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"I'm not comfortable in my chair with such a crew," says the captain of a cargo vessel in the South Atlantic en route from Bermuda to Singapore.
“和这么一群船员在一起，我坐在椅子上都难受，”船长说，他是这艘从百慕大到新加坡的南大西洋货船的船长。
He is eight months into a four-month contract, and almost everyone on board has also already worked at least double his contracted time.
他签的是为期四个月的合同，现在已逾期八个月了，几乎船上所有船员的工作时长至少都是合同规定时间的两倍。
He hopes Singapore will accept that sailors who have seen almost no one but each other for months pose no infection risk and permit a crew change.
他希望新加坡能够接受事实，即几个月以来，除了彼此以外，这些船员没见过任何其他人，不会造成感染风险，并允许船员更换。
If not, some may refuse to keep working. On June 16th an industry-wide agreement to allow emergency contract extensions expired,
如果不能，一些船员可能会拒绝继续工作。6月16日，允许紧急合同延期的全行业协议已经到期，
but that is no guarantee that ports will open up. "Believe me," he says, "the situation is critical."
但这并不能保证港口会开放。“相信我，”他说，“情况危急。”
When Rose George, a journalist, wrote about the shipping industry in 2013,
2013年，记者罗斯·乔治写了一本关于船舶行业的书籍，
she called her book "Ninety Percent of Everything" to convey its importance to global trade.
书名为《Ninety Percent of Everything》，以表述船舶行业对全球贸易的重要性。
But during the covid-19 crisis almost none of the mariners who keep the world fed, warmed and entertained have been allowed on shore.
但在covid-19危机期间，几乎没有一个为世界提供食物、温暖和娱乐的船员被允许上岸。
At any moment 1.2m are in cargo vessels on the high seas.
任何时候，公海上的货轮都载有120万人。
(Half as many again work on cruise ships or vessels transporting goods within a single country's territory.)
（还有一半的人在游轮上工作，或者在一个国家境内运输货物的船只上工作。）
At least 250,000 have finished their contracts and have no idea when they will be relieved.
至少250000人都已经完成了他们的合同，却不知道什么时候才能换岗。
Similar numbers are stuck at home with no idea when they will next get work. Both totals are rising by tens of thousands each week.
相同数量的人被困在家里，不知道什么时候能找到下一份工作。这两项数据都以每周数万人的速度增长。
In normal times, crewing the world's merchant fleet is a logistical miracle.
平时，在世界商船队工作是一个物流奇迹。
Ship-management firms handle the rosters, signing crew on, flying them from their home countries to a convenient port,
船舶管理公司负责处理船员名册，雇佣船员，将他们从本国空运到一个适宜的港口，
and getting them off their ships again and on a plane home. Many mariners are from developing countries, in particular India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
然后再把他们从船上接下来，再乘飞机回家。很多水手都来自发展中国家，尤其是印度、印度尼西亚和菲律宾。
They often start and end their contracts in hubs such as Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
他们通常在迪拜、香港和新加坡等枢纽开始和结束他们的合同。
Contracts are typically of three to nine months, with one month's variation in either direction to make planning easier.
合同一般为三到九个月，来回各有一个月的变动期，以便于制定计划。
The virus has thrown an almighty spanner in the works.
病毒给他们的工作带来了巨大的麻烦。
Countries that classified lorry drivers, pilots and cabin crew as essential workers overlooked merchant seamen,
那些将卡车司机、飞行员和航班空服人员列为重要员工的国家忽视了商船船员，
even though their work underpins the global economy. Some will accept their citizens,
尽管他们的工作支撑着全球经济。一些国家将接收本国公民，
but ships may not be calling at a suitable port, and management companies may not be able to line up relief.
但船只可能会停靠在不合适的港口，并且管理公司可能无法排队救援。
With few scheduled flights, the sailors who manage to disembark may not be able to get home.
由于几乎没有定期航班，设法上岸的船员可能无法回家。
At first they were proud to be able to help in the global emergency, says Lars Robert Pedersen of BIMCO,
起初，他们为能够在全球紧急情况中提供帮助而感到自豪，波罗的海国际航运公会（BIMCO）的Lars Robert Pedersen说到，
which represents the owners of about 60% of the world's merchant fleet. They are used to hard work and long contracts.
该组织代表着全球约60%的商船船东。他们习惯于艰苦的工作和长期合同。
But when official neglect continued, sailors' morale became a problem.
但当官方继续忽视时，船员们的士气就成了问题。
"They are fed every day, and they are getting paid, but that's not the point," he says. "They are effectively imprisoned on board their ships."
“他们每天有饭吃，有工资拿，但这不是重点，”他说道。“他们实际上是被囚禁在了船上。”
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
