Empowering maritime leaders to foster psychologically healthy environments: an action research study

The maritime industry faces ongoing challenges to seafarers’ mental health and well-being due to demanding work conditions, social isolation, and safety-critical tasks. While leadership plays a key role in fostering psychologically healthy workplaces, empirical studies on targeted mental health training for maritime leaders remain scarce. This action research investigated the feasibility, relevance, and practical implications of a structured mental health and well-being training programme designed for future maritime leaders. Based on the World Health Organization’s healthy workplace framework and maritime occupational health research, this study utilised two-cycle action research. The training course, Introduction to Mental Health and Well-being: WaW – We are Well, was implemented at a postgraduate maritime education institution and evaluated using a mixed- methods approach. The data included pre- and post-course surveys using the Beck Depression Inventory as well as qualitative feedback from open questions and focus groups. The findings suggest that integrating leadership-focused mental health training into formal maritime education is feasible and highly valued by participants with mainly technical and engineering backgrounds. This paper provides practice-based evidence for the use of action research in developing a practical, context-specific training programme that equips maritime leaders to build psychologically healthy environments and enhance sustainable performance in maritime sociotechnical systems.