IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has asked the United
Nations system agencies to support IMO in its request to governments to declare
seafarers, port personnel and other crucial maritime workers as key personnel.
Mr. Lim made the plea during a virtual meeting (1 April) with other UN chiefs
and the UN Secretary-General. The
meeting addressed the impact of COVID-19 on, among other things, disruption and
restrictions to travel, trade flows, global logistics, supply of food,
pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
During the meeting, Mr Lim highlighted the importance of
welfare and well-being of maritime personnel and particularly seafarers and the
significance of crew changes to support the global supply chain. He also
highlighted the major restrictions to crew changes due to travel bans and
restrictions that are being increasingly imposed by governments due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Lim reiterated his message that shipping is a vital
artery for the economy to enable the global supply chain and global trade
flows, including in particular urgently needed pharmaceuticals, medical
equipment and food supply. Seaborne trade is still flowing but challenges are
growing due to restrictions being introduced by countries. Mr. Lim added that
IMO and the maritime industry were committed to ensuring and
supporting global trade flows and the global supply chain.
IMO Secretary-Lim was participating in the meeting of the
expanded UN Senior Management Group (SMG) chaired by the UN Secretary-General
António Guterres. The meeting was attended by members of the SMG as well as
heads of UN specialized agencies of FAO, IFAD, ICAO, IMO, ILO, ITU, WHO and
WMO.
Opening the meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres
stressed the importance of and need for coordinated global, but also regional
and local approach to address this unprecedented crisis and appealed to all
UN-system agencies to work together for a coordinated response.