The Pain of Being Forgotten.

National Maritime Day is a United States holiday created to recognize the maritime industry. It is observed annually on May 22nd, the date in 1819 that the American steamship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. The United Nations will observe World Maritime Day on September 24, 2020. However, the Maritime Industry runs on the strong backs of seafarers, the men and women who work and live on these ocean going vessels that make the Maritime Industry what it is. The International Maritime Organization has designated June 25th as The Day of the Seafarer. This year, all of us are living under the threat of the Covis-19 pandemic. Some improvements have occurred over the last few days and weeks.

Seafarers, my dear colleagues, you are on the front line in this global fight. Your work is essential, and your situation is unique…. I want you to know that you are not alone. You are not forgotten. Stay strong

Kitack Lim, April 20, 2020

Yet there is one group who have seen little or no signs of improving. Seafarers from around the world, whether on industrial ships or cruise ships, remain stranded on their ships with meager hope to be repatriated following the expiration of their contract terms, of which nearly ALL have gone full cycle at this time. This hardship, to put into terms we can understand, would be as if I went to work as long as than 9 months ago. I had circled my go home date in red on my calendar. But with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, that date had to be delayed, again and again. With no relief work able to transport my replacement to my ship, and nearly impossible travel conditions for me to travel home, I remain “Stay at Home/Work”, with no definite end date in sight. Research has shown the debilitating effects, both physically and mentally, of such confinement.

Maritime Ministries around the world, including we at New England Seafarers Mission, are attempting to assist the industrial ship crew with gangway visits. The cruise ship crews are mostly anchored offshore, with only occasional docking for refuel and supply. My colleagues in ports where this occurs assist as they are able. As we visit industrial ships in Boston and Providence, stopping at the gangway to converse through PPE as best as we are able, the fatigue is evident in their voices and concern for their families back home. Over the last several weeks, I have received numerous phone calls, texts, e-mails and what’s App messages from seafarers who have been on ships that have called into Boston or to our center at Black Falcon Pier. I ask them questions of home and family. I comfort as best I can, offering prayers and words of encouragement.

IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim had these words for seafarers around the world. “I, personally, have been deeply touched by the many stories we have heard from individual seafarers of the challenges, hardships and sacrifices that seafarers have made to keep the global supply chain moving while helping the global population. These are challenging times for many seafarers. Both their physical and mental health are being put to the test….Seafarers, my dear colleagues, you are on the front line in this global fight. Your work is essential, and your situation is unique. I wish you good health and good welfare in this time of crisis. I want you to know that you are not alone. You are not forgotten. Stay strong.”

I would ask all of us to please keep these brave but exhausted women and men who staff these ships in your prayers.