EXHAUSTED seafarers confined to their ships for months have stopped work in Australia to protest restrictions on the lack of crew changes resulting from the Covid-19 crisis, reports Bloomberg.
Three vessels have been idled, the Portuguese-flagged 5,500-TEU Conti Stockholm in Fremantle, the Marshall Islands-flagged 35,000-dwt bulker Ben Rinnes in Geelong and the Hong Kong-flagged 37,000-dwt bulker Unison Jasper in Newcastle.
The three ships are 'just the tip of the iceberg,' said Dean Summers, Australian coordinator of the International Transport Workers' Federation, who said crews are within their rights to refuse to sail.
According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), about 250,000 seafarers are stuck at sea at increasing risk of physical and mental exhaustion.
This could have an impact on safety as fatigue raises the risk of human error and accidents, said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at Genoa shipbroker Banchero Costa & Co.
'Individual members of crews might have important personal reasons to want to be repatriated as soon as possible, but currently the costs and logistical challenges to send them home are enormous,' said Ralph Leszczynski of Banchero Costa & Co shipbrokers.
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Three vessels have been idled, the Portuguese-flagged 5,500-TEU Conti Stockholm in Fremantle, the Marshall Islands-flagged 35,000-dwt bulker Ben Rinnes in Geelong and the Hong Kong-flagged 37,000-dwt bulker Unison Jasper in Newcastle.
The three ships are 'just the tip of the iceberg,' said Dean Summers, Australian coordinator of the International Transport Workers' Federation, who said crews are within their rights to refuse to sail.
According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), about 250,000 seafarers are stuck at sea at increasing risk of physical and mental exhaustion.
This could have an impact on safety as fatigue raises the risk of human error and accidents, said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at Genoa shipbroker Banchero Costa & Co.
'Individual members of crews might have important personal reasons to want to be repatriated as soon as possible, but currently the costs and logistical challenges to send them home are enormous,' said Ralph Leszczynski of Banchero Costa & Co shipbrokers.
SeaNews Turkey