GLOBAL ship management company V.Group is leading calls to recognize the achievements of seafarers worldwide and raise awareness of the 200,000 currently stranded at sea on Day of the Seafarer (DotS) 2020.

With more than 94% of all goods transported by sea, seafarers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic and play an essential role in maintaining the flow of vital goods, such as food, medicines and medical supplies. However, the crisis has led to challenging working conditions, including difficulties accessing ports, supply issues and disrupted crew mobility.

The annual Day of the Seafarer will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on 25 June. V.Group is showing its support by hosting a takeover of its website and social channels using specially created assets. It is also encouraging as many people as possible to show their support on social media by posting and using the hashtag #SeafarersAreKeyWorkers on the day.

The campaign, launched by the IMO calls on Member States to recognize seafarers as key workers – and to provide them with the support, assistance and travel options open to all key workers during the pandemic.

V.Group has been working tirelessly with other industry stakeholders to ease the plight of seafarers.  It has facilitated 10,282 crew movements in less than three months, (since 17th March) who had been stranded at sea due to the crew change crisis. The seafarers consisted of 92 nationalities from 795 vessels.

Allan Falkenberg, Managing Director of Crew Management at V.Group comments:

“Reaching this milestone of 10,000 crew movements is testament to the global efforts of V.Group’s Crew Management and travel teams. By being fully committed to repatriating as many seafarers as possible, we’ve helped large numbers of crew reunite with their families or begin working on ships.

“With thousands still confined to vessels as a result of coronavirus restrictions, our crewing teams are working tirelessly to identify all potential crew change opportunities at the ports our seafarers’ vessels are scheduled to visit. We remain hopeful that a solution can be found to the crew change challenge, which remains the number one issue facing the maritime industry.”

The IMO campaign also seeks to raise awareness of the work achieved by seafarers in response to the pandemic and to treat seafarers with the respect and dignity they deserve so that they can continue to provide their vital services to keep world trade moving.

V.Group has produced a range of downloadable assets to mark Day of the Seafarer 2020. These can be downloaded from the links below:

• Day of the Seafarer Visual 1
• Day of the Seafarer Visual 2
• Day of the Seafarer Visual 3