Crew change crisis remains largely unresolved

This data 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.

According to the Global Maritime Forum, 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.

To better understand and address the crew change crisis, there is a need to have access to accurate data that will allow stakeholders to monitor and respond to the situation. This is why we created the Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator

stated Graham Westgarth, Chairman of V. Group.

In fact, the first Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator shows that by mid-April 2021, 5.8% of seafarers were onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contracts of employment. 0.4% of seafarers had been onboard vessels for over 11 months. The Maritime Labour Convention states that the maximum continuous period a seafarer should serve on board a vessel without leave is 11 months.

While the percentages of the first indicator appear low, this should not be interpreted as an indication that the crew change crisis is over. On the contrary, we see worrying signs with the rapid spread of new strains of Covid, in India and other countries, which should be a big cause for concern for our industry

explains Rajesh Unni, CEO of Synergy Group.

The Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator builds on aggregated data from 10 leading ship managers:

1. Anglo- Eastern;
2. Bernhard Schulte;
3. Columbia Shipmanagement;
4. Fleet Management (FLEET;
5. OSM;
6. Synergy Marine;
7. Thome;
8. V.Group;
9. Wallem;
10. Wilhelmsen Ship Management.

The Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator will be published once a month and builds on aggregated data provided by the ship managers to the Global Maritime Forum. The data is used to calculate a weighted average of the percentage of seafarers who have been onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contract of employment as well as a weighted average of the percentage of seafarers who have been onboard vessels for over 11 months.

The Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator comes after the launch of the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change in January 2021. The Declaration has since been signed by more than 800 companies and organizations.

It defines four main actions to facilitate crew changes and keep global supply chains functioning: recognize seafarers as key workers and give them priority access to Covid-19 vaccines; establish and implement gold standard health protocols based on existing best practice; increase collaboration between ship operators and charterers to facilitate crew changes; and ensure air connectivity between key maritime hubs for seafarers

says the Global Maritime Forum.

What is more, Bjorn Hojgaard, Chief Executive Officer, Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, expects that the crew rotation crisis is far from over, saying that 2021 is set to be worse than last year, with the recent surge in COVID cases in many crew supply countries making crew change in many cases impossible, due to ports’ shutting down for these nationality seafarers,

After a long period where the Seafarers’ community has been exposed to safety risks by traveling to and from their vessels, we are now looking at another challenging period with the global surge in Covid 19 positive cases. We as companies, together with all stakeholders in the maritime industry, owe it to our seafarers to show more respect to the crew change procedures now – and the Neptune initiative is an excellent community to drive this agenda

concluded Simon Frank, Chief Human Resources Officer, Thome Group.

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