The Seafarers Happiness Index (Mission to Seafarers) fell to 6.87 out of 10 in Q2 2026 — the second consecutive quarterly decline. Shore leave scored worst of all: 5.72 out of 10, the lowest of the ten categories measured, and the sharpest single-quarter drop of any category.
What the numbers show
Mission to Seafarers runs a quarterly, voluntary, anonymous survey of seafarers across ten categories of life on board and ashore. The overall index has now declined for two quarters running:
| Quarter | Overall score |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | 7.26 |
| Q1 2026 | 7.18 |
| Q2 2026 | 6.87 |
The report frames this not as a single shock but as a shift from an acute reaction to geopolitical events earlier in the year toward chronic, accumulated strain. Every one of the ten survey categories fell compared with the previous quarter — not only the ones that were already weak.
| Category | Q2 2026 |
|---|---|
| Interactions | 7.49 |
| Connectivity | 7.46 |
| Food quality | 7.21 |
| Health and exercise | 7.14 |
| General happiness | 7.11 |
| Training and development | 6.97 |
| Wages | 6.86 |
| Welfare facilities ashore | 6.56 |
| Workload management | 6.20 |
| Shore leave | 5.72 |
Shore leave is not a minor line item
The shore leave category fell from 6.78 to 5.72 — the largest drop of any category. Respondents describe short port stays, terminals located far from town, strict immigration barriers, and schedules that leave no real window to go ashore at all.
The report links this directly to workload management (6.20, also among the lowest): a seafarer may formally have the right to go ashore but lack the energy to use it after a shift. The authors call fatigue shore leave's "evil twin" — each one deepens the other.
What the average hides
The demographic breakdown shows very different experiences sitting behind the headline 6.87:
- Gender: male respondents (84% of the sample) scored 7.1; female respondents (12%) scored 6.1.
- Ship type: container ships (18% of the fleet) scored 5.85; cable ships scored 5.05, the lowest of any vessel type.
- Age: a U-shaped curve — the youngest (16–25) and oldest (55–65) seafarers are happiest; the 35–55 mid-career group, 38.6% of the workforce, scores lowest.
- Region: South East Asia (53% of respondents) scored 7.28; Eastern Europe scored 6.05; the Middle East scored 4.94.
- Rank: technical, electrical and catering departments scored 8.1–8.65; captains scored 6.08 and chief engineers 6.31 — the lowest of any rank, which the report ties to administrative and regulatory load on senior officers.
These numbers don't tell us anything new about the shape of the problem — but this is the first time this year they've given it real weight. We built the pilot port network and Wellness Recovery Zones on the observation that a short window ashore doesn't need a general welfare conversation; it needs specific, local, verified information about where to go, what's open, and how to get back in time. The Index confirms that isn't a peripheral detail of the model — it's the centre of it. Shore leave fell further than any other category, in exactly the place MWApp is meant to reduce friction.
The report has the same limitation we flagged in Issue 001: the data is broken down by ship type, rank, age and region — but not by individual port. Knowing that the Middle East scores worse on average than South East Asia doesn't tell a port coordinator what specifically to improve in their own city. That's exactly the gap the Port Card is meant to close — not replacing industry-wide indices, but adding the level of detail that a large-scale survey can't reach.
One observation from the report's take on workload sits outside what IMWIRSA can act on directly: the authors note that rest-hour logs are increasingly seen by seafarers as a paperwork exercise rather than a genuine recovery tool. That's a matter of shipowner and management discipline, not port infrastructure — but it helps explain why, even where the right to go ashore formally exists, there's often neither the energy nor the time left to use it.
Sources
- Mission to Seafarers — Seafarers Happiness Index, Q2 2026 — missiontoseafarers.org
All figures above are taken from the source listed. If you've spotted an error — let us know. Corrections are made openly and noted at the end of the piece. See how we work.