Renewing our respect for invisible essential workers of the seas

Renewing our respect for invisible essential workers of the seas

Every one of the little green and red arrows on the Marine Traffic Live Map is either a cargo ship or tanker. And each one is crewed by a team of individuals who work in an almost invisible industry supporting our 21st century lifestyles.

Manufactured goods such as trainers, TVs and textiles travel from east to west on containerships, whilst oil flows from the US and the Middle East into Asia and beyond.

The International Chamber of Shipping’s (ICS) often-quoted message should not be forgotten: “About 90% of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. Without shipping, the import/export of affordable food and goods would not be possible – half the world would starve and the other half would freeze!”

It is a sobering thought, and especially poignant today – 25 June – which since 2011 has been set aside to acknowledge how much the global population owes its seafarers.

According to ICS statistics, there are around 1.6 million seafarers that sail on international merchant vessels. For these people, life at sea can be dangerous and lonely. They often spend months on ship, rarely going ashore during their sea time, and away from the friends and family that so many of us take for granted to keep us mentally and emotionally healthy and well.

The pandemic has only put more strain on the industry. In March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world, travel restrictions left hundreds of thousands of seafarers stuck onboard their ships, working way past their contracted dates as they were unable to return to shore for repatriation.

At the time, few states acknowledged seafarers as key workers, making travel extremely difficult, if not impossible. Since then a number of countries have acknowledged their status and more recently, certain states have rolled out vaccination programmes.

Championed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in 2020 the Day of the Seafarer campaign was focussed on urging governments to recognise seafarers as key workers and ease travel restrictions to enable crew changes. This year’s campaign follows on from this sentiment, but also calls for a fair future for seafarers during the pandemic and beyond.  

IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim said: “I am especially pleased that IMO will be amplifying the voices of seafarers themselves as they discuss what a fairer future would look like to them under the hashtag #FairFuture4Seafarers.

Seafarers, we are listening – and we will make sure you are heard.”

To hear from the seafarers themselves go to: https://www.imo.org/en/About/Events/Pages/Day-of-the-Seafarer-2021.aspx

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message today: “Seafarers must be recognised as key workers who deliver an essential service, and be given access to transit and travel. Seafarers must also have equitable access to vaccines, as nobody is safe until everyone is safe…We must acknowledge that the future of world trade depends on the people who operate ships. All stakeholders must work together to ensure a fair future for seafarers.”

There are some that believe today’s dedications are empty and take away from the fact that there is not enough action to seek change. Maritime consultant Frank Coles wrote on LinkedIn that “We should be mourning the lack of action not celebrating the weakness of the industry to not take care of its own.”

This may be true, but if Day of the Seafarer does nothing else it will hopefully make this largely invisible industry a little more visible. 

Right now, it has never been more important to put seafarers in the spotlight and showcase how important their work is in the modern world. It is an opportunity to dwell on and renew our respect for an industry that impacts our daily lives, in or out of a pandemic.

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