LONDON
Shipowners, seafarers’ unions and maritime employer groups are establishing their own approved international network of quarantine facilities to ensure seafarers can safely join ships, despite unpredictable changes to governments’ border policies.
The move comes as the Omicron variant spurs governments to close their borders to seafarers needing to leave and join ships, said a press statement.
The Crew Enhanced Quarantine International Programme (#CrewEQUIP) is a partnership between the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC); the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS); and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). Collectively, the organisations represent more than 80 percent of the global merchant fleet and nearly-one million international seafarers through almost 200 affiliated unions.
#CrewEQUIP will create a list of trusted hotels available for crew quarantines that are independently reviewed. The programme is designed to overcome frequent changes in government border policies affecting international crew by having the highest standards and industry-best protocols in place, ensuring the scheme will continue to safely get crew to vessels even if governments increase their quarantine requirements.
The groups said the programme is urgently needed to avoid the shipping industry returning to the worst extremes of the crew change crisis, which saw 400,000 seafarers trapped working aboard vessels beyond their initial contracts in late 2020, with an equivalent number unable to join vessels and earn income.
While a global, permanent system with digital vaccine and testing recognition is still urgently needed, the groups said #CrewEQUIP would be important to have in place in the meantime to support greater levels of crew change.
Under the #CrewEQUIP scheme, shipping companies and their representatives such as crewing agents and vessel managers are able to sponsor pre-embarkation quarantine facilities for seafarers to be considered for recognition. Facilities must meet #CrewEQUIP’s stringent standards for hygiene, testing integrity and data security.
Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, said: “ICS is delighted to work in partnership with IMEC and ITF on this essential programme.” #CrewEquip will make the quarantine process smoother for both seafarers and shipowners and ensure high standards are upheld, he added.
However, world leaders need to urgently provide a long-term solution to ensure that seafarers are no longer unduly impacted by ever-changing travel and quarantine restrictions, he said, adding the reinstatement of harsh travel rules by governments as a knee-jerk response to the Omicron variant is of great concern.
He suggested that coordinated action must be taken by world leaders to exempt transport workers from travel restrictions and prioritise them for vaccinations and boosters. “We do not want to see a return to the peak of the crew change crisis,” he added. TLTP
