Shipboard familiarization is one of the first tasks newly signed-on crew members must complete upon joining a vessel. Within 24 hours of embarkation, the initial familiarization process ensures they understand essential safety procedures on board. Over the next 14 days, a more in-depth...
https://www.captainsmode.com/crew-familiarization-24-hours-14-days/
Ørsted and Eversource have awarded HeliService International Inc. a contract for helicopter crew change operations for the two companies’ joint venture wind projects in the Northeast United States.
The contract is the first helicopter contract to support the United States offshore wind industry and the two companies say it will create jobs and economic development in both helicopter assembly and future operations.
The Leonardo AW169 helicopters that will be used are powered by two Pratt and...
The crew change, which had been periodically happening at the Chennai port, has been struck following the stringent COVID-19 protocols that are now in place.
Negative RT-PCR tests are compulsory to undergo a crew change in ships. This has led to unforeseen delays in implementing changes associated with new crew members replacing the old ones. In a vessel, an officer serves for up to six months but the sailors work for nearly nine to 10 months.
Shipping firms are firm about needing a negative...
Shipowners, seafarers’ unions and maritime employer groups are establishing their own approved international network of quarantine facilities to ensure seafarers can safely join ships, despite unpredictable changes to government border policies. The move comes as the Omicron variant spurs governments to close their borders to seafarers needing to leave and join ships.
The Crew Enhanced Quarantine International Programme (#CrewEQUIP) is a partnership between the International Maritime Employers’...
New national lockdowns, an increase in flight cancellations, travel restrictions, and increasingly strict crew change requirements, especially in Asia, are preventing seafarers from going back home after completing their contracts. This is despite a strong increase in vaccine rates during the last month, ship managers report.
The latest Indicator shows that the number of seafarers onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contract has decreased to 7.1% from 7.9% in the previous month, whilst...
The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), 104th session, 4-8 October 202, approved a draft IMO Assembly resolution consolidating issues related to crew change, access to medical care, ʺkey workerʺ designation and seafarers’ prioritization for COVID-19 vaccination, with a view to adoption at the 32nd session of the IMO Assembly (6-15 December 2021).
The draft Assembly resolution on comprehensive action to address seafarers’ challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic urges Member States to:
Covid-19 vaccinations of seafarers are critical in solving the crew change crisis. Hence, as of August 2021, the Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator has been expanded to include the aggregate percentage of seafarers who have been vaccinated. Data from August shows that only 15.3% of seafarers have been vaccinated.
In comparison, the share of the population fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in large shipping nations in Europe, North America and Asia are at around 50%. This shows that...
The preventable death of a seafarer is a reminder to the Australian Government to implement a nationally consistent standard operating procedure for crew changes on trading vessels.
The man passed away after falling off a ladder on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The ladder was primarily used for transferring seafarers between a small vessel, and the Formosabulk Cement, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier.
The incident took place about five nautical miles off Mooloolaba. Since it has happened in...
With travel and quarantine restrictions imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19, many seafarers have been stranded on vessels, working beyond their contracts. To raise awareness of the crew change crisis, Höegh Autoliners together with 800 organisations signed the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing, which calls on government bodies to recognise seafarers as key workers and give them priority access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Sebjørn Dahl, Chief Operations Officer says,
Throughout the pandemic,...
DNV, the world’s leading classification society and risk management expert, is embarking on an instrumental role in helping to facilitate safe crew changes amid South East Asia’s COVID crisis as an auditor in the multi-party backed CrewSafe programme.
CrewSafe is the creation of the Singapore Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience (SG-STAR) Fund Task Force (SFTF), which was established by the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Singapore...