Photo: moto moto sc - Unsplash Vaccination being made mandatory before joining ship is just one of the numerous challenges being faced by Indian seafarers as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to overwhelm the country’s health infrastructure.
Concerns over the availability of vaccines and waiting time are adding to the job uncertainty of seafarers.
Shipowners have begun insisting on hiring crew who are vaccinated ahead of joining ships on their next contract, as new variants of the Covid-19 virus wreak havoc in one of the top suppliers of seafaring manpower. India’s incidence of Covid infections has touched a new world record of over 350,000 new positive cases over the past 24 hours.