THE GLOBAL crew change situation appears to be returning to a pre-Covid normal, according to the Global Maritime Forum.
GMF’s quarterly Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator suggests the situation has stabilised over the past few months.
It found 96.3% of seafarers are now vaccinated, a slight increase of 0.7% compared with figures reported in the previous quarter.
The number of seafarers who were on board vessels beyond the expiry of their contracts has fallen to 2.2%, a decrease of 0.5% since the previous quarter.
The number of seafarers on vessels for more than 11 months remains at 0.2%.
“Ship managers report that crew change operations of foreign crews at Chinese ports are relatively back to normal,” GMF said.
“Overall, there is a trend towards pre-Covid conditions.
“Ship managers are now reviewing their covid protocols. Some no longer test crew prior to departure from their home country, or prior to boarding a ship at the port of embarkation.”
GMF noted the efficiency of existing Covid vaccines remains a concern, and some companies are no longer asking crews to renew or boost their vaccinations.
“However, ship managers still opt to replace unvaccinated crew members with vaccinated ones through normal crew changes,” it said.
“This allows unvaccinated crew members to get vaccines while on shore, though opportunities for carrying out vaccinations during port calls have decreased drastically.”
Ship managers providing data to the GMF’s Neptune Indicator include Anglo-Eastern, Bernhard Schulte, Columbia Shipmanagement, Fleet Management, OSM, Synergy Marine, Thome, V.Group, Wallem Ship Management and Wilhelmsen Ship Management
GMF said the companies collectively have around 100,000 seafarers on board.
