The maritime sea lane from China to Europe is a golden route. Trade volume between countries along the belt is keeping vessels busy, as the transport of goods and products continues. But the job of seamen seems to be a mystery to many people. Is it a dangerous job? Or is it rather a romantic experience to work on the ocean? CGTN reporter Zhao Yunfei is on COSCO SHIPPING's Virgo ship to find out what it's like.

Maneuvering at full speed, this cargo vessel is carrying some 20,000 containers from China to Europe. To make sure the goods are shipped on time, engineers are working around the clock, checking on all of the machines. It's routine maintenance. The main generator is the electric system and heart of the entire ship.

WANG WEI ELECTRICAL ENGINEER "If anything goes wrong with this generator, we're usually not sure which part is faulty until after some time investigating. That's a potential risk. To figure out the mistakes, we have to operate safely."

The manufacturing of giant vessels has now become a lot more modern. Many of the vessel's functions are now automated, no longer needing as many crew members to operate the ship manually. But that doesn't mean the job is easier. Instead, crew members have to be even more knowledgeable and ready to deal with hundreds of alerts per day.

XU YUNDONG CHIEF ENGINEER "On the land there's all kind of technical support. But on the ocean, we have to completely rely on ourselves."

ZHAO YUNFEI COSCO SHIPPING VIRGO "The working environment is noisy, and the temperature is high. As we are now traveling on the Red Sea, it's 40 degrees down here in the engine cabin. That's why workers have to wear gloves and thick uniforms, so that they won't get burned."

Over the past years, the vessels from Asia and Europe are getting larger. As the trade volume increases, shipping costs lower. But for sailors, their jobs are getting tougher. More work on ships needs to be done, but there are fewer people.

WANG WEI ELECTRICAL ENGINEER "We sailors seldom receive understanding from society. This job has no advantages compared with other ones. Because we work apart from land, many people are not familiar with what we do. Fewer college graduates choose this industry."

The engineer vows for more social recognition. He says more education should be done to improve the skills necessary to work in such conditions. Zhao Yunfei, CGTN, on the COSCO SHIPPING Virgo.