Leading Japanese shipping company NYK Line has said more of its crew are currently working at sea beyond their contracts compared to this time last year.
The statement seems to confirm that the crew crisis is persisting, despite increased awareness and measures to tackle the problem.
Outlining what it has done to ease this predicament, Tokyo-based NYK said more of its seafarers are now working beyond their term of duty at sea than in May 2020.
It has been over a year since the coronavirus pandemic forced widespread travel and quarantine restrictions around the world.
The Tokyo-headquartered company said it had managed to shorten the extra period crew members are working and “almost eliminate” the numbers working beyond 11 months, which is the maximum period of employment at sea under existing maritime conventions.
Globally there is an estimated 200,000 seafarers caught up in the crew crisis and unable to get home.
NYK revealed it has now spent $21m in attempting to overcome the crew change difficulties and said it will continue to take measures on the same scale.
But the money spent on crew change is just a fraction of the profits companies that are involved in the liner trades are currently making. By comparison, in financial year 2020, NYK reported a profit of ¥132.9bn ($1.27bn).
NYK said it has set up a special taskforce, and has made extensive efforts to help crew get home and improve conditions for seafarers.
“Changing crews on a regular basis is necessary to maintain mental and physical health, as well as a vibrant crew workforce, and the disruption of this cycle can have a detrimental impact on international marine transportation,” NYK said.
The company said it has made 300 diversions and additional port calls to facilitate crew change or allow crew to disembark in their own countries.
It is now paying a bonus to crew members for working beyond their contract, paying quarantine allowance and increasing welfare benefits. NYK said it had given free call cards to seafarers and has improved internet connection speeds and exercise facilities on board for crew.
NYK said it is tacking the crew crisis by taking measures to prevent infection and setting up a transport and quarantine system.
The company has set up a two-week long quarantine period at a dedicated hotel for crew in the Philippines prior to boarding vessels in Japan. Three PCR tests are carried out during that period. It has put similar infection prevention measures in place in India.
