The Isle of Man Ship Registry has launched the first seafarer welfare app designed by a flag state.

It is available to around 10,000 seafarers sailing on more than 400 vessels under the Manx flag.

Isle of Man Ship Registry director Cameron Mitchell said the app, named ’Crew Matters’, has been developed in partnership with Liverpool-based training company Tapiit Live, which also has an office in the island.

The app has just gone live.

The launch is particularly timely as hundreds of thousands of seafarers began the new year separated from their families, with 400,000 currently working beyond their contracts, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Mr Mitchell, who served as a marine engineer at sea for 17 years with shipping lines including Maersk and Farstad, said the app has been created primarily to tackle the challenges facing seafarers brought into sharp focus by the coronavirus pandemic.

He said: ’Safety is a fundamental pillar of our ethos as a high-quality flag state.

’Even before Covid we recognised something had to be done that delivered tangible results to help seafarers in the wilderness of the sea.

’The catalyst was an apparent suicide on a vessel sailing under our flag and we recognised that while there is support for seafarers in port, through the many brilliant chaplaincies and seafarer charities, the ’’weak link’’ is support while at sea.

’I raised it at the Red Ensign Group and with the seafarer charity ISWAN, and it was clear to us that the problem of seafarer mental health was becoming more acute, with seafarers spending more time alone in their cabin than ever before.

’The app has many functions but a key one is to provide social activities such as live gym workouts to get seafarers interacting more on-board to combat that isolation.’ As well as making the app, Tapiit Live will live stream its award-winning training classes via the app.