Today marks the 14th annual International Day of the Seafarer and it comes at a time when the lure of a career at sea is being severely challenged.
International Maritime Organization secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez conceded in a video address to celebrate the day: “Seafarers have been sorely tested in recent years – facing hostile acts from piracy or in conflict zones.”
Dominguez said seafarer lives have been put on the line in the face of what he described as “grave threats”.
António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, added his own thoughts on today’s seafarer celebration.
“Attacks on international shipping routes and acts of piracy are unacceptable. Ships and seafarers must not be held hostage and hijacked. Seafarers should not be collateral victims in wider geopolitical conflicts,” Guterres stressed.
The 2020s are proving to be a very hard period to entice people to work at sea. Starting with the pandemic, which forced many thousands of seafarers to work in taxing conditions for far longer than agreed contracts, crews have also had to face rising cases of piracy, wars in the Black and Red Seas with many also being sent to work on the so-called dark tanker fleet where safety standards have been in the spotlight. Cases of crew abandonment have also hit record highs in recent years while increasing discussion of automation and autonomous vessels have made some potential seafarers question the longevity of a career at sea.
