Stranded liner’s crew face hardship too

I WAS sorry to hear that K Newton’s (no relation) cruise on board MSC Preziosa was cancelled in April and he has yet to receive a cash refund (“Company should attend to vulnerable”, October 7).

However, I would ask that he and his party should consider the plight of this ship’s 1,370 crew, who are now trapped on their ship. Following the cancellation of all its cruises due to the pandemic, MSC Preziosa was laid up at anchor off Ocean Cay in the Bahamas on September 10, where she has been ever since. She is unlikely to return to cruising for the foreseeable future.

Ocean Cay is a tiny artificial island and a former sand extraction site and hardly larger than the ship itself. It has no airport and very little in the way of facilities. As MSC own the island, the ship can remain there free of cost to the shipowner.

Most of the crew will have completed their nine-month contracts months ago and, without any means of their being repatriated to their home countries, they will have to remain on board for a long time yet.

Without passengers all the crew will be working normal hours at rates of pay of less than $10 per day. Seafarers rely on working up to eight hours of overtime a day, plus tips from passengers to make a living wage to support their families at home.

Meanwhile, the seafarers who have remained at home waiting to replace them have been without a job now for six months and their families will be facing severe financial hardship.

This pandemic has caused many problems for people, far beyond those directly affected by this awful disease. However, we should all remember that there are others who are far worse off than ourselves.

Peter J Newton, Chellaston