Increasing infection rates in key crew source countries and stricter crew-change protocols in major crew-change hubs are seen as main drivers for delayed and complicated crew changes. The Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator is based on data from top 10 ship managers and aims to provide up-to-date information on the impact of the crew change .
New Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator takes the temperature of the crew change crisis
Data from top 10 ship managers on their seafarers is the basis of an indicator which provides up-to-date information on the impact of the crew change crisis and will allow for the monitoring of developments over time. The Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator is part of the ongoing efforts that a multi-stakeholder taskforce is undertaking to resolve the situation.
Well into the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, the crew change crisis remains unresolved. Despite the concerted efforts by international organizations and companies, seafarers are still unable to disembark from vessels while new strains of Covid-19 create a risk of making the situation worse. Currently, data that gives access to the number of seafarers who are impacted by the crew change crisis is limited. The new Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator aims to inform the situation.
India’s Covid boom is affecting the worldwide shipping industry
India’s huge wave of Covid-19 infections has affected the international maritime industry, as the country is for seafarers, as crews come with the disease and ports deny entry to ships.
Ports such as Singapore and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates have banned ships from changing crew members who have recently traveled from India, according to notes from maritime authorities. Zhoushan has banned entry into China for ships or crews that have visited India or Bangladesh in the past three months, according to Wilhelmsen Ship Management, a major supplier of marine crews.