The ongoing second wave of Covid-19 and dearth of adequate vaccines in India at present is proving to be disastrous for the sizeable population of over 240,000 Indian seafarers, as a large number of countries like Singapore, the UAE, Sri Lanka, etc, has put a travel ban on the entry or exit of Indian seafarers through their local ports. The move has made it impossible for Indian seafarers to board or disembark ships through these countries located near India and has also disrupted the crew change operations and vessel schedules across the globe. It is a crisis-like and precarious situation for leading ship management companies.
“The second wave of lockdown has resulted in closing of doors for Indian seafarers in many jurisdictions, resulting in job losses for Indian seafarers,” admits Amitabh Kumar, director general, shipping, government of India. “While we unequivocally condemn any attempt to discriminate against any seafarer in the name of nationality, we are equally conscious of the need to vaccinate our seafarers to create a safe environment aboard the vessels”.
“Despite repeated requests sent in writing by leading Indian maritime bodies, the government of India has so far not included Indian seafarers in the category of ‘front line’ workers, who are eligible to get Covid-19 vaccines on a priority basis in India,” says a Mumbai-based merchant navy officer and senior member of India’s leading maritime body, who prefers to remain anonymous. “The grave crisis faced by Indian seafarers today proves that Indian shipping ministry’s strategic decision-making apparatus has failed miserably.”
Additional pressure
Foreign crew on board some ships has started to refuse calling Indian ports, informs Kishore Rajvanshy, a high ranking executive of a diversified global conglomerate The Caravel group & managing director, fleet management, based in Hong Kong. The crew fears that they would catch Covid through officials and stevedores, who board vessels at ports to facilitate cargo loading or unloading. This is creating an additional pressure on crewing resources.
“Getting seafarers vaccinated is urgent to instill security among the crew and catalyse the roll-out of uniform crew-change protocols,” adds Rajvanshy. “The ideal situation is one in which seafarers are subjected to uniform crew change protocols the world over. They are assured priority access to vaccines and the opportunity to avail guaranteed crew-change corridors – with dedicated quarantine centres, testing facilities, lodging and boarding. This is seriously lacking today and the root cause of today’s crew change crisis”.
Bjorn Hojgaard, chief executive officer, Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, the world’s leading ship management company, based in Hong Kong, echoes a similar sentiment. “The solution undoubtedly is to get seafarers vaccinated on priority, but this alone is not enough,” he observes. “We also need the nations that are now refusing travellers from India to differentiate between vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers for it to have any impact on the crew rotation crisis.”
“The prevailing Covid situation in India and recent restrictions imposed on Indian seafarers by various countries is a serious issue. It is imperative that all governments across the globe give full support to alleviate the ongoing crewing crisis,” said Prabhat Jha, MD & CEO of Cyprus-based MSC Shipmanagement – a global conglomerate.
If the prevailing situation is not reversed swiftly, ship-owners will have no choice but to source crew of alternate nationality to man their ships. This will result in job losses for Indian seafarers, as owners are obliged to relieve crew members upon completion of their tours of duty
The ongoing second wave of Covid-19 and dearth of adequate vaccines in India at present is proving to be disastrous for the sizeable population of over 240,000 Indian seafarers, as a large number of countries like Singapore, the UAE, Sri Lanka, etc, has put a travel ban on the entry or exit of Indian seafarers through their local ports. The move has made it impossible for Indian seafarers to board or disembark ships through these countries located near India and has also disrupted the crew change operations and vessel schedules across the globe. It is a crisis-like and precarious situation for leading ship management companies.
“The second wave of lockdown has resulted in closing of doors for Indian seafarers in many jurisdictions, resulting in job losses for Indian seafarers,” admits Amitabh Kumar, director general, shipping, government of India. “While we unequivocally condemn any attempt to discriminate against any seafarer in the name of nationality, we are equally conscious of the need to vaccinate our seafarers to create a safe environment aboard the vessels”.
“Despite repeated requests sent in writing by leading Indian maritime bodies, the government of India has so far not included Indian seafarers in the category of ‘front line’ workers, who are eligible to get Covid-19 vaccines on a priority basis in India,” says a Mumbai-based merchant navy officer and senior member of India’s leading maritime body, who prefers to remain anonymous. “The grave crisis faced by Indian seafarers today proves that Indian shipping ministry’s strategic decision-making apparatus has failed miserably.”
Additional pressure
Foreign crew on board some ships has started to refuse calling Indian ports, informs Kishore Rajvanshy, a high ranking executive of a diversified global conglomerate The Caravel group & managing director, fleet management, based in Hong Kong. The crew fears that they would catch Covid through officials and stevedores, who board vessels at ports to facilitate cargo loading or unloading. This is creating an additional pressure on crewing resources.
“Getting seafarers vaccinated is urgent to instill security among the crew and catalyse the roll-out of uniform crew-change protocols,” adds Rajvanshy. “The ideal situation is one in which seafarers are subjected to uniform crew change protocols the world over. They are assured priority access to vaccines and the opportunity to avail guaranteed crew-change corridors – with dedicated quarantine centres, testing facilities, lodging and boarding. This is seriously lacking today and the root cause of today’s crew change crisis”.
Bjorn Hojgaard, chief executive officer, Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, the world’s leading ship management company, based in Hong Kong, echoes a similar sentiment. “The solution undoubtedly is to get seafarers vaccinated on priority, but this alone is not enough,” he observes. “We also need the nations that are now refusing travellers from India to differentiate between vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers for it to have any impact on the crew rotation crisis.”
“The prevailing Covid situation in India and recent restrictions imposed on Indian seafarers by various countries is a serious issue. It is imperative that all governments across the globe give full support to alleviate the ongoing crewing crisis,” said Prabhat Jha, MD & CEO of Cyprus-based MSC Shipmanagement – a global conglomerate.
Jha suggested a dire need for getting seafarers vaccinated in those countries where there are established inoculation programmes and also adequate stocks of vaccines. In the long term, it could be about exploring a brilliant idea of public-private partnerships.
“There is indeed some urgency to this,” adds Hojgaard. “Some companies have started replacing Indian seafarers onboard in earnest and, once you have made the switch, it’s not always obvious that this will be a short-term measure only.”
Goods services by water with respect to which the Indian Parliament has got powers to make laws are considered essential services under the Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1968. London-headquartered International Maritime Organization has also included India in its list of member states that have designated seafarers as key workers. Yet, Indian seafarers are not getting the vaccine jabs in India on a priority basis.
“Chinese seafarers are now being employed on a priority basis by global ship-owners, as China has recognised its seafarers as key workers and started inoculating them,” says Amar Singh Thakur, general secretary, the Maritime Union of India.
Shiv Halbe, chief executive officer, The Maritime Association of Ship-owners, Ship-managers & Agents, feels that, if the prevailing situation is not reversed swiftly, ship-owners will have no choice but to source crew of alternate nationality to man their ships. This will result in job losses for Indian seafarers, as owners are obliged to relieve crew members upon completion of their tours of duty.