Cruise Ships Give Media Tours as Part of Activities for Seafarers’ Day
On Saturday mariners, the world over, and their employers and families celebrated Day of the Seafarers. It’s set aside to recognize the invaluable contribution that seafarers make to global trade and economy. Today, in tandem with a week of activities, the various cruise ships that docked in Belize’s shores gave media tours to share a bit of the lives of seafarers. News Five’s Marion Ali and cameraman Darrell Moguel were a part of the morning tour aboard the Caribbean Princess. Here’s the story they put together.
Marion Ali, Reporting
You might not have given it much thought, but seafarers are responsible for moving ninety percent of the world’s cargo from one country to another. Hence, without these travelers offering their services, we would not be able to have a lot of the imported items that we own. It is with that in mind that the Day of the Seafarers is commemorated, to recognize the selfless sacrifices they make for the rest of us.
Major Gilbert Swazo (Ret’d)
Major Gilbert Swazo (Ret’d), Ports Commissioner
“Without the seafarers, three would be a challenge for goods and services to be transported from one country which manufacture and produce to the country which desperately needs those kinds of goods and services. The car that you drive comes by ship and without the seafarers that ship will not be able to move.”
For the Captain of the Caribbean Princess, those sacrifices that they make are significant.
Tim Stringer
Tim Stringer, Captain, Caribbean Princess
“The biggest sacrifice, of course, is coming away because we can’t go home every night and sometimes there might be family events that we have to sacrifice that we miss. We work seven days a week. The ship never stops, so we don’t stop at night. It’s a twenty-four, seven operation, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Also, of course, we will encounter at times some weather – even strong winds, or at the moment we’re watching very closely the formation of tropical depressions.”
Captain Springer’s job is not in transporting goods, however, it becomes challenging when there is an emergency on board that threatens the lives of crew members and passengers, such as the COVID pandemic.
Captain Tim Springer
“We then couldn’t get a lot of seafarers home because for a lot of countries, the flights had stopped, so we were able to turn the ships that were normally carrying high numbers of guests into effective ferries. And we were able to take all our teammates home from all around the world.”
Ships rely on fair weather to navigate the high seas and while accidents occur from time to time, their built-in technology of this day and age minimize preventable disasters like the Titanic sinking.
Captain Tim Springer
“We can get from the service – they put aeroplanes up and they can track exactly where icebergs are and we can ensure that if were to take a route, that we’ve already checked where bergs are, so the technology, the satellite imagery and everything has really helped us a lot. All our teammates can talk to their families live on the video, which is a big change from when I first came to sea. I wrote a letter and it took seven week for my mom to know I’ had arrived on the ship.”
The cruise ships that call on our ports translate into much-needed tourism dollars for our country, and this is another reason to celebrate.
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
“This successful operation here translates into success for Belize so we certainly appreciate the conduct of cruise ship operations in Belize. And this goes beyond cruise shipping. This is container shipping, merchant shipping but our activity here today is really acknowledging the work that seafarers contribute towards nation-building in Belize.”
Marion Ali For News Five
