News
IMO targets seafarer fatigue, work and rest hours, and harassment at sea
IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee seeks stronger compliance with global safety...
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My Harassment-Free Ship: A Call for Respect at Sea
Day of the Seafarer 2025 | 25 June Every year...
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Guidelines on fair treatment of seafarers detained in connection with alleged crimes
Source: https://www.ilo.org/resource/other/guidelines-fair-treatment-seafarers-detained-connection-alleged-crimes Adopted at the Third meeting of the Joint...
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Seafarers’ unions and maritime employers agree pay boost under world’s largest Collective Bargaining Agreement
Source: https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/seafarers-unions-and-maritime-employers-agree-pay-boost-under-worlds-largest-collective Seafarers around the world will receive a two-year,...
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Welcome to the IMHF!
We are a non-profit scientific foundation with scientific objectives and international activities, registered in Poland the 21st of June 2018.
Our first priority is the dissemination of scientific knowledge of maritime medicine and adjacent fields, through our scientific Journal “International Maritime Health” – the world’s only indexed scientific journal of maritime medicine in the English language. Visit the journal here.
We seek partners for cooperation and coordinated efforts to build and spread scientific knowledge in accordance with our statutes, either in separate agreements or as parties joining the foundation as ‘Cooperating Institutions’.
Maritime Health
Maritime health is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the health of seafarers. It draws on principles of traditional shore-based medicine, such as public health, clinical individual-oriented medicine, occupational medicine and medical selection, integrated with knowledge of the maritime context. The Textbook of Maritime Health is the third edition of this textbook
To be able to serve at sea, crew members must meet the medical fitness standards of their duties on board. Crew members’ medical fitness to serve at sea is ensured with a medical certificate issued by a medical examiner of seafarers. As a rule, the medical certificate is valid for two years from its date of issue.
The absence of a doctor on board presents an issue in terms of the timely, adequate and efficient response to acute health disorders and life-threatening injuries. With the introduction of Tele-medicine, quality and access to care has improved. The Maritime Telemedical Assistance Services are available across the world. The gradual introduction of advanced technologies present improved medical assistance to seafarers onboard.
Maritime health is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the health of seafarers. It draws on principles of traditional shore-based medicine, such as public health, clinical individual-oriented medicine, occupational medicine and medical selection, integrated with knowledge of the maritime context. The Textbook of Maritime Health is the third edition of this textbook
To be able to serve at sea, crew members must meet the medical fitness standards of their duties on board. Crew members’ medical fitness to serve at sea is ensured with a medical certificate issued by a medical examiner of seafarers. As a rule, the medical certificate is valid for two years from its date of issue.
The absence of a doctor on board presents an issue in terms of the timely, adequate and efficient response to acute health disorders and life-threatening injuries. With the introduction of Tele-medicine, quality and access to care has improved. The Maritime Telemedical Assistance Services are available across the world. The gradual introduction of advanced technologies present improved medical assistance to seafarers onboard.
The National Maritime College of Ireland – NMCI (PDF)
The Norwegian Centre for Maritime and Diving Medicine (PDF)
Centre for Occupational Medicine and Maritime Medicine Hamburg (PDF)
IMHF EXPERT PANEL CONSENSUS STATEMENTS
Towards a Standardized Curriculum for TMAS doctors: Report from an International Maritime Health Association Workshop
Sue Stannard1, Jan C. Vork2 Maritime & Coastguard Agency, UK...
Read MoreWorkshop for the Review of Appendix E of the ILO/IMO Guidelines on the Medical Examination for Seafarers by Sue Stannard, Katherine Sinclair and James Denham
From February 18-20, 2025, the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA)...
Read MoreInternational Maritime Health Foundation (IMHF) 7th Workshop on Seafarers’ Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) by Bill Kavanagh
On January 24, 2025, the International Maritime Health Foundation held...
Read MoreWe are grateful to our funders, collaborative institutions, and supporting organizations for their continued support:
