Advancing aspects of social sustainability dimension in shipping: exploring the role of corporate social responsibility in supporting the Seafarer Human Sustainability Declaration framework

ABSTRACT

The concept of sustainable development has entered the shipping industry for good. A recent example relates to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals presented by the United Nations in 2015, which pushed the shipping industry, through the International Maritime Organization, to take early action and recognize the strong impact of shipping on sustainable development. Since then, and alongside the regulatory framework, a number of side steps have been taken by the industry to strengthen the social aspects of sustainable development in shipping. Recently, one of them refers to the Seafarer Human Sustainability Declaration, launched in April 2022. In view of such a development, this article explores whether corporate social responsibility is able to meet the demands of this recent Declaration, thereby helping the shipping industry to achieve the social aspects of sustainable development in shipping. Based on the results of an applied content analysis method, we argue that corporate social responsibility can adequately cover aspects of social sustainability and is therefore, recommended as an effective voluntary tool. However, further initiatives and reform of the regulatory framework are needed to address issues related to seafarers’ families, which have been highlighted as a vital element of Seafarers Declaration.

Acknowledgements

The author would also like to thank his supervisor for his constructive suggestions and guidance during his doctorate study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The STCW Convention prescribes minimum standards relating to training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers which countries are obliged to meet or exceed (IMO.org n.d.a).

2 The International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code) is a management systems model designed to encourage safety and pollution prevention (Lr.org n.d.).

3 The MLC is a comprehensive international employment Convention adopted by the ILO International Labour Conference in February 2006. It contains seafarers’ rights to decent conditions of work and creates conditions of fair competition for shipowners (Ics-shipping.org n.d.).

4 The IMO Strategic Plan identifies the strategic directions on which IMO will focus in the period 2018–2023 in order to comply with UN SDGs (IMO.org n.d.b).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ioannis Fasoulis

Ioannis Fasoulis has been working as QHSE Auditor since 2008 in the shipping industry. His research interests are basically on the maritime operation and ship management, ranging from application of CSR, sustainable development management, maritime safety and environmental management and marine governance.