Phtoto: Anglo Eastern
Bjorn Hoojgaard The global crew change crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over and is set to be even worse this year according to top ship managers.
The new Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator surveying 10 leading ship managers presents what on the face of it a situation that looks to be far improved over last year, however, as border restrictions are reinstated with the Covid crisis in India and the spread of new variants senior executives say the picture is bleak.
The first Indicator shows that by mid-April 2021, 5.8% of seafarers were onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contracts of employment, and 0.4% of seafarers had been onboard vessels for over 11 months, the maximum period allowed under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).
The Sea Asia Virtual Preview webinar earlier this week - Industry Panel: Thriving Shipping Business through the Human Element – painted a picture of ongoing challenges for crew change despite unprecedented cross industry collaboration.
Setting the scene moderator Nitin Marthur, Managing Director Commercial for Wallem, said that as result of the pandemic, “Seafarers have been treated as pariahs and number issues such as mental and physical well-being of crew needs to be proactively confronted.
“Sadly it takes a pandemic for us to have dialogue about seafarers basic human rights and next generation seafarer training.”
Speaking from the perspective of one of the world’s largest crewing managers Gerardo Borromeo, Vice-Chairman and CEO of PTC Group, explained: “This has been an unprecedented time for all of us over the last 13 months and we don’t really see the end in sight for many reasons.
Thome Signs up to Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change
The Thome Group has signed up to the Neptune declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change which recognizes that stakeholders from across all sectors of the maritime industry have a shared responsibility to ensure that the current crew change crisis is resolved as quickly as possible.
The signatories of this declaration believe that the most effective way of addressing the crew change challenge and building a more resilient maritime logistics chain, is by working together across the value chain with industry stakeholders, organizations and with governments to implement solutions that work in practice.
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