Sea Views

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🚨 Seafarer abandonment is not simply a contractual dispute. It can mean months without wages, expired contracts, repatriation refused, deteriorating conditions onboard, and families thousands of miles away left without the income they depend upon.

In this episode of Sea Views, hosts Julia Gosling and Adam Parnell are joined by Mohamed Arrachedi, ITF FOC Network Coordinator for the Arab World and Iran at the International Transport Workers’ Federation, for an uncompromising look at one of maritime’s most persistent and disturbing problems.

Mohamed works directly with seafarers facing unpaid wages, Maritime Labour Convention complaints, failed repatriation, unsafe living conditions and abandonment across a region stretching from North Africa through the Middle East and Iran.

This conversation goes beyond the statistics to explain what abandonment actually means under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), why a crew does not need to be physically deserted for abandonment to have occurred, and how quickly an unpaid wage or repatriation problem can become something far more serious.

Mohamed also shares the reality behind the cases reaching the ITF, including seafarers waiting months for wages, crews afraid to speak out, ships operating without adequate food, fuel or basic services, and the enormous consequences for families ashore.

The central problem is not necessarily a lack of regulation. It is what happens when existing protections are not enforced.
Resources
Seafarer Abandonment Series – Smart Seafaring. A Safe Return:
https://youtu.be/fbg_frnyDy0?si=Rsq-OEzwnHeJNlBL

ITF Seafarers’ Bulletin 2026:
ITF-SB26_Layout_RGB-web-1.pdf

ITF Seafarers:
Home | ITF Seafarers

For seafarers who believe they may have been abandoned, the message throughout this conversation is important: do not wait until the situation becomes desperate before asking for help.

Abandonment affects far more than the individual seafarer. Unpaid wages, delayed repatriation and months trapped in uncertainty can affect entire families whose livelihoods depend on the person working at sea.

The regulations exist. The challenge is making sure they are enforced.
NEWS!  If you love listening to us....you can also watch Sea Views episodes on YouTube.
CHIRP
Improving safety at sea worldwide through the confidential and independent reporting programme.
Make an incident report to CHIRP Maritime here

The Seafarers' Charity
Improving the lives of seafarers and their families for more than 105 years.
by Ahoy Communications Ltd

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Offshore safety is not just about PPE, paperwork, or compliance. It is about how people think, lead, communicate, and look after each other in high-risk environments at sea.

In this episode of Sea Views, host Julia Gosling is joined by Adam Parnell and guest Gordon Foot, MNM FNI - Offshore Client Representative, an offshore operations professional with decades of experience across Royal Navy submarines, oil and gas, subsea work, cable operations, renewables, offshore wind, marine construction, and high-hazard maritime environments.

Gordon shares how a career that began in submarines developed into a wide-ranging life offshore, working with large construction vessels, international teams, evolving technology, and complex operations where safety cannot be treated as a bolt-on. It has to be lived.

The discussion moves from offshore safety culture and lessons learned from major maritime and hydrocarbon incidents to human factors, resilience, self-awareness, leadership, connectivity at sea, seafarer welfare, and why the next generation needs to understand the scale of opportunity within the blue economy.
NEWS!  If you love listening to us....you can also watch Sea Views episodes on YouTube.
CHIRP
Improving safety at sea worldwide through the confidential and independent reporting programme.
Make an incident report to CHIRP Maritime here

The Seafarers' Charity
Improving the lives of seafarers and their families for more than 105 years.
by Ahoy Communications Ltd

Send us Fan Mail
🚨 Fishing safety is not just about rules, equipment, or compliance. It is about making sure fishermen come home alive, uninjured, and supported.

In this episode of Sea Views, host Julia Gosling is joined by Adam Parnell and guest Darren Guard of Guard Safety, a New Zealand fishing safety specialist whose life and work are deeply rooted in the commercial fishing industry.

Darren comes from one of New Zealand’s oldest European-descendant fishing families and has spent his life around fishing vessels, boatbuilding, crew, risk, regulation, injury prevention, and seafarer wellbeing. In this conversation, he shares how personal experience, industry trust, plain-language safety systems, and practical collaboration can change safety culture across commercial fishing.

The discussion moves from New Zealand’s fishing history and fleet realities to the mental health pressures facing inshore fishers, the importance of meeting fishermen where they are, and why safety training must be accessible, relevant, and built around real working lives. Darren also explains the development of MarineSAFE, the potential of online safety training for remote fishing communities, and the work being done through the MarineSAFE Pacific project.

Darren’s message is clear: safety has to be understandable, achievable, relevant, and built with the people it is meant to protect.
In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why safety culture depends on trust, not just regulation
• How Darren helped reduce serious safety incidents through practical, plain-language systems
• Why fishermen need support as people, not just as workers
• The mental health pressures facing commercial and inshore fishing communities
• Why remote and artisanal fishers need accessible online safety training
• How MarineSAFE Pacific could support fishing communities across the Pacific
• What the Cape Town Agreement means for international fishing safety
• Why collaboration between regulators and fishers matters

Resources:
MarineSAFE: https://marinesafe.nz
The Gleam Fishing Channel:    / @thegleamfishingchannel 

NEWS!  If you love listening to us....you can also watch Sea Views episodes on YouTube.
CHIRP
Improving safety at sea worldwide through the confidential and independent reporting programme.
Make an incident report to CHIRP Maritime here

The Seafarers' Charity
Improving the lives of seafarers and their families for more than 105 years.
by Ahoy Communications Ltd

Send us Fan Mail
🌊 What happens to seafarers when global conflict turns ships into soft targets?

In this episode of Sea Views, host Julia Gosling is joined by co-host Dave Watkins, Deputy Director of CHIRP Maritime, with guests Capt. Samarth Sinha and Dr Rachel Glynn-Williams for a powerful discussion on the human reality behind the Strait of Hormuz crisis, conflict-zone shipping, and the psychological pressure facing crews at sea.

This is not an abstract conversation about geopolitics. It is about the people onboard.

Capt. Samarth Sinha speaks directly from life at sea, explaining how uncertainty, isolation, rationed supplies, false reports, fatigue, and the threat of attack affect crew members who cannot simply leave the workplace when danger rises. Dave Watkins brings his own experience of piracy and its long aftermath, while Dr Rachel Glynn-Williams explains how trauma, adrenaline, decompression, peer support, and recovery work in real human terms.

From leadership and onboard routines to social media isolation, buddy systems, support charities, and the urgent need to stop treating civilian ships as acceptable targets, this episode brings the seafarer’s experience into sharp focus.

This is about conflict. It is about mental health. It is about maritime safety. And above all, it is about the people who keep global trade moving.
Support for seafarers:
• Befrienders Worldwide: befrienders.org
• International Seafarers' Welfare & Assistance Network: iswan.org.uk
• The Mission to Seafarers: missiontoseafarers.org/help-where-can-i-get-help
• Stella Maris: stellamaris.org.uk/get-help
NEWS!  If you love listening to us....you can also watch Sea Views episodes on YouTube.
CHIRP
Improving safety at sea worldwide through the confidential and independent reporting programme.
Make an incident report to CHIRP Maritime here

The Seafarers' Charity
Improving the lives of seafarers and their families for more than 105 years.
by Ahoy Communications Ltd

Send us Fan Mail
🌊 Can nuclear power transform global shipping, or does the risk outweigh the reward?

In this episode of Sea Views, we sit down with Martin King, Nuclear Systems Manager, and Paul Roberts, Senior Engineer from Naval Solutions Ltd, to unpack one of the most debated and misunderstood topics in modern maritime: nuclear propulsion.

Drawing from decades of experience in submarine operations and nuclear engineering, the conversation breaks down how nuclear reactors actually work at sea, why they are being reconsidered for commercial shipping, and what still stands in the way of adoption.

From reactor design and safety systems to insurance gaps, public perception, and global regulation, this episode delivers a clear, practical look at the realities behind nuclear-powered vessels.

This is not theory. It is the future of maritime being actively debated today.

✅ Key topics discussed:
• What nuclear propulsion is and how it powers ships
• The difference between military and commercial nuclear reactors
• Why nuclear energy is being reconsidered for decarbonising shipping
• The role of microreactors and modular reactor design
• Safety systems, accident scenarios, and intrinsic safeguards
• Insurance, liability, and the lack of global frameworks
• Public perception and the challenge of social acceptance

💬 Join the conversation

Is nuclear power the solution to shipping’s decarbonization challenge, or a risk the industry is not ready to take?

Hosts: Julia Gosling & Adam Parnell
Guests: Martin King (Nuclear Systems Manager) & Paul Roberts (Senior Engineer), Naval Solutions Ltd
NEWS!  If you love listening to us....you can also watch Sea Views episodes on YouTube.
CHIRP
Improving safety at sea worldwide through the confidential and independent reporting programme.
Make an incident report to CHIRP Maritime here

The Seafarers' Charity
Improving the lives of seafarers and their families for more than 105 years.
by Ahoy Communications Ltd