The mental health of seafarers has been put to the test.

The pandemic affected sky, land and sea.

Some 400,000 seafarers from around the world were still on their ships, unable to be repatriated, although their contracts had ended.

 All of them were stranded in their homes unable to go out to work due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, they cannot join the ships and support their families.

UN News in July Matt Forster and an English chief engineer, who works mainly on an oil tanker in the Middle East and Asia, states that he and many seafarers said it was an unwanted prison sentence they were experiencing.

They were 6 months in which they were in total confinement.

Lim expressed the harsh experience throughout these 6 months.

«The longer you stay there, the more physically fatigued you feel. The hours, weeks and months start to add up, you get really tired and not as ready,» he said, adding that exhaustion can lead to accidents.

For several months, the UN agency has been pushing for all governments to classify seafarers and other maritime personnel as «essential workers» and by December some 45 countries had done so, making it easier for them to do so. crew changes safely, but this still leaves workers in many countries without the same protection.

The International Maritime Organization has described the plight of seafarers this year as a violation of human rights. Speaking on Human Rights Day in December, the agency’s director, Kitack Lim, paid tribute to “seafarers on the front lines” and called on countries to ensure that their rights to safe and decent working conditions are recognized, respected and protected.