Share the gains of Red Sea disruption with seafarers

Speaking at the SMOU and Wavelink Lunar New Year Luncheon, SMOU General Secretary Mary Liew, said, “The maritime industry is going through challenging times with ups and downs due to the 3Ws namely hot war, trade war and tech wars. Despite these challenges, the maritime sector continues to show resilience.”

Liew commented that during the Covid pandemic shipping did very well, and now with the Red Sea crisis container shipping was thriving, but she noted “for the wrong reasons”. The disruption caused by the majority of container ships rerouting from the Red Sea/Suez Canal via the much longer Cape of Good Hope routing has caused spot freight rates to more than double.

“We are happy for our shipping companies but at the same time I wanted to remind all of us here to today it is because of our seafarers. So please remember when you pass bonuses to your staff take into account your seafarers.”

Liew’s sentiments were echoed by Chee Hong Tat, Singapore Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance, in his speech to the event.

“As sister Mary said please do not forget when your company does well share some of the gains with the workers. That is very important. Good for business, good for workers.”