Tristar conference: 12 Indian seafarers dead as conflict exacts human toll

Twelve Indian seafarers have lost their lives keeping trade moving through the Middle East conflict, with two still missing, 17 seriously injured and 172 repatriated to India. Dr Emmadi Vashnu Vardhan Reddy, consul general of India, delivered those figures at Tristar's Safety at Sea conference, held in the UAE against the backdrop of regional instability that dominated discussions among delegates and dozens of crew members joining remotely from Tristar offices and vessels worldwide.

Reddy said he was humbled by the toll faced by Indian seafarers who continued to keep economies and trade moving. He called on the industry to create environments where seafarers feel safe speaking up about the difficulties they face, establish professional support frameworks accessible to all crew, and adopt a top-down approach in which senior management leads company culture.

The event opened with a safety briefing from the venue's manager, who outlined emergency procedures and reassured delegates that no specific threat had been identified to the UAE. The geopolitical situation weighed on every session that followed.

Why does mental health belong on the safety agenda?

In his keynote address, HE Abdullah Al Hashmi, global COO for parks and economic zones at DP World, argued that mental wellbeing deserves the same attention and discipline as equipment inspections, regular safety drills and risk assessments. He highlighted the Jebel Ali International Seafarers Centres as an important place for crew to rest and connect while ships are in port, offering services including counselling and medical check-ups.

Access to shore leave remains a persistent concern, regularly raised in the Seafarers Happiness Index. Tight port turnarounds, security measures, heavy workloads and transport challenges continue to restrict opportunities to spend time ashore.

Speaking on the sidelines, Ben Bailey, director of programme at Mission to Seafarers, told Seatrade Maritime News that shore leave had always been difficult in the Middle East and had become more challenging amid the current instability. His broader assessment carried a sharper warning for ship and route safety.

"I think more globally, shore leave hasn't ever really got back to the levels that it was pre-pandemic. That is a real concern, not only for the mental health and well-being of those working on board, but the safety of those vessels and the safety of the routes that they're plying," Bailey said.

Can wellbeing be measured in dollars and retention rates?

Anurag Agarwal, head of portfolio management for the global transportation group at JP Morgan, argued that investing in crew wellbeing should be viewed as a core business consideration rather than a discretionary cost. Every seafarer's actions can either add value or incur costs, he said, making crewing a key variable in risk assessment and investment returns.

The scale of JP Morgan's exposure gives the argument weight: a fleet of around 200 vessels with 3,500 seafarers onboard, plus a stake in OSM Thome adding exposure to a further 1,000 vessels and the 30,000 seafarers working on them.

"The things that we always measured in numbers have now become real, such as retention rates and safety. I can't recall a single board meeting where we don't start with safety and well-being and an update on how our crew is doing. That is effectively the human and most valuable piece of our balance sheet, the capital," Agarwal said.

What single indicator reveals a real safety culture?

Speakers differed on how to judge whether companies are translating commitments into action. Tim Coffin, CEO of Tristar Maritime Logistics, chose the number of junior seafarers raising safety concerns and exercising stop-work authority — the lower the rank of those speaking up, the better.

"The ship has 20 pairs of eyes. Risk doesn't respect rank. Every set of eyes is just as good as the other and so, I think that the best example of a safety culture working properly is when you see junior sailors using their stop work authority," Coffin said.

Salvatore d'Amico, chairman of Ishima, would instead assess how well senior management knows the people working across its fleet. "I always say, when you know the people, it means that you look beyond the numbers," he said.

For Agarwal, crew retention is the most telling measure, reflecting both operational stability and the experience of seafarers onboard. "The more we have the same crew coming back, the more we know that our vessels are being looked after, but they are also feeling looked after when they're on the vessels. So that's a number that we track very closely. I think we are at 97%, and to me, 97% is still three less than where I'd like to be," he said.

With conflict-driven risks still elevating crew welfare to boardroom level, expect retention, shore-leave access and stop-work authority to harden into the metrics by which ship operators are judged.