The assessment, released in January of this year, identified five broad categories of stressors affecting inland mariners: demanding work environments, organizational pressures, cultural barriers surrounding mental health, physical health concerns, and psychological challenges such as isolation and depression. Together, these factors contribute to issues ranging from fatigue and chronic health conditions to lower morale and reluctance to seek professional support. Understanding those challenges was an important first step, but identifying problems alone does not create meaningful change.

To keep the conversation moving, SCI recently published Partnering to Advance Inland Mariner Wellness, a companion report that distills the findings of the original assessment, highlights the work SCI is already doing alongside industry partners, and shifts the conversation from identifying challenges to advancing practical solutions. The report emphasizes that improving mariner wellness is a shared responsibility, one that requires SCI’s partnership with vessel operators, mariners, healthcare providers, and researchers. I believe lasting progress comes when we have a collective commitment to building a stronger culture of care across the inland maritime industry.

During my AWO presentation, I emphasized that one of the industry’s greatest opportunities is to develop stronger evidence on what works. Many companies have already invested in wellness initiatives, but relatively few have been evaluated through long-term research. Most studies have simply measured conditions at a single point in time. While those studies tell us what challenges exist, they cannot determine whether a specific intervention actually caused meaningful improvements.

To move beyond observation, SCI is proposing a research agenda guided by the people who know the industry best. One promising approach is the “Delphi Method,” a structured consensus-building process that would bring together maritime stakeholders and prioritize the wellness questions that deserve the industry’s attention. The Delphi process builds shared agreement around the issues that matter most to those working on America’s inland waterways. Once those priorities are established, researchers can design rigorous longitudinal studies to evaluate specific interventions. 

During the presentation, I shared examples such as examining whether different watch schedules influence sleep quality, mental health, and vessel safety, or whether expanding access to healthier food onboard improves physical health, job satisfaction, and employee retention. These are practical questions with practical implications for both mariners and employers. Are these topics we move forward on? Possibly, but that’s the discussion that lies ahead—how and where do we invest this research?

Ultimately, all of us in maritime understand that improving mariner wellness is about creating workplaces that better support the people who keep the inland waterways moving. Healthier crews can contribute to safer operations, improved job satisfaction, and a stronger maritime workforce. And the industry’s consistent willingness to engage in this conversation has been encouraging. The next step is to continue building consensus around the issues that matter most, evaluate potential solutions through meaningful research, and share what we learn. By combining the experience of maritime and health professionals, along with sound research, we can better understand which approaches make the greatest difference and provide the industry with practical, evidence-based guidance to strengthen mariner wellness.