Improving figures for crew change and seafarer vaccination numbers belie growing difficulties for Chinese crew due to strict isolation measures.

Global representatives of the transport industry and its workers have issued an urgent plea for governments to restore free movement for supply chain workers or face “collapse” of the system.

With the crew change crisis having dragged on for the better part of two years seafarer vaccination and global cooperation were seen as key to long term solution by a panel of senior executives from across the shipping industry.

A year ago the crew change crisis was attracting mainstream media attention, but it now seems to have dropped from view a victim perhaps that dreaded phrase the “new normal”, while ship managers and owners continue to struggle with lengthy...

The Covid-19 crisis in many seafarer supply nations hit by the spread of the Delta variant has led to a worsening of the crew change situation with 8.8% of crew employed by top managers now onboard after their contract expiry.

As world trade continues amidst the Covid-19 pandemic not only shipowners and seafarers need to be held accountable to international conventions, but also States need to honour their obligations as well.

Brazil’s federal government has restricted the arrival in the country of foreign seafarers working onboard vessels or platforms to prevent the circulation of new Covid-19 strains in the country.