The shipping industry is not immune to its own market challenges but the COVID-19 escalation is creating not only a health crisis with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, but an economic crisis with the decline of energy demand and the drop of the barrel price, and a climate crisis that calls fossil fuels.
While we are mobilized to deal with these issues, and our operations have been organised to ensure our employees, our customers and the supply chain work together in accordance with both national and international health and economic guidance, along with robust business continuity measures, we fully support The International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s guidance on standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers (STCW) especially in response to growing concerns as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
IMO recently indicated that the actions taken worldwide as a result of the outbreak pose a serious challenge for administrations to allow the continued training of seafarers, revalidate certificates, including medical certificates, and the issue of endorsements attesting recognition of certificates in accordance with STCW Convention.
A number of countries, ports and organisations are now publishing details of the measures being put in place, and we support IMO’s push to encourage maritime administrations and port state control authorities to take a pragmatic and practical approach with regard to the extension of the certificates and endorsements.
By working collaboratively together and in the most uncertain times, we can achieve so much more. The IMO guidance on STCW certification can be viewed here.