Who are seafarers? The life blood of world trade!

Hello friends,
I'm new here and just wanted to say hello from the seafarers of the world. We are the postmen & postwomen of the sea!

We are the ones who make world trade possible by transporting between 85% and 90% of goods used globally each day. Although ships for many people are 'out of sight and out of mind', this blog is just one way of increasing the profile of seafarers.

The majority of merchant seafarers spend between 6 and 9 months on board their ship each year. After their contract finishes they return home for 2 or 3 months before joining another ship again. So in 30 years at sea the average seafarer may only have been able to be at home with their family for a total of 5 years!

It's a massive sacrifice they make to provide for their families. There are so many true stories to share! Here are a few to whet your appetite:

"My ship had a problem with the engine and we were crossing the Atlantic in a massive storm with 15m high waves. Our voyage was 5,000 miles. In the middle of the Atlantic we were all praying to God to help us survive! Our life-raft was washed away in the storm. Then the worst case happened - engine failure! Thankfully we were rescued and our ship didn't sink!"

"My first ever ship sank when we were in shark infested waters of the Indian Ocean. Tragically some crew didn't make it!"

"We rescued a turtle from nets and returned it to the ocean!"

"We were taken hostage for 7 months by pirates and only had rice to eat every day and water from the AC ventilator. Eventually a ransom of $3M was dropped for our release. I still have nightmares about it..."

"Suddenly in the middle of the night on board our chemical tanker there was smoke everywhere! We had a fire on board and the engine failed. There were only 2 options: Abandon ship or fight the fire! We fought the fire and after 5 hours extinguished it"

"I was checking the hatch covers in a storm when a giant wave washed me overboard! I thought my life was over; but the next wave threw me back on board again!"

"We were fishing when something very big got entangled in our nets. It was so big it started dragging us backwards and we were almost going under. We had to frantically cut the nets... We think it was a submarine!"

"We were in a storm in the Pacific where the ship was listing from side to side at 45' and the winds were 120km/h"

"I was on a Japanese ship and we were hit by a rogue wave! It was so frightening! We knew if a third wave hit us we would be capsized. The Japanese captain was jabbering away in Japanese and I couldn't understand him!"

"Our ship's ballast tank was broken. In the storm it was so scary! Waves were washing down inside the accommodation and we had to cut all our cargo of timber loose as a last resort!"

These are just a few of the 'scarier' stories. There are so many happy tales from the sea as well! Stay tuned!

The worldwide population of seafarers serving on internationally trading merchant ships is estimated at 1,647,500 seafarers, of which 774,000 are officers and 873,500 are ratings. China, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine are estimated to be the five largest supply countries for seafarers. However, there are seafarers from well over 100 countries! Most ships have a mixture of nationalities on board.

Without shipping, the import/export of affordable food and goods would not be possible - half the world would starve and the other half would freeze!

Seafarers work on many kinds of ships including:

1. Oil tankers - Here's a picture of an oil tanker I was on passing through a storm
   
   There are many kinds of oil and chemical tanker and LPG and LNG ships. Cargoes include jet fuel, petrol, diesel, crude oil, methanol etc

2. Bulk carriers - Here is a picture of Chinese crew on a bulk carrier carrying animal feed from S. America at Christmas time!
   
   Other kinds of ship include:

3. Container ships (some have as many as 19,000 containers on board and are 400m long! They carry fresh fruit, bananas, coffee, furniture, computers, phones, almost anything!)

4. Car carriers (new cars, caravans, agricultural machines, helicopters etc are transported worldwide daily)
   

5. Heavy lift vessels (these transport heavy equipment worldwide including trains, cranes, windmills etc)

6. General Cargo ships (carrying many kinds of cargo including coal, timber, fertiliser, grain, garbage, scrap metal etc)
   

7. Cruise liners (some have as many as 6,000 people or more on board!)
   

8. Offshore vessels (many of these act as supply ships for oil and gas rigs or seismic research vessels)

9. Research vessels (studying marine life, searching for oil or gold from shipwrecks, mapping the sea floor etc)

10. Naval ships (protection of territorial waters, rescue or military operations etc)

11. Fishing boats and trawlers
    and many more...

I'm looking forward to sharing more 'life at sea' photos and hopefully also videos with you here on Steem!

25 Mind Blowing Facts About The Shipping Industry (interesting video from 2013)

Here is an introductory video:
"Seafarers brought me..." Each year the 25th June (6 months from Christmas Day) is the international Day of the Seafarer
What have seafarers brought to you and to your country today??

For anyone interested in helping seafarers you are invited to donate to support a Seamen's Mission. And please like and follow the SEAFARERS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/seafarerz

The Seamen's Christian Friend Society (SCFS) is a non-denominational, evangelical and international Seamen's Mission. SCFS has been helping meet the welfare needs, visiting and caring for seafarers of all faiths and nationalities internationally since 1846. Thanks for your support! More information about SCFS is on their website: https://www.scfs.org

Click the below link to donate via PayPal to SCFS and thanks for your support:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=TPRE9UWMXE28E