VShips Greece, has recently decided to begin rolling out Vikand’s maritime healthcare services from Navarino to its seafarers.
Vikand offers a wide range of services and product solutions to help ensure optimal levels of care for crew, including a proactive, holistic approach that offers regular house doctor calls, emergency services, medical chest supply and mental wellness programs for seafarers. Of most interest to VShips is the mental wellness program that Vikand offers, with training modules that are designed to increase officers’ knowledge and understanding of mental health issues at sea, including how to recognize warning signs and symptoms and how to provide initial support to colleagues in need. They also train officers to recognize various factors that can contribute to suicide and self-harm at sea, and how to approach and communicate with a colleague who may be at risk.
Katerina Liaki, Navarino’s Account Manager for Vikand services said ‘We are very proud to be working with one of the biggest names in shipping, VShips, to help improve the overall well-being of their crewmembers. We believe that the ability to offer rapid diagnoses of health issues, and the security of knowing there is a dedicated team of medical professionals that those at sea can contact whenever they need to will help bring a new level of peace of mind and wellbeing to VShips seafarers. What’s more, the Vikand certification that VShips is rolling out for its ships gives the company full compliance with the Rightship Ship Inspection Questionnaire (RISQ) 3.0.’
Mr Zafeiris Syrras, General Manager for VShips added ‘For us, as for most ship managers, our people are our most important asset, so when we discovered the opportunity to help improve the difficult conditions that all seafarers face on a daily basis, we knew it was an easy choice to add Vikand services to our fleet. We believe that our crews deserve the best levels of support in all areas, especially in areas as important as their physical and mental health.’