More shipowners are keeping crew on board their vessels during the coronavirus outbreak, as further repatriation chaos emerged.
Torm, Norden and DFDS were the latest Danish shipowners to cancel changeovers of personnel as countries went into lockdown.
Danish crew union Metal Maritime said it was backing the moves, but was trying to find solutions to re-unite staff with their families.
Chairman Ole Philipsen said suspending crew changes was right in light of the difficult travel situation and the ever-present danger of infection spreading on ships.
He said that in Norway, a Fjord Line crew have had "great difficulty" returning to Denmark as they have been refused permission to leave their vessel.
"And in Central America there are Danish seafarers who cannot return to Denmark," he added.
Questions mounting
"We receive regular notifications, messages and questions from places where problems arise. With a suspension of crew shifts, as few seafarers as possible get caught up in something that is suddenly hard to see."
Norden told TradeWinds that the company has chosen to stop crew changes up to at least 27 March in order to keep seafarers safe.
A Torm spokesman told TradeWinds: "As safety is always a key priority for us, we already in January decided to set up a designated working group to monitor and evaluate our precautions regarding Covid-19.
"This group checks the development every single day, and adjusts our precautions and plans accordingly."
He added: "For now, we have decided not to complete any crew changes in Europe, and furthermore we have decided to evaluate all other crew changes case-by-case. As this changes day by day, we cannot yet determine for how long this will be."
DFDS has halted shift swaps for two weeks from Thursday.
This covers all their freight ropaxes and two passengerships that run between the Netherlands and England, as well as its two Norwegian vessels.
DFDS legal counsel Jens Jakob Hjorth-Hartmann confirmed that planned crew changes will take place on Wednesday, but not after that.
About 700 seafarers are affected.
Union talks due to open
DFDS has informed Metal Maritime about the measure, and the agreement is that negotiations will be established as soon as possible to find viable solutions for crew.
These relate to earnings and settlement of days off etc.
Greenland container
ship player Royal Arctic Line has also halted transfers, while Maersk said on Tuesday it would stop changeovers up to 14 April.
Norwegian ferry owner Color Line is busy trying to repatriate 2,000 crew, it emerged on Tusday.
“It is a violent intervention in the individual's life and existence not to come home as planned," said Philipsen.
"Nothing is more precious to the seafarer than the freedom at home with the family. Repayment on time is for the same reason a cardinal point in many agreements."
He added that the sector is in a crisis situation.
"And we have to find solutions in the form of negotiated agreements as things evolve. Also for those who now have to stay home involuntarily," Philipsen said.
