Mintra in Charity Team Up for Seafarer Mental Health

Mintra has announced that it has joined forces with welfare organization The Mission to Seafarers to deliver “vital” support to seafarers around the world who are struggling with their mental health.

The charity’s WeCare wellbeing courses are now available exclusively to individual seafarers on mintra.com, allowing the training resources to be accessed online by those who need them most, Mintra noted. The partnership with Mintra allows the charity to now help individuals and small companies that were previously unable to access the courses under a corporate model, Mintra noted.

Mintra outlined that it is hosting the resources on its site free of charge, with proceeds from the sale of every course going directly towards funding The Mission to Seafarers’ work in supporting seafarers in 200 ports across 50 different countries.

Kevin Short, the CEO of Mintra, said the company was proud to become a partner of The Mission to Seafarers and to support the vital work of a charity operating in one of Mintra’s main customer markets.

“Our eCommerce website was launched at the start of 2021 and is specifically designed for individuals and small groups of learners, such as yacht crews. Our technology on mintra.com ensures The Mission to Seafarers can provide equal access to these high-quality resources, not just to those who are employed by large corporates,” Short said in a company statement.

“Seafarers can now access WeCare courses from any device with an internet connection – a phone, laptop or a computer in a port welfare center – and instantly get the support they need. There are no delays or complex sign-up process: they just purchase the course and immediately start learning,” Short added in the statement.

“Mintra truly understands the emotional challenges of working in this profession and that the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the crew change crisis which has left so many seafarers in limbo, has only exacerbated those pressures. Our support of The Mission to Seafarers is a small way of saying thank you to those who every day risk their lives so the global economy can prosper,” Short went on to say.

The Rev Canon Andrew Wright, the secretary general of The Mission to Seafarers, said the partnership with Mintra came at a critical time, with more and more seafarers experiencing feelings of loneliness and isolation after being separated from family and friends over the festive period.

“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Mintra, as making the WeCare courses available on mintra.com allows us to reach the individual seafarers and smaller groups of employees that have not been able to access WeCare before,” Wright said.

“This allows us to be inclusive and ensures that we are providing courses to those who are in most need … We know that these courses are incredibly useful and appreciated by seafarers around the world,” he added.

“We are grateful to Mintra for its support and for hosting WeCare free of charge on mintra.com, as this ensures every penny from sales goes back into supporting the activities of our chaplains who work tirelessly to address a wide range of seafarers’ welfare needs,” Wright continued.

The WeCare program was developed by The Mission to Seafarers to address the growing number of seafarers experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing, the charity’s website highlights. The Mission to Seafarers identified two main contributing factors, according to its site - financial pressures and a breakdown in communication with loved ones at home.

WeCare evolved from classroom training into an eLearning package following the Covid-19 pandemic. In its first year, WeCare workshops reached over 6,000 seafarers and their families, receiving an overall approval rating of 95 percent, according to the charity’s site.

The Mission to Seafarers describes itself as the largest sea port based welfare organization in the world and traces its roots back to 1836. Collectively, there are over 1.5 million seafarers across the world made up of various nationalities, according to the charity’s website.

Mintra, short for multimedia interactive training, was founded in Oslo, Norway, in 1997 by research engineer Ivar Viktil to develop interactive safety training for the energy and maritime industries, according to the company’s website. The business is said to provide services to over 4,000 companies, including four out of the top five largest energy companies in the world.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com