Six days ago, Oct 03, 2020, must be remembered!
You know why? Aside from the repercussions of this pandemic as regards the mental health of seafarers (soaring cases of suicide, depression, etc), the inability to perform crew change, countries closing borders, extreme Covid prevention practices in place, and so much more, another sad event happened.
On the Liberian coast of West Africa, early on the morning of October 3, there was supposed to be a crew change between two Turkish vessels. Unfortunately, they were both anchored and the exchange must be by boats. A boat on the way to another ship capsized. Because of this, 2 offsigners and 2 boat personnel went down to the waters. A rescue operation was done by the ship where the offsigners came from, but unfortunately, one of the supposed off signers (The Chief Engineer) that would embark on the ship bound for Turkey succumbed despite repeated efforts at first aid.
This is another example of how the pandemic has turned the world upside down, where even the “out of normal” means to achieve what was done without flaws before, and the shipping industry has to adapt with, is not without its dangers.
May this be a cautionary tale for every ship owner and ship operator so no incident such as this happens again.
Story source: https://bit.ly/33GUYR2
