Too long onboard but, perhaps, less time spent working

AS Singapore is a key air and sea hub as well as a major player in all sectors of the shipping industry, the plight of of seafarers stuck on their ships is well known here. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, this issue has featured several times in this column.

Now, the leaders of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), have sent a joint letter to the UN secretary-general António Guterres.

They have urged him to persuade his 193 member states to act urgently to avoid a "humanitarian crisis, with over 200,000 tired, mentally-stretched seafarers currently stuck working on vessels across the globe and unable to be relieved of their duties".