Are crew change restrictions endangering seafarers and the environment?

21st August 2020

By David Lockwood, Merlin Global Maritime

On 9th May 2020, an oil Tanker en-route from Brazil to Singapore, was diverted by the ship’s captain towards India whilst midway across the Indian Ocean. On 27th July 2020 a capsized bulk carrier runs aground on the on an Indian Ocean reef off Mauritius. Around this time an armed guard on a bulker on a Gulf of Aden passage took control of ,and deviated the ship from its original course. This issue was resolved, and the guard disembarked with his colleagues in the Red Sea.

The MV Wakashio oil spill occurred offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius, after the bulk carrier Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July 2020 at around 16:00 UTC

Reports in industry press today by Splash247.com noted that the same guard on board the floating armoury in the Red Sea, caused a tense standoff between himself and the crew onboard the Golden Palm, which also serves as a floating armoury and is currently in the Red Sea. This issue has now been resolved.

What links these four incidents? A mixture of crew fatigue brought around mainly by COVID-19 restrictions on crew changes, and changes to ships trading patterns would seem to be a likely cause. In May the Panamanian flagged and Hong Kong managed tanker “MT China Dawn”, was heading across the Indian Ocean on passage from Brazil towards Singapore when the Master diverted his vessel towards India. Whilst ships at sea often change their destinations, this manoeuvre was not due to instructions from the Master’s owners or Charterers, but on his own accord, citing that due to extended contracts on the ship due to inability to have crew changes due to COVID-19. As reported in the Hong Kong Sunday Morning Post the Master noted that the crew was ‘stressed’ and he felt they were ‘prisoners’ on board the ship. After 48hrs of discussions with the cargo charterers, the owners, and the master, the ship was allowed to divert in order to conduct a crew change of the Indian nationals serving on board.

Meanwhile, the case of the capsized bulker “MV Wakashio” (300m long, 203,130 deadweight tonnes) in ballast with no cargo, is no less strange, and from an environmental point of view far more serious. Seen approaching the Mauritius coast, the local coastguard tried to contact the vessel in order to warn them away from the reefs, however there was no reply and the ship ran aground on the reef.

Whilst the ship had no cargo, she did have 4000 tonnes of fuel oil on board, which, as now the ship has broken her back, is leaking out and threatening to damage the local ecology.

What caused the vessel to ignore safe navigational practices as well as warnings from local experts? According to the BBC, there was a birthday party on boarding, and it has been suggested that the ship was looking for a Wi-Fi signal. This author has spent several birthdays, as well as many other significant family events on board a ship, unable to attend or to fully celebrate. As a certified Deck Officer, safe navigation was always a priority. But I was never in a situation where I was overdue going home on leave by several months, not knowing when I would be going home to see loved ones. You can only imagine the mental anguish this might cause, and could mean that a crew try to find ways to contact home and speak to loved ones during this difficult time? The Mission to Seafarers conducts an annual survey of seafarers in order to produce a Seafarers Happiness Index. The latest, published in January 2020, before COVID-19 issues started to have an effect, showed that there is a decrease in positivity and satisfaction among those working at sea compared to previous years.

The Mission to Seafarers index, undertaken in association with leading P&I insurer, the Shipowners’ Club, is a tool for measuring the experiences of seafarers across the global maritime industry. In the latest report, overall seafarer happiness dropped to 6.13/10 from 6.59 the previous quarter. The data comes from over 2000 respondents, with surveys completed in the final quarter of 2019.

In 2020, maritime solutions company, Wallem Group, will be partnering with the Mission alongside the Shipowners’ Club to support this initiative. Travel restrictions imposed by governments around the world have created significant hurdles to crew changes and repatriation of seafarers, which has led to a growing humanitarian crisis as well as significant concerns for the safety of seafarers and shipping. The IMO has intervened promptly by urging its member states to designate seafarers as key workers, so they can travel between the ships that constitute their workplace, and their countries of residence. However there has still been many cases of crew staying on board up to 12 months or more instead of the usual 3, 6, or 9-month contracts.

The case of the armed guard taking over first the Eagle Bulk managed ship “MV Jaeger” and then trying to take over the floating armoury “MV Golden Palm” could been seen as a Gamekeeper turned Poacher with both these acts legally defined a

s Piracy on the Open Seas. However, it has been reported that the guard had not been paid for 5 months, in a situation where an armed guard can be expected to work in theatre for 3 months before returning home. The mental pain that this would cause of being away AND unpaid during this difficult time in world history can not be overstated. This situation also points towards the need for owners when appointing armed guards to ensure that they are doing appropriate due diligence to ensure that they are operating correctly and paying their team members.

No owner wants to be in the situation where an armed guard they have deployed to protect their crew and ship turns on the same and hijacks them. If a price seems too good to be true it is worth investigating to see why as no one wants the negative publicity rather than a safe transit for their ship and crew.

These four incidents highlight the unseen dangers that is caused by mental illness on board that is caused by crews overworking their contracts and, in some cases, not being paid. These are ordinary seafarers who hold a lot of responsibility for millions of dollars of equipment, cargo as well as their fellow human beings and whilst the IMO and various flag states are trying to resolve issues around crew changes, it is still something that needs to be highlighted as the world attempts to get back to “normal”.

About the Author:

David has over 25 years of experience within the Maritime Industry, serving world-wide at sea on various types of ships including tankers and dive ships, whilst also working ashore in various management positions including CSO and Vetting Manager.

www.merlin-global-maritime.co.uk