The pandemic caused chaos within global shipping and crew members from some of the poorest nations paid a high price
But for Iotebwa and his fellow i-Kiribati seafarers, it meant a year of hell, caught in the middle of protracted negotiations between the shipping companies, the International Chamber of Shipping and a Kiribati government fearful of the risks of allowing the return of seafarers who may have been exposed to Covid.Finally, in April 2021, after months of talks, the Kiribati government agreed to repatriate the seafarers, who would first be quarantined in Fiji.
“It felt like a prison,” he says. “My wife, Takentemwanoku Matiota Iotebwa, constantly reminded me to be careful and to stay away from people to avoid getting infected. She was very worried.”Crew members prepare a ship’s hold before loading. One union leader raised concerns of a lack of understanding of the ‘hardship of individual seafarers’.He is happy now he is back at home, but there is sadness, too. One of his friends lost his father, another his wife.
“And all the time hearing about families breaking, marriages splitting … I know it will take them a long time to finally arrive at home mentally.” “It became a lower priority for the powers that could have made it happen. Unfortunately,” she adds, “the seafarers are collateral damage in all of this.”
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