Mental Health Helplines and Support for Seafarers: A Global Directory

Help Exists — The Gap Is Awareness, Not Availability

One of the more frustrating findings in seafarer mental health research is that genuinely good, free, confidential support exists and has existed for years — but a significant proportion of seafarers don't know it's there, don't know how to access it given limited connectivity, or assume (often wrongly) that using it would somehow become known to their employer. This directory exists to close that gap, at least for anyone reading it.

24/7 Helplines

ISWAN SeafarerHelp

Free, confidential, available by phone, email, SMS, and live chat, in multiple languages, 24 hours a day, every day. Covers mental health alongside the practical and welfare issues covered elsewhere in this series — you don't need to categorise your problem before reaching out; the team will help direct you to the right support.

Mental Health Support Solutions (MHSS)

A maritime-specific mental health service offering confidential counselling for seafarers, often arranged through employer schemes but also accessible independently in many cases — worth checking what your specific company has arranged, as many operators now have access to services like this as part of their welfare provision, even if it's not always actively communicated to crew.

Big White Wall / Togetherall (Where Available)

Online peer-support and self-help mental health platforms that some maritime welfare schemes provide access to — anonymous, available from a phone or laptop, and designed for situations where speaking to someone by phone isn't practical or comfortable.

Programmes Worth Knowing About

Sailors' Society's Wellness at Sea

A training programme that equips crew members themselves to recognise signs of mental health struggles in colleagues and to provide initial support — recognising that, particularly on vessels with limited connectivity, a crewmate who's been trained to notice and respond may be the first and most immediately available source of support.

ISWAN's Seafarers' Mental Health Awareness Campaign

Provides resources, posters, and guidance materials many companies display onboard — including practical, jargon-free information about what to do if you or a colleague is struggling, designed to be useful even with no internet access.

What to Do If Connectivity Is the Barrier

Many of these services have offline or low-connectivity options — SMS-based contact for SeafarerHelp, for instance, doesn't require a data connection. If onboard connectivity genuinely doesn't allow reaching any of these in the moment, the next port call — and the seafarer centres and chaplaincy services covered elsewhere in this series — provide a route to reach out with reliable connectivity and, often, a private space to make a call.

For Officers and Senior Crew

Knowing this information well enough to share it with a struggling crew member — without making it a big formal conversation, just “here's a number that might help, it's confidential” — is one of the simplest, lowest-cost things a senior crew member can do. Our broader guide to mental health at sea covers the wider picture, including how to recognise when a colleague might be struggling before it becomes a crisis.