Some 400,000 seafarers from across the globe are now stranded on ships, continuing to work but unable to be relieved, in a deepening crew change crisis which threatens trade and maritime safety.
During a high-level event on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September 2020, Captain Hedi Marzougui, who was in command of a vessel between December 2019 and May 2020, appealed to Governments to act to allow seafarers to come home.
“Not knowing when or if we will be returning home brings a severe mental toll on my crew and myself,” Captain Marzougui said. “I would encourage each and every one of you to think of how you would feel, if you had to work every day, for 12 hours, with no weekends, without seeing your loved ones, and trapped at sea. Now add that you have to do that with no idea of when you will be repatriated.”
The Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on travel and transit have severely impacted on seafarers. Despite multiple pleas to Governments to designate them as essential key workers and to facilitate their travel, the number of seafarers whose contracts have been extended by several months has continued to increase.
Some seafarers have now been at sea for 17 months without a break, well beyond the 11-month limit set out in the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). Besides the 400,000 seafarers stuck at sea, another 400,000 are unable to join ships.
This threatens the fundamentals of ship safety standards which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has worked to develop over six decades, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim told the online event, which brought together leaders from major global businesses, the maritime industry, government, the UN and unions.
“Overly fatigued and mentally exhausted seafarers are being asked to continue to operate ships,” Mr. Lim said. On more than 60,000 cargo ships which continue to deliver vital goods, foods and medicines, ship safety is hanging in the balance, just as seafarers’ lives are being made impossible. The safety of navigation is in peril.”
Secretary-General Lim restated his plea to Governments: “Action is needed – and is needed now. We all depend on seafarers. They should not be the collateral victims in this pandemic. Seafarers deliver for us – and now we need to deliver for them.”
In a statement read out at the event, to mark World Maritime Day 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his concern for seafarers stranded at sea.
He renewed his appeal to Governments “to address their plight by formally designating seafarers and other marine personnel as ‘key workers’, ensuring safe crew changes and implementing the protocols developed by UN agencies, as well as the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Transport Workers’ Federation, allowing stranded seafarers to be repatriated and others to join ships.”
Photo by Mario Buhagiar
