FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin From training and leadership development to healthcare access, connectivity, fair working conditions, and transparent accountability, maritime experts emphasize in our special column that sustainable shipping is impossible without sustainable lives at sea. Across the sector, stakeholders are united in calling for a decisive shift: crew welfare must no longer be seen as a secondary or “soft” issue, but as a safety-critical, business-critical, and moral imperative. The priorities for 2026 consistently point to the same themes: moving beyond compliance-driven approaches; addressing fatigue, mental health stigma, limited shore leave, and psychological safety; and embedding wellbeing, dignity, and human rights into daily operations both onboard and ashore. RelatedNews The human element at sea: Safety culture, psychological safety and leadership Future-ready seafarers: Bridging technical excellence and human competence var jnews_module_21360528_1_6a03c32ea6fe6 = {"header_icon":"","first_title":"Related","second_title":"News","url":"","header_type":"heading_8","header_background":"","header_secondary_background":"","header_text_color":"","header_line_color":"","header_accent_color":"","header_filter_category":"","header_filter_author":"","header_filter_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_post_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_tribe_events_cat":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_category":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_tag":"","header_filter_text":"All","sticky_post":false,"sticky_post_filter":false,"post_type":"post","content_type":"all","sponsor":false,"number_post":"2","post_offset":0,"unique_content":"unique1","include_post":"","included_only":false,"exclude_post":"21360528","include_category":"","exclude_category":"","include_author":"","include_tag":"4291,3007,262,2334,4295","exclude_tag":"","exclude_visited_post":false,"post_tag":"","tribe_events_cat":"","web_story_category":"","web_story_tag":"","sort_by":"latest","show_date":"","date_format":"default","d