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Now more than ever, we should recognise the core role of seafarers in the future of shipping and prioritise their welfare.

Seafarers have faced extraordinary challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of crew members stranded at sea on extended contracts by a crew change crisis caused by travel restrictions, and others stuck at home for months on end unable to find work and earn a living.

With this year’s World Maritime Day theme, ‘Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future’, in mind, ISWAN’s Chief Executive Officer Simon Grainge has shared this message:

‘On World Maritime Day we all pay tribute to the grit and determination of the men and women who maintain our vital supply chains but in doing so we must not make the mistake of taking seafarers for granted. Everyone has their limits and the effects of the pandemic will continue to be felt by seafarers for months to come. Together with our colleagues in the maritime welfare sector, ISWAN will continue to support seafarers in every way we can but we need the whole industry to play their part if we are to truly demonstrate that seafarers are at the core of shipping’s future.’

To mark World Maritime Day 2021, we reached out to seafarers on Instagram to share their short videos showing a glimpse of life at sea as part of our #ISWANReels contest in partnership with Maritime Universe.

We were delighted to announce the winner today – Captain Akee Sharma, who shared this creative montage of a crew hard at work on a container vessel. The runner-up videos will be posted throughout the day on ISWAN’s Instagram page here.