Industry groups that represent people who are employed to move goods have warned there could soon be a "shipping collapse" if governments around the world don't allow transport workers to move freely and have priority access to vaccinations.
According to CNN, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and other industry groups sent the warning letter to heads of state who were at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 29.
"Global supply chains are beginning to buckle as two years' worth of strain on transport workers take their toll," the groups stated in the letter, according to CNN.
Collectively, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Road transport Union (IRU) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) represent 65 million transport workers across the globe, CNN reported.
"The global supply chain is very fragile and depends as much on a seafarer as it does on a truck driver to deliver goods," Stephen Cotten, ITF Secretary General, said in the letter, according to CNN. "The time has come for heads of government to respond to these workers' needs."
CNN reported all transport industries are dealing with a worker shortage, partly because of the mistreatment many saw during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Drivers have faced hundreds of border issues and blockades through the pandemic," Umberto de Pretto, IRU Secretary General, said in the letter per CNN. "Truck drivers, and the citizens and businesses that depend on the goods they move, pay a heavy price for misguided COVID restrictions that do not exempt transport workers."
At the peak of the global health crisis in 2020, as many as 400,000 seafarers were unable to leave their ships during changeovers with some working as long as a year and a half past their contracts, according to CNN.
Inconsistencies in vaccine requirements between countries have also led to some transport workers being vaccinated multiple times, CNN reported.
According to CNN, only about 20-30% of seafarers have been vaccinated because vaccines haven't been distributed equally to poorer nations such as India and the Philippines.