This BIMCO COVID 19 weekly report for the week ending 11 March covers the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the latest from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Every week, BIMCO summarises measures imposed by governments for sea transport, including for crew change, as well as updates from United Nations bodies such as the IMO, WHO and the ILO.
1. IMO
The below circulars represent the latest information to-date from the IMO.
The following has been reported** :
** Source: North P&I Club
1. the navigation in the territorial sea of Ukraine and access to seapoгts of Ukraine is prohiblted to:
2. the entry of ships flying the flag of Ukraine into the poгts of the Russian Federation is prohiblted.
The UN Refugee Agency ( UNHCR) has issued a " Non-return Advisory" calling upon government states to suspend forcible return of nationals and former habitual residents of Ukraine until the situation in Ukraine has significantly improved to a state where no international protection is required for their nationals. The IMO government has advised via their IMO circular letter no. 4524 to apply the UNHCR advisory as appropriate to the movement of Ukrainian seafarers.
*The UK government has shut down its borders to Russian ships with the Secretary of State for Transport issuing a statement to all UK ports that Russian vessels would not be allowed entry. UK ports have also been asked not to provide access to any ship which they have reason to believe is:
Supply of ships' crew and crew changes would be impacted by the above as well as due to the closure of all commercial flights to Ukraine.
*Source: Maritime Professionals
Due to the current situation with Ukraine crisis impacting the Ukrainian seafarers, the International Group of P&I clubs has produced an addendum to contract for Ukrainian Seafarers Repatriation.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) issued the following on maritime labour issues and COVID-19:
On 21 January 2022, WHO issued an updated global technical brief and priority action required for Member states to enhance readiness for Omicron ( B.1.1.529), of which WHO has given an overview. The overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high for a number of reasons (eg significant growth advantage over Delta leading to rapid spread in the community) and continuing to result in significant increases in hospitalisation as well as posing overwhelming demands on health care systems in most countries. The rise is also due to evidence indicating immune evasion causing the quick spread of Omicron and research efforts are ongoing to better understand Omicron’s escape potential against vaccine- and infection induced immunity. A risk-based approach to adjust international travel measures in a timely manner is recommended and efforts to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination coverage as rapidly as possible should continue. See WHO advice for international traffic in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant for additional information.
Please see BIMCO-WHO for more information.
According to GISIS today, the list of countries (48) informing the IMO of their national focal point of contact for crew change and repatriation of seafarers are: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Ecuador ( new) Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Libya , the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco ( new) Myanmar, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore , Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,Thailand , Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Vanuatu.
BIMCO is continuously monitoring COVID-19 restrictions and its impact on the shipping industry in particular on crew changes. Below are some of the type of information currently being provided by BIMCO :
You can also view all information on our COVID-19 landing page.
Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) publish regular Bunker Alerts based entirely on fuel samples and have kindly permitted BIMCO’s Members to access this information.
The Bunker Alerts are not intended to be an evaluation of overall bunker quality in the port or area concerned, but usually highlight a specific parameter within the fuel which has raised a quality issue.
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