Some movement on much-needed ship crew changes

THERE are some grounds for cautious optimism that the logistical crisis that has seen many seafarers stuck on their ships for far longer than they should have been is starting to ease. One sign of this is that the number of crew repatriated to the Philippines is increasing.

Singapore-based Sharp Crew Management reports that it has taken part in the successful repatriation of more than 8,000 cruise industry crew members from throughout the world.

Managing director Roger Storey says: "Over the past seven weeks we have repatriated more than 8,000 crew from Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises - thanks to the provision of 13 full charter flights and two commercial flights. Needless to say, this mass repatriation has not been an easy task to accomplish!"

Highlighting just how difficult an operation mass repatriation can be, the company points out that two further charter flights from the United States have been approved but, as a result of this week's closure of the main airport in Manila, these have now been put on hold. Mr Storey notes: "We expect to be able to bring in these flights around the middle of this month, which should bring our total repatriated crew to around 9,000."

The latest Seafarers Happiness Index, conducted by the Mission to Seafarers, states: "Seafarers reported the feeling that not enough is being done to ensure the safety of those on board. They reported feeling physically exhausted, mentally disturbed, homesick and anxious."

Singapore and Manila-based Sharp, which specialises in providing crew members to the international shipping market, says it has been putting all its efforts into crew repatriation. This has been particularly difficult especially with quarantines and the fast-changing protocols to be observed.

The cruise industry has had the particular challenge of having to take home very large numbers of crew from single ships. However, as mentioned frequently in this column in recent months, the whole shipping industry is facing a crisis with seafarers typically unable to return home, or others able to relieve them, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, as the weeks turn into months, a broad cross-section of global associations representing various sectors of the maritime transport industry, have drawn up protocols that set out general measures and procedures designed to ensure that ship crew changes can take place safely.

At their heart is a call that, provided shipping companies comply with measures applicable to them, governments and their relevant national authorities should do everything possible to allow crew changes to happen.

The wide-ranging protocols contain recommendations to maritime administrations and other relevant national authorities such as health, customs, immigration, border control, seaport and civil aviation authorities. They address the roles of shipping companies, agents and representatives, including crew agencies and seafarers, and extend to seaports, airports and airlines involved in travel operations for ship crew changes.

This initiative now has the backing of International Maritime Organization (IMO) secretary-general Kitack Lim. In a letter circulated to IMO member states and other international organisations, Mr Lim supports these protocols and urges their implementation.

One of the industry bodies involved in drafting the protocols, the International Chamber of Shipping, says that it plans to follow up with advice to its national shipowner association members on approaching governments at national level, in cooperation with local seafarers' unions, in a coordinated effort to open up as many ports and airports as possible for crew changes over the coming weeks.

And, talking of the unions, International Transport Workers & Federation (ITF) Seafarers & Section chair David Heindel has issued a heartfelt message to the ITF's affiliate unions and "every one of their members - the seafarers who have professionally and diligently fulfilled their jobs during this unprecedented and uncertain time".

He tells them: "Thank you for continuing to transport vital goods and keeping global trade moving during the Covid-19 pandemic. Without your sacrifice and the sacrifices of many other transport workers, the world would have been in a much worse state and likely would have come to a complete standstill."

He explains how the ITF has responded to the epidemic and draws attention to cross-industry attempts to get crew changing happening again.

Mr Heindel says; "With none of us having experienced dealing with a pandemic, we had no idea how long this global health crisis would last, how bad it would get, or what is needed to be agreed with employers and governments as the situation progressed. The ITF's foremost concern and priority along with our affiliates when the decision was made to extend seafarers' contracts was to keep seafarers healthy and safe while also enabling ships to keep moving."

He adds that the industry has requested another extension to crew contracts while governments operationalise the protocols, but the ITF and its affiliates felt strongly that another extension would be counterproductive. They agreed to a 30-day implementation period of the protocols, effective from May 15 through to June 15. He says: "During this time the ITF expects governments to take concrete actions to facilitate crew changes. The ITF will review the implementation period on June 1 to ensure that efforts have not been in vain."

For all sorts of reasons, meeting that timescale is going to be difficult but all countries owe it to seafarers to implement the protocols.