In a recent statement, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim reported that the number of seafarers requiring repatriation after finishing their contracts had declined from around 400,000 in September 2020 to approximately 200,000 as of March 2021, an encouraging improvement.

But it is too early to celebrate. The Coronavirus, like most viruses, is changing through mutation, and new variants have begun to appear and wreak havoc in several countries. So this number could rise again.

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