Global storms strand sailors

Driving on the West Coast Highway along Singapore’s port, it’s easy to see the signs of recession.

Cranes that usually move containers 24 hours a day have their booms fixed up in the air. "Hands up,’’ the seafarers call it.

The view of the horizon, normally obstructed by huge mountains of containers, is now wide open.

As the shipping industry is hit hard by the global economic downturn, container ships from all over the world lie idle at Singapore’s shores.

"For the seafarers, it feels like being locked up in prison,’’ said port chaplain Christian Schmidt. "The psychological strain weighs heavily.’’

About 290 vessels are at anchor in Singapore some for several months, Schmidt said.

As business shrinks, many shipping companies lay off vessels.

And Filipino sailors face the most problems.

Filipino seamen comprise a major segment of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sector and have consistently been a major source of dollar remittances that help prop up the country’s domestic economy.

It is estimated that Filipinos make up about 20 per cent of the world’s seafarers. There are about 1.2 million Filipino sailors. Over 70 per cent of Japanese maritime operations are now manned by Filipinos.

"If a ship is being laid off, the companies will just keep a skeleton crew on board,’’ said David See, assistant chaplain from the Mission to Seafarers.

The captain and some engineers stay, "the rest will be sent home,’’ See said.

Those sailors who are forced to kill time on board their vessels, are grateful to have a port chaplain around for a chat, who is often their only link to the outside world.

Every day German chaplain Schmidt, from Singapore’s Lutheran Seafarers Mission, boards ships like the Sea Matrix, the Pacific Honour or the Northwest Success, which dropped anchor in Singapore several weeks ago.

In the beginning, it’s great to have a break from the daily routine, nice to sleep in and have some leisure time, sailors stranded in Singapore told Schmidt.

But after finishing all maintenance work which needed to be done, times get tough.

"It’s the same with people working on short-time. At first you like it, but after one week you don’t really know what to do,’’ said Schmidt.

Many laid-off container ships are anchored quite far from Singapore’s coast, See said, thus giving the sailors no chance for a shore leave and make them feel isolated.

Contact to the outside world via Internet is rare, as most ships don’t provide an access for workers.

Keeping in contact with the family at home by mobile phones soothes the nerves of the seafarers.

But once the phone cards are exhausted the atmosphere on board becomes tense. According to Schmidt, who meets sailors from all nations, "causes for conflicts and quarrels are rising.’’