Here in Britain we live on an island, but I suspect very few people actually think about the significance of that. A great deal of what we eat and buy comes in by sea, a little bit by air, these days. The big stuff, the containers and the oil fuel all comes by sea – and we take it for granted until something goes wrong, and then we complain bitterly about the pollution caused, never thinking that were it not because we want the oil, the pollution would never have happened.
There follows the text of a Facebook post dated today about the sort of thing that happens to seafarers very often, but which does not interest the media in any way at all. I personally, support the Mission to Seafarers and I now realise that at one point in my life when I was thinking of changing jobs, I should have offered myself to the Mission where I think my limited talents might possibly have been of some use.
The photos are those accompanying the article, have no captions, but I think are fairly self explanatory. Notice that there do not seem to be many Brits among the crew, and this is the usual state of affairs in and on shipping today.
“In early October, a captain and crew arrived at Mission to Seafarers Halifax NS from Norfolk, Virginia, to load wood pellets with a full crew of 20 seafarers. Cargo operations were delayed, and the team at the centre welcomed the crew and hosted them for a week. We’re pleased to report that the crew thoroughly enjoyed their stay!”