The World Moves With Mariners

 

June 2, 2021 Former Wallem boss Frank Coles writes for Splash today. Exasperated at the treatment of seafarers, he suggests a two-week global strike might be the only way to improve life at sea. “When you chose going to sea as a career did you know you were becoming the scum of the earth?” This is the question a senior executive of a large shipmanagement company asked me as I was having a drink with him in Hong Kong. My reply was, “No, but in fact in my day we were not as badly treated as seafarers are today.” The further east in the world we have gone to look for cheap labour the worse has become the plight of the seafarer. We have failed the youth who seek a career at sea, we have failed at human rights and have systematically abused the basic rights of the normal everyday employment of seafarers. This is not a rant, just a direct, plain statement of the facts as I see them. Sailors cannot go ashore on shore leave, they are not able to go home at the end of contracts, they have poor

 If you really want to know about a Ship Captain’s plight (In a way Seafarers plight) who claims to earn USD15000/Month (Tax free) pls read patiently and decide how painful job it is just because no Government in this world is on his side. *Pls read below till end* Dear Friends, Today (5th April) marks the National Maritime Day of India - a day to recognize and acknowledge the social contributions of the shipping industry in general and the seafaring community in particular. And it is only incidental that this year’s celebrations, though shadowed by the Covid Pandemic, happens against the backdrop of the Great Suez Blockade, when “Ever Given” has become a household name across the world.  These were the days when the whole world realized, that a ‘single failure’ (human or machinery) on a ship can simply hold the world economy at ransom for days together. When around 350 merchant ships manned by less than 7000 seafarers were stranded, experts quickly estimated the bleeding to the world