Following the global restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak, crewing specialist Danica reported that they are dealing with an increase in enquiries from shipping companies who look to employ Eastern European crew.
Specifically, the company reports that shipping companies now seek to employ Eastern European crewmembers as yet salaries have not been affected by any shortages.
Therefore, Danica added that it is increasingly having to assist with crewing problems, especially where crew changeovers are overdue. Concerning changeovers, recently Nautilus stated that according to received reports, seafarers are being denied off-signing, meaning that crews remain onboard for many additional weeks, in comparison to their contract.
Danica Managing Director Henrik Jensen commented that
We are getting requests for help from shipping companies which would normally employ seafarers of Chinese nationality because crew members are not able to join the vessels due to the travel bans.
Jensen added that all seafarers employed on the vessels are being informed about the precautions to be taken to deal with the outbreak. Although Danica hasn’t experienced any reluctance from Eastern European seafarers to join vessels yet, they see the challenges in the flow of crew changes of all nationalities due to vessels being idle off the Chinese coast or in countries where travel restrictions prevent seafarers from joining or leaving vessels.
