This study established the causes, rates, & trends in suicides at work among seafarers in British merchant shipping from 1919-2005, & compared suicide rates with the general United Kingdom population, & with seafarers employed in non-United Kingdom shipping. The suicide rate in British shipping fell from 40-50 per 100,000 in the 1920s to less than 10 per 100,000 in recent years, with an interim peak in the 1960s. Suicide rates were higher for ratings than for offers, for Asian seafarers than British seafarers, & for older than for younger seafarers. The suicide rate for at-work seafarers was substantially higher than the overall British suicide rate from 1919-1970s, but has become more comparable since. (29 refs.) JA
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