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Starting 2011, 25th June of each year is Day of the Seafarer (IMO, n.d.). A day to commemorate seafarers for their contribution that makes the largest part of international trade possible.
Expressing gratitude towards seafarers’ contribution through social media (n.d.) on the one hand can be achieved quite effortlessly; but appreciating seafarers through actions on the other hand, has to be effortful.
In Tall Order (Peh, 2019), Goh Chok Tong, who was Managing Director to the then Singapore’s national shipping line, Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), raised Singaporean masters’ and senior officers’ morale by getting station wagon to take these ship officers home whenever their ships arrived back in Singapore.
IMO (n.d.)
Goh acknowledged the inconvenience caused to these officers to walk from the ship to the main road for public transport before they head home (2019). That was in the 1970’s, when ship crew, by inference (2019), was allowed to walk from their ship to the main road. In the present day, due to safety reason, ship crew is not allowed to do so. There are shuttle buses in the ports and terminals for seafarers to commute to the main roads.
While the availability of shuttle buses convenient seafarers’ shore leave, they may not convenient seafarers to have sufficient shore-time, in essence, walking time from ship to the nearest bus stop; waiting time at the bus stop; and sitting in shuttle bus following its feeder-routing within the port. Nothing in such time ‘wasted’ beats Goh’s aforesaid station-wagon-morale-raising.
For those who do not already know, seafarers still have to work [the cargo] when their ship is in port. They are permitted shore leave [1] usually outside their scheduled working shift.
Meaning, they have to resume their shift when they are back on board the vessel. Therefore, if they are able to save substantial time from ship-to-the-main-road (better still, ship-to-rendezvous), they should be able to enjoy longer shore-time; and for Singaporean seafarers, this means they are able to spend longer time to bond with family members.
The only time when station wagon, or more accurately, van, is being used now would [probably] for the vessel to effect crew change.
Regardless of crew’s nationality, Goh’s common sensical morale-raising (Peh, 2019) formed appreciation and gratitude to seafarers and this will most likely than not, reciprocated (2019, p.35). According to Goh, ‘it was nothing brilliant, just that you have interest in people’ (2019, p.35).
Albeit it was not mentioned in Peh (2019) whether the station wagon provided for was of single/round trip or included junior seafarers and other sea staff, this may not be important nonetheless. The important thing now is whether Goh’s aforesaid legacy continues.
12 Jul 2020
[1] Shore leave is a privilege; and not/never an entitlement.
Reference
IMO (International Maritime Organization). (n.d.). Day of the seafarer. http://www.imo.org/en/About/Events/Pages/Day-of-the-Seafarer.aspx, accessed 27 Jun 2020.
Peh, S.H. (2019). Tall order: the Goh Chok Tong story, Volume 1. First edition. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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