Raising a distress signal for seafarers caught in virus storm

LIVING in a port city means that Singaporeans are more aware of the importance of ships and seafarers than most of of the world's population.

Nevertheless even in Singapore the nature of the modern shipping industry means its operations are shut away from most people's everyday experience. In much of the rest of the world shipping is completely invisible to most people, despite it being the vital driver of world trade. It is out of sight and out of mind. And, inevitably, so are the crews of the 50,000 plus ships that ply the world's oceans. That is even more so during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Global seafarer welfare organisation Mission to Seafarers points out that the current unprecedented international crisis means seafarers need help urgently.