Spread the love

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia today marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Seafarer, paying tribute to the dedicated crewmembers who serve cruise ships around the world.

Celebrated on June 25th, the day’s theme this year is “Seafarers are Key Workers”, acknowledging the many sacrifices and achievements of seafarers. CLIA and the global cruise community are supporting the event with a social media campaign honouring seafarers worldwide, and are inviting others to share their own messages with the hashtags #SeafarersAreKeyWorkers, #DayOfTheSeafarer and #WeAreCruise.

CLIA Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz said cruise lines employed a truly global workforce of 225,000 seafarers.

“The cruise industry strives to provide a high-quality work environment for its seafarers, who regularly go above and beyond to provide cruise passengers with extraordinary travel experiences,” Mr Katz said. “Our industry is enormously grateful for the work of our seafarers, whose care for passengers has been more important than ever this year as cruise ships returned to port following the worldwide suspension of cruise operations.”

Status of Repatriation of Crew Members:

CLIA cruise line members are working around the clock to care for the well-being of crewmembers who remain onboard and to facilitate, in collaboration with local governments and ports, a safe return home for crew members scheduled for repatriation.

“Though CLIA cruise lines have successfully repatriated thousands of crewmembers to date thanks to the ports and governments that have allowed access and safe harbor for cruise ships, these efforts have proven extremely complex, made even more complicated by differing policies across the many countries represented by the diverse cruise ship workforce,” said CLIA Global Chairman Adam Goldstein. “We support the Seafarers Bill of Rights and call on all governments to do the same by helping to bring our valued crew members home.”