June 25 is Day of the Seafarer, designed to put the spotlight on this important workforce and their rights. Read more about the vital role they have played during the pandemic and why it’s important that cross-industry efforts continue unabated.
Up to 90% of world trade is transported by sea, by a global fleet registered across 150 nations – responsible for moving around 11 billion tonnes of cargo each year1.
These vessels are manned by a workforce which rarely makes headlines but, nevertheless, is integral to keeping the modern world moving. Today, approximately 1.9 million2 seafarers are employed across the globe, each one spending months at sea to ensure the maritime industry’s ability to prop up almost every aspect of our economy.
Day of the Seafarer, which takes place annually on June 25, represents an opportunity to celebrate this important community, while raising awareness of the need to protect their rights when it comes to their living and working standards – from health and safety to their employment terms, living and working conditions, and access to medical care and social security.
The crew change crisis
Throughout the pandemic, seafarers have been integral to maintaining the transportation of vital food and medical goods, energy and raw materials and manufactured items. They are also a workforce that has borne the brunt of the restrictions on movement resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), many seafarers have had to endure tours of duty significantly longer than the 11 months agreed by the International Labour Organisation as the maximum length of seafarers contracts3, with restrictions resulting from the pandemic hampering their ability to travel to and from their ports of arrival or departure. This has left thousands of individuals stranded onboard for extended periods with no chance of repatriation.
There are also those that have been unable to go ashore to receive urgent medical care unrelated to Covid-19 to obtain repeat prescriptions for routine medication or to seek medical diagnoses for new conditions. This has led to an increase in mental and physical health issues, which comes hand-in-hand with a much higher risk of them becoming involved in a safety-related incident.
As Captain Claude Herbert, a South African native in command of a bulk carrier, told us: “Before Covid-19, it was easy to answer the question about why you would want to join the maritime industry. You get paid to travel the world, you wake up and get to breathe in the fresh air, you are there for every sunrise and every sunset, and you are away from the bustle of the city.
“Of course, it has been tough in recent months. We never used to talk about mental health, but there are a lot of seafarers in the industry today who are suffering. Just imagine if your child was sick or a family member passed away and you were stuck on a vessel at sea or in port, unable to disembark. The last vessel I served on, shore management tried very hard to get us on leave, but they couldn’t because of the restrictions, so I was away from home for 13 months. No amount of training can prepare you for that.”
Anglo American charters a fleet of vessels to deliver resources from our mines to our global customer base, with our Shipping team implementing a series of support programmes on board for seafarers whose lives and livelihoods have been affected.
From simple measures such as providing extra PPE through port agents where appropriate, to conducting a mental health and wellbeing campaign, the team’s efforts reflect our stance on positive human rights as a critical aspect of our Sustainable Mining Plan.
As key stakeholders in the maritime value chain, we are also part of a taskforce responsible for developing the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change and its framework of best practices for charterers. These lay the foundations for shipowners and charterers to facilitate crew changes while working together to minimise disruptions to operations, for the benefit of all stakeholders.
One call to action included in the Declaration was for all governments to recognise seafarers as key workers, thus guaranteeing priority access to Covid-19 vaccines alongside other key workers and health care professionals, in recognition of their critical role in global supply chains and trade.
A continuous journey
While the easing of travel restrictions globally, coupled with an increase in vaccination rates, has helped improve the situation, recent data from the Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator4 makes clear the importance of maintaining our focus on this issue.
Data from the May 2022 report showed that, although the number of seafarers onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contract has slightly increased, from 4.2% to 4.5% in the last month, there has been a drop in the number of seafarers onboard for over 11 months, from 0.4% to 0.3%, indicating some stabilisation of the situation.
This comes hand-in-hand with a rise in the aggregate percentage of seafarers from the sample who have been vaccinated, from 72.8% in April to 83.6% in May. Other positive developments reported by ship managers in May included the relaxation of rules in some Asian crew change hubs like Singapore, which has eased crew changes, especially for vaccinated seafarers, and an improvement in flight availability.
As well as monitoring the impact of unfolding events on the crews sailing on our chartered vessels, Anglo American has worked a broad range of actions to safeguard the safety, health and wellbeing of seafarers, in line with our Values of Safety, and Care and Respect. For example, we have established a partnership with the Mission to Seafarers charity as part of our ongoing commitment to seafarer wellbeing. This includes providing support for its chaplain service and station in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, as well as promoting the charity’s annual Seafarers Happiness Index survey, rolled-out across our chartered vessels last year.
Peter Lye, Global Head of Shipping at Anglo American, said: “Seafarers are integral to global trade, and to our ability as an organisation to move our product around the world in a safe and efficient manner. We need to ensure the sector remains an attractive proposition, both in terms of the retention of the skilled workforce employed in the industry today, and for the purposes of attracting future generations considering seafaring as a career.”
1 ‘Shipping is complex’; International Chamber of Shipping; November 2020: https://bit.ly/3wZ0e1y
2 ‘Joint statement urging continued collaboration to address the crew change crisis…’; 28 February 2022; ILO, IMO, UNCTAD, WHO: https://bit.ly/3r35SMd
3 ‘Frequently asked questions about how COVID-19 is impacting seafarers’, IMO: https://bit.ly/3F72QfO
4 Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator. This provides reliable, month-by-month data on the crew change crisis from ship managers who are collectively responsible for more than 90,000 seafarers across all the major segments. Data is collected and processed by the Global Maritime Forum: https://bit.ly/37h7E5o