AGEING vessels are increasing the maintenance burden on seafarers and spreading crew resources thinly, a new report has found, causing both physical and mental fatigue.

The quarterly Seafarer Happiness Index showed a slight increase to from 6.91 out of a possible 10 to 6.98/10 in the first quarter of 2025.

But crew members on board older vessels reported increased maintenance demands, which meant deferred maintenance tasks accumulated and created growing backlogs that crew said felt insurmountable.

More troubleshooting meant there was less time for other critical tasks or training.

The ratings for shore leave and connectivity saw notable gains in 1Q25, but shore leave remained “painfully out of reach” to many, the report said.

Respondents to the survey cited insufficient time to go ashore because of engine maintenance or short port stays as barriers to accessing shore leave.

“The latest data paints a stark picture — where shore leave is available, it is often limited to a few rushed hours, if that,” the report said.

In terms of time spent at sea, the optimal happiness score was for deployments in the six-to-nine-month range (7.8), during which seafarers have time to adjust to life at sea without the risk of burnout.

But once deployments stretched beyond 12 months, that score plummeted to 3.7, which the report called a “red flag”.

“This dramatic decline suggests such extended deployments, which are not allowed anyway, are clearly unsustainable for psychological well-being, regardless of other factors,” it said.