Name: Key Countries Agree to Help Bring Home Seafarers Stuck on Ships
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Key Countries Agree to Help Bring Home Seafarers Stuck on Ships

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Total Views: 34File Photo: Avigator Fortuner / ShutterstockBy K. Oanh Ha and Krystal Chia (Bloomberg) — More than a dozen countries with crucial global shipping hubs agreed to ease port and border restrictions for seafarers to help the more than 200,000 workers still stranded on vessels return home.Nations including the U.S., Singapore, Greece and the United Arab Emirates said they would for seafarers and boost commercial flights to help facilitate crew swaps. The pact comes after months of pressure on governments, ports and shippers to find ways to get workers off vessels after a rash of suicides and an uptick in expired contracts.Seafarers will now get international as “key workers” to enable freer movement and quicker repatriation, following a virtual International Maritime Summit hosted by the U.K. Thursday. Some crews have spent more than a year at sea, exceeding limits under an maritime agreements, as border restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19 and canceled flights limited travel.“It is time to act for seafarers,” said Kitack Lim, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization. “Safe ship operations and crew wellbeing should not be compromised. The humanitarian crisis seafarers face has implications for all of us, for the world economy and for the safety of life at sea and the environment.“Read:While cruise companies have been able to get most seafarers home by pooling thousands of workers and chartering flights, or in some cases taking them home on luxury liners empty of passengers, the majority of crews on merchant vessels have been stranded.Another 200,000 seafarers haven’t been able to get back onto ships because of travel restrictions to relieve crew who have finished their contracts.“What we need is for every country around the world to acknowledge seafarers and allow them to get home,” said Chirag Bahri, director of regions at International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network. “They’re not robots. They need to get home.”While a of ports are now allowing crew changes, management companies say the restrictions have made it difficult to relieve substantial numbers. Ship managing firm Wallem Group Ltd. says the company has only been able to execute about 20% of their usual crew changes, according to Chief Executive Officer Frank Coles. About 40% of their 4,000 seafarers on vessels have completed their contracts and 10% have been at sea for more than a year.In the Philippines, the government on Friday designated Subic Bay north of Manila Bay as a hub for international crew change. The Philippines is among the top countries supplying workers in the shipping industry.–With assistance from Claire Jiao, Annie Lee and Sam Nagarajan.© 2020 Bloomberg L.PJoin the members that receive our newsletter.Have a news tip?by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) According to The Economist the absolute levels of global hunger in 2022 could be the highest ever, as an exceptional set of shipping problems threaten...Total Views: 3013By&nbsp;Rachel Graham (Bloomberg) Eastern Germany is resorting to getting barge loads of fuel all the way from the North Sea oil port of Rotterdam as the nation pivots away from...Total Views: 2430By Todd Gillespie (Bloomberg) Water levels on Europe’s Rhine River are again dwindling — and this time it’s at the risk of the continent’s efforts to boost its energy security....Total Views: 3003Get the latest gCaptain articles and breaking newsGet the latest gCaptain articles and breaking newsThis website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.NecessaryNecessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.{"Tags":["COVID-19"],"Categories":["Maritime News"],"Excerpt":"By K. Oanh Ha and Krystal Chia (Bloomberg) — More than a dozen countries with crucial global shipping hubs agreed to ease port and border restrictions for seafarers to help..."}

Total Views: 34File Photo: Avigator Fortuner / ShutterstockBy K. Oanh Ha and Krystal Chia (Bloomberg) — More than a dozen countries with crucial global shipping hubs agreed to ease port and border restrictions for seafarers to help the more than 200,000 workers still stranded on vessels return home.Nations including the U.S., Singapore, Greece and the United Arab Emirates said they would for seafarers and boost commercial flights to help facilitate crew swaps. The pact comes after months of pressure on governments, ports and shippers to find ways to get workers off vessels after a rash of...

Key Countries Agree to Help Bring Home Seafarers Stuck on Ships

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