Bibliotheek

After months of being trapped at sea due to the pandemic, the current war in Ukraine is holding hundreds of thousands of seafarers hostage from the global merchant fleet. There are indeed many seafarers of both Ukrainian and Russian nationalities working on board ships. Many Ukrainian seafarers yearn to go home whilst the sanctions are making it harder to sign on Russian seafarers.

Following the inoculation of foreign and Belgian seafarers since June, Belgium is once again spearheading a booster vaccine campaign for these maritime workers starting 7 December.