The September Crew Change Indicator shows that the number of seafarers onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contract has slightly decreased from 9.0% to 8.9% in the last month.
To remind, the Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator is published monthly to provide reliable data regarding the crew change crisis and the way it evolves. It is based on data from 10 ship managers, who are collectively responsible for more than 90,000 seafarers across all the major segments.
The number of seafarers onboard for over 11 months has similarly slightly decreased from 1.3% to 1.2%. After a significant deterioration of the situation since May, the August and September Indicators point to a stabilization of the situation.
What is more, the Indicator shows that 21.9% of seafarers from the sample have been vaccinated. This corresponds to an increase of 6.6 percentage points since August.
The data shows that seafarer vaccinations are progressing. Programs are being set up, especially in the US and some European countries, to offer vaccines to international seafarers.
However, while seafarer vaccination rates are at around 21.9%, in comparison the share of the population fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the European Union is 56.6%, in Hong Kong it is 42.5%, in Japan it is 42.8%, in Singapore it is 74.3%, in the United Kingdom this is 62% and in the United States this is 51.2%.
Additionally, the contributing ship managers have highlighted the following areas where they are finding most difficulties vaccinating seafarers:
- There continues to be limited access to COVID-19 vaccines for seafarers, due to supply issues.
- Ensuring access to the second dose of the vaccine remains a challenge, and in many cases there is a significant gap between the two doses for seafarers.
- There have been reports of reluctance by some seafarers to get vaccinated.
EXPLORE SEPTEMBER’S CREW CHANGE INDICATOR HERE
