Background
The Sustainable Crewing Guidelines are the outcome of the Diversity@Sea pilot, a structured collaboration between maritime companies and seafarers to better understand and address barriers to sustainable careers at sea. Over a 13-month period, 12 companies committed to having an ambitious crew gender balance, ensuring proper conditions for menstrual needs and personal hygiene, providing 24/7 wifi access, and ensuring inclusive personal protective equipment. The pilot also tested measures aimed at creating a more inclusive environment and more flexible conditions to accommodate work/life planning. In 2025, the Sustainable Crewing Guidelines distilled those learnings into nine actionable recommendations to make working conditions safer, more inclusive, and more attractive for everyone on board.
Members
The Sustainable Crewing Guidelines were developed in collaboration with those member companies of the All Aboard Alliance who participated in the Diversity@Sea pilot. The initiative comprised more than 25 organisations, ranging from shipowners and ship managers to financial and corporate service companies. Of these, 12 companies contributed one vessel each to the Diversity@Sea pilot project: Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, bp shipping, Cargill Ocean Transportation, Chevron Shipping, Diana Shipping, Dorian LPG, GasLog, Hafnia, MISC Marine, Stena Group, Synergy Marine Group, and Swire Shipping. Data collection from the pilot was conducted by the Global Maritime Forum in partnership with PsyFyi.
Impact
The Sustainable Crewing Guidelines mark a shift from identifying challenges to defining practical solutions. The pilot created a shared evidence base across participating companies, strengthened cross-industry learning, and demonstrated that improving conditions at sea requires both leadership commitment and structural change. The guidelines provide a common reference point for companies seeking to go beyond minimum compliance and invest in safer, healthier, and more sustainable careers at sea. They have also informed the broader work of the All Aboard Alliance by clarifying what 'good practice' looks like across key areas of human sustainability.
Susanne leads the human sustainability programme, setting out to develop impactful and ambitious global standards for the safety, health, inclusion, and well-being of everyone impacted by maritime supply chains.
Harpa is at the forefront of projects like Diversity@Sea and Diversifying Maritime Leadership, as well as other initiatives that focus on improving the safety and well-being of seafarers, specifically concerning contracts, wages, and family support.
Hana manages the Unspoken project, addressing sexual misconduct at sea, and supports other human sustainability initiatives. She helped shape the All Aboard Alliance 2030 strategy and led research on Pregnancy at Sea.