Seafarers abandoned / not able to return home

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

As was / is the case during the Covid-19 pandemic, so also now with the Ukraine crisis.

Ukrainian seafarers are finding themselves being abandoned here and there and unable to go back to their country. Other ships are stuck in the Black Sea. Cruise passengers too have found themselves unable to return and looked for asylum in random countries.

I feel very sorry for the seafarers in particular, often so far from home.

When I was on Black Prince in 2009, I seem to remember that most of the technical crew were Ukrainians -- I may be wrong there.

The Mission to Seafarers in many parts of the world must be very busy trying to provide help.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Slightly related (and perhaps worth a separate topic) is the matter of the oligarchs' superyachts being impounded or otherwise affected by sanctions against Russia.

Reports appear briefly here and there, but I have not yet read more in-depth reporting on the matter. Again, the crews are among the first to be personally affected and in some cases abandoned.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

So, here is the superyacht Scheherazade, in the Italian shipyard of Marina di Carrara, suspected to be owned by Vladimir Putin.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/22/people-clean-it-all-the-time-the-mystery-700m-super-yacht-in-italy-that-some-say-belongs-to-putin

Over the next few months or perhaps even years, we may get to know a lot more about superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Very good 18-minute report with interviews yesterday on the BBC's Business Daily, about Ukrainian and Russian seafarers affected by the war in Ukraine :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3160