Thinking Differently About Seafarers
How should we be celebrating Day of the Seafarer?
As I sit here writing, it is the International Day of the Seafarer. A United Nations specialised agency-sanctioned event which encourages the world to think about seafarers and all they do for us. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), for it is they who are responsible, envisage the #DayoftheSeafarer to be a chance to reflect on the vital role of seafarers, and all that they do for society.
This year’s event looks at #SeafarerJourneys and explores not just the jobs that crew perform, but the actual things they do and how their careers evolve. The day is usually well-received, look on social media today and even though it is a Saturday, there is a flurry of activity. Old photos abound, people talking about what they did at sea, or what they now do. It is a wholly pleasant and nice thing.
For others though, it is a time of some rather difficult thoughts. Should we be celebrating? Should we be instead flagging all the problems that seafarers are facing, and which continue to blight the industry? On a day when RightShip flagged the fact that there are thousands of seafarers who are stuck having been abandoned and cut off by their employers, should we still be doing the online equivalent of clapping for NHS heroes?
I am always torn on the issue. There is my seafarer side, which thinks it is all a load of old whatever and I cynically avoid engaging because I want to see real positive change, not celebratory backslapping. BUT…then there is the other part of me that is just so happy to have a chance to talk about seafarers, to remember my time at sea, to reflect proudly on the work I did and the importance of what my ships did. You wouldn’t have had many bananas without me, so be thankful!
So here we are, stuck in a situation. On one hand, I want to shout to the rafters about how important seafarers are, about the ways they make the world work, about the goods they deliver, about the food, the fuel and the fact that society relies on and stands on the shoulders of these heroes who go to sea. People who in the past, present and future make the world work.
Then, there is the awful nagging thought that we are just not doing enough to actually make life at sea better, to make careers and jobs more accessible, and we are not making sure that seafarers get the support, rewards, and money, care and recognition they deserve.
In the latest Brew With Stu podcast https://brewwithstu.captivate.fm/, I was joined by the usual team to talk through the issues affecting seafarers, and of how we need to make sure we are doing more. We discussed the fact that crew are often so resilient and adaptable, that they are incredibly robust and cope where mere mortals would crumble.
That is not to say we should put them in these positions, indeed, we spoke about the terrible truth that over the past thirty or so years, we have just seen things taken from seafarers. We have seen the bar gone, beers banned (probably rightly so, but still), we have seen shoreleave become a distant dream, and we have seen ships with ever fewer people onboard.
These things may in some ways be seen as inevitable progress, and they are probably all in isolation capable of being adequately justified and explained away. However, what we have seen is this constant one-way traffic…erode, remove, and make life worse. Without ever having enough consideration of what can and should be added back in to make life at sea better.
So on this Day of the Seafarer, celebrate. Rejoice in the fantastic things that seafarers do. Shout, scream, stomp and blow horns, roar out the message that without seafarers we would have nothing. Our standards of living would be eroded, we would live in a lesser world if it wasn’t for the hard work, dedication, bravery, stoicism and strength shown by seafarers.
However, we should do so always tempered by realities. That seafarers need to be not just recognised but rewarded too. We should always be thinking about how to make ships better places to be, we should be thinking about how to put some fun back. Make seafaring great again and worthy of the people who sacrifice so much for us.
Seafarers shouldn’t have to face the things that they so often do. They shouldn’t have to be (or expected to be) resilient and stoic. They shouldn’t have to try to be stronger than those of us ashore. They should be on ships with great food, amazing gyms, and wonderful audio-video equipment, they should be surrounded by people who can take the slack if need be. So they can work, rest and live properly.
Day of the Seafarer 2022 is a great opportunity to therefore think about not just what seafarers do for us, but what we can do for them. How can we put the pride, happiness, enjoyment, respect and pride back into the profession? That is the challenge for all of us!
