Who we are, why we started, and where we're taking the future of seafarer welfare.
IMWIRSA — the International Maritime Welfare Innovation Research and Support Association — is an independent, non-profit international initiative headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, bringing together research, innovation and practical solutions to advance a modern system of seafarer welfare.
We study seafarers' real needs, track changes in the port and maritime environment, and develop solutions that make shore-based support more accessible, relevant and effective.
We don't replace the seafarers' centres, missions and chaplaincies that have supported sailors for generations — we connect them. Every partner keeps its name, its funding and its independence; IMWIRSA provides the shared digital layer, research and coordination that lets the whole network work as one.
IMWIRSA's work is built on the interaction of research, local expertise, digital tools and international cooperation.
Studying seafarers' needs, monitoring changes in seafarers' welfare, analysing existing problems and practices, running surveys, and developing the Research Observatory.
Developing and testing new approaches and digital tools, including MWApp, Port Cards and other solutions that improve seafarers' access to information and welfare services.
Helping to develop practical shore-based support through cooperation with seafarers' centres, missions, unions, charities, port welfare services and other partners.
IMWIRSA grew out of years of hands-on experience in seafarer welfare, and the recognition that many shore-based welfare challenges cannot be solved by individual centres, missions or port organisations acting alone.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of the existing system with particular clarity. Shore-leave restrictions, changing port regulations, the closure or reduced operation of seafarers' centres, and rapidly outdated information all made it harder and harder for a seafarer to get a simple, reliable answer: where they could go, how to reach the city, where to find help, and how to get back to the ship safely.
It became clear that this was not a local problem but an international one. Seafarers needed up-to-date information verified directly in port, and welfare organisations needed a more effective way to share practical experience, research and local data.
That is how the concept of IMWIRSA took shape: to bring research, international cooperation, local expertise and digital tools together into a single practical system.
One of the first outcomes of this approach was MWApp — a digital assistant for seafarers in port, built on Port Cards and on information verified with the help of the MWApp Port Coordinator network.
IMWIRSA continues to develop this model on a simple principle: solutions in seafarer welfare must start from the seafarer's real needs, and be tested in practice.
Years of hands-on work in seafarer welfare
Fragmented services and a lack of reliable local information
Existing problems became impossible to ignore
From isolated cases to a systemic approach
Research · Coordination · Innovation · Support
Verified local information and practical welfare support
Our mission is to help develop a modern, accessible seafarer welfare system built around real seafarer needs, by bringing together research, innovation, local expertise and international cooperation.
Our vision is an international welfare environment in which every seafarer, in any port of call, can access up-to-date, verified information, existing support services and practical solutions that match their real needs.
"The Future of Seafarer Welfare and Shore Support to 2040" — a practical roadmap for modernising the seafarer welfare ecosystem. Here's the short version; the full document is on the Research page.
The seafarer's world has changed — shorter port calls, longer contracts, constant connectivity — but the support model hasn't caught up.
From rising psychological strain and isolation to shrinking port time and generational change in expectations.
Modernising existing centres, strengthening people-support (mental health, family, legal, medical), and building shared digital infrastructure.
Not a new structure replacing existing organisations, but a network bringing together already-existing resources around the seafarer — ship, family, seafarers' centre, ports, volunteers, partners.
Centres keep their independence, name and traditions — and gain international visibility, shared learning and access to common digital tools.
Digital infrastructure that connects the seafarer to the support system that already exists: information, access and connection — not a replacement for human help.
Stages are directional, not rigid — different regions and organisations move at different speeds. Anyone can join at any stage.
MWApp · Port Cards · the MWApp Port Coordinator network · local information verification · Research Observatory · research and seafarer feedback · partner network · piloting practical welfare solutions.
Goal: build and test a repeatable model that combines research, digital tools, local verification and practical support for seafarers.
Expanding the geographic reach of MWApp and Port Cards · growing the international MWApp Port Coordinator network · integrating local welfare services and partners · developing the Research Observatory further · rolling out practical solutions proven to work · sharing data and best practice between ports.
Goal: turn the model proven in Stage 1 into a sustainable international system connecting seafarers, port welfare services, researchers and partner organisations. Target: extend the network of ports covered by MWApp and Port Cards to 50+ by 2032.
A sustainable international network of MWApp and Port Cards · a fully developed MWApp Port Coordinator system · ongoing local verification · international cooperation and exchange of practice · research and monitoring of change · developing and adapting welfare solutions to seafarers' evolving needs.
Goal: build a sustainable international ecosystem able to continuously track changes in seafarers' needs, verify information on the ground, and turn research and practical experience into accessible seafarer welfare solutions.