A five‑year assessment of the Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights Code of Conduct finds encouraging steps among the industry’s front‑running companies but warns that such gains are not yet widespread, according to a progress report published on 22 September 2026 by the Sustainable Shipping Initiative and reported.
Leading operators have begun to change practices in ways the report describes as tangible and measurable, and the document says this cohort is demonstrating that improved welfare can be delivered without undermining commercial viability; nevertheless, the report emphasises that those examples remain the exception rather than the rule.
The report marks the fifth anniversary of the Code of Conduct and uses that milestone to assess whether commitments made at launch have translated into consistent improvements for seafarers at sea and in shore-based arrangements; the authors conclude that momentum exists, but is fragile and unevenly distributed across fleets and regions.
Progress among early adopters
The Sustainable Shipping Initiative highlights a number of companies that have moved beyond policy statements to implement changes which the report judges to be producing better outcomes for some seafarers, underlining that corporate leadership has been critical in accelerating reform over the past five years.
Those leading companies, the report says, have invested in training, crew support systems and management oversight in ways that make welfare considerations a routine part of operational decision-making rather than an occasional addendum.
Gaps remain for many seafarers
Despite these successes, the report warns that many seafarers have not yet experienced meaningful improvements; in several segments of the industry welfare gains have been slow to arrive or have not reached entire crew populations, the document states.
The Sustainable Shipping Initiative draws attention to the disparity between companies that have committed resources to welfare and those whose policies remain at the level of aspiration, concluding that without broader adoption the Code’s impact will remain partial.
The report published on 22 September 2026 therefore frames the next phase of work as one of diffusion: translating examples of good practice into widely adopted standards and scalable solutions that can operate across differing business models and flag states.
The authors caution that the road to universal improvement will require sustained attention from shipowners, managers, charterers and regulators, and that progress will need to be monitored against clear, comparable indicators if the Code is to move from promising pilot activity to industry norm.
The Sustainable Shipping Initiative’s findings, as presented by reports, provide a measured verdict: meaningful change is under way among a subset of companies, but the broader industry must accelerate and expand its efforts if most seafarers are to feel the benefit of five years of commitment to the Code.