The private sector must also collaborate to overcome the crisis. This is especially important in the current situation where Covid is starting to spread again, including in important seafaring hubs. Governments must recognize seafarers as key workers, prioritize their access to vaccines and implement health protocols that will allow crew changes to take place safely. Overcoming this challenge requires all stakeholders international organizations, governments, industry associations, labour unions, NGOs and individual companies to play their part. The situation is further exacerbated by new virus variants and changing national rules regarding crew changes.
Many good efforts have been ongoing to resolve the situation since the pandemic’s first year, but there are still hundreds of thousands of seafarers on ships beyond the expiry of their contracts. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, so does the unprecedented crew-change crisis.