Chamber calls for COVID-19 vaccine priority for seafarers

By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas Correspondent

In the latest development of the ongoing debate over the rights of seafarers during COVID-19, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is now calling on all governments to place maritime professionals at the head of existing vaccine queues and to designate them as essential workers.

ICS represents 80 percent of the world’s shipowners and demands that governments should respect the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention and follow the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) regarding seafarers during the pandemic. Maritime Direct previously reported that the governments of Australia and Canada are also clamping down on the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention.

“The benefits of vaccinating those responsible for transporting the vaccine and PPE around the world should be obvious,” says Guy Platten, the secretary-general of the chamber, in a press release that was published on January 19, 2021. “Governments must class seafarers as ‘key workers’ and give them priority access to the vaccine, as the inability to rotate crews from their ships risks the passage of the critical medical materials needed for the global vaccination effort.”

ICS also notes in their press release that the ILO and the United Nations General Assembly have both issued guidance and resolutions asking governments to promote seafarers’ rights.

“If we want to maintain global trade, seafarers must not be put to the back of the vaccine queue. Governments will not be able to inject their citizens without the shipping industry or, most importantly, our seafarers,” Platen added.

We also previously published a commentary calling on world governments to consider seafarers as essential workers.

This is a developing story.