“There is nothing as precious to man as a sound mind in a sound body and it is essential that the physical well-being of our people merits as much attention as its spiritual welfare.”
- Haile Selassie
A few years ago, the term “health” was mostly a physical connotation. You needed to exercise and eat the right food to be healthy. And for the most part, this is true. But as the world slowly entered a more enlightened time, people became more aware of the need to attend to one’s psychological well-being in order to truly be a healthy individual. This aspect pertains to our mental health. And for seafarers, mental health can be a difficult issue to tackle.
With tedious working hours, months of isolation, and unfavorable environmental conditions being the norm, and with the addition of homesickness, seasickness, and work pressure, our mental health is in constant disarray.
Enter the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 as it is generally referred to, and a new threat is in the midst. Not only does COVID-19 pose a threat to our physical health in an already physically demanding profession where hazards and risks abound, the virus also poses a threat to our mental health as anxiety and general unrest are now inevitable. For most seafarers, this profession is both boon and bane as it allows us to provide for our families but also separates us from those loved ones. With the virus reaching a global scale, one cannot help but worry about the ones at home.
In spite of all this, there is hope. The issue of mental health awareness is coming into the light, so much so, that it has sailed into the shipping industry’s radar. With maritime organizations understanding the dilemma that this is for seafarers, action is being taken to alleviate the problem. A good example is the recently released “Care for People” Resilience Tool which was followed by the release of the “Psychological Wellbeing at Sea” Mental Health Guide for Seafarers by the Seafarers’ Health Information Programmed (SHIP) to vessels in the company’s fleet, both of which have been discussed onboard.
The Psychological Wellbeing at Sea implores seafarers to “Do more of what makes them happy,” and follows it up with the statement “be ambitious,” challenging us to think of a range of activities which can be planned and executed during the voyage. For Bow Architect, this was the challenge. Being a relatively small ship with fewer recreational spaces than most, our ship had to improvise. Under the leadership of Captain Armando Quinto, the crewmembers were able to forge a makeshift half-court and basketball ring at the poopdeck. This was us being ambitious, and our ambition bore fruit.
This was made more exciting by the limited spaces and positions at which one could shoot, so it made for more challenging gameplay. After the tournament, there were those who won and those who tried but everyone went back into their cabins with smiles on their faces.
On March 22, Bow Architect held its very first Basketball Shootout Tournament as the vessel was transiting from Durban, South Africa to Chittagong, Bangladesh. This was immediately followed by the second tournament on March 29. The tournament comprised of solo, duo, and team shootout events that ignited a sense of teamwork and camaraderie among the crew.
In an effort to curb the anxiety brought about by the looming threat of COVID-19, Bow Architect was able to bring about a healthier lifestyle onboard, both physically and mentally. Not only did the crew have an outlet to release pent up stress, they were also able to interact with each other outside the context of work making the days that followed a fresh start to an otherwise routine week. As the proverb goes, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
At the end of the day what matters the most is taking care of our health in all aspects of the word. As the world continues to fight the pandemic, so too do the seafarers who continue to ensure that global trade keeps on running and that goods are transported from one port to another as quickly and safely as possible in this time of Corona.
