As the conflict in the Middle East continues to dominate headlines, one uncomfortable reality is being increasingly highlighted within maritime circles: seafarers remain among the least acknowledged civilians caught in the line of fire.
That is the warning put forward by Punit Oza, founder and director of Maritime NXT and current President of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, who argues that crews navigating the region are being overlooked in a discussion otherwise centred on civilian suffering and disrupted trade.
His point is direct: seafarers did not sign up for war either. Yet while the global conversation rightly condemns civilian casualties on land, he notes that almost no attention is being paid to the maritime workers being killed or trapped in the same conflict zone.
At the same time, the world has shown far greater concern for the commercial implications of the Strait of Hormuz closure than for the thousands of seafarers stranded in dangerous waters. For Oza, that silence reveals a deeper imbalance in how the industry values the people who actually keep global trade moving.
He also points to what he sees as inconsistent risk management across parts of the maritime ecosystem. In some areas of the Middle East, certain organisations have adopted precautionary measures such as remote work or temporary relocation for shore-based personnel, particularly in response to safety concerns and broader disruptions. But such measures remain uneven and vary widely from one company to another.
The issue, he argues, is not about drawing simplistic comparisons between shore and sea roles. It is about ensuring that duty of care is applied visibly, consistently and fairly across all categories of personnel, especially when seafarers continue operating in high-risk zones.
From a commercial maritime perspective, Oza says there is a persistent misunderstanding on shore about where value is actually created. A deal may be negotiated in an office, but cargo is only delivered because seafarers execute the operation at sea. In that sense, they are not peripheral to the business — they are central to it.
For that reason, he believes the industry must rethink how it supports and recognises crews, especially during crises.
He argues that change is needed at three levels. On a personal level, he says people should simply acknowledge seafarers more often and recognise the role they play in sustaining global trade. At the corporate level, companies should close the gap between how they treat shore staff and how they treat crew members — and in moments of heightened danger, that balance should arguably tilt in favour of those directly exposed to risk at sea.
At the industry level, he calls for sustained lobbying to secure global “essential worker” status for seafarers and for a stronger effort to bring their stories into mainstream media rather than confining them to specialist maritime platforms.
Oza also argues that seafarers deserve broader public recognition, similar to the gestures of gratitude often extended to military personnel in many countries. In his view, seafarers are effectively peacetime warriors — the people who quietly sustain the movement of goods, economies and daily life.
His message is clear: the men and women who keep the world moving should not be left invisible in someone else’s war. They should be seen, protected and recognised for the role they play under extraordinary pressure.
