This article was featured in the official IMPA publication - Supply Chain and Sustainability Magazine, Issue 5 2025
Standing aboard a vessel at one of the world's newest container terminals, in the shadow of boxes, gantries and towering cranes, I witnessed the stark reality of modern ports, places of remarkable efficiency but where humanity risks becoming secondary.
The relentless pursuit of maritime efficiency gives rise to a troubling reality at the interface between ships and shore. Modern ports, these marvels of engineering and automation, have evolved into spaces where humans appear increasingly unwelcome. Thus creating a profound disconnect between technological progress and the basic needs of those who make global trade possible: seafarers.
The mechanical waterfront
Today's container terminals, as an example, present a stark vision of the future. Vast mechanical landscapes, where algorithms choreograph the movement of cargo, and efficiency metrics drive every decision. These are places designed by machines for machines, billion-dollar investments where the human presence seems an afterthought or, worse, an inconvenience.
There is a sense that humans have become mere corporal complications in the system, and so we must question what we mean by progress. The philosophical implications run deep as ports transform into sterile zones of pure labour the social value and human connections that once made waterfronts vibrant crossroads of culture and commerce eroded in the push for positive throughput statistics.
The seafarer experience
The Seafarers Happiness Index has uncovered a disturbing pattern of treatment that seafarers face when vessels arrive alongside. Far from finding respite after weeks at sea, crews encounter petty bureaucracy and ineffective systems, seemingly deliberately inconvenient access points, with gates nearest to towns mysteriously closed.
We often hear of the challenges for seafarers of dealing with port personnel, where at best there is surly indifference, and worst many tales of outright rudeness and disrespect. The shared bond between seafarer and port worker seems to be either broken, or in danger of shattering.
Then there is the "curse of the magic bus"—transport services with theoretical timetables that rarely materialise. One seafarer described the experience as "being treated like unwelcome intruders in a system that couldn't function without us." Another lamented that "shore leave has become more trouble than it's worth," choosing sleep over the bureaucratic obstacle course required to step foot on land.
Stakeholder blind spot
Perhaps most telling are the all-too-common glaring omissions in many port operators' sustainability and ESG reports. While these documents detail environmental initiatives and community engagement, seafarers—ostensibly key stakeholders—rarely merit mention. This institutional blindness legitimises the poor treatment crews receive and reveals a fundamental disconnect between port management and maritime reality.
There seems a seafarer-shaped blind spot in ports' social priorities. When reporting on stakeholders, seafarers are often overlooked, seemingly considered unimportant to the operation of ports. This does seem to chime with the poor treatment, or lack of focus on making life better for crews.
The ports of the future must balance technological advancement with human dignity. This requires recognising that efficiency without purpose serves few, and that the true measure of progress includes how we treat the people who make global trade possible.
Efficiency without sacrificing humanity
The challenge is not to halt automation or efficiency gains, these are commercial imperatives in a competitive global economy. Rather, the maritime industry must expand its conception of efficiency to include human flourishing.
Creating human-friendly state-of-the-art ports is not merely aspirational; it's a practical necessity for the industry's future. The formula begins with the strategic placement of welfare facilities within the terminal landscape, complemented by reliable internal transport infrastructure that treats crew movement as essential, not optional.
Equally important is integration with urban areas to maintain connections between ports and city centres,
ensuring seafarers don't feel isolated from the communities they visit. This must be paired with guaranteed access to communication services, recognising connectivity as a basic need in our digital age rather than a luxury.
Finally, ports must engage in meaningful collaboration with seafarer welfare organisations as partners in supporting maritime workers, not treating such relationships as mere charity or public relations exercises. Together, these elements form a cohesive approach that recognises efficiency and human dignity can—and must—coexist in modern port operations.
A call for accountability
The question becomes unavoidable: are ports truly doing enough to make seafarers feel welcomed, valued, and respected? As Ben Bailey, Director at the Mission to Seafarers, pointedly asks in a recent DNV report, "Shore
leave is critical to safe shipping. So why don't we treat it as such?" Why indeed.
It is not all ports, not all operators, not all personnel, so there are many places which could (perhaps should) push back. However, before dismissing these seafarer concerns, perhaps we should encourage port operators to conduct a very simple experiment: try navigating their own facilities as a seafarer would. Ride the crew bus, experience the gate operations, wear full PPE for a simple trip to purchase necessities from a local store – if a local store can be found.
If the reality is of stress, hassle, cost, insults and misery, then we have our answer and hopefully solutions can be found.
The way forward
The maritime industry stands at a philosophical crossroads. While UNCTAD maritime trade data shows that port efficiency correlates with national economic performance, we must question metrics that judge success solely by throughput and turnaround times. This would be akin to judging all humans on the ability to sprint 100 metres. We have to think and consider things differently, and the question of whether we are welcoming and nurturing seafarers in our ports, is an important and significant one.
The ports of the future must balance technological advancement with human dignity. This requires recognising that efficiency without purpose serves few, and that the true measure of progress includes how we treat the people who make global trade possible.
Until seafarers are heralded and treated as important port users and key stakeholders, until operations are designed with their needs in mind, then the industry faces a self-inflicted wound that undermines its own sustainability.
The pressure for positive change cannot rest solely on ships; nor owners and charterers, though they have much work to do. However, real change must see the equation of equity and good treatment balance, so the actions at sea must be matched by thoughtful, human-centred action ashore.
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