Coronavirus lockdown tough on seafarers waiting at anchor, says chaplain

Being on lockdown is difficult for most people, but being out at sea and not knowing when they will set foot on land again have been testing seafarers’ patience, a chaplain has observed.

“It has been terrible,” said Boet van Schalkwyk, who offers interfaith ministry to seafarers through the Sailors’ Society of South Africa.

Van Schalkwyk is more used to counselling seafarers who have survived the violence of being attacked by pirates.

Helping them overcome the shock of being held hostage and then released, and helping them work through their anxieties used to be the norm.

But now his task has shifted to providing comfort for the utter loneliness and homesickness that many seafarers are facing, as they wait on ships either close to ports, or in the middle of the ocean for the coronavirus lockdown to end.

They have no clear idea of when they will set foot on land again, or when they will be reunited with loved ones.

Many have even passed their contractual release date, but cannot get off the ships.

Shipping companies are currently navigating the slightly relaxed regulations announced last week by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, according to Shipping News.

But for the seafarers themselves, movement on and off the ships is still very strictly regulated.

Van Schalkwyk said that for many ship-bound crew, hearing whistling and unloading at the docks have become highlights of the day.

“They go out to the decks to listen and watch,” he said. “They have to maintain a safe distance between each other of course.”

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has praised the SA Maritime Authority for the way it has worked with health authorities to maintain the lockdown regulations as they pertain to ships.

He said as many as 130 crew members in Sao Paulo, London, Frankfurt, Italy and Ghana are still waiting to be repatriated to South Africa, with the help of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Strict controls are in place for the rare occasion that a crew member may leave a ship.

Instead, the ships are stacked up near ports, taking on fuel and stores, and then setting sail again.

The MS Amsterdam, for example, arrived on 9 April with 558 crew on board and no passengers.

“The five South African crew members were disembarked and subjected to the national regulations,” said Mbalula.

The fishing vessel the CODESA 1 berthed in the Port of Cape Town on 11 April. The master and crew are all South African but have been subjected to 14 days of quarantine on board.

Van Schalkwyk said they are not completely cut off as they have the internet and games to keep themselves occupied, but occasionally irritations do arise.

There have been protests on ships with crew demanding to be let off in some other countries.

Although piracy has slowed down, it has not stopped completely, with a group of pirates boarding a vessel off Benin recently.

Van Schalkwyk said the seafarers are used to being alone, or in confined spaces, and can Skype or phone their loved ones.

But as is human nature, some may have left home with an unresolved tiff hanging in the air, and now they have to wait longer to smooth things over again.

“They also worry about bills, and some just want to know that their families are alright,” he said.

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