IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has welcomed the commitment of 12 countries to facilitate crew changes and achieve key worker designation for seafarers, following a virtual ministerial summit hosted by the UK Government on 9 July. This step represents significant progress to help resolve a growing crisis facing the maritime industry, and enable hundreds of thousands of stranded seafarers to go home or join ships.

French container carrier, CMA CGM has announced its intention of launching a new product called Round the Africa (RTA) service to add to and complement the current 31 CMA CGM services already operating to sub-Saharan Africa.

A bit of a misnomer, the service is unique in terms of providing a direct service from Asia to Senegal and Sierra Leone along with best transit times, as well as calls to other selected West African ports.

In the current context, marked by the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, terminals are showing a considerable drop in overall port volumes. This is associated with a decline in economic activity, and with a large number of blank sailings due to shipping lines’ attempts to align capacity with existing demand.

Classification Society ClassNK announced from Tokyo on 2 July that it had released its annual report on Port State Control.

This document aims to assist ship operators and management companies in maintaining compliant operations by providing information about ships detained by PSC as well as deficiencies that were found on board from many port states in 2019.

Deputy Master Captain Ian McNaught describes the impact made by COVID-19 on the safety and charity operations of Trinity House and the work being done to move forward

Working to keep seafarers safe and supported

At the start of June it was reported that the Hapag-Lloyd container ship Montpellier (IMO 9314973) had completed her 14-day period of quarantine and would be allowed to enter port at Durban. This was after several members of the crew were tested positive with the coronavirus.

Port State control (PSC) regimes have expressed their willingness to be part of the solution to the urgent issue of crew changes and repatriation of seafarers. This is a key outcome of the second virtual meeting of all PSC regimes (17 June), organised by IMO in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to address issues surrounding surveys and certificates renewals during the pandemic. This was reported in a media briefing from IMO on 18 June.

The operation of a port the size of Durban requires close interaction and collaboration with various stakeholders and the national lockdown brought introduced in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced serious challenges in this respect.

Seafarers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, playing an essential role in maintaining the flow of vital goods, such as food, medicines and medical supplies. However, the crisis has led to difficult working conditions for seafarers, including uncertainties and difficulties about port access, re-supply, crew changeovers and repatriation. 

Herentals-based (Antwerp Province) logistics real estate developer and investor Heylen Warehouses has commenced construction on its largest project in Belgium to date: Ghent Logistic Campus. This will see the company off to a flying start when the coronavirus measures are relaxed, it was reported on 12 June.