A good welfare ship promotes the community, the mental and physical well-being, prevents social isolation and activates everyone on board. So why not motivate the ships and their crews to focus attention on exactly this with an initiative where they at the same time can get the opportunity to win a prize of their own choice worth 5.000 DKK? That is what we thought, and we, therefore, launched ‘Welfare Ship of the Year’ in 2020.
11 ships participated in 2020 and it has been a pleasure to go through all of the nominations, and we are counting on even more ships to participate when we arrange the initiative again in 2021, says Jacob Christensen, Head of Department for Welfare in SEA HEALTH & WELFARE. The participating ships in 2020 were: Adriatic Gas, Anna Knutsen, Dan Sabia, Grete Maersk, Gijon Knutsen, Manchester Maersk, Orasila, Tern Sea, Torm Laura, and Vuoksi Maersk.
Five judges with detailed knowledge of welfare at sea took part in assessing the 11 nominations:
- Belinda Hoff, SEA HEALTH & WELFARE Consultant, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Paw Ankjær, Manager, International Seamen’s Club Aarhus, Denmark
- Elizsa Chomi, Seafarer at Unitankers
- Camilla Westergaard, Seafarer at A.P. Møller Maersk
- Jacob Christensen, Head of Department at SEA HEALTH & WELFARE.
The judges reviewed all the nominations that contained both text, photos, and videos. There were many good nominations, but the final choice fell on the ship Dan Sabia. The judges’ comments about Dan Sabia were among others:
“Dan Sabia introduced the judges to their daily life onboard in their nomination. They wrote the following statement, that you onboard ‘speak properly to each other' and their motto is ‘do what makes you happy’.”
“A ship with good welfare onboard is not just about who makes the most events and activities. It is more about who can create a good atmosphere on board and get everyone to feel included. Based on their nomination it shows that they can do that onboard Dan Sabia.”
“It is not always days of wine and roses on board, but with a focus on social activities for the crew there is a good chance for a good working environment and welfare on board.”
You can read all of Dan Sabia’s nomination here.
Congratulations on the title ‘Welfare Ship of the Year 2020’ and the 5.000 DKK which is to be used on a table tennis table.
A big thank you to everyone who participated in ‘Welfare Ship of the Year’ and remember to participate again this year when we launch ‘Welfare Ship of the Year 2021’. Stay tuned!
