More from Sailor’s Society re: the plight of seafarers around the world in these Covid times.
450 Seafarers is stranded off the Andaman Islands and refused access to medical treatment or basic medication:
The present pandemic is likely to affect 1 Mill. seafarers soon:
DNV-GL is not only involved in classification of ships. They are also joining the Mission to Seafarers Flying Angel Campaign as a Gold sponsor:
Another effect of the crew change crisis is rising crew costs:
Australia to request ships coming to Australia NOT to call at Manila for crew change on their ballast voyage from China.
Do they allow crew change in Australia?
Singapore seafarers get extended unemployment benefits until end of the year:
I have been in a hotel in Manila in the last month that was used to quarantine crew members during crew change. The hotel was very strict. The guys had to have food delivered and the food delivery person was not allowed in the hotel. Food had to be left on a table at the door and the table was sanitized before and after delivery. NONE of the quarantined crew could leave or have visitors. That part of the city was locked down from 2000-0500 and don’t even think about going into a store without a mask. But they still have cases, not USA level rates but currently 18th in the world. A group was heading out one morning for crew change as I was leaving. There was a DNV rep there to check all the proper protocols had been followed, tests administered etc. and escorted them to the ship. I was impressed with the cautions being taken. Just my observation.
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Yes, if you follow Chief Makoi on youtube, he describes the process for Filipino seafarers in a couple of his videos. They get tested multiple times, too. Just goes to show that this bug is very contagious.
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It’s not a hoax.
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ITF gets crew home and at least SOME wages paid:
PS> The Diavilos Force is still laying here in Ålesund, but with the AIS switched off. (Will probably go for scrap price, or below)
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They should deposit the crew in the ship owners villa.
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Crew wages are going up due to Covid-19, especially for Chinese crews:
They are not threatening US Mariner’s position as the best paid seafarers, though.
Latest seafarer’s happiness index is out:
Good news for some seafarers that has been stranded on arrested vessels and pandemic restrictions:
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UN General Assembly call on member state to designate seafarers as essential workers and facilitate crew change:
44 member state has designated seafarers as essential workers, but have they also done anything to facilitate crew change?
Some development towards safe and reliable crew change:
Is there any info on the priority of seafarers for COVID vaccination?
According to the CFRs, American seafarers are “essential transportation workers” free to travel anywhere at anytime without regard to state or local lockdowns or restrictions.
When are we going to be prioritized as “essential transportation workers” for COVID vaccinations?
…Or even testing?
How many here are getting employee provided tests prior to joining vessels?
My primary employer requires new hires to pay for their own COVID test. Typically about $200.
Vaccine roll outs are expected to be messy and mariners aren’t specifically listed in the groups to receive a vaccine ahead of the general population; unless they are included in the “variety of other groups”.
ACIP member Dr. Robert Atmar, a professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, said ACIP will likely put essential workers into group 1b. “That would include teachers, people in law enforcement, firefighters and a variety of other groups, and then 1c would be persons with underlying conditions who had higher risk of developing complications or dying should they get Covid-19 and that would include persons over the age of 65,” he said.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/13/health/covid-vaccine-rollout-messy/index.html