Practical way to deal with the shameful maltreatment of 600,000 people

IPhoto: © Denys Yelmanov | Dreamstime.com

Just as there appears to be no solution to the pandemic until a vaccine is developed, so there appears to be no solution in sight for the plight of hundreds of thousands of seafarers whose shifts should have finished months ago, but who have been stuck on board their vessels. And, as Splash247 columnist Andrew Craig-Bennett notes, ultimately this going to lead to a calamity, as the shipping industry effectively remains hostage to government inaction over the repatriation of these seafarers. He calls for the maritime insurance industry to effectively refuse to cover vessels that have crew working who are past their original contract term length. It is an extraordinary proposal in extraordinary times, and speaks volumes about the world we are now living in.