News 03 Jul, 2020 West's seafarers on the challenges and rewards of a career at sea Any seafarer will tell you that it’s an incredibly demanding job at the best of times. The isolation of long periods at sea or at distant ports with little infrastructure hits home hard on #DayOfTheSeafarer. On this day in particular it is especially important that we show our appreciation for the women and men who have taken up this vocation.  There are lots of ex-seafarers working at West. To celebrate Day of the Seafarer those in West’s Loss Prevention department shared their experiences of life at sea.  Download PDF Crossing The Seas Amongst our seafarers, one particularly stressful aspect is navigation in coastal waters and high-density traffic areas. One of the areas of highest density marine traffic in the world is the South China Sea, with a high number of fishing vessels. Local traditions in South East Asia have added to the complexity and stress for mariners, as Dean Crossley, a Senior Loss Prevention Officer who worked on general cargo, bulk carriers, containers as well as ro-ros during his career at sea, explained: “There’s a superstition in parts of South East Asia amongst fishing communities which brings about a phenomena where a fishing vessel will steam towards another and try to cross as close to the bow as they can to cut off their bad luck. You can imagine the sense of panic when you have 20 fishing boats all gunning for you.”  Further Education Training can also be a challenge, especially when changing vessel or sector, and key systems of work are different between vessels. Emma Forbes-Gearey , Loss Prevention Officer, who began her seafaring career on bulk carriers and dual cargo vessels before moving into cruise, explained that learning these new systems on the bridge quickly enough to efficiently hand over can be difficult. In her case, the difference between passenger and cargo operations was initially challenging to learn. The same is true on t