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'Still at Sea' photo competition captures life onboard during coronavirus

25 August 2020

Serving seafarers are being encouraged to show the realities of life onboard during the coronavirus pandemic in a new photo competition – 'Still At Sea'.

Launched by the International Transport Workers' Federation Seafarers' Trust (ITFST), the competition is open to serving seafarers who can win cash prizes of up to £1,000 by submitting digital snaps that were taken between 01 May and 30 September 2020.

The ITF hopes that creating a visual archive of the highs and lows of life at sea during the pandemic will promote the recognition of seafarers as key workers globally and be a platform to combat sea blindness for an audience outside of the maritime industry.

With around 90% of global trade transported by ships, seafarers have continued to deliver essential goods globally throughout the pandemic. However, the impact of travel restrictions, quarantine requirements and the lack of repatriation flights have trapped some 300,000 seafarers onboard ships.

ITF Seafarers' Trust chair of trustees Dave Heindel said: 'As Covid-19 has ravaged nations, seafarers have continued working uninterrupted. Many of them have not been ashore for months on end, some for well over a year. A photograph needs no translation to share its story and the Still At Sea competition is a platform for seafarers to show the wider world the realities of life stuck onboard.'

Head of the ITF Seafarers' Trust Katie Higginbottom said: 'At the beginning of the pandemic seafarers were relatively safe at sea but worried for their families. However, months have passed and hundreds of thousands of seafarers are still stuck at sea, their contracts extended well beyond terms that can be considered humane. Still At Sea is a chance for seafarers to share a glimpse of their lives with the people who unknowingly rely on them.'

Seafarers can submit their photographs on the competition's website up until 30 September 2020. The winning photographs will be announced on the Trust's Facebook page on 30 October 2020 along with digital and physical exhibitions of submissions.

• for terms and conditions of entering 'Still At Sea' visit the competition website