Eight months after the start of the vaccination campaign in France, sailors deplore measures deemed "unsuitable" for their profession.
Bruno Pouille, of the International Federation of Transport Workers, denounces at the microphone of Laura Taouchanov, in the morning of Europe 1, the absence of international cooperation around a common policy.
Sailors were not among the priority professions in the vaccination campaign, and now they are paying for it.
Many are not yet vaccinated and therefore do not have the health pass.
The profession feels forgotten, punished by measures they consider unsuitable for the daily life of sailors in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
"When I embarked in April, it was my fear," Commander Pierre Blanchard told Europe 1.
"And it is confirmed."
When all the French volunteers could be vaccinated, Commander Pierre Blanchard was on a mission on his merchant ship.
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So, after three months at sea, he landed without a sanitary pass and felt trapped.
"On ships, we work and we cannot go out ashore anywhere for fear of bringing the virus on board," he pleaded at the microphone of Laura Taouchanov.
"And in addition, when we come home, we find ourselves punished as if we had refused to be vaccinated," he continues.
A risk of contamination on board
Even if French sailors can be vaccinated on their return,
this is not the case for all crews, especially foreigners, which exposes them to contamination on board. "I have crews from Africa where the vaccination coverage is 1 to 2%", explains Commander Pierre Blanchard. "If we wait for them to be vaccinated in their country, we have it for years. We have doses, people who do not want to be vaccinated, that's their problem. Why not offer this vaccination to sailors. ? "
Sailors deplore the lack of international cooperation to enable them to be vaccinated in all ports of the world.
"Vaccination is not offered to sailors today," explains Bernard Pouille, of the International Federation of Transport Workers.
"If there are no more sailors, there is no longer anything going anywhere," he said.
"In what language does it have to be explained in order for politicians to understand this message?"
American, Belgian and German ports already offer injections to all sailors who call.
French professionals are now waiting for France to also participate in this vaccination effort.