The Seafarers International Relief Fund (SIRF) has reached its goal of raising $1 million to provide vital relief for seafarers and their families affected by COVID-19.
The total raised by SIRF currently stands at $1.17 million.
The SIRF appeal was launched in May this year when the catastrophic scale of the latest wave of the pandemic hit hard, threatening the seafarers.
Several seafarer welfare charities, including The Seafarers’ Charity, The Mission to Seafarers, ISWAN, Sailors’ Society and Stella Maris, as well as other shipping industry players, came together to explore ways to deliver urgent support to seafarers and their families.
Together, they rapidly formed SIRF as an emergency relief initiative to raise funds to deliver rapid assistance, initially in India and with the potential to expand to other countries.
In less than three months, SIRF has raised more than $1 million, all of which goes towards supporting seafarers and their families from the threat of COVID.
As explained in a report by Offshore Energy, the target was reached as a result of substantial donation from Japanese shipping major NYK Line, in addition to many other personal and corporate donors, including most recently the TK Foundation.
The latest SIRF grants include funding for Stella Maris to provide food parcels to more than 1,000 seafaring families in Kochi, Kerala, plus funding for support workers to deliver post-COVID medical care, counseling, and therapy, including specialist care for children.
“We are thrilled to have exceeded our target of US$1 million. This was an ambitious goal, but one that reflected the catastrophic impact of the pandemic, particularly in India, where many seafaring communities have been badly affected, through lives lost and severe health impacts, as well as the personal costs for the livelihoods of seafarers,” Catherine Spencer, Chief Executive of The Seafarers’ Charity speaking on behalf of SIRF, commented.
“To have reached this goal in less than three months is a wonderful testament to shipping’s global community. All our donors, big and small, have mobilised in support of seafarers and every dollar has helped to deliver urgent, life-saving support to those most in need.“
The SIRF Fund is administered and overseen by The Seafarers’ Charity (formerly Seafarers UK), a grant funder with well-established governance mechanisms and processes for monitoring and evaluation to ensure efficiency and transparency. 100% of the SIRF donations will help seafarers and their families affected by COVID.
