Maritime Telemedicine Supports Healthy and Safe Voyages for Deep-Sea Crew

MOF to provide telemedicine services to 200 deep-sea merchant and fishing vessels

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister Kang Do-hyung) announced that it will operate the Maritime Telemedicine Support Program this year to provide remote medical service using satellite communication to 200 deep-sea vessels (including 20 newly added in 2025) and approximately 4,500 crew members working on deep-sea vessels.

 Due to the nature of their work, deep-sea crew often face difficulties accessing medical services. Even in emergencies or treatable medical situations, timely treatment is often unavailable, leading to worsened conditions.

 To address this, MOF has been running a Pilot Program for Maritime Telemedicine Support in collaboration with the Maritime Medical Research Center of Pusan National University Hospital (PNUH) since 2015. The program links vessels with remote medical equipment and the Maritime Medical Research Center to support seafarers' health management and emergency response by connecting satellite communication. Last year alone, the program provided 24,026 medical services (including 1,215 emergency treatment guides and 22,811 health consultations) across 180 vessels. Over the past 10 years (2015–2024), the program has facilitated a total of 109,312 medical cases.

 “We expect the medical welfare level to rise further through the protection of seafarers' health and regular health consulting by responding quickly to emergencies on board ocean-going vessels. The health of seafarers will be protected, and the level of medical welfare will be significantly improved through periodic health consultations. We plan to continue expanding projects to improve the medical welfare of seafarers,” Minister Kang Do-hyung said.