Mental health call

Qwest, a partnership bringing together leading marine insurance provider West of England P&I Club and innovative legal and claims consultancy C Solutions, has called for greater emphasis to be placed on mental health when determining the severity of a maritime casualty. Captain Terry Ogg, a casualty investigator and Master Mariner, said: “Much of the damage caused in a marine casualty is immediately visible. However, the long-term impacts of stress and trauma are more difficult to understand and often less immediate – both for a seafarer and for a ship’s operations. It is time for assessments of casualty severity to place far more emphasis on understanding seafarers’ mental health.”