In 2010, the International Maritime Organization declared June 25th as the Day of the Seafarer! This was done in order to show appreciation to all the courageous men and women who brave the deep waters of the sea.
“At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.” -Robin Lee Graham
As IMO estimates, 90% of goods in the world are transported by sea. Seafarers are the ones who are responsible, both for operating these ships and for ensuring smooth and secure delivery of their valuable cargo. Thus, this day has been adopted by the UN and the IMO so that the entire world can appreciate the importance of seafarers.
Every year, the IMO decides a theme for the Day of the Seafarers. This year, the theme is ‘Seafarers’ Well-being’.
As stated by IMO,
“2017 and 2018 have seen strong momentum in the industry to address seafarer’s wellbeing, particularly their mental health.
To give further exposure to this important issue, our choice for the 2018 Day of the Seafarer theme is “seafarers’ wellbeing”.
By addressing the issue of seafarers’ wellbeing and particularly mental health, this campaign can inform specific strategies to tackle stress and other issues affecting seafarers’ mental conditions – and make the tools available more widely known.
Last year, we highlighted the story of seafarer, Chirag Bahri, and his experience while he was kidnapped by Somali pirates. His story of survival and revival has been captured in the video released last year.
In keeping with this theme and with the spirit of the Day of the Seafarer, we bring you our video: ‘My First Sailing Experience – A Short Story’. This video, though fictional, is based on real-life accounts of various seafarers, and we have tried to capture the emotions, thoughts and courage of a seafarer on his first voyage.
Hope you enjoy it!
Our special thanks to Chief Officer Abhishek Bhanawat, 3rd Engineer Aman Parmar, and 5th Engineer Raghunandan Thakre for their insights and inputs.
We wish all the seafarers a Happy Day of the Seafarer 2018.
Disclaimer: The visuals used in the video are sourced from Google and are for representational purposes only. We do not intend to use them for any commercial activity.
