Container ship in San Pedro, California, USA

© Cameron Venti/Getty Image

Ahoy there!. Shipshape for World Maritime Day

The Covid-19 pandemic has been rough sailing for everyone, and especially for seafarers on shipping vessels. As if moving more than 80% of the world's goods around wasn't hard enough, the pandemic brought about travel restrictions that made shipping more complicated. Hundreds of thousands of sailors and other shipping personnel have found themselves stuck on ships for much longer than planned, as virus precautions affected crew changes.

So this year's World Maritime Day, which falls on the last Thursday in September, is a good day to salute the workers who help keep global commerce in motion. World Maritime Day was established by the UN to improve shipping efficiency through international standards and cooperation, on safe crew-change procedures during a pandemic, for example. Maritime Day also aims to put seafarers and their sacrifices in the spotlight. Thanks, sailors!