Recognising that they have a shared responsibility to resolve the crew change crisis, more than 450 global maritime companies and shipping organisations – a taskforce of stakeholders from across the maritime value chain – recently signed the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change. The Neptune Declaration urges the implementation of four main actions to address the crisis. The Declaration emphasises core concerns concerning the maritime industry presently.

Issues such as recognising seafarers as key workers and giving them priority access to Covid-19 vaccines, establishing and implementing gold standard health protocols based on existing best practice, increasing collaboration between ship operators and charterers to facilitate crew changes, and ensuring air connectivity between key maritime hubs across the globe for seafarers, are highlights which have been debated in The Neptune Declaration.

It states that the Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crew change crisis which has led to hundreds of thousands of seafarers being impacted and, in many instances, left stranded on ships beyond the expiry of their contracts. Despite significant efforts by international organisations, governments, industry associations, labour unions, NGOs and individual companies, the issue is still far from resolved. This is not an acceptable way to treat seafarers, who are the frontline workers of the maritime industry carrying 90 per cent of global trade. Fatigue after extended periods at sea has significant consequences on the physical and mental wellbeing of seafarers. It also increases the risk of maritime incidents and environmental disasters, and poses a wider threat to the integrity of global supply chains, which depend on safe and reliable maritime transport.

The Declaration indicates that while high-quality health protocols have been adopted internationally, they have not been consistently implemented in practice. This has led authorities to perceive seafarers as a Covid-19 risk, which has limited the possibilities of crew changes. Implementing high-quality crew change protocols will reduce the economic risk of disrupted supply chains but will lead to increased short-term costs. Finally, the disruption of international air travel has reduced the number of flights, causing connectivity issues between major crew change hubs and major seafaring nations. This has complicated crew changeovers.

Lakhs of Indian seafarers will benefit if the issues flagged in the Neptune Declaration get addressed in the formulation of ‘Maritime India Vision-2030’.