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 .
An International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) official warns American Shipper that the maritime industry’s ongoing crew change crisis is “only going to get worse.” ICS explained that COVID-19 travel restrictions, as well as the growing list of countries banning crew changes for vessels that have called at one of the Indian subcontinent ports in the .
Seafarer crew crisis ‘only going to get worse’
Impact of high COVID-19 numbers in India among reasons for concern, says ICS official
0 148 3 minutes read (Photo courtesy of International Chamber of Shipping)
An International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) official warns American Shipper that the maritime industry’s ongoing crew change crisis is “only going to get worse.”
ICS explained that COVID-19 travel restrictions, as well as the growing list of countries banning crew changes for vessels that have called at one of the Indian subcontinent ports in the past 14 days, are the primary reasons behind this lingering crisis.
“There are 200,000 seafarers currently experiencing issues with crew change, primarily because of government-imposed travel restrictions,” said Guy Platten, secretary general of ICS. “This is a repeat of the seafarer crisis we saw during the early days of the pandemic when 400,000 seafarers were impacted. These men and women deserve
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.