As Hong Kong braces for its third wave of coronavirus infections, local authorities are cracking down on allowing crew changes on ships, except for those loading or discharging cargo in the port. The rule change could significantly affect shipping across the region.
Previously, merchant vessels could exchange crew while at a local anchorage. Recently, however, four imported cases of the virus involving seafarers were recorded in Hong Kong. Also, six ships at anchor, with approximately 100 sailors aboard, are now under quarantine after crew tested positive for the virus.
The South China Morning Post reports that among the 123 new Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong on Friday, eight were imported cases, including three seafarers who arrived from the Philippines and one from India.
The Hong Kong Maritime Hub reported that on Sunday (26 July) the government announced that crew change arrangements for passenger vessels and goods vessels without cargo operation in Hong Kong would be suspended with effect from July 29 (Wednesday). The testing and quarantine arrangement for sea crew members of goods vessels coming to Hong Kong for cargo operation exempted from the quarantine requirement, arriving in Hong Kong will also be tightened.
The previous crew change arrangements for all cargo ships’ crew had previously been extended to passenger vessel crew on 28 June, but as of Wednesday, this will no longer be allowed until further notice.
Why does this matter? Since the beginning of the pandemic, exchanging crews on merchant ships has become a huge problem. In March, an estimated 150,000 crew members with expired work contracts were forced into continued labor aboard commercial ships worldwide to meet the demands of governments that have closed their borders.
Hong Kong’s crew exchange provisions had provided some relief from the problem. Approximately, 10,000 crew members had been granted quarantine exemptions. Now, this has been ended for at least the duration of the current coronavirus spike.
As noted by the Maritime Bulletin: Hong Kong authorities on Jul 26 officially declared a ban on all crew changes in HK, with the exception of the ships which call HK to carry out cargo operations. The only loophole in the whole region, in all of South East Asia, is to be closed, understood, starting Jul 29. It means, that anywhere around the region, in any country and port, onsigners are to undergo 14-day quarantine on arrival, thus rendering the whole operation either impossible, or very costly and unpredictable in its’ outcome.
Given that cellulars and bulkers carry the overwhelming majority of international trade in goods, “globalization” in physical terms sits almost entirely on the shoulders of the crews of approximately 30,000 ships.*
In gross statistical terms, somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 people are served by each ship.
Each ship has a crew of roughly 20.
10,000 dependents per crew member.That’s a lot of weight on each pair of shoulders.
We should be happy (Really? No.) that these crews are unable or unwilling to further organize themselves so that they’re able to more cohesively face the very coherent, objective and poorly co-aligned ambitions of their employers.
The fact of these crews in Hong Kong and elsewhere being chained to their ships is a diagnostic of latent, untapped power.
Even from a perspective only of enlightened self-interest, we ought to do better by them. Lots of lessons from history on this.
*Unpolished numbers but easily within an order of magnitude.