Singapore  - Driving on the West Coast Highway along Singapore's port, it's easy to see the signs of recession.

Cranes that usually move containers 24 hours a day have their booms fixed up in the air. "Hands up," the seafarers call it.

The view to the horizon, normally obstructed by huge mountains of containers, is now wide open.

As the shipping industry is hit hard by the global economic downturn, container ships from all over the world lie idle at Singapore's shores.

"For the seafarers, it feels like being locked up in prison," said port chaplain Christian Schmidt. "The psychological strain weighs heavily."

About 290 vessels lying at anchor in Singapore right now have already been there long term, often several months, Schmidt estimated.

As business is shrinking, many shipping companies lay off vessels.

"If a ship is being laid off, the companies will just keep a skeleton crew on board," said David See, assistant chaplain from the Mission to Seafarers.

The captain and some engineers stay, "the rest will be sent home," See said.

Those sailors who are forced to kill time on board their vessels, are grateful to have a port chaplain around for a chat, who are often their only link to the outside world.

Every day German chaplain Schmidt from Singapore's Lutheran Seafarers Mission board ships like the "Sea Matrix," the "Pacific Honour" or the "Northwest Success," which dropped anchor in Singapore several weeks or months ago.

In the beginning, it's great to have a break from the daily routine, nice to sleep in and have some leisure time, sailors stranded in Singapore told Schmidt.

But after finishing all maintenance work which needed to be done, times get tough.

"It's the same with people working on short-time. At first you like it, but after one week you don't really know what to do," said Schmidt.

Many laid-off container ships are anchored quite far away from Singapore's coast, See said, thus giving the sailors no chance for a shore leave and make them feel isolated.

Contact to the outside world per internet is rare, as most ships don't provide an internet access for workers.

Keeping in contact with the family at home via mobile phones soothes the nerves of the seafarers.

But once the phone cards are exhausted and the lines to loved ones are cut, the atmosphere on board becomes tense. According to Schmidt, who meets sailors from all nations, "causes for conflicts and quarrels are rising."

The fear of not getting a follow-up contract makes the crisis a lot worse for many sailors.

"For non-European workers on board the crunch has come," the port chaplain said. "They build a house at home, or they have to pay school fees for their kids."

Most workers on board the container ships come from the Philippines, the world's largest supplier of seafarers.

It's the Filipinos in particular who ask Schmidt to pray for them and their families.

But despite all worries that the sailors stuck in Singapore's port might have, their professional ethics do not really allow most of them to show any sign of desperation, Schmidt said.

"To reveal weakness or fear, that's not their cup of tea," he said.

"It's not the first time that the shipping business is going down," a captain from Romania told him. "If you can't handle that, you should stay away from ships."

The "Inspector's Blog" on the website of the International Transport Workers' Federation reflects the same sentiment of fearlessness.

"As usual" the men and women who crew ships are left in a precarious position, the blog commented on the consequences of the global recession.

It's a kind of "professional rigidity" what keeps most sailors on track even in times of crisis, Schmidt learned. "They are just very good in saving their face." (dpa)