THERE has been a large increase in the number of crew death claims in the three years since the pandemic, with fatalities from suicides now outnumbering those from accidents, according to the world’s largest marine insurer.

However, illness remains the dominant cause of death at sea, Norwegian P&I and hull giant Gard noted in a report published to mark the annual Day of the Seafarer today.

Stress is a key factor here, as eight out of the 10 most common illnesses among crew can be caused or aggravated by stress.

The marine mutual saw about 3,000 crew claims for vessels entered into its P&I book last year, which it then analysed and compared to data from previous years.

It also conducted a crew well-being survey from 2024, which garnered responses from over 6,000 seafarers across 46 nationalities, exploring factors such as physical health, mental well-being, rest and social support.

Among the key findings is a 25% rise in the frequency of crew death claims when comparing the three years following the pandemic to the three years before it.

All told, there were 90 deaths on Gard-entered tonnage in 2024, representing 4% of all crew claims in insurance terms.

Illness was responsible in 75 of these instances, with seven down to accidents, while eight were self-inflicted.

As a P&I club, Gard has a market share of just over 20% of vessels covered by the International Group, which in turn covers 85% of the world fleet.

This suggests that the figures would need to be multiplied by about six to come up with a rough-and-ready estimate of the scale of the problem across the industry.

“Due to the relatively limited number of cases, we could not identify any significant patterns in relation to age, rank, or time spent on board,” the report stated.

However, in all but one of the individual fatal accidents, the deceased crew were performing their duties and human error appears to have played a role.

Four fatalities involved falls from heights, and three of those falls were from the vessel into the sea.

Lene-Camilla Nordlie, Gard’s head of people claims, described the situation as highly concerning and argued that owners should do more to reduce stress on board their ships.

“While some stressors can be handled by seafarers themselves, many factors are controlled or influenced by companies and authorities,” she said.

The club also highlighted the strong link between the health and well-being of seafarers and operational safety at sea. Seafarers need to get sufficient rest, enjoy good social support and feel they are part of a team.

Gard offers a free app called Mariners Medico Guide, providing guidance on both mental and physical symptoms, designed to make it easier for crew members to seek help when they need it.

The report comes after recent research from the closure-threatened Seafarers International Research Centre at the University of Cardiff, which maintained that seafarers on merchant ships typically get fewer rest breaks, less access to medical care and lower levels of shore leave than counterparts on cruiseships.

Problems include sleep deprivation and chronic fatigue, particularly on vessels with smaller crews.

These conditions were found to correlate with short-term anxiety and depression. More than 40% of senior officers in the cargo sector reported symptoms of mental distress.

There was also particular dissatisfaction with catering on board, especially the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables and the prevailing standards of food preparation.

More positively, the work also found that many seafarers are taking steps to improve their lifestyle, with consumption of alcohol, tobacco and fried food all down on the levels revealed in earlier studies.

The study also found that incidents of sexual harassment and assault remain underreported, often due to fear of retaliation, disbelief, or losing one’s job.