The coronavirus pandemic has been a catalyst for change that was either coming or needed across the ship management industry in the way people are perceived and treated.

“It is not only the responsibility of the shipping industry to recognise seafarers for the essential job they are doing, but it is also the duty of governments worldwide to acknowledge seafarers’ basic rights,” said Ian Beveridge, chief executive of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement and the Schulte Group.