Investors managing over $2trn in assets have joined forces to call for action over the estimated 400,000 seafarers stranded at sea by Covid-19.

The 85-member group, led by Fidelity International, wants seafarers to be officially designated as “key workers” and has requested the “establishment of systematic processes to enable safe crew changes.”

In an open letter to the United Nations, the investors called for efforts to ensure seafarers spend no more than the legal maximum of 11 months on board and to limit any unavoidable extensions of crew contracts.