Towards the achievement of maritime social sustainability : seafarers’ voice and representation in stakeholder networks
Date of Award
12-7-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Maritime Affairs
Specialization
Ph.D (Maritime Affairs)
Campus
Malmö, Sweden
Country
Ukraine
Abstract
Merchant navy seafarers continue to experience a wide range of challenges associated with their labour conditions. Despite significant academic attention and increasing stakeholder awareness, these conditions have not been meaningfully improved. This knowledge-action gap raises questions about the voice and representation of seafarers’ needs and interests within the maritime stakeholder network, and about how the network’s characteristics contribute to the persistence of labour problems and, more broadly, to the undermining of maritime social sustainability.
To investigate this research problem, this study is underpinned by stakeholder and social network theories and draws further insights from employment (industrial) relations scholarship. Drawing from a pragmatic paradigm, the data collection is conducted using a mixed-methods approach that combines a systematic literature review of 60 publications with empirical data from 43 stakeholder interviews and 378 seafarers’ survey responses.
Maritime social sustainability is conceptualised as a multi-level construct that integrates substantive social sustainability goals with the procedural mechanisms required to achieve them. The study provides an analytical definition of maritime social sustainability, identifies its key thematic dimensions, and examines how stakeholders prioritise them and how seafarers experience them in practice.
To situate seafarers within the stakeholder landscape, the study identifies relevant actors in maritime social sustainability, assesses their salience, and maps their relationships within the stakeholder network. Furthermore, the study examines seafarers’ perceptions of their voice and representation within the stakeholder network, as well as the capacity of other stakeholders to represent their social needs and interests.
The findings demonstrate that seafarers are not effectively integrated into stakeholder relationships and that existing representation mechanisms do not adequately address their needs and interests. Stakeholder interviews show limited regular communication with seafarers, while social network analysis identifies seafarers and other affected and socially-oriented stakeholders as occupying peripheral positions within the stakeholder network. Seafarers’ survey findings further indicate that seafarers perceive their voice as limited. Consequently, despite being recognised as the most affected stakeholder group in relation to maritime social sustainability, seafarers remain largely marginalised from relevant industry decision- and policy-making processes.
Discussing potential strategies to advance maritime social sustainability, the study proposes structural changes to balance industry efficiency with seafarers’ voice, including greater visibility for maritime social sustainability, stronger organisation of seafarers, enhanced representation mechanisms, coalition-building among socially-oriented stakeholders, and improved enforcement.
Theoretically, the study extends the stakeholder identification and salience model by introducing stakeholder embeddedness as an attribute. Using social network analysis, the study advances understanding of stakeholders as a relational network, in which stakeholder influence is determined not only by intrinsic (non-relational) attributes but also by stakeholders’ positions, relationships, and interactions within the network. Stakeholder influence is therefore relational rather than purely attribute-based. The findings further contribute to ongoing debates about stakeholder theory’s capacity to recognise affected and marginalised stakeholders in policy- and decision-making processes.