Seafarers Awareness Week 2020

That the Parliament supports Seafarers Awareness Week, which is running from 6 to 12 July with the theme of the impact on COVID-19 on merchant seafarers and their families; is concerned by the plight of an estimated 200,000 seafarers across the world who reportedly remain stranded on their vessels, including on cruise ships docked in Scotland's ports; believes that a number have been forced to work, in some instances, unpaid beyond the end of their contract as a result of the pandemic; understands that thousands are seriously fatigued and demoralised, having been worked well beyond the 11-month maximum contract set out in the ILO Maritime Labour Convention and still do not know when they will be able to return home to their families; congratulates the work of the charity, SeafarersUK, in raising these issues; applauds the ongoing campaigning by the RMT for legislation to extend the national minimum wage pay rates, improve safety and strengthen anti-discrimination legislation for all seafarers working from domestic ports, and agrees that the Awareness Week underlines the need for the Scottish Government to support trade union campaigns for reforms, in light of COVID-19, to improve protections for all seafarers working in all sectors, including ferries, offshore oil and gas, offshore wind and coastal cargo, from pay exploitation, lack of pension provision and unsafe voyage contracts.