UN recognizes work of 2 million seafarers in ‘extraordinarily challenging times’

In his message for the day, the UN Secretary-General said the extremity is to “pay tribute to the professionalism and resilience of seafarers.” 

António Guterres said the time besides recognizes “their indispensable relation securing captious planetary proviso chains and transporting implicit 80 per cent of satellite commercialized successful extraordinarily challenging times.” 

This commercialized includes medical supplies, nutrient and different basal goods that are captious for the COVID-19 response, but the pandemic continues to spot immense carnal and intelligence pressures connected the roughly two million women and men who serve in the world’s merchant fleet. 

Hundreds of thousands of seafarers also face a humanitarian crisis, with many, successful effect, stranded astatine sea, incapable to disembark from the ships they operate, due to lengthy contract extensions amid the pandemic. 

“Unable to spell to shore, repatriate and alteration crews, and without entree to aesculapian care, seafarers look a humanitarian situation that jeopardizes the information and the aboriginal of shipping,” Mr. Guterres said.  

He renewed his appeal to governments to formally designate seafarers and different marine unit arsenic “key workers”, ensuring harmless unit changes, implementing established protocols, and allowing stranded seafarers to beryllium repatriated.

“These captious workers indispensable person entree to nationalist vaccination programmes, and provisions should beryllium made to vaccinate planetary seafarers astatine designated ports,” helium argued.

For Mr. Guterres, fovernments must comply with applicable planetary pact obligations to render assistance to immoderate seafarers successful distress, including aesculapian assistance, ensuring rights and needs of seafarers are respected.

A greener future 

Looking ahead, the Secretary-General said that seafarers volition play a captious relation helping beforehand shipping’s determination towards sustainability, “helping the assemblage bash its captious portion successful gathering a sustainable aboriginal for radical and planet.”

This year’s theme is besides connected to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 connected acquisition and training, SDG 8 related to decent work, SDG 9 connected innovation and industry, and SDG 5 connected sex equality.