Jeff Bezos called upon to save thousands of stranded seafarers

Some of the seafarers have been at sea for more than a year, the letter said, adding that about 90% of global trade relies on shipping and the success and scale of shopping events such as Cyber Monday wouldn’t be possible without their work. — Bloomberg

Shipping industry associations called on Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos to support some 400,000 seafarers stuck on merchant vessels because of restrictions at ports to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Industry bodies including the International Chamber of Shipping wrote an open letter urging Bezos to exert pressure on the incoming Biden administration and other leaders to recognise seafarers as key workers, according to a joint statement on Nov 26.