Celebrating Day of the Seafarer 2026: “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks”
To mark IMO’s Day of the Seafarer 2026 (25 June), we asked a selection of industry leaders what this year’s theme “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” - meant to them. Here are their replies, listed in alpha order of company names:
Doğukan Şimşek, AVS Global Ship Supply (1)
To us, this theme highlights that seafarers bear the immense weight of geopolitical and safety risks just to sustain global trade. They are the unseen backbone of the supply chain. To alleviate these heavy pressures, as AVS Global Ship Supply, alongside supplying vessels with the provisions and technical stores they need, we prioritize protecting the mental and physical health of crews through our specialized Seafarers Wellbeing Consultancy service. In collaboration with Ekol Maritime Training Center, this consultancy delivers advanced safety and psychological resilience training. By combining our high-quality port supply strength with this professional consultancy, we ensure that seafarers feel securely protected and deeply valued throughout their challenging voyages.
Jacob Damgaard, Head of Loss Prevention, Britannia P&I (2)
The theme recognises that seafarers are the backbone of global trade while facing heightened operational, security and wellbeing risks. For Britannia P&I, it underscores a commitment to supporting crews through robust risk management, guidance on safety and wellbeing, and responsive claims and advisory services. The Club is strengthening practical support by enhancing mental health resources, issuing targeted loss prevention guidance, and working with Members to improve crisis response, helping ensure seafarers are protected, resilient and properly supported as they carry the world’s trade.
Simona Toma, Head of Maritime HR at Columbia Group (3)
To me, ‘Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks’ means recognising that seafarers do far more than transport cargo. They keep food, energy, medicine, and economies moving, often while facing conflict zones, piracy, extreme weather, fatigue, isolation, and fast-changing technology. The theme is a reminder that the risks behind global trade are carried by real people and families. As a company, we must respond with practical support: stronger risk assessment, clearer communication, mental health and welfare support, better training, family engagement, connectivity improvements, and a culture where seafarer safety comes before commercial pressure.
Henrik Jensen, Founder & CEO, Danica Crewing Specialists (4)
For us, the theme “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” reflects the reality that seafarers remain essential to global commerce while often shouldering risks that many people ashore would never accept in their own working lives. Recent events in the Persian Gulf highlighted this starkly, with thousands of seafarers operating in or near a conflict zone simply because they were doing their jobs. While Danica Crewing Specialists was fortunate not to have any seafarers caught in the Gulf, the situation reinforced our belief that safety must always take precedence over commercial considerations. Whenever vessels trade in higher-risk areas, we ensure crews are fully informed of the risks and offer them the opportunity to be relieved, placing their welfare and wellbeing at the centre of decision-making.
Philippos Ioulianou, MD, EmissionLink (5)
To me, this is a reminder that seafarers sit at the centre of shipping’s energy transition. They keep global trade moving, yet too often carry the operational pressure of new regulations, reporting requirements and commercial expectations. Decarbonisation must not add unnecessary burden at sea. At EmissionLink, our focus is on helping owners and managers simplify emissions compliance through accurate data, clear guidance and practical support. By reducing administrative complexity around EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime and future carbon frameworks, we aim to help shore-based teams make better decisions while allowing seafarers to focus on safe, efficient operations.
Jamie Jones, MD, GTMaritime (6)
The theme "Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks" recognises the immense responsibility seafarers shoulder every day. They keep global trade moving while navigating operational, regulatory, cyber and geopolitical challenges that continue to grow in complexity.
At GTMaritime, we believe technology should help reduce those pressures, not add to them. Our focus is on delivering solutions that simplify communication, improve visibility and reduce administrative workload, giving crews more time to focus on safe vessel operations. As the maritime industry becomes increasingly digital, supporting seafarers means ensuring technology works for them, allowing them to concentrate on the decisions and responsibilities that matter most.
Scott Mitchell - Technical Development Manager, Idwal (7)
“Carrying world trade, carrying the risks” reflects a truth the industry cannot ignore: the seafarers who keep global commerce moving also shoulder the greatest burdens. When major routes are disrupted, crews face higher security risks, longer voyages, heavier workloads and extended time away from home. Ships may transport the goods that sustain economies, but it is the people onboard who absorb the human cost. As a former seafarer now working ashore, I believe we must never lose sight of their contribution. Robust crew‑welfare assessment is essential, ensuring living conditions, fatigue, wellbeing and connectivity are prioritised whilst helping organisations identify practical ways to make life at sea safer and more sustainable.
Capt. Kuba Szymanksi, Secretary General, InterManager (8)
This year’s Day of the Seafarer theme is a reminder that while seafarers keep global trade moving, they often bear the consequences of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and operational pressures beyond their control. At InterManager, we believe that protecting seafarers means looking beyond physical safety to address the wider factors that affect wellbeing, including employment security, fair treatment and the ability to speak up without fear. During times of geopolitical instability, it is essential that governments, shipowners and international bodies uphold existing commitments to protect seafarers’ rights, ensure safe crew changes and prevent them from becoming collateral damage in political disputes.
Mr. P K Mishra, MD, IRClass (9)
“Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” is a powerful reminder that behind every global supply chain stands a seafarer, quietly enabling the flow of world trade. Yet, while they connect economies, they also navigate uncertainty, danger, and isolation. This theme calls on us not just to acknowledge their contribution, but to elevate our responsibility. As a classification society, we remain committed to safer regulations, smarter services, and continuous support for those at sea. We urge the entire maritime community to act with purpose – placing seafarer welfare at the heart of every decision. Above all, let us ensure that every seafarer is valued, respected, and empowered with the dignity they truly deserve.
Fabian Fussek, CEO and Co-Founder at Kaiko Systems (10)
This year's theme reflects the reality that seafarers carry far more than world trade. They also carry the growing operational demands of modern shipping: more inspections, more reporting, more complex vessels, tighter regulation.
Technology can ease that pressure, but only if it genuinely saves time onboard. At Kaiko Systems we focus on giving crews hours back every week, by replacing paperwork with structured digital workflows for inspections, audits and safety routines. Customers using our platform have cut reporting workload by up to 80 percent, also for shore-teams. The industry doesn't need more data for its own sake. It needs better tools that make life easier for the people using them.
Dr Jens Tülsner, MD, CEO & Founder, Marine Medical Solutions (11)
The theme “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” cuts to the heart of seafaring today. Seafarers keep the global economy moving, but they also carry the hidden weight of fatigue, isolation, family separation, safety threats and constant pressure.
At Marine Medical Solutions, we believe they should not carry that burden alone. We believe that duty of care must travel with them. We are strengthening access to crisis response, counselling and practical guidance and confidential mental health support for crews and shore teams.
This Day of the Seafarer, the message is simple: if seafarers carry world trade, the industry must help to support its workforce.
Pradeep Chawla, CEO of MarinePALS (12)
2026 has been a very difficult year for the seafarers . It is not the El Nino weather that has caused them worries. It is the unpredictable geopolitics that has wreaked havoc on their mental health and killed some of their colleagues. It is difficult for them and anyone else to accept that seafarers doing their job are a real threat to anyone. An arrest or detention of a ship for not following the orders of a warship are expected but missiles and killing are not justifiable. For me, IMO and all ports should hoist a black flag as a sign of mourning to mark the Day of the Seafarer this year and pledge to work towards avoiding such events in the future. My company makes learning content, and we hope that our learning content on Mental wellness has helped our seafarers brethren.
Dawn Doyley, Registrar of Seafarers, Maritime Authority of Jamaica (13)
“Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” are powerful words which highlight the unsung heroes behind the scenes, demonstrating the invaluable contributions seafarers make to the global economy, not in peace and tranquillity, but in an environment punctuated by piracy, geopolitical instability, confined spaces, loneliness, extended time away from families, criminalisation, and other vagaries of the sea.
Notwithstanding, seafarers carry out their duties with diligence and dedication, ensuring the sustenance of their families and ultimately contributing to the gross domestic product of their countries.
As the agency responsible for their welfare, training, and certification, we are committed to adopting and promulgating the relevant legislation and policies to cater for their needs and competence, affording them the respect and protection they so deserve.
Chief Engineer Sheldon Clarke, Marine Surveyor, Maritime Authority of Jamaica (14)
The theme "Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks" is a timely reminder that seafarers are the backbone of global commerce, often working under demanding and high-risk conditions to keep supply chains moving. At the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, we are committed to supporting seafarers by maintaining high standards of training, certification, and welfare in accordance with international conventions. We continue to strengthen regulatory oversight, promote a culture of safety, and work closely with industry stakeholders to ensure that Jamaican seafarers are equipped, protected, and supported throughout their maritime careers.
Marinos Kokkinis, CEO of OneCareGroup (15)
The theme “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” highlights the essential yet often underestimated role of seafarers, who not only keep global supply chains moving but also bear the growing pressures of geopolitical uncertainty, operational complexity, and rapid technological change. At OneCare Group, we recognise that these risks extend beyond physical safety to include mental wellbeing and overall human performance. We are strengthening our proactive holistic approach through continuous healthcare support, wellbeing monitoring, and training programmes, ensuring seafarers are better equipped, supported, and resilient, both at sea and beyond.
Ronald Spithout, Managing Director, OneHealth by VIKAND (16)
On this Day of the Seafarer, our message is that resilience must evolve to reflect the realities of modern life at sea. Seafarers today are navigating a dual challenge: growing geopolitical instability that can place them in harm’s way, and rapid technological change that is transforming how ships operate and how crews work. Too often, resilience is seen simply as the ability to cope, but that approach can lead to fatigue, poor mental health and increased safety risks. At VIKAND, we believe resilience starts with putting people at the centre of decision-making, ensuring seafarers are supported, protected and empowered as the industry continues to evolve.
Sven Brooks, CEO, ScanReach (17)
"Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks" captures something the industry too often takes for granted: seafarers absorb operational, environmental, and personal risk on behalf of a global supply chain that rarely sees their faces. At ScanReach, we focus on reducing that burden through safety digitisation — personal distress alarms that let crew call for help instantly, real-time location management for faster emergency response, and environmental monitoring that flags hazards before they escalate, all without adding reporting burden to seafarers themselves. We also see growing urgency around harassment and wellbeing onboard, and believe safety systems must extend beyond fire and structural risk to cover the human factors too.
Kris Vedat, CEO, SmartSea (18)
To me, this theme recognises a truth shipping sometimes hides in plain sight: seafarers do not just carry cargo, they carry the operational, safety and cyber risks that keep world trade moving. As vessels become more connected, the pressure on crews is growing, not easing. At SmartSea, our focus is on reducing that burden through clearer digital systems, stronger cyber awareness, and technology that supports crews rather than overwhelms them. We are working to make complex risks easier to understand, detect and manage, so seafarers are better protected, better informed and not left to absorb the consequences of poor digital decisions.
Irene Rosberg, Director, Blue MBA and Director, The Blue Board Leadership Programme, at The Copenhagen Business School (19)
The lack of knowledge in operating new advanced technology on board vessels has introduced a new burden known as "technostress" for seafarers which should be addressed urgently alongside combating isolation and fatigue. When tools you are given are complex and unfamiliar, not having the right level of training to operate them will create a lack of confidence and a significant source of stress, adding to an already stressful situation in a risky and uncertain environment our seafarers are operating. This skill gap between what is demanded, the tools provided, and the seafarers' level of training breeds uncertainty and triggers simple workflows into anxious and high-pressure situations, degrades the effective decision making and poses a direct and critical threat to maritime safety.
Lorraine Hager, Senior Loss Prevention Executive, The Swedish Club
The theme “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks” is a powerful reminder that behind global trade are seafarers who carry not only cargo, but constant operational pressures, long separations, and unseen wellbeing risks. At The Swedish Club, we see wellbeing as a core safety issue, not an add-on. Through our Check Your Pulse initiative, we are taking a proactive, preventive approach, providing practical tools to raise awareness, address fatigue, support mental health, and strengthen family connections. By caring for the person behind the profession, we reduce risk, enhance safety, and contribute to a more sustainable industry.
Hans Bobeldijk, CEO at UAB-Online (20)
Seafarers keep world trade moving, but they also carry the risks behind every safe voyage: fatigue, faster turnarounds, geopolitical instability and a growing compliance load. This theme is a reminder to keep people at the centre of every improvement we make. At UAB-Online, we focus on practical pressure relief: reducing duplicate administration and last-minute document chasing through standardised, secure pre-arrival workflows. When ship and shore teams share the same information early, there is less rework under time pressure and more room to do the job safely.
Operations Team - Wirana Shipping
This year's theme reflects the reality that seafarers carry far more than world trade. They also carry the risks associated with geopolitical tensions, security threats and an increasingly complex operating environment. Yet despite these challenges, they continue to perform their duties with professionalism, resilience and dedication.
Across the shipping industry, there is a growing focus on supporting crews through better risk assessment, improved welfare and the effective use of technology. However, one thing remains unchanged: ships may become smarter, but safe operations still depend on experienced people making sound decisions in often difficult circumstances.
St. Kitts and Nevis International Ship Registry (21)
Behind every product we use and every supply chain that operates smoothly is a seafarer helping to keep the world connected. Their work enables global trade, supports livelihoods, and strengthens economies, often under challenging conditions and far from home.
On this Day of the Seafarer, we recognize and thank seafarers for their dedication, resilience, and invaluable contribution to society. The Saint Kitts and Nevis Ship Registry remains committed to protecting and supporting seafarers as a signatory to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), promoting compliance, fair treatment, and the welfare of all seafarers serving under its flag.