Since the new crown epidemic, more than 400,000 crew members have been trapped at sea. Due to the severe pressure on prevention and control in various port states, most of them have said NO to crew shifts; and shipowners, due to financial difficulties under the epidemic, are often solving crew shifts. It is also lack of energy.However, the American shipowner company Eagle Bulk Shipping (Eagle Bulk Shipping) has found a solution to the crew shift: spend more effort and money.
Regarding the issue of crew shifts, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) believes that this is the responsibility of the country (not just at the company level), because crew shifts do involve too many departments, too much scope, and expensive solutions. Shipping companies may not be alone. bear.However, Eagle Bulk found a way."Due to COVID-19, seafarers have endured a lot this year." Eagle Bulk CEO Gary Vogel said, "The government imposes travel restrictions and it is almost impossible to change crew members. Thankfully, some of these restrictions are Alleviated, but it is estimated that more than 400,000 seafarers are still waiting to go home.” Gary Vogel said, “We have taken practical action to send the crew home. As of early November, the vast majority of bulk carrier crews have been normal. After changing shifts and disembarking (approximately 1,000 seafarers), only 26 seafarers exceeded the working period stipulated in the contract. We are now fully concerned about the shift of these 26 crew members."
Crew changes completed by Eagle Bulk during the epidemic
Although Gary Vogel did not discuss the company's specific strategy for solving the crew shift problem, it is understood that the repatriation of crew has indeed cost the company a lot of manpower and material resources.In addition, Eagle Bulk's COVID-19-related expenses incurred by purchasing crew personal protective equipment, test kits, and crew changes are $700,000."Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of crew changes alone has increased by 50%," Gary Vogel said.In addition to direct costs, Gary Vogel believes that for crew changes, shipowners also bear two indirect costs, namely, changing routes and high charter fees."In order to solve this problem, we had to transfer and lease the ship. In the third quarter, we had a downtime of 40 days, which greatly increased our operating expenses." Gary Vogel added.It is reported that Eagle Bulk is also under huge financial pressure to promote crew changes, and the company's losses in the third quarter are increasing.However, Gary Vogel said they are still optimistic about the market.