The plight of seafarers caught at sea or unable to reach
their ships to start work due to the travel restrictions and regulations
related to the pandemic remains a concern for the organizations representing
the seafarers. The United Nations General Assembly acted today to help the
seafarers while one of the unions launched a new campaign tied to the upcoming
holiday season.
In a resolution to address challenges faced by seafarers,
the United Nations General Assembly on December 1 adopted a resolution calling
on member states to designate seafarers and other marine personnel as key
workers. Saying that it recognizes the need for an urgent and concrete
response, the United Nations resolution calls for the implementation of
relevant measures to allow stranded seafarers to be repatriated and others to
join ships, and to ensure access to medical care. The resolution also
encourages governments and relevant stakeholders to implement IMO-recognized
protocols to ensure safe ship crew changes and travel during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Welcoming the adoption of the resolution, International
Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim added, "I am
grateful to those countries who have already taken steps to designate seafarers
as key workers and to all UN agencies and industry partners who have been
working tirelessly to find ways to resolve the difficult situation. This is a
human rights issue. Seafarers' lives are being made impossible through the crew
change difficulties and this can only have a detrimental effect on ship safety
and on the supply chain, the longer the situation continues."
Shortly before the passage of the UN resolution, one of the
leading maritime unions, Nautilus International, launched its own campaign to
“deliver seafarers home for Christmas.” They noted that for many seafarers it
would be their second holiday season at sea as they had gone to work before the
pandemic was declared and the restrictions kept them on their ships.
Nautilus International reports that it has been inundated
with requests for support from these seafarers, who have been dealing with
issues such as exhaustion, redundancy, and cuts to pay and conditions. Many
have either been stranded at sea, away from their loved ones, or trapped at
home where they are unable to earn a living.
In a new campaign, the union is launching a petition that
urges governments and the United Nations to work together to ensure that
seafarers are designated as key workers in every country, and to allow global
crew changes to take place.
“This year, the coronavirus pandemic has given rise to
unprecedented levels of stress, fatigue and safety concerns due to countries
closing their borders and preventing them from seeing loved ones. Now many of
our members are left re-considering their very future in the industry,” said
Nautilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson. “Normally at this time
of year we remind people that seafarers deliver them Christmas. This year we
are calling on everyone to deliver seafarers home for Christmas.”
Despite the efforts by some nations to facilitate crew
changes, the IMO, unions and other organizations continue to estimate that
hundreds of thousands of seafarers have found themselves caught on their ships
far beyond the expirations of the contracts. A similar number is also caught at
home unable to reach the ships to begin work and relieve the crew, many of whom
went to sea before travel restrictions were imposed and borders and ports
closed.