A temperature reading of South African seafarer well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract This article provides an overview of the state of South African seafarers’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Empirical work on African and South African seafarers’ well-being during the pandemic is limited, with most work focusing on seafarers from major seafaring labour supply countries such as the Philippines and seafarers from the global North. This intervention, by focusing on South African seafarers, helps reduce the knowledge gap of seafarer well-being among less studied seafaring nationalities such as South Africans. A temperature reading research design was used. A form of action research, temperature readings are designed to tap into social phenomena during times of crisis, so as to provide a quick empirical snapshot of a specific research problem. Such an approach is less concerned with theory building and more concerned with profiling a particular sample and population. Purposeful and snowballing sampling was utilized to target seafarers and included 164 respondents. Data were analysed using SPSS. Key findings of the study indicated that 13.25% of the sample had contracted COVID19, 39.76% of the sample had crew members who had COVID-19 and 28.92% of the sample had family members who had COVID19. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on 42.17% of the sample, while 34.94% of the sample reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had no impact on their salary. Participants were satisfied with COVID-19 protocols implemented by their employers. Their well-being scores across social, psychological, subjective and workplace dimensions were moderate.


Introduction
Seafarers, especially those in the merchant marine, form a critical component in the shipping and maritime industry, locally, nationally and globally. Their impact on global supply chains is profound. Healthy, productive and emotionally sound seafarers are integral to the functioning of a myriad of supply chains, commodity markets, sectors and industries. The emergence of the global coronavirus pandemic impacted the physical and mental health of a range of different workers in different industries in significant ways. However, apart from selected specialist maritime outlets, seafarers as an occupational group remain underexplored in the literature on the impact of Covid on occupational well-being. Consequently, this article hopes to render visible the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this particular occupational group, and more so on an understudied population of seafarers, namely South African seafarers. This article through a descriptive and exploratory quantitative approach asks the question: How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact seafarer remuneration (salary), employers' implementation of safety protocols and employer transparency regarding COVID-19 protocols. In addition, the four dimensions of well-being for seafarers; psychological, social, workplace and subjective, were also assessed with a cohort of South African seafarers. The study is less focused on theory building and is more interested in providing a temperature reading of the wellbeing levels of an understudied population of merchant marine seafarers during a time of profound crisis.
In doing so, we make an empirical contribution by studying an occupational group that is underrepresented in the occupational health and well-being literature. The social science literature on occupational well-being and the pandemic traditionally focuses on land-based workers and workers in national labour markets. Merchant marine seafarers present an interesting case since they work in a global labour market, their workplaces are literally mobile, the ship as a workplace is spatially confined and the nature of their work means that they work with multi-national crews, regularly crossing international borders. The ship as a total institution sets it apart from the majority of other workplaces. Pandemic mitigation policies such as lockdowns, quarantine and limitations on the movement of people will manifest in different ways for sea-based workers than terrestrial workers. Much of disruption to the flows of goods globally during the pandemic was a result of disrupted sea-borne trade and ambiguous policies regarding the treatment, employment and movement of seafarers. Studying the impact of COVID-19 on the well-being of this cohort of workers provides insight into how those in niche global labour markets experience and respond to crisis. The study contributes to the literature on wellness and that of seafarer occupational health.

South African seafarers
South African seafarers at approximately 4,000 represent a small fraction of the more than 250,000 estimated seafarers working in the global labour market for cargo shipping . However, South African seafarers at both the officer and rating levels enjoy an excellent reputation among ship owners and crewing companies for their resilience and agility levels. Over the last decade, the South African state has invested in the growth of what it terms the oceans economy, which includes growing the numbers of seafarers employed globally . Given that South Africa has one of the world's highest unemployment rates  and is the most unequal country in the world in terms of income, the growth of any employment in any sector is welcome (WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION WHO, 2023). Seafarers are paid in United States dollars, which, when converted to South African currency, is a significant income for an individual. The salary paid is also tax-free . South Africa has a collectivist national culture. Therefore, most South Africans support both their immediate and extended families on their salaries. So, while the population of 4000 seems small, the financial impact of these seafarers earning US dollar salaries that are also tax-free has a cascading effect on alleviating poverty . This is partly the reason the state invests in seafarer training and marketing of South African seafarers to global employers .
Employee wellness research historically has tended to universalise populations by extending the findings of research done on very specific populations (for example, Western, White, male) to all other groups and nationalities. This has often been harmful to underrepresented populations, especially in health-related research. While the SA population of seafarers is small, this study is nonetheless important because it focuses on a population that major studies on seafarer wellness have either ignored or deemed too "small" to focus on. Consequently, the results of these largescale studies are universalised to represent the experiences and outcomes of all nationalities. This is not to say that some results will not be the same across all populations, but an empirical base is needed to make this conclusion.
South African seafarers are also different in that they do not have the same exposure to the global labour market like their peers from the Philippines, India and China, for example. They are relative newcomers and the country is termed a new labour supply country (Ruggunan, 2016). South African seafarers are heavily unionised at both the national and global level, which is not the case for seafarers from majority supply countries (Ruggunan, 2016). Global employer perceptions of SA seafarers are that while they are technically competent, they are "less passive than their Asian counterparts" and considered more militant about their rights as employees . While these are perceptions rather than firmly grounded in empirical findings, they nonetheless have shaped the ways in which global employers engage with South African seafarers . Finally, there is an emergent literature, most of it grey literature, that indicates that South African workers that work abroad or for global employers have higher resilience and agility levels. This study, while not conclusive, also sheds some insights into whether this is also true for South African seafarers.

Occupational wellness and mental health
The literature on occupational wellness is rich and both inter and multidisciplinary. Overwhelmingly in the extant literature, the concept of occupational wellness is applied to those in terrestrial-based work. Conceptually we can understand wellness as consisting of several dimensions in which people need to flourish in. The labelling and number of dimensions vary from theorist to theorist, but there is consensus that in most cases, wellness would consist of people "performing" well or flourishing in these dimensions. According to Wickramarathne et al. (2020), these dimensions are physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, occupational and social. Wellness is currently very much conceptualised as a bio-psycho-social model. While functioning optimally in all these categories simultaneously is mostly not possible, the model does offer a broader view of wellness than just physical wellness.
Enmeshed in scholarly discussions of wellness is the recognition of the salience of mental health. Mental health was foregrounded as a discussion point by the World Health Organization (WHO) during the pandemic. Given the initial foci on physical wellness during the pandemic, the discussions on mental health as a critical component of overall well-being lagged behind. Currently, researchers are still trying to make sense of long-term mental health impacts of the pandemic (WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION WHO, 2023) and the influence this has on general wellness of individuals impacted by the pandemic. The chronology of thinking on wellness during the pandemic also extended to assessments of seafarer wellness. Initial concerns were only with the physical well-being of seafarers. However, as the pandemic progressed, thinking on wellness evolved to include non-physical dimensions. Emphasis was also placed on seafarer mental health as a critical dimension of wellness. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines positive mental health as a state of well-being in which one realises their own abilities, successfully manages normal stresses of life, works productively and is able to make a contribution to their community. Compromise in any of these dimensions impacts on the holistic well-being of individuals.
There is a paucity of the literature on seafarer mental health and the factors contributing to their mental health. Extant findings are variable and inconclusive. Some studies demonstrate that that seafarers may be at high risk of mental ill-health, while others do not show a significant relationship (Pauksztat, Andrei, et al., 2022). The evidence base remains variable regarding the prevalence and the risk factors for mental health problems in the maritime industry (Mellbye and Carter, 2017;Sliskovic, 2020cited in Pauksztat, Andrei, et al., 2022. Work in this regard continues to be suggestive rather than conclusive. Confounding studies on seafarer mental health are that most studies ignore samples of African seafarers.

Mental health of seafarers
Seafaring historically has always been a demanding profession both mentally and physically (Ruggunan, 2016). Even with advances in maritime technology, which have made for safer ships, seafaring as an occupation is demanding when compared to most land-based jobs. The work is made stressful by long-term sea voyages, irregular biological rhythms, fixed interactions with people in confined spaces and high levels of work stress, which results in a potentially harmful impact on the psychological health of seafarers (Zhen et al., 2022). The competitiveness of the global labour market for seafaring work, the lack of regulation of the shipping industry and poor unionisation levels of seafarers from the global South especially further act as occupational stressors.
According to Zhen et al. (2022), mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder are very common among seafarers, although the extent of their impact is not yet known. The incidence of mental health abnormalities among seafarers sampled by these researchers is approximately 49.9%2 which is far higher than the average for the normal population (Zhen et al., 2022). As the centrality of the shipping industry to global trade increases, research and monitoring of seafarer mental health have increased (Zhen et al., 2022). Lucas et al. (2021) revealed that seafarers are commonly exposed to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 35.9% of seafarers in their sample reported experiencing major maritime disasters, threats or accidents, including piracy on board (17.0%) and stowaways (39%). In addition, 83.6% of seafarers who had experienced disasters and 76.4% who had experienced piracy often reported unintentionally rethinking such events and even dreaming about them (Lucas et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of risks to the mental health of seafarers (Lucas et al., 2021). These layers included draconian travel restrictions meant that seafarers could not leave their ships, be repatriated home or even receive urgent medical assistance. These conditions amplified already extant stressful conditions for seafarers.
Work by Lucas et al. (2021) that evaluated the well-being of seafarers during on-board COVID-19 outbreaks using the General Health Questionnaire-12. Results showed that approximately half of the seafarers sampled felt unsafe performing their jobs and 60% did not think that every precaution had been taken to ensure their health at work due to the pandemic. Further to this, 30% suffered from insomnia to the extent of becoming concerned, and another 26% reported being unhappy and depressed during their latest tour of duty (Lucas et al., 2021).

COVID-19 and the shipping industry
The context and extent of the global coronavirus pandemic are well documented (Doumbia-Henry, 2020; Shan, 2021;Wong, 2021). The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020 (Wong, 2021). COVID-19 patients suffer from a range of respiratory complications that in many cases lead to fatalities of patients. In response to COVID-19, most countries implemented border lockdowns and the movement of people were limited. This resulted in disruptions and collapsing of supply chains of goods and commodities. Apart from the deep disruptions to global supply chains and economies, the pandemic escalated pathologies in mental health worldwide. An OECD study found the emergence of anxiety and depression increased across all types of populations globally (Wong, 2021) including seafarers.
Transport sectors of all types suffered immensely, especially aviation and shipping sectors. Along with the collapse of supply chains, there were increases in unemployment and steep salary reductions for many in the labour force. Oil prices see sawed and as consumer expenditure declined, demand for goods dipped globally. The shipping industry is responsible for transporting 90% of the globe's goods and is the lifeblood of global supply chains. Employing up to 1.6 million seafarers at its peak, the industry was decimated by Covid as demand declined, crews were stranded or repatriated to their countries of origin and border controls became increasingly complex (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). The industry is especially sensitive, more so than others, to any supply chain or labour market disruptions.
One strategy employed by nation states during the pandemic was a shift towards categorising some workers as essential and by implication others as not. If workers were considered essential, they could easily navigate some of the restrictions imposed by national governments. Organisations representing the rights of seafarers made arguments for seafarers to be categorised as essential workers, so they could continue working unencumbered by the slew of COVID-19 restrictions and legislation. Such categorisation would also have allowed for early vaccination of these workers against the virus. The global nature of the occupation and labour market, however, provided a nuanced and complex environment for such actions. Compounding psychosocial anxieties about the pandemic, seafarers, despite being considered the backbone of global supply chains, were ironically not classified as essential workers. Seafarers, long neglected for their essential economic role in the global economy, were made further invisible.
Campaigning and activism by various organisations representing seafarers managed to raise awareness of both physical and mental hardships faced by seafarers during the pandemic. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA), and other authorized organizations have worked to manage issues related to COVID-19 at sea. However, given the difficulty of accessing seafarers as a population, representative studies on seafarer wellness remain rare in the literature (Baygi et al., 2021) especially for seafarers from Africa.

The context of seafaring work
Although various industries have been affected by the pandemic, seafarers, in particular, have been impacted in ways that are distinct from terrestrial workers. For instance, they are subject to lengthy periods of confinement on ships and unavoidable close in-person contact while at sea. This implies that infections on vessels can have a greater likelihood of spreading, while isolation at sea means that access to health care and medical services is limited and complicated (Vandergeest et al., 2021).
A common phenomenon known as crew change, during which seafarers whose contracts have ended are replaced with new crew, almost came to a halt during the early stages of the pandemic (Vandergeest et al., 2021). Approximately 200,000 to 400,000 seafarers were stranded at sea in light of the restrictions of the pandemic (Vandergeest et al., 2021). Doumbia-Henry (2020) echo this finding and argue that many seafarers were trapped at sea even for more than 12 months (Baygi et al., 2021;Doumbia-Henry, 2020). Some governments-such as India-have taken action to repatriate their seafarers. They arranged the repatriation of 20,000 seafarers in three phases by the end of May 2020 (Doumbia-Henry, 2020). The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) represents seafarers across the globe and made a call to protect and treat seafarers -frontline workers -with dignity as other workers on the frontline are also protected (Doumbia-Henry, 2020).
These restrictions also led to a lack of access to various essential services such as health care and communication with families. Several shipping companies have produced lists of ports and their policies that indicate that most have either completely banned or severely restricted crew from entering or leaving the port country for crew change (Vandergeest et al., 2021). Not surprisingly, such practices would negatively impact seafarer well-being (Vandergeest et al., 2021).
In a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) issued by the WHO, the quarantine of ships at ports and 14-day self-isolation on international ships were imposed by shipping companies or port authorities in order to reduce the transmission of the virus. Virus mitigating practices such as self-isolation and quarantine impact on peoples' sense of wellness. When coupled with the distinct nature of how work is organised for seafarers, we can infer that these practices further magnify seafarers' psychosocial distress at sea (Baygi, Khonsari, Arash Agoushi, Gelsefid, Jamoh, 2021).
Given the confined and mobile nature of the ship as a workplace, the industry struggled with how to manage active cases of COVID-19 on board. Strategies for social distancing, for example, become a challenge to implement and monitor on ships. The constant points of contact that seafarers made with each other on the ship as well as in ports further put them at risk of infection. Seafarers experienced the following as challenges to their daily work during the height of the pandemic: (1) access to pre-employment medical examination, (2) attempts to control interaction with shore staff in ports were difficult, (3) crew changes, (4) access to medical, dental and welfare services in port, (5) reduced shore leave, (6) contract extension and the (7) surge in mental health issues in seafarers on board (Stannard, 2020).
A year after the Stannard (2020) study, Shan (2021) found similar factors impacting the wellbeing of seafarers during the pandemic. These include increased infection risk, crew exchange issues, denial of shore leave, COVID-19-related discrimination and workplace tension, as well as other health challenges on board.

Anxiety, depression and seafarer wellness
The pandemic amplified some of the challenges of seafaring as an occupation, especially the isolated nature of the work. Mental distress among seafarers, including feelings of anxiety, depression and suicide ideation (Wong, 2021), increased during the pandemic. Anxiety may be defined as "an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints and rumination about the negativities" (Davison, 2008, cited in Wong, 2021.
Anxiety is common in seafarers who work in stressful environments for lengthy working hours. There is little room for mistakes, and they live in limited, confined spaces with limited human contacts (Wong, 2021). Anxiety is sometimes invisible and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events (ILO, 2019;Seligman et al., 2000;Oldenburg et al., 2010;ILO, 2021, cited in Wong, 2021. The pandemic amplified significantly the levels of anxiety experienced by seafarers. Overall levels of wellness across all dimensions declined. However, how these declined for specific nationalities remains underexplored in the literature. Often accompanying anxiety is depression. Depression is characterised by persistent sadness and loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyed. Depression leads to impairment in work or personal life. Anxiety and depression can increase and thus influence work output and performance (Wong, 2021). Given both the macro and micro levels of distress caused by the pandemic, it is not surprising that anxiety and depression rates among seafarers accelerated (Wong, 2021).
By April 2020, the ITF reported that many seafarers could not leave their ships when their contracts expired, further exacerbating feelings of anxiety, depression and mental distress. The Financial Times (cited in Wong, 2021) reported: "It is a humanitarian crisis, if they are not allowed to get off their ships soon, there may be tragic consequences, . . . and captains could be found criminally culpable if they sailed a vessel where concerns of fatigue had been raised" (Sliskovic, 2020, cited in Wong, 2021. The increase in mental distress among seafarers was not accompanied by a concomitant increase in mental health support for them. Shan (2021) indicated that seafarers do not have mental health support on board the vessels they work on. Perfunctory attempts were made by some shipping companies. For example, some Chinese state-owned companies disseminated mental health brochures on board; these brochures did not translate into other forms of mental health support such as virtual counselling, for example (Shan, 2021).
The findings of Baygi et al. (2021) indicated that the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress was 12.3%, 11.6% and 5.9%, respectively, in the seafarers they sampled. The same study shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 40% of the participants had experienced symptoms of depression. In addition, over half of the respondents had experienced anxiety (Baygi et al., 2021). Emerging and current research demonstrates that seafarers have a higher rate of depression in comparison to the other occupations (Baygi et al., 2021).
The same study indicated that seafarers had disruptions within at least one of the PTSD subscales and detected the prevalence of anxiety symptoms that were prevalent. Depressive symptoms were prevalent in this sample of seafarers as well. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was noted to be higher among officers, married personnel and those with a higher average signing on in the current vessel during the COVID-19 period (Baygi et al., 2022).
The seafarers' happiness index (2020, cited in Okeleke & Moses, 2020), reports that that safety of those onboard is insufficient. Seafarers self-reported that they were physically exhausted, mentally distressed, home sick and anxious.

Seafarer wellness under threat
Research on employee wellness is well documented in organizational studies. Research while voluminous continues to debate conceptual definitions of employee wellness. There is consensus, however, that employee wellness broadly connotes the physical, psychological and emotional health, comfort and happiness of employees. Employee well-being is defined as the comprehensive experience and function of an employee from a perspective of both physical and psychological dimensions (Warr, 1999). More recent work on seafarers by Sliskovic (2020) found that seafarer wellness can be organised around four categories: mental, physical, social and economic well-being. This is in keeping with the broad dimensions of wellness discovered by the literature in the last three decades.
Research shows that employee well-being has an impact on employees' decisions, like the decision to quit or stay in the current job. It also exerts its influence on job satisfaction (Pradhan, Dash, & Jena, 2017), employee engagement (Sivapragasam & Raya, 2017) and job commitment of an employee (Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002;Wright, 2006). Moreover, well-being also has a significant impact on the stress-coping behaviour of an individual (Diener & Fujita, 1995;Folkman, 1997;Wright, 2010), mental and physical health (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom, 2010) and overall satisfaction in both professional and personal life (Diener, 2000). Employee well-being is not only important for individuals but also plays a crucial role in organizational success Sliskovic's (2020) study found that seafarers reported significant feelings of loneliness and social isolation during the pandemic. The study found that experiences that threatened social well-being among seafarers on board included prolongation of work in an isolated environment and feelings of being "forgotten" and "abandoned" by the community. This contributes to unhealthy mental and emotional states (Sliskovic, 2020). In addition, findings indicate that the mental well-being of seafarers on board includes feelings of negative cognitions, emotions, moods and feelings, which reflect both on their physical state and on their work motivation and engagement (Sliskovic, 2020). Respondents refer to physical well-being through a description of short-and long-term bodily consequences of occupational stress (Sliskovic, 2020). These personal experiences illustrate the extent to which seafarer wel-being was destabilised by the pandemic. In some instances, new pandemic specific threats emerged and in other instances, extant well-being challenges were magnified (Sliskovic, 2020).

Fatigue
Work by  indicated a positive correlation between mental health problems and fatigue. In addition, there were significant positive correlations between the three aspects of the impact of the pandemic. Seafarers' time spent on board had significant positive associations with fatigue. This finding is similar to a qualitative study by Sliskovic (2020) whose findings reported on their mental and physical well-being in the context of their prolonged stay on the ship.
Lack of social support resulting in stress  found that the pandemic played a significant role in mental health problems and fatigue through various factors including its impact on work and life on board, the length of seafarers' time on board and employment as well as family concerns .
The study by  continued that significant negative associations between onboard peer support and mental health problems, as well as between onboard peer support and fatigue. This implied that peer support decreased mental health problems and fatigue . There were also significant negative associations between external support and mental health problems and between external support and fatigue. This then implied that external support reduced mental health problems and fatigue .
Stress is also a known influential factor towards mental health and physical health. Nigerian seafarers experience a high level of stress and are coping poorly. This leads seafarers to intense and prolonged stress and extreme anxiety, depression or other severe emotional problems (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). Anxiety disorders caused by stress may include various complications ranging from generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorder, to obsessive-compulsive disorder (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). This may even result in post-traumatic stress disorder. Traumatic events are replayed through disturbing memories or flashbacks (Okeleke & Moses, 2020).
Social support from family members and friends is beneficial in helping them through the COVID-19 pandemic. These systems offer seafarers with emotional sustenance, tangible resources and aid and information when they during times of need (Okeleke & Moses, 2020).

Decrease in immune response
Ordinarily, the immune system protects the body from disease by destroying foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). Research, however, indicates that stress suppresses the activity of the immune system, leaving the seafarers more susceptible to COVID-19 infection (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). A study was conducted on board ship in order to evaluate individual stress levels among seafarers. Results indicated that separation from their family accounted for 48%, pressure at work 30%, long working days 28% and heat in workplaces 24% (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). Refusing crew change or mid-sea relief is not a healthy practice in the life of seafarers ((2019) cited in Okeleke & Moses, 2020).

Research methodology
The study was conducted via an online survey to assess seafarer well-being in merchant marines. The research design is meant to provide a temperature reading or snapshot of seafarer well-being at a specific moment in time. Temperature reading designs are usually conducted during times of crisis when a quick but empirical sense of social phenomena is needed. It does not necessarily lend itself to theory building and is a form of action research. Consequently, the findings presented are descriptive. This type of research design was popular during the pandemic when researchers wanted to get rapid but reliable pictures of how various populations were experiencing the pandemic.
The survey instrument was developed using the Impact of Event Scale (IES), the Wellbeing Scale (WBS) and a subset of questions from the Employee Engagement Scale. These indices are used extensively in surveys of well-being. Furthermore, questions were included to measure the impact of COVID-19 on seafarer well-being. These questions included the impact of COVID-19 on workload and salary, as well as the effectiveness of COVID-19 safety protocols at work. In addition, questions on demographic and employment characteristics were included in the survey.
The online platform, SurveyMonkey, was used to administer the survey. Using a variety of networks within the seafarer fraternity, the survey was also circulated on various other online platforms, such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Data collection ran for 4 months, and the survey link was posted at multiple times during the collection period to attain the highest possible responses and to reach the widest possible audience.
Ethical clearance for the study was granted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee. Full compliance with informed consent, the right of participants to withdraw at any time without penalty, vetting of the data collection instrument and guarantees of anonymity and confidentiality occurred. An ethical clearance certificate with reference HSSREC/00002750/2022 was granted once compliance with ethical protocols were met.
The study enumerated 167 respondents which equated to a final sample of 95 respondents after the data cleaning phase. Data were collected between 4 July 2022 and 18 August 2022. In this phase, respondents who did not meet the sample criteria (South African Seafarer), those who did not provide consent to participate in the survey and observations where no data were provided were removed from the dataset. The final dataset was analysed in Stata.
The data analysis is split into two parts. The first part provides a descriptive overview of the demographic features and employment characteristics of the sample. This is followed by a descriptive analysis into the impact of COVID-19 on the seafarers. The second part focuses on the analysis of wellbeing by providing the average scores of each subset of well-being (psychological, workplace, subjective and social well-being) that is being investigated. This is followed by a correlation matrix which provides the mean, standard deviations and correlation coefficient of each well-being score.

Sample characteristics
The results in Table 1 outline the demographic characteristics of the sample. The analysis shows that the larger share of seamen are male (60%) and 54.74% are Black. Looking at age, the results show that 58.95% of the sample are aged 25-35, while only 4.21% are aged 56-65.
The majority of the sample listed South Africa as their home country (95.79%). Analysis of marital status shows that the larger share of seamen are single (61.05%) and 36.84% are married. Additionally, 61.05% of the sample have children. Table 2 highlights the employment characteristics of the sample. The results show that a large proportion of the sample is fairly new at the job as 54.74% have between 0 and 5 years of experience. Of everyone who was surveyed, only two participants (2.11%) have more than 30 years of experience in the industry. Disaggregation by vessel type revealed that 46.32% of the sample work on passenger vessels and 10.53% work on tug boats. Looking at the rank of the participants, the larger share work as cruise hospitality (47.37%), while smallest share of participants surveyed is either chief engineers (2.11%) and first engineers (2.11%). The analysis of contract type shows that 33.68% have a 3-month contract and 38.95% have a 6-month contract. In contrast, only 10.53% of the sample (10 individuals) have contracts which are for more than 12 months. The larger share of the respondents have not been at home for between 0 and 3 months (69.47%), while 3.16% of the sample have not been at home for more than 24 months. Similarly, 64.21% of  the sample last left the shore between 0 and 3 months ago, while 2.11% of the sample last left the shore more than 24 months ago. Looking at union membership, 90.53% of the sample are not members of a union and 92.63% of the sample are not ITF members. Table 3 presents an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the sample. The results show that 13.25% of the sample had contracted COVID19, 39.76% of the sample had crew members who had COVID19, 28.92% of the sample had family members who had COVID-19 and 25.30% of the sample had someone close to them who had passed away from COVID19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large negative impact on 42.17% of the sample, while interestingly, 34.94% of the sample reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had no impact on their salary.
Looking at satisfaction at how employers dealt with the pandemic, 44.58% of the sample agree that they are satisfied with the employers' implementation of safety protocols. 48.19% of the sample agree that the employer provided resources for isolation and 53.01% agree that COVID-19 screen was adequately administered. Additionally, the results show that 53.01 agree that it was possible to implement COVID-19 protocols at work and 48.15% of the sample agree that the employer was transparent regarding COVID-19 protocols. Table 4 shows the mean scores for the four dimensions of well-being. The composite score of each dimension is presented as a mean of all the questions within that dimension. Each mean should be interpreted within the context of the lowest (min) and highest (max) possible scores for each dimension. The results suggest that seafarers have a moderate well-being score, across four different dimensions of well-being. For example, the mean workplace well-being score among seafarers is 44.33. Table 5 presents the correlations of each of the dimensions of well-being. The results show that there are generally medium-to-weak correlations between the dimensions; however, the internal reliability  (Cronbach's alpha) for each scale is above .65. The results show a medium correlation between social well-being and workplace well-being (r = 0.50, p < 0.05). There is also a medium correlation between workplace well-being and subjective well-being (r = 0.55, p < 0.05). Lastly, the results highlight a weak correlation between psychological well-being and subjective well-being (r = 0.27, p < 0.05).  Contrary to literature which indicates that seafarers were more prone to contract COVID-19 (Okeleke & Moses, 2020), during the peak, the sample of this particular study on seafarers indicates that a majority of the sample had not contracted the virus, i.e. 60.24%. This may be attributed to the adaptability and quick response of the shipping industry, COVID-19 protocol adherence to a very high and thorough standard as well as great experience in crisis management. Findings relating to family members who had COVID-19 illustrated that 71.08% did not have COVID-19, while 28.92% did.

COVID-RELATED DEATHS
Regarding COVID-19 deaths, sadly, 25.3% of the sample indicated the loss of a loved one. Majority, however, 74.70% did not experience any deaths of anyone close to them. (2022) reported 6,274,323 deaths globally.

COVID-19 IMPACT ON SALARY
Forty-two percent of the sample indicated a large negative impact on their salary with a reduction of 100%. Seven percent of the sample indicated a reduction in salary by 50% and 4.8% experienced a moderate impact. Eleven percent experienced a small negative impact, and 34.95% experienced no impact on their salary. Lastly, zero participants experienced a positive impact on their salary. These findings can be attributed to the destructive nature of COVID-19 across various dimensions -medical, social, economic and technological. Due to governmentimposed restrictions, many organisations could no longer operate and this led to gross unemployment throughout the globe across a multiplicity of industries and occupational categories. This is echoed by the findings below. This pandemic has resulted in a total shutdown of the world for over a lengthy time period.
Naturally, there were drastic effects, one of them being economic damages across populations (Wong, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic led to the collapse of stock markets, unemployment, crashed oil prices, the collapse of economic activities and technological upheaval (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). The transport sector was heavily affected-from maritime, aviation and land transportation modes. This was a challenge to industries as sea and airports shut down and land borders closed (Okeleke & Moses, 2020). This correlates strongly with the findings of this study which indicated that 42% of the sample experienced major negative impacts on their salary. Employment is a key indicator of economic stability both locally and globally, but also of well-being at an individual level. Hence, a useful way of acquiring a sense of the various impacts of COVID-19 on seafarers was through a review of employment and salaries.

SATISFACTION WITH SAFETY PROTOCOLS
Forty-five percent of the sample agreed, 24.10% strongly agreed and 13.25% slightly agreed that they were satisfied with their employer's implementation of safety protocols. However, 10.84% strongly disagreed and 4.82% disagreed. Although it is known that infections on vessels have a greater likelihood of spreading (Vandergeest et al., 2021), seafarers were generally satisfied and happy with employer's attempts at safety protocols. The reasons for this are attributed to the high level of preparedness of the industry for the pandemic, their adaptability, strong crisis management approach and thoroughness of the COVID-19 protocols that were implemented.
Infections on vessels have a greater likelihood of spreading, while isolation at sea means that access to health care and medical services is limited and complicated (Vandergeest et al., 2021). Despite majority being satisfied with safety protocols, it must be noted that there was a minority that disagreed. This could be attributed to those who were likely to have already been infected and experienced slight challenges getting the necessary support.

Provision of isolation resources and adequacy of screening
Twenty-seven percent of the sample strongly agreed that employers provided resources for isolation, 48% agreed and 7.2% slightly agreed. However, 8.43% strongly disagreed and 9.6% slightly disagreed. Stannard (2020) argues that access to medical, dental and welfare services is challenging for seafarers, and this is a reflection of the minority of the sample who disagreed that employers provided resources for isolation. However, on a more positive note, majority of the sample felt that they were provided with resources in a sufficient way. This emphasises the ease of accessibility to critical facilities such as medical care and related resources, overall readiness of the shipping industry against COVID-19 and their quick response stance towards the global pandemic.
Approximately 28% strongly agreed and 53% agreed that COVID screening was adequately administered. Six percent strongly disagreed and 2.4% disagreed on the adequacy of COVID screening. The fact that majority of the sample felt that COVID screening was executed in an adequate way is contrary to the literature indicating the limitations of onboard medical care for seafarers (Stannard, 2020).

Implementation of covid-19 protocols at work
Seventeen percent strongly agreed, 53% agreed and 8.4% slightly agreed that it was possible to implement COVID-19 protocols at work. However, 9.6% strongly disagreed, 7.2 disagreed and 4.8% slightly disagreed with the possibility of implementing COVID-19 protocols at work.
It is reassuring that the results indicate a strong possibility for the ease of COVID-19 protocol execution at work. The minority that disagree could be attributed to Stannard's (2020) argument that active cases on board, social distancing and other measures to reduce virus transmission, access to pre-employment medical examination, interaction with shore staff in ports, crew changes, access to medical, dental and welfare services in port are challenging for seafarers. Many industries were unable to successfully implement COVID-19 protocols effectively, resulting in a rise of cases, severe illness and even death. Literature portrayed a similar debate. However, it was vital to explore this theme specifically within the maritime industry to understand the ramifications for mental health and well-being.

Transparency regarding covid-19 protocols
Thirty-three percent strongly agreed that their employer is transparent regarding COVID-19 protocols, 48% agreed and 7% slightly agreed. However, 6% strongly disagreed, 3.7% disagreed and 1.23% slightly disagreed that their employer is transparent regarding protocols. Again, it is noteworthy that majority of the sample were satisfied with the transparency of COVID-19 protocols. This signifies clear communication, ease of implementation and a safe work environment for seafarers. It must be noted, however, that a minority percentage of the sample disagreed with transparency. Perhaps there is room to improve on transparency, awareness and communication of COVID-19 protocols. Sliskovic (2020) argues that in terms of well-being, there were reports of loneliness and missing their families which are aggravated by fear for loved ones due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, a research study indicated that more than 40% of the participants had experienced symptoms of depression (Baygi et al., 2021). Importantly, Baygi et al. (2021) stresses that the pandemic's psychiatric burden should not be underestimated. Specifically, mental well-being of seafarers comprised negative cognitions and emotions, which affect their physical state engagement levels (Sliskovic, 2020).

Well being scores
Baygi, Khonsari, Arash Agoushi, Gelsefid, Baygi et al. (2021) explain that working conditions on board may lead to unforeseen influences on seafarers' psychosocial distress at sea. The findings of this study, in particular, however, maintain that seafarers have a moderate well-being score across all four different dimensions of well-being, i.e. psychological, social, workplace and subjective. This is attributed to the fact that seafarers were satisfied with COVID-19 health and safety protocols, implementation and also due to their low infection rate. In other words, if the COVID-19 protocol adherence was poor, if they experienced a lack of medical resources and a high risk working environment with a large number of active cases on board, this would have affected their scoring negatively. Majority of the sample were also single, hence reducing their fear or anxiety over spouses.
The results show a medium correlation between social well-being and workplace well-being (r = 0.50, p < 0.05). Amid a pandemic of this magnitude, it is evident that workplace well-being in terms of the quality and adherence of COVID-19 protocols as well-social well-being with regard to relationships and peer support would affect their overall well-being to a very large extent. A poor state of social well-being, during a pandemic marked by anxiety, fear and the unknown, more especially for a seafarer who is isolated from family and friends at shore, would mean a low level of overall workplace well-being. Workplace well-being infers overall quality of the working environment. Thus, if one's social well-being deteriorates, this implies that workplace well-being suffers too.  argued that significant negative associations between onboard peer support and mental health problems, as well as between onboard peer support and fatigue. Both imply unhealthy workplace and social dimensions of well-being. In other words, seafarers experienced threatened social health due to prolongation of work in an isolated environment and feelings of abandonment (Sliskovic, 2020). The dimensions emphasised by Sliskovic (2020) are clear indicators of mental health and well-being, hence similar areas were explored during this research study. In the case of this sample, however, mean scores for both social and workplace well-being were moderate. This is due to high levels of COVID-19 protocol adherence, healthy peer relations and low infection rates.  explains that peer support decreased mental health problems and fatigue, which could likely to be the case of this particular research sample. The age demographic of this study helps unpack the reason for the well-being scores. Majority of the sample were aged between 25-35 and 36-45. Perhaps, the youthful aspect of these age categories allowed for greater resilience.
There is also a medium correlation between workplace well-being and subjective well-being (r = 0.55, p < 0.05). Naturally, if one's workplace well-being, which is largely affected by medical care, isolation and medical resources, implementation of COVID-19 protocols is at an acceptable level, as in the case of the research sample, then the state of subjective well-being would be strong too.
Results of this study indicate a weak correlation between psychological well-being and subjective well-being (r = 0.27, p < 0.05). This is a unique finding as psychological well-being affects all dimensions of well-being.
Literature indicates that personal experiences illustrate how the restrictions affected job insecurity, lack of income and financial worries, which threaten the overall well-being of seafarers (Sliskovic, 2020). However, the nature of well-being scores across the four dimensions in the case of this research sample are indicative of the following: peer support and other measures of social support were healthy; strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols was a strong likelihood, the necessary medical and psychological treatment was available, access to isolation resources was available; low infection rates and the mental and psychological state of seafarers appeared more resilient. The reason for such resilience could be attributed to the uniqueness of their occupation. Seafarers being a global professional with staff being away from loved ones for lengthy periods of time, even pre-COVID, is a contributing factor to their level of resilience. Ships are equipped with various facilities for crew including medical services and also recreational. This could be a factor contributing to their confidence and comfort levels during the pandemic.

Managerial implications
As shipping and seafaring work returns to pre-pandemic levels of normalcy, crewing managers and ship owners are met with the reality of lingering negative mental health impacts on their crews. While it is unclear yet as to what attrition rates will be in the industry due to mental health issues of seafarers, what is clear is that seafarer mental health needs considerably more attention even when the industry is not impacted by a pandemic. Ship owners and crewing companies need to regularly conduct checks on seafarer mental health, expand the definition of well-being to include mental health and foster organisational cultures that make seafarers feel psychologically safe. Greater levels of investment need to be made in having on-board resources that facilitate and prioritise mental health care for all crew working on board.

Areas for further research
Expanding the sample of seafarers beyond South Africans to African seafarers of other African nationalities will add greater weight to any claims on differences between African seafarers mental well-being and the well-being of seafarers from outside the continent. A qualitative study will also help gain deeper insight into contextual issues that impact well-being, that a quantitative study may have missed.

Conclusion
This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on seafarers in terms of salaries, infections and various dimensions of well-being. It also explored the effectiveness of COVID-19 protocols. Participants expressed their overall satisfaction with COVID-19 protocols by their employers. Their well-being scores across various dimensions: social, psychological, subjective and workplace were moderate. This implied high levels of resilience among crew as well as preparedness of the shipping industry in terms COVID-19 protocols.