Covid-19 – what about seafarers?

The world has never seen a pandemic as the onecaused by Covid-19. Although often compared to the Spanish flu, the impact ofCovid-19 can be said to be far greater. The virus has disrupted trade and had asevere impact on the shipping industry, affecting the work of nearly 2 millionseafarers worldwide. The effect is particularly apparent within the cruise shipindustry.

One of the things to be considered is thatisolation on board a vessel is not the same as isolation at home. When thepandemic started it did not take long for cruise vessels to be targeted as apotential carrier of the disease. This is no surprise, since such vessels aredifficult to disinfect thoroughly, and considering the large number of personscarried on board.