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Nearly 3,000 Indian seafarers from Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn ships are back with their families after being successfully signed off from their vessels, guided through all COVID-19 procedures and safely delivered to their hometowns by GAC India
The Indian Directorate General of Shipping, also known as DG Shipping, announced on Friday that seafarers of foreign nations would be allowed to sign off in Indian ports.
“I am tired, exhausted and hopeless. I have been at sea for 12 months already. And I don’t know when I can see my kids and family. It’s very frustrating.”
Resumption allowed provided that preventive procedures and guidelines to ensure security and safety of crew are properly observed
ISWAN and the ICMA, with their respective memberships of concerned shipping companies and seafarers’ ministries across the globe, encourage governments and the maritime industry to continue to work together to facilitate crew changes for seafarers around the world.
Sanjay Prashar, chairman of the International Maritime Federation, has helped over 58 stranded Indian fishermen in Iran to be repatriated to their homes in 3 days, after close to a 5-month long wait.
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.
The crew change crisis among the seafarers, ship owners, and managers in India are getting worse with the escalating costs undertaken to swap crews after they fulfill the tenures in contracts.
392 overseas Filipinos have been repatriated through a flight in hand with KLM airline, which took off from Amsterdam on July 3rd, 2020 allowing the stranded passengers to return home after numerous requests for assistance.
In an interview by the Indian Express, Amitabh Kumar, Director-general of Shipping spoke about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, its impact on the shipping industry, and the efforts taken by the government for the welfare of the mariners and their jobs.