SeafarerHelp

Contact us for emotional, wellbeing and practical support at any time:

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Wherever you are in the world, we are here for you

SeafarerHelp is a free, confidential, multilingual helpline for seafarers and their families, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Help and support

Explore information, guidance and resources on a range of issues which may affect you as a seafarer.

Seafarer Centre Directory

Find information and contact details for your nearest port welfare services with our online directory.

Health & wellbeing

Take care of your wellbeing on board with our free resources, specifically designed with the challenges you face as a seafarer in mind.

5,200+

seafarers and their families assisted by SeafarerHelp in 2023.

9,000+

calls and messages handled by our helpline team in 2023.

95

nationalities of seafarers supported in 2023.

Get free support now

Live chat

Connect with a member of our team for a real-time conversation.

WhatsApp

Send us a message on WhatsApp.

Email us

Send us an e-mail with your question or concern.

Call us

Speak to a member of our team over the phone.

Request a call back

Tell us what date and time you would like us to call you (we can call you straight away).

Keep us with you

Download the ISWAN for Seafarers app for access to all our helpline contact channels and offline access to resources and useful information for seafarers.

Get in-person support

Have a look at the Seafarer Centre Directory if you’re entering a new port and want to find out where to access the nearest facilities. If you can’t find facilities wherever you are, contact us and we’ll try to find someone to help.

What to expect when you contact us

Call us, send us a message or connect with us on live chat
Talk to us and we will listen
Next steps
We will keep in touch for as long as you need us

Call us, send us a message or connect with us on live chat

A member of our trained helpline team will respond and ask you how we can assist.

Our helpline team all speak fluent English as well as a combined total of 13 other languages. If you would prefer to speak to someone in a language other than English, please let us know and we will arrange this for you.

Talk to us and we will listen

If you are feeling low or anxious or if you would like to talk through a problem, we will ask you to share what is troubling you and we will listen without judgement.

We will ask questions and work with you to explore your situation. Your conversation with us is a safe space to share your thoughts and feelings.

If you have a question or request for information, we will do our best to assist you – signposting to sources of further information or support if we do not have the full answer ourselves.

Next steps

We want to help you reach a place of calm and focus, where you have identified what’s most important to you and feel empowered to take the next steps – whatever they may be.

We may offer to share or signpost you to additional information or resources, or to put you in touch with a member of our international team most local to you. We can also arrange phone counselling sessions with one of our counsellors if this would be helpful.

We will keep in touch for as long as you need us

We will arrange a follow-up conversation with you to check in and see if you need any further support.

We will give you a case number so you can contact us in future and pick up from our last conversation.

During our conversation, we will ask if you are comfortable sharing details such as your name, contact details and vessel details so we can provide the best ongoing assistance possible. However, you never have to give us any information you are not comfortable with sharing.

You can contact us again at any time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if you ever need our help or support.

Our funders

Seafarer stories

Discover how we have made a difference to seafarers' lives

Yacht crew safety

Read more

Seafarer bullied by captain

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Unpaid wages and deteriorating conditions on board

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SeafarerHelp is operated by the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN)

ISWAN operates multiple helplines providing help and support to seafarers and their families around the world. As well as SeafarerHelp, ISWAN operates YachtCrewHelp, specifically for those working in the yachting industry.

About ISWAN

Helpful free resources

ISWAN Insights: Spotlight on SeafarerHelp (Q1 2024)

5min read

Data from the first quarter of 2024 from ISWAN’s helpline SeafarerHelp points to the complex...
Read more

ISWAN Annual Review 2021-22

5min read

We look back over the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.  ...
Read more

ISWAN Annual Review 2020-21

5min read

We look back over the financial year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, a year dominated by the pandemic...
Read more
View all resources