By Humber seafarers still stuck on board ships
Many seafarers in Humber ports are still stuck on board their ships due to the coronavirus lockdown.
According to a report conducted by the BBC, around a third of crews on cargo ships and tankers at the Humber ports of Immingham, Grimsby and Hull are stuck on board after restrictions banned port and air routes.
Crew members’ contracts have been extended.
But unions have reported that the seafarers, many of whom have been stuck on ships away from their families for months, are depressed and homesick.
Paul Keenan, from the International Transport Workers’ Federation, said:
“There are quite a few seafarers who understand the situation and are willing to remain on board until things get easier.
“But there are also people on board who are under quite a lot of mental pressure and strain as they’ve on board in a cabin on a small ship for months and months on end. It’s taking its toll.”
Currently, the UK’s borders are open to seafarers, but for essential travel only.
And although the government have confirmed that seafarers arriving in UK will be exempted from the quarantine measures put in place for other travellers to UK, many remain confined to their ships.
Additionally, seafarers are restricted by the conditions set by their home countries, meaning that even if they are permitted to travel home, they may be quarantined or even refused entry.
An officer on a tanker told the BBC:
“We are all stuck out here and we don’t know what to do.
“Everybody’s waiting as to what your home country will do.
“Only when the home country is ready to accept their own citizens, we can go home.”
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