Nations urged to help stranded seafarers

Here's another COVID-19 problem that the UN is trying to solve: how to help more than 300,000 merchant mariners trapped at sea because of virus restrictions get home. But they lamented a lack of international coordination among states and shipping companies, and called for more cooperation and new rules to protect countries from the virus while respecting the rights of stranded merchant mariners.

Here's another COVID-19 problem that the UN is trying to solve: how to help more than 300,000 merchant mariners trapped at sea because of virus restrictions get home. Saying many seafarers are at a "breaking point" after as much as a year away from home, Captain Hedi Marzougui pleaded their case on Thursday at a UN-organised meeting with shipping executives and government transport officials.

He described his own experience stuck aboard his ship as the pandemic washed over the world and made shipping crews unwelcome in many ports. "We received very little information and...nations changed regulations on a daily, if not hourly basis," he said. Shipping crews felt like "second-class citizens" despite their increasingly crucial role in transporting food and medical equipment as air travel nearly collapsed.

Maritime ministers from Panama, France, Kenya and the Philippines defended steps they've taken to allow safe crew changes or otherwise ease the crisis. But they lamented a lack of international coordination among states and shipping companies, and called for more cooperation and new rules to protect countries from the virus while respecting the rights of stranded merchant mariners.