The Shipping Industry And The Service To Humanity
The Shipping Industry And The Service To Humanity
The Shipping industry is known for its contribution to humanity and for making lives better. From shipping cargoes to carrying out various rescue operations and connecting the world, it does all. Unfortunately, their hard work rarely got them their due credit. Unfazed and unaffected by all this, not only do they continue to carry out their jobs but have increasingly been doing a lot of social services as well.
The Nautical Institute, London, are helping to spread the word on an exciting new project still in its infancy. An informal group of marine transportation professionals have begun working with secular and non secular, private non profit aid organizations that send out non perishable foods, clothes, medical supplies, etc. to Asia, Africa and beyond. The group has been working on a plan to access empty container space on outbound vessels from North America and Europe.
The idea is to secure a very small percentage of that container space (if available) on out bounds from North America and Europe. Many of the ships departing North America are nearly 65% empty containers - Virtually a shipload of empty containers. The idea is the most simple and practical one – to replace a very few of those empty containers with desperately needed international humanitarian aid containers from private, secular and non-secular, international aid organizations. Obviously the shipping companies could not be responsible for arranging the distribution, collection and movement of the humanitarian aid. The aid organizations would have to be responsible and get the containers to the various ports for loading. A co-op type system of private non profits organizing collection and distribution of the aid containers would have to be established as well.
There are many international humanitarian aid organizations, Mercy Ships for example, which send containers (via commercial shipping companies) from Europe and America every month. However, they must pay standard shipping rates out of their non-profit budget to get those vital containers to Africa to keep their hospital ships supplied. The cost is substantial to a non profit organization. They are struggling to keep their ships going for want of professional licenses, never mind paying commercial rates to keep the operation supplied. There are hundreds such private organizations independently sending containerized humanitarian aid, one or two at a time, at standard commercial rates they cannot afford to pay.
The plan will have a two-fold benefit. It will help these missionaries and other such organisations cut these prohibitive costs and use that money to help more people in need. It will also make desperately needed aid more easily available to people across the world. It is a good step in the right direction and if the plan comes to fruition, it will be a blessing to the world. Reaching out to professional maritime organizations for input and ideas to implement the plan seems the logical place to begin. Seafarers and shipping companies have always responded to the most ancient law of the sea. Assist those in peril.
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