Governments will not take action to help crews during the pandemic until cargoes run short, a TradeWinds ship management webinar was told.
Panellists from the ship management, trades union and technology sectors agreed they would like to see a "no shipping, no shopping" hashtag trending on social media.
Anglo Eastern chief executive Bjorn Hojgaard said: "The success of shipping is setting us up for failure. This success allows governments to choose the cop-out option."
He explained there is a feeling in some countries of "not on our shores".
