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 "Twice it has happened that the ports are not allowing crew change,"
Mehra told Reuters via Zoom from the bridge of the 80,000 tonne ship
docked outside the Indian port of Haldia.
"My family won't trust me anymore. I have been giving them dates
when I would come home from December."
Mehra, who has 20 years' experience at sea, is also trying to buoy
the spirits of his nervous crew of 23, many struggling with fatigue
and social isolation.
"Being chained to this particular place, you can almost say jail, is
bearing on the crew now," Mehra said. "They are thinking more about
it than the actual job at hand."
An estimated one hundred thousand seafarers are stranded at sea due
to the pandemic, the International Chamber of Shipping said last
week.
Crew rotations depend on complex logistics, including securing
transit visas and arranging chartered flights to repatriate sailors
when they disembark at an international port.
In order to maintain effective operations and safety, sailors are
only allowed off a ship when a replacement can be brought on board.
Arranging for the right entry permits, and quarantine and testing to
take place during the short time when a ship is at port can be
daunting because of coronavirus restrictions.
As a result, crew rotations during the pandemic are often cancelled
at short notice, while regular shore leave, once a mainstay of life
at sea, has also come to a halt.
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 Near Hong Kong's busy
waterways, visiting ships are often anchored for
days as they unload goods to smaller vessels or
barges.
Reverend Stephen Miller, who would normally come
aboard to give counselling and advice to
sailors, is now reduced to delivering bags with
supplies, including SIM cards and snacks. He
says he is concerned about the sailors' mental
health. "You can just imagine it
for yourself, you have been planning to go home, maybe see a young
child for the first time in many months, and then it is taken away
from you," he said.
"That obviously leads to sadness, which can lead to depression. If
it is not talked about, it may sadly lead to people thinking that
life's not worth living."
Mehra finally disembarked this month and has returned to India, his
family eagerly waiting to see him. During his time at sea, he had
missed the funeral of a close relative and said his time away had
taken a toll on his family.
"My younger son is not talking to me very well," he said. "There
will be things I have to take care of. It is not going to be a very
joyful homecoming."
(Reporting By Aleksander Solum; Editing by Karishma Singh)
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