Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg warned against a humanitarian and trade crisis, in case the 800,000 seafarers stranded at sea because of COVID-19 aren’t offered similar protections to other essential workers.
Talking at the United Nations General Assembly, Ms. Solberg drew attention to the issue, while in an interview with Bloomberg she called all member states to say that seafarers are essential workers.
She added that large parts of the global trade is in ships, and if no effort is made to free the stranded seafarers, “then shipping will eventually stop, which could have major repercussions for the world economy.”
Namely, the pandemic has made the shipping industry face a trade and humanitarian crisis, with crew members being prevented from disembarking, in some cases for up to a year. What is more, there are reports that some of the seafarers are stranded without pay.
Commenting on the situation, Norway’s Prime Minister said that she expects greater action to be taken from both UN member states and other countries.
Recently, IMO Member States meeting during an extraordinary session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) have called on all Governments to take urgent action to resolve the humanitarian and safety crisis faced by the international shipping community due to COVID-19.
The Committee adopted a resolution on Recommended action to facilitate ship crew change, access to medical care and seafarer travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, which urges specific action to address the issue, including designating seafarers as key workers with access to the necessary safe travel arrangements.
