AMSA Surveyor {Image: Austra;ian Maritime Safety Authority]
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says that from February 28, 2021 the interim COVID preparations which have permitted seafarers to serve longer than 11 months on-board ships will finish.
Under the Maritime Labor Convention the conventional most interval {that a} seafarer can serve aboard a vessel with out go away is 11 months. Due to the COVID-19 journey restrictions and border closures, AMSA has taken a practical strategy to compliance with this requirement.
During the previous six months, AMSA has monitored the extent of compliance and intervened to make sure the repatriation of seafarers whose durations on board have been extreme. AMSA has now issued a brand new marine discover, Marine Notice 10/2020, stating {that a} return to worldwide necessities, of not more than 11 steady months on board, shall be utilized from 28 February 2021.
General Manager of Operations Allan Schwartz mentioned that whereas flexibility on the a part of regulators was essential when the COVID-19 pandemic started, conserving seafarers on board ships for longer than 11 months is just not sustainable going ahead.
“In our view there has been sufficient time for ship operators to adjust to the COVID-19 world and develop new plans for seafarer repatriation and crew changes,” Schwartz mentioned. “Seafarers have shouldered a heavy burden during the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining global trade and our keeping our economies moving by delivering the vital supplies that we all need. But it has come at a personal cost to the seafarers who have spent longer on board ships, unable to take shore leave due to mandatory quarantine and separated from their friends and families.”
“It’s time the seafarers are recognized for their efforts and we all make the effort to get them home on time,” he added.
