Supporting seafarers

摘要

The need to facilitate the resumption of crew changes across the world-by governments' recognising seafarers' role as 'key workers' during the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore exempting them from entry or onward travel restrictions - became an increasingly urgent issue as last year progressed.In late January this year more than 300 companies and organisations joined forces to try and end the crisis of crews being 'stranded' aboard ships, signing the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change, that initial number of signatories doubling within a couple of weeks.Ship and crew managers were at the forefront of the Declaration's backers, as evidenced by these quotes supplied to Seatrade Maritime News at the time.