikar was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Marex Media

Leveraging Technologies for Overall Wellness of Seafarers

Mr Shyam Jagannathan, IAS, DG Shipping, highlighted the significance of human wellbeing onboard at the recently held Sea Bird-Marex India Maritime Medical Conclave & Awards 2024.

Speaking at this first of its kind event, Mr Jagannathan said, “We all know the life of the maritime professional is not a bed of roses.”

Citing examples of the recent near miss/suicidal and accidental deaths onboard, he said, “It’s difficult to talk about this and I am personally disturbed whenever I hear such cases.

“We at DGS have been always working for the betterment and well being of all the maritime professionals. We are improving the overall set up and are leveraging technologies in maritime sector for streamlining units for redressal, recruitment, training, placement / liaison.”

Mr Jagannathan also mentioned about various health and medical initiatives of DGS; be it availing expert medical assistance on board, ensuring quicker turnaround time for signoffs, and immediate medevac. He also informed about the special initiative of ‘Yoga’ on board, which helps to rejuvenate everyone, overcoming stress and fatigue.

“Ensuring safety and the overall mental wellness of seafarers has to be a priority. We have a team dedicatedly working for medical standardization, setting processes for the pre-employment medical examination.” he added.

Elaborating the role of DG shipping, he mentioned further that the Directorate deals with implementation of shipping policy and legislation so as to ensure the safety of life and ships at sea, prevention of marine pollution, promotion of maritime education and training in co-ordination with the International Maritime Organisation.

“Understanding the Concerns of those who brave the wild seas”: Dr Ilona Denisenko

“Seafarers spend a long time on board, away from their families and loved ones, and as such understanding the concerns of those who brave the wild seas is of utmost importance”, said Dr Ilona Denisenko, President, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA), Russia. Dr Ilona is also the past President, International Maritime Health Association (IMHA).

A practicing physician in Moscow, Dr Denisenko had chaired the recently held 16th International Symposium on Maritime Health (ISMH) in Athens, Greece, during 5th-8th October 2023, which witnessed over 120 members from 40 countries discussing issues related to mental wellbeing of seafarers the world over.

Speaking at the first of its kind ‘Sea Bird – Marex India Maritime Medical Conclave & Awards’ in Mumbai Dr Ilona said: “Wellbeing is all about the state of mind of the seafarers that is directly associated with their day-to-day activities, and it reflects in their behavior. We need to identify and understand why they behave so, the way they behave.”

Deliberating on issues of mental health, Dr Ilona mentioned about challenges of maritime professionals and the required remedial efforts to be taken. She also emphasized about creating greater awareness about overall wellness in order to weed out the stigma attached to mental wellbeing that stops seafarers from honest self-declaration, and at times one pays a huge price(by suicidal attempts / accidental deaths on board) that could have been avoided by simple communication.

She said, “Ironically, Seafarers especially during the PEME (Pre Embarkation Medical Examination) tend to look at Maritime medical experts as the ‘watch dogs’ stopping them from sailing and it hurts them the most. I tell them I am here to set their homes in shape and ensure he/ she has a long term of service period, living a healthy life, than this one-off trip. The moment they see this human approach, they talk. We need to connect with them.”

“Let us take a course in a direction to understand their concerns equally”, she added.

Appreciating the attempt of the organizers by setting up the first Maritime Medical Conclave that witnessed the participation of Maritime professionals, Regulators, Ship owners and designated maritime medical experts, Dr Ilona suggested to carry this forward, setting up a new course of direction for regulations, accompanied with a human approach, so as to gradually have the desired long term results.

Sign–off’ on medical grounds needs to be made easier: Capt Venzy Viegas

Seafarers employed on ships at times have difficulty in handling work pressure and are not able to cope. There have been incidents wherein seafarers have to sign off on medical grounds and there are lots of procedures to be followed. With the increasing incidence of medical sign-offs, the procedure should be revised, according to Capt Venzy Viegas.

Speaking at the first of its kind ‘Sea-Bird Marex India Maritime Medical Conclave & Awards in Mumbai, Capt Viegas, MLA Benaulim, Goa, said, “It’s disturbing to hear of suicidal deaths on boards as seafarers are key workers, the backbone of the global economy, and 80 per cent of the world trade is dependent on shipping.”

A Master Mariner with over 17 years sailing experience, Capt Venzy has been active in politics and is very vocal about issues related to the maritime industry. He further said, “There are many challenges seafarers endure in their profession – long work hours that sometimes exceed the standard working week, being subjected to physical and mental fatigue, limited access to medical facilities, contract violations, delayed payments, and subpar living conditions.”

Admitting to the fact that onboard working conditions, including medical assistance to seafarers, have improved as compared to the early 90’s when he entered in to the profession as a cadet, Capt Venzy reiterated there is still scope for improvement. He said, “We need one more step forward to ensure wellbeing of seafarers on board, and signing off on medical grounds should be made less cumbersome.”

He also stressed upon the idea of empanelling more numbers of DGS approved qualified Doctors, to maintain the doctor-seafarer ratio. Capt Venzy also suggested medical capacity building, setting an example to the world, and reaching out to countries in Africa and other smaller nations who look towards India for maritime support.

He also highlighted various initiatives taken by him at Goa for strengthening the fishing community at large. He further appealed to medical experts / private practitioners / hospitals to engage (at least one) DGS approved Doctor, and Nurses, to serve the ailing seafarers.
Dr Jacob Mathew, MD, DMM, DTCD, Chairman & Managing Director, Sea Bird Medicare Group

This Maritime Medical Conclave, which was a first of its kind in the industry, was interesting, stimulating and informative. Large number of delegates attended the seminar.
Various opinions and suggestions were expressed by the delegates. It was felt that minimum tests at both presea and periodic medicals should be laid out. This would help in recruitment of healthy seafarers for sea.
Mental health is extremely important during the present times. A Mental Status Evaluation with requisite tests would go a long way in detecting Seafarers with mental illness. Periodic assessment would also help.
Psychological counselling could be done for the stressed individuals. Helplines are also available.