The seafarers hardest hit with redundancies during the pandemic have been those who work in the cruise industry.
Most crew members on board a cruiseship work in the hotel department, and without passengers to serve, they have been out of a job since the cruise industry shut down in March 2020.
Forced out of ports, cruiseships languished at anchor for months, leaving their crews in limbo while their operators tried to find ways to get everyone home at a time when borders were firmly shut and ports would not allow anyone to disembark.
