World Maritime Day - Hvad skete der?

30. september 2020

Den 24. september 2020 var det World Maritime Day. Øverst på dagsordenen - og hos de fleste søfarende -  stod besætningsskifte og problemerne hermed. Det til trods for, at temaet egentlig var bæredygtighed.

World Maritime Day blev holdt som optakt til FN's 75. generalforsamling, og det var FN's søfartsorganisation, IMO, der var blandt arrangørerne af temamødet om de globale problemer med besætningsskift. Målet var at få flere af verdens ledere til at anerkende, hvor udfordrede rederierne og deres besætninger er under coronakrisen.

Dagen blev afholdt virtuelt på grund af Covid-19 – med indlæg og talere fra hele verden.

Dobbelttørn

En af talerne var Hedi Marzougui, der bor i Florida med sin hustru og lille søn. Hedi oplevede at være ude dobbelt så lang tid, som han plejede, seks måneder i stedet for tre.

Da Lederne Søfart taler med ham, er han netop kommet ud fra et interview med erhvervsmediet Bloomberg.

Hedi fortæller, at både tale og interviews gik fint, selv om der var nerver på. 

“Jeg var nervøs, men det gik godt, føler jeg. Jeg bryder mig ikke om at være den, der er ”på”, men jeg synes, det var vigtigt, at de søfarende blev hørt, for der er mange søfolk verden over, der lige nu kæmper med træthed, tristhed og usikre fremtidsudsigter fordi, de har været så længe til søs,” siger Hedi.

Lang tørn spøger stadig

Hedi fortæller også, at det har trukket tænder ud, ikke at vide, hvornår han kunne komme hjem til familien. Og selv om han er hjemme nu, har de seks måneder stadig tag i ham.

”Vi vil behandles som mennesker. Vi udfører et kritisk og vigtigt job, vi er ikke slaver, men bliver behandlet som om, vi var fanger i et fængsel, når vi ikke kan komme fra borde.” 

Besætningsskifte skal i gang NU

Hedi udtrykker det således: “ Vi bliver først og fremmest nødt til at få besætningsskifte på agendaen, og så få folk til at forstå, hvor vigtigt, det er. Derfor var min bøn på webinaret også, at der skal komme et samlet forslag for, hvordan vi får gang i besætningsskifte på fast basis. Vi skal have regler, der er fair, der beskytter de søfarende og som sørger for, at søfolk ikke strander på deres skibe. Søfolk skal kategoriseres som kritisk personel, og den term skal betyde det samme verden over. For vi er alle mennesker,” siger Hedi til Lederne Søfart.

Den internationale skibsfart står for at transportere omkring 90 procent af alle varer, gods og råstoffer i hele verden.

Hedi har, siden han kom hjem efter de seks måneder på havet, sagt sit job op og fået et, hvor han er væk i 40 dage ad gangen. Og altid kommer retur til USA.

Du kan læse hele Hedis tale på World Maritime Days webinar nedenfor:

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak in the name of every Merchant Mariner currently operating within the current public health crisis and facing its unjust ramifications.

I was in Command of a Merchant vessel between December 2019 and end of May 2020 in the Far East.

When the pandemic broke out, life on board became difficult almost immediately. Crew changes, shore leaves, and medical leaves were suspended or became very difficult to perform.  We received very limited information and it became increasingly difficult to get vital supplies and technical support. Port nations changed regulations on a daily, if not hourly basis.

Severe strains begun to show amongst my crew almost immediately. 

We, as Merchant Mariners chose a specific profession, which involves being away from home for several months at a time while working every day, mostly 12-hour shifts.

But - like most people, we have families at home, are constantly worried about them, with little means to comfort them. Not knowing when, or if we would be returning home took a severe mental toll on my crew, and myself. We felt we were being treated as second class citizens, with no input or control over our lives.

However, even under these testing conditions: The show had to go on. We are responsible for moving 80% of the world’s supplies during a pandemic, including medical supplies. We might be a hidden workforce, out of the mainstream’s attention, but make no mistakes about it, we are critical to the global economy.

Still today, there are close to 300,000 crew members overdue to return home, some of them have been onboard for over a year. I would encourage each and every one of you to think about how you would feel if you had worked every day, for 12 hours, with no weekends, without seeing your loved ones, trapped at sea.

It seems crazy. Well, now add that you would be doing this with no idea of when you would be repatriated. This was my crew’s life every day for 3 months after we were overdue for our crew change. Unfortunately, it is still the life of all those mariners that remain trapped on their vessels. This has led to despair across the world’s fleet and a feeling that no one cares about us.

Besides the mental toll, there was also a physical toll. Our work at sea can be very dangerous. Any lack of concentration, any mistake can lead to catastrophic consequences, from loss of life to severe damage to the environment.

Our job is one of endurance and we treat it like a marathon for the length of our contract. What do you think would happen to a marathon runner, if when crossing the finish line, they were told that they needed to do it again, immediately, and without rest?

The fact that I was invited to speak here today proves that we are not alone in our plight. It shows that some organizations and people care about us and are fighting for us. For that I am thankful.

However, the fact that I am here speaking to you today also proves that this crisis is far from over.

I am here today, on behalf of all my fellow mariners, to plead for a unified response from all countries in how they regulate crew changes. We need regulations that are fair, protecting us and the local population, while returning to reasonable rotation periods.

We need regulations that do not change on the day before a crew change.

We need Mariners to be key workers, and that should mean the same thing worldwide.

And most importantly, we need to remember that Mariners are Human beings first and should be treated as such.

Thank you for listening.