The first weeks at home after a voyage feel like a holiday. Rest, family, friends, jobs that have waited for months. Then the holiday ends, and there’s still no new contract. A week, a month, two. Phone in hand, email...

You’ve studied for years, passed exams, gone through medicals, sorted out your documents. And now — your assignment to a ship. Joy and pride mix with anxiety: what if I can’t cope? What if I don’t get on with the...

A watch, fatigue, the fourth month of a contract — and suddenly you’re shouting at the junior engineer over a trifle. Or you’ve come home after months of waiting, and within a week you’re slamming doors over toys left on...

Seafarers are spoken of as strong and resilient people. Those who wait on shore are spoken of less often. Yet a seafarer’s wife lives for two, for months on end: she runs the home, raises the children, makes decisions, keeps...