Esben Poulsson of the International Chamber of Shipping writes:
Our industry has continued to play its essential role throughout the pandemic to deliver vital goods, food, medicine, and PPE, despite the challenges it has faced. Our seafarers have worked tirelessly, often at great personal sacrifice, to keep world trade running.
While the crew change crisis has improved – 400,000 seafarers were impacted at its peak – overly restrictive travel rules are still making it impossible for some crew to return home once their contracts have ended. Others are still unable to join ships to work.
Access to emergency healthcare and the repatriation of deceased seafarers is denied; the toll this takes on crew and their families cannot be overstated. This should not be business as usual.
From the outset of the pandemic, ICS has lobbied governments to follow tried and tested industry protocols for safe crew change and to end travel bans. Unfortunately, these efforts have often fallen on deaf ears.
This past year has proven the resilience of our industry and forged unprecedented collaborations that have seen us through hard times. We will need to maintain this spirit as our industry prepares for the biggest sea change of all; decarbonisation.
