Almost 2 million seafarers must work around the globe to ensure the supply of goods required for daily living [1]. The most international of all industries is the shipping industry, which accounts for 80% of the global trade. Shipping is the most reliable, efficient, and effective mode of transportation, especially for maintaining the supply chains open and delivering cargo and supplies that the world requires on a daily basis [1].

Among the worries that have surfaced throughout the pandemic is leaving seafarers abandoned on their ships. Additionally, infectious illness outbreaks are more likely to occur on ships [1]. Even in the case of a global pandemic, it is inhumane to forbid seafarers from coming ashore for transit, transfer, or crew replacement purposes. Public health concerns may very well be a valid justification for this, but it is not a valid reason to prevent seafarers from taking shore leave [1]. Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement that the monkeypox outbreak is now classified as a public health emergency of international concern, seafarers around the world are preparing for potential future inconveniences from port states [2]. Since May, over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries. This means the outbreak has become an “extraordinary event” that could spread to more countries and calls for a coordinated global response [2]. The conditions under which seafarers have to work in the face of an outbreak are likely to deteriorate, as was the case with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, when seafarers were left stranded at sea and uncertain of when the next crew change would be permitted. This could