{"id":598,"date":"2020-12-04T01:01:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T01:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/?p=598"},"modified":"2020-12-13T23:54:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T23:54:13","slug":"covid-19-odyssey-a-sailors-journey-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/2020\/12\/04\/covid-19-odyssey-a-sailors-journey-home\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Odyssey: A sailor\u2019s journey home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

NEW DELHI – Vivin Rohan Shiri, 33, was in the middle of the Indian Ocean when he received a disturbing message from his sister-in-law: \u201cMummy has COVID.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And another: \u201cWhen are you getting home?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Shiri signed a nine-month contract in November 2019 to sail for Danish shipping giant Maersk, the world was in a very different state. Student protests in Hong Kong, Delhi and Santiago were making headlines. Martin Scorsese had released his magnum opus \u2018The Irishman\u2019 on Netflix. And the biggest story about China was a New York Times investigation on human rights abuses in Xinjiang.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shiri boarded the Maersk Taikung in his hometown of Mumbai on Nov. 9, 2019. It was scheduled to return to the same port in August 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cFor the first few months, it was business as usual. There was certainty; I knew I would be back home in nine months,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic upended shipping routes all across the world. With shipping traffic thrown out of gear, sailors faced uncertainty about when they would get home. \u201cWe thought it would be a few weeks, but [the] weeks became months,\u201d Shiri said.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time he received word his 69-year-old mother was ill, on Oct. 24, he was still on the ship.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||2px|||”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, route diversions and lockdowns in port cities, sailors couldn\u2019t disembark in the early months of the pandemic. Millions of seafarers were stranded on the ocean, with no certainty of finding a port that would let them get off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation Seafarers\u2019 Trust, a U.K.-based international organization that advocates for maritime workers, around 400,000 are still stuck at sea as of Nov. 28. Most sailors, like Shiri, have gone \u201cover contract,\u201d which means they have stayed on for months longer than they had signed up for.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a ticking time bomb,\u201d said Katie Higginbottom, the head of the trust. She said the failure of governments to recognize seafarers as essential workers is leading to this global crisis.”\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The crew of the Maersk Taikung kept themselves busy by fishing for shrimp in the Ocean (Credit: Vivin Rohan Shiri)<\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto|-13px|auto||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

 <\/p>\n

The majority [of them] are from the Global South \u2013 [the] Philippines, China, India and Indonesia,\u201d she said<\/span> via email.<\/span> \u201cThere is some movement on crew change but the number over contract is massive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Higginbottom said this crisis has caused considerable mental strain for maritime workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

By July, Shiri was feeling that strain. Back home, India was beginning to unlock slowly and he kept compulsively checking in with his family. \u201cMy brother was home, so my mother didn\u2019t have to worry much about things like groceries and medicine. But I was still anxious to be back home.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While some basic communication apps, like WhatsApp, worked on the ship\u2019s Wi-Fi, it was human contact that kept him going.\u00a0 Fishing for prawns in the ocean with his friends was a soothing balm in troubled times.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Cookouts were a bonding activity that brought the crew closer. (Credit: Vivin Rohan Shiri)<\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

\u201cMy crewmates became a family away from family for me. We would hold barbeque parties on deck and unwind in the swimming pool,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In July, when the opportunity came for the first batch of people to sign off, Shiri\u2019s friend and crewmate Armanath Ram was able to disembark. \u201cI know we are doing an important duty. The world economy rests on us. But I have to say, it was good to know I was going home,\u201d Ram said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing his friends leave dealt a crushing emotional blow for Shiri. \u201cI knew I was going to over contract,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat hurt me more was seeing so many of my friends leave. But I was also very happy for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

His contract was due to end in August, but he only received permission to disembark by September. He was told he would be signed off at Hong Kong, where he would be relieved by a replacement crew. \u201cI was excited and started to pack my bags.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Maersk Taikung docked in Hong Kong on Sept. 29, but there was bad news. They had docked a day early and the flight carrying the replacement crew got delayed. \u201cWe had only a limited amount of time we were allowed to be docked there,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

His hopes dashed, he watched the Hong Kong skyline get smaller as the Taikung had to turn away from the city. \u201cIt was very disappointing,” he said. After a few days, the Taikung got their next set of orders \u2013 they were to set sail for Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

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