On June 24, on the eve of the “World Seafarers’ Day,” the first specialized seafarer mental health service center in China was officially inaugurated at Shandong Transport Vocational College (Weifang). The center, guided and coordinated by the Weifang Seafarer Industry Party Committee, aims to provide systematic psychological support for the special occupational group of seafarers, filling a gap in the field of professional mental health services for seafarers in China.
Targeting the occupational characteristics of seafarers, such as long-term exposure to closed environments, separation from families, high work intensity, and significant emergency risks, the center will focus on seven typical psychological issues prevalent among seafarers, including loneliness and depression, family anxiety, occupational stress, and emergency trauma, implementing targeted interventions.
In terms of service models, the center simultaneously establishes an official website and offline physical facilities, achieving organic complementarity between 24-hour online consultations and face-to-face interventions. For risk prevention and control, a full-cycle management mechanism of “pre-employment screening—on-duty monitoring—graded intervention—follow-up tracking” has been established, supported by a multi-tiered handling system including maritime-specific psychological education, grassroots counseling, professional diagnosis and treatment, and rehabilitation management.
In terms of operational support, the center integrates the strengths of maritime authorities, maritime colleges, professional medical institutions, and shipping enterprises, forming a service ecosystem of co-construction, co-governance, and shared benefits.
At the event, the organizers issued appointment letters to the first batch of mental health mentor teams, planning to recruit 50 full-time counselors and 100 enterprise psychological liaisons to provide talent support for subsequent services. After the ceremony, attending guests conducted on-site inspections of functional areas such as the center’s VR decompression chamber and group counseling room, and listened to the first mental health special lecture, learning practical skills for stress relief and emotional regulation in ocean-going scenarios.
After its establishment, the center will be based in Weifang, radiate nationwide, and continuously explore replicable and scalable seafarer psychological service models, safeguarding shipping safety and the stability of the seafarer workforce, and contributing to the construction of a strong transportation nation and a maritime power.
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