Corona Daily 084: Crew Change Crisis

Ordering online on Amazon has become so easy. Few people realize that most things we order sit in a container on a ship at some point.

The Pandemic brought to a near halt all passenger cruises. But cargo, oil, component parts, food and finished goods must still be transported by ships. 90% of the world’s goods are transported by water. Seafarers’ work is demanding, working hours are long and irregular.  To avoid a burnout, they usually work in months-on, months-off rotation. In March 2020, shipping ports and airports closed. Shipping companies stopped shore leave for crews. Naval orders prevented military and civilian sailors from leaving the ships. Some are stuck for as long as 20 months, though 11 months is the maximum allowed by the Maritime Labour Convention. Seafarers stranded at home don’t earn anything. At the peak of the crisis, 400,000 seafarers were stranded. Today, that number is still as high as 200,000.

The situation may get worse. Most sailors have no access to vaccines due to the logistical challenges.

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In the maritime industry, licences and certifications are critical. The education and updating include in-person instruction and on-the-job training with equipment. But all classroom training has stopped for over a year now. Without proper certification, workers can’t get new jobs; no new cadets can be recruited. A chief mate can’t become a captain, and a second engineer can’t be promoted to the post of a first engineer.

It is estimated it may take five years to get back to the normal cycle. My next-door neighbor in Bombay, 61, an engineer who was scheduled to sail on an oil tanker, opted to retire instead once the pandemic began. Such unplanned retirements are aggravating the situation.                

Extended time on vessels causes worsening fatigue. Human errors induced by fatigue are a contributing factor in 75%-96% of marine accidents. A single mistake or accident can have a domino effect throughout the global supply chain. The Taiwanese Ship Ever Given that accidentally blockaded the Suez Canal delayed roughly $10 billion a day of trade for moving oil and manufactured goods.

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In numerous incidents, mariners suffering medical emergencies onboard were unable to go ashore for vital treatment. In January this year, a Greek captain tried to obtain medical care for a crew member off the coast of China. The captain spent hours negotiating with the port authorities to take the man to a Chinese hospital. He failed. The ill man was a Chinese citizen.

“We are spending our lives here.” The Greek captain said in a video. “We’re all prisoners and our freedom is sacrificed in order to maintain worldwide trading.”

The UN requested world governments to designate seafarers and other marine personnel as “essential workers”. Sadly, 118 out of 174 countries haven’t done so. This is another reason there has been no effort to vaccinate them.

Shortages of crew and cost-cutting have meant that the ship is usually very tightly crewed. There are no reserves for any position, and those working overwork. If the cook falls sick, crew must still eat, and no matter how many people are unwell, someone must stand watch. If there is a case or an outbreak, the ship will be out of commission at least for two weeks.

Pre-pandemic, the global supply chains also try the “just-in-time” principle for cost efficiency. A ship stopping for two weeks can stop several factories at the destination.    

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Major shipping lines have tried to increase the internet bandwidth on ships to allow sailors to connect with their families easily. Maersk and CMA CGM have chartered flights to change crews.                                      

USA or Britain getting out of the pandemic is no comfort for the seafarers. They must have restriction-free situations at the starting point, transit ports and the destination. The Pandemic is over for the shipping industry only once the whole world is free of coronavirus.

Until then, what you order on Amazon may occasionally be delayed. Unless the world unites to resolve the crew change crisis, it is likely the prices for many goods carried on ships will zoom upwards. That is when this crisis will be truly appreciated.

Ravi