Nowadays, many seafarers are suffering from the impacts of a pandemic. There is a broken chain of command whereby they have presented with pandemic programs that are impractical to apply (De Beukelaer, 2021). Crew changing was strongly hindered by the directives that were given by most jurisdictions to close their borders. Under a claim of force majeure, the companies lured the seafarers into extending their contracts during the pandemic, a strong indication of how the maritime labor union is not well equipped to handle the seafarers’ welfares in extreme cases of a pandemic.
The issue of key workers on seafarers during the pandemic has never been practical even after passing it through relevant government bodies. The labor convention has still had several unaccepted breaches of numerous stranded seafarers in the ports. The Neptune declaration was initially drafted to help ease tension among seafarers. However, the golden standards anticipated to raise the efficiency of health protocols and prioritize the vaccinations to seafarers became impractical (Chandra 2021). One more problem is that the work of seafarers will be automatized soon, and thus, seafarers are not the priority (United Nations, 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, seafarers and key workers had to move from one location to another for a crew change, exposing themselves to the risk of infection. Routes were blocked entirely, and travel schedules either by air, road or water kept on changing due to quarantine exercise. Moreover, there is a considerable gap in developing countries’ maritime processes, which does not provide a proper medical service for seafarers during the pandemic (United Nations, 2021). These aspects made the crew changing process difficult.
Negligence and lack of interest in the seafarers’ welfare have affected the psychology and mindset of most seafarers. The issue of crew changing was equally minute to bulge and become an uncontrollable variable (Shan). If all seafarers were to be recognized as key workers, then entry restrictions and corresponding quarantine requirements in different countries on the crews would be eased. Stannard (2020) claims that 200000 seafarers remain on board even after the extended contract expires. They cannot change due to different and unforgiving restrictions across each country they pass as they deliver goods worldwide. Not enough has been done to protect seafarers from pandemic effects due to insufficient marine communication and unequal treatment of seafarers. Therefore, a lack of interest in the matter of crew welfare has impacted the maritime sector heavily.
References
Chandra, C. M. (2021). Impact of the Pandemic on global Shipping. IIRE Journal of Maritime Research and Development, 5(2). Web.
De Beukelaer, C. (2021). COVID-19 Border Closures Cause Humanitarian Crew Change Crisis at Sea. Marine Policy, 104661. Web.
Shan, D. Occupational health and safety challenges for maritime key workers in the global COVID‐19 pandemic. International Labour Review. Web.
Stannard, S. (2020). COVID-19 in the maritime setting: The challenges, regulations and the international response. International Maritime Health, 71(2), 85-90. Web.
United Nations. (2021). Review of Maritime Transport 2020. United Nations.