Jacqueline Smith on the 300,000 Seafarers Stranded at Sea
Podcast, 24 September 2020
By Francesca Fairbairn , Oceans, Commodities, and Academy Programme Manager, IHRB
COVID-19 restrictions have meant that many ports' ship operators are unwilling or unable to allow crew to come ashore. The result is an ever-increasing numbers of crew overdue for relief but unable to be repatriated. Described by Bloomberg as the "worst shipping crisis in decades" that is putting "lives and trade at risk", current conservative estimates put the number of seafarers stranded on board ships between 300,000 to 400,00.
With the theme of World Maritime Day 2020 centred on ‘sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet’, IHRB's Francesca Fairbairn speaks to Jacqueline Smith, Maritime Coordinator at the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). Their conversation covers the urgent need for governments to address the seafarers’ humanitarian crisis, and for companies - be they cargo owners, charterers, or ship owners and operators themselves – to use their leverage to ensure this vast, vital, but often invisible workforce is protected, prioritised, and given safe passage home.
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