Shipping

At a time when the world stopped
Ships keep moving
People still shopped
Ships kept on proving
The volume of trade that’s moved by sea
90% of trade, actually
Crops that are weighed
Cars that are sprayed
And it’s easy to see
The impact this makes
Fruit and vegetables
Toys and collectables
Wheats and grains
The blood in the veins
Like to land, a farmer is
Ships are to the sea
And if the world is the heart
Ships are the arteries
Which stock the pharmacies
Move essential commodities
So there is a lot at stake across these seas
Without these routes, half the world would starve
While the other half would freeze
Without these bright, coloured containers
The four walls, in our house that contain us – would be empty
The books we read
The animal feed
The oil we need
The global lives that we lead
No oil, no cars; no essential spare parts
The seas version of stars
Those flickering lights on the horizon
By moon and by sun
But the journey is never done
As a supertanker proves
The distance it moves is equivalent to three times around this earth a year
And we are served by over 61,000 ships
The things we buy, the things that shops sell
The 1.7 million seafarers
It’s more than just engines, that propel, this industry
And it’s easy to see, that a lot is owed
To the people that load; 6,000 ports worldwide
But it’s not all plain sailing
It’s rough seas and piracy warnings
And the change that this inevitably causes
The sea covers 70% of our planet
So you can see why; we need to plan it
A global community of knowledge and passion
From salt and sugar
To the latest fashion
Our ships keep moving, products we love using
Ships make the world go.
They help trade flow
And let business grow