This, he says, can result in fatigue and mental stress as they are away from their families and are not able to relax after a day’s work. “They go to work and they go to sleep in the same place, and they meet always the same people because the contract is nine or ten months,” says Fr Ciceri. ![]() With some seafarers not permitted to come ashore, and many on long contracts aboard ships for months on end, this can have a significant impact on their mental health. “The European or the American, they are allowed to come ashore but if you have a different passport you have to stay on board.” He notes that these decisions are made either by the port authority, the company, or the master of the ship.įr Ciceri also points out that many of these people are vaccinated so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to disembark. The international director also underlines that some seafarers face discrimination when they want to go ashore. He stresses that seafarers must be allowed to come ashore “because people cannot stay for six or nine months for the duration of their contracts or even more.” “At that time, it was understandable that the national authority in the countries, the port authority, and also the ship owners would not allow the seafarers to come ashore because they were afraid people would get infected.”īut now, despite the fact that many seafarers have been vaccinated, and there are no longer restrictions, they are not allowed to come ashore.įr Ciceri says this is “unacceptable because this right to go ashore is embedded in the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006.” “Covid-19 has created a very difficult situation because at that time the ports, they were closed, the seafarers, they could not come ashore, and also our chaplains, they could not go and do ship visiting,” he says. He spoke to Vatican Radio about the current situation, describing it as unacceptable. In it, he highlighted that many seafarers are still being banned from coming ashore, despite the fact that restrictions in many countries, put in place during the pandemic, have been lifted.įr Bruno Ciceri is the International Director for the Stella Maris network, based at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in Rome. On Thursday, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Michael Czerny, released a message to mark Sea Sunday which is observed on 10 July. That’s the situation faced by seafarers who are aboard their ships for months on end without shore leave. During periods of lockdown, over the last two years, people experienced what it was like to live, at times, in confined spaces for a period of time.īut imagine being locked down in a confined space for the majority of your working life.
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