Seaplify
March 27, 2026
How to report harassment onboard is something every seafarer deserves to know before they need to use it. Whether you have experienced it yourself or watched a colleague endure it in silence, understanding the reporting process gives you options. It removes the feeling that you are trapped with no way forward.
The barriers to speaking up are real. A 2023 survey of a Danish fleet found that 62% of seafarers knew how to report, yet 24% believed nothing had changed as a result (Froholdt et al., 2023; Global Maritime Forum, 2024). Knowing the process and trusting the process are two different things. This guide addresses both.
Why Seafarers Stay Silent
Fear of reprisals sits at the centre of most decisions not to report. Seafarers describe it in predictable patterns: “I don’t want trouble, maybe it’s nothing.” “Last time nothing happened.” “I’ll just handle it myself.” These are not irrational responses. They reflect accumulated experience with systems that failed to follow through.
The consequence of that silence is not that the problem disappears. Unreported harassment rarely disappears. It normalises. Other crew members read the silence as acceptance, the person responsible faces no consequence, and the behaviour repeats. The cycle continues until someone breaks it or until the person affected leaves the vessel or the industry entirely.
Research presented at a Britannia P&I Club and Maersk Training webinar in February 2026 described this as a trust-and-reporting cycle: an experience occurs, the seafarer forms an expectation based on past outcomes (“nothing will happen” or “it may backfire”), chooses silence or handles it alone, and the risk to others persists. Breaking that cycle requires both individual action and employer accountability.
Your Rights Under MLC 2006
The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) establishes a formal complaints procedure for seafarers. Under MLC requirements, shipowners must provide an onboard complaints process that allows seafarers to raise grievances without fear of retaliation. Flag states are responsible for ensuring compliance. This is not a company policy; it is an internationally binding framework.
The IMO and ILO are both strengthening their focus on violence and harassment within maritime safety and labour frameworks, recognising that the current legal landscape has gaps that affect seafarers disproportionately. Familiarising yourself with MLC 2006 and what it requires of your employer is the first practical step before any incident occurs.
How to Report Harassment Onboard: The Step-by-Step Process
There is no single correct path. Your circumstances, the severity of the incident, and your relationship with senior officers will all shape which route makes sense. Below are the main options, in order of escalation.
- Document the incident. Write down what happened, when, where, and who was present. Include direct quotes where possible. Keep this record somewhere private — not on a shared device or in a shared space. Date every entry.
- Identify your reporting options. These typically include the master, the company’s shore-based HR team, an anonymous reporting channel (if your company operates one), and, where applicable, a designated welfare officer.
- Choose the route that feels safest to you. If the incident involves the master, go directly to shore-based HR. If your company has an anonymous channel, you are entitled to use it. Reporting to a trusted colleague first — to have a witness to your report — is also a reasonable step.
- Submit a formal written complaint. A verbal report can be dismissed or forgotten. A written complaint creates a record that the company is obligated to address. MLC 2006 requires companies to acknowledge and respond to formal complaints.
- Request confirmation of receipt. Ask for written confirmation that your complaint has been received and note the date. This protects you if the company later claims no report was made.
- Follow up. If you have received no response within a reasonable timeframe (typically 14 days for onboard complaints, though company policies vary), escalate to the flag state authority or a seafarer welfare organisation.
What a Good Reporting System Looks Like
You have the right to expect more than a complaints box. Trauma-informed reporting frameworks, adapted from SAMHSA guidance and applied in maritime contexts, identify six principles that distinguish systems that protect seafarers from those that simply process paperwork.
- Safety. A private space should be offered before any discussion of an incident. Not the mess room. Not the bridge wing. A space where you cannot be overheard.
- Trust and transparency. Whoever receives your report should explain who will be informed, what the likely timeline is, and where confidentiality has limits. You should not be left guessing.
- Peer support. Cadets and new crew members should have access to a buddy system or mentor — someone who knows the process and can accompany them through it without pressure.
- Collaboration. The person receiving the report should ask how you would like the issue handled, not assume a one-size approach.
- Empowerment and choice. You should be offered multiple reporting options: master, shore HR, anonymous channel. No single path should be the only path.
- Cultural and gender sensitivity. No assumptions should be made about your communication style, your threshold for distress, or your willingness to speak up based on your nationality or sank.
If the system you encounter falls short of these principles, that is information worth documenting. It forms part of any escalation to a flag state authority or port state control.
How to Protect Yourself After Reporting
Retaliation after a complaint is prohibited under MLC 2006 and most flag state labour regulations. That does not mean it never happens. It can be subtle: reduced work assignments, social isolation, negative performance assessments. Knowing what to watch for matters.
Keep a log of any changes to your treatment after you report. Save copies of written communications off the vessel where possible. If your company has a designated seafarer welfare officer or an employee assistance programme, use it. Seafarer mental health support resources exist specifically for situations where the burden of speaking up takes a toll.
External bodies you can contact include your flag state maritime authority, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) inspectors in port, and national seafarers’ welfare organisations. These contacts exist to support you when internal mechanisms fail.
If You Witness Harassment as a Bystander
Witnessing harassment and staying silent is a choice that has consequences for the person affected. Bystanders often underestimate their potential role. You do not need to confront the person responsible directly. You can document what you observed, speak to the affected crew member privately to let them know they have a witness, and offer to support their report or submit a separate one.
A corroborating witness account significantly strengthens a formal complaint and reduces the risk that it is dismissed. Speaking up as a bystander is both a professional and moral responsibility under the duty of care that exists between crew members at sea.
“The biggest obstacle I see is not that seafarers don’t know what happened to them — they know. It’s that they genuinely believe speaking up will cost them more than staying quiet,” says a veteran maritime welfare officer with 18 years of experience across multiple flag states. “The job of a good reporting system is to prove them wrong.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
Knowing how to report harassment onboard does not guarantee the system will work perfectly. But silence guarantees it will not. The practical steps — documenting the incident, identifying your options, submitting a written complaint, and following up — give you a record and a path regardless of how your employer responds. The frameworks exist. Using them is how they improve.
If you are looking for a company that takes crew welfare seriously, the vessel you sign on to next matters. Browse current maritime roles and find employers committed to professional standards at Seaplify.
Written by
Seaplify Editorial Team
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