The SOS story is about transformation and reinvention. It is about grit, being resilient and bold for one purpose – to safeguard the welfare of seafarers.

When SOS was set up in 1971, the first thing on our agenda was to negotiate for fair wages and better working conditions for our seafarers. We had refused to negotiate with Singapore Maritime Employers’ Federation (SMEF) as the assumed employer of all seamen; and in 1972, SMEF conceded that the shipping companies were the actual employers of the seamen whom SOS was seeking to represent.

The negotiations with the individual shipping companies were deadlocked. In 1974, the Court ruled in favour of SOS resulting in a payment of backdated wages of about S$1million to some 2,000 seamen. This big win thrust SOS into the limelight and boosted our profile. Membership grew to 5,000 in 1976 and it kept on growing.

At the height of 6,800 members in 1983, SOS membership nosedived to 2,265 in 1989. The downturn in the shipping industry and the competition from seamen worldwide competing for the same job made it very tough for our Singapore seamen to make a living. They were tramping from one shipping office to another looking for work at sea.

We felt helpless but not hopeless. Something had to be done. A Special Training Committee was set up and seafarers were retrained for shore jobs. In 1989, we amended its constitution to enable foreigners working aboard SOS collective agreement ships to become participating members. It was in the season of dark hours and adversity that the Seacare Co-operative to provide alternative jobs for displaced seafarers was birthed in 1994.

Through SOS and Seacare, members enjoyed welfare schemes, such as Seafarers’ Provident Fund, Seacare Medical Scheme, Seacare Maritime Training Scheme and Seacare Sailors’ Home Scheme. Jobs were created and lives were touched by the many training and welfare initiatives.

The year 2001 was a climactic one for SOS. It saw us moving into the Seacare Building that was bought by our commercial arm, Seacare Co-operative. A group of trade unionists turned not only the union around but went on to “build up a viable and vibrant organisation of corporate enterprise under a co-operative masthead”.

Today, SOS has more than 1,400 ships covered under its Collective Bargaining Agreements and a membership of more than 35,000. Seacare and its group of companies own 13 hotels and two properties and employ some 900 staff with an annual turnover exceeding $60mil.

This is the SOS story. At crucial turning points in the past 50 years, the SOS leaders and members counted on each other for strength, courage and wisdom to see light at the end of the tunnel.

The success of SOS lies in its tenacity, adaptability and its passion to help seamen.

Ever since SOS has the financial ability and stability to upskill our members, we have spared no efforts in providing training initiatives to enhance the skill sets of seamen to advance their career within and beyond the maritime industry.

As our union progressed in tandem with Singapore’s economic and maritime boom, which created jobs and manpower demand in maritime-related sectors, we focused on collaborating with maritime partners to create job and training opportunities for aspiring seafarers. This included our collaboration with SHATEC and e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to launch the Seafaring Cook Place & Train Programme. We also partnered with renowned training institutes abroad, such as the Singapore (Nantong) International Maritime Institute (SNIMI) to provide seafaring skills, knowledge and opportunities to aspiring seafarers. These training initiatives likewise enabled existing seamen to master job-related skills and capabilities to advance their careers.

Our longer-term vision, however, was to steer seafarers towards mastering technology-related skills to take on automated and digital processes that are reshaping our maritime industry. We had foreseen that Industry 4.0 would disrupt traditional jobs in the maritime industry as it did in different industries; we were thus quick to set up task forces to chart the direction of our growth and priorities to ensure we stay relevant to members’ evolving needs and professional growth. As a maritime trade union, we were also aware of our obligations to the sustainability and conservation of our environment – and the requirements by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for the shipping industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to meet its decarbonisation targets by 2030 and 2050. We have been working closely with our maritime tripartite partners to formulate policies to address these challenges.

SOS will not be where we are today without the support of our tripartite partners and affiliates, such as the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA). Just as tripartism is the secret recipe to Singapore’s success, collaboration with our tripartite partners is key to SOS’s growth. Beyond Singapore, our representation in the International Transport Federation (ITF) Board and affiliation with the Nautilus Federation mark our stature and commitment to seafarers in the global arena. Such mutual respect and collaboration are built up throughout the years; and they played an important role in transforming SOS into a 21st-century maritime trade union. May these relationships remain solid for the next 50 years and beyond.

SOS is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in a climate that is marked by a multitude of challenges and uncertainty. It is in such a time as this that SOS’s wise stewardship of finances; strong tripartite and international relations; and a heart of compassion shine bright.

Out of concern for the crew’s and shipping companies’ welfare and interest, SOS quickly responded by setting aside more than S$1.5m to support safe crew change and help shipping companies defray the cost of accommodation and meals at the Seacare Hotel.

To assist Singaporean seafarers whose employment have been affected by the global COVID-19 outbreak, the Seafarers Relief Package (SRP) was offered. We also pulled our resources together with Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) and Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU) to establish a S$1million Singapore Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience (SG-STAR) Fund.

To safeguard the well-being of seafarers beyond our shores, SOS and our tripartite partners also collaborated with the ITF, the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) to roll out cross-border initiatives to help other seafaring nations administer safe crew changes via the SG-STAR Fund, which amounts to S$1.68 million today. The fund can be used on practical solutions to mitigate the crew change crisis for the world’s 1.4 million seafarers.

Our strong collaborations with our tripartite and global partners have brought tremendous benefits to our members and seafarers at large. They also enable us to stay at the forefront of our maritime trade union movement to serve our members with pride.

Our prompt response to the plight showed our ability and willingness to go the extra mile to help. This display of compassion and generosity showed that all these 50 years we have remained true of our calling and have stewarded our resources well enough to make a difference. This SOS spirit which was birthed in 1971 remain ever so strong.