The faster it accelerates, the more expensive the COVID-19 pandemic becomes. To the shipping industry in particular. According to figures put forward in February by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the industry is losing 350 million dollars a week in revenue.
Several organisations therefore took the opportunity of an extraordinary meeting of European Transport Ministers on Wednesday 18 March (see other news) to call on the EU to take up the issue.
Although they recognise the need to control and limit the movement of people in order to contain the epidemic, they all call, as a matter of priority, for maritime trade to be allowed to continue. The latter accounts for 76% of the EU's external trade and 32% of the EU's internal freight transport.
It must be ensured that “essential goods, energy, food, medicines and many other products from outside the EU can be delivered to the EU internal market, to citizens and to vital industries in all Member States”, insist the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) in a letter to the EU Council.
Both deplore a significant increase in the number of vessels out of service due to severe operational limitations, lack of cargo or unavailability of crew.
To remedy this, they call, for example, for seafarers to be exempted from national travel bans, so that they can join and leave their ships (including by air) without hindrance and so that crew rotations can continue to be carried out.
Seafarers should receive special attention from governments during these journeys, “as is the case for medical personnel or security forces”, the ECSA and ETF say.
The same applies to operators of essential supply chain services in ports, the European Community Seaports Organisation (ESPO) said in a statement. The latter should “be considered a priority group in the distribution and allocation of preventive and protective equipment such as disinfectants, masks and gloves”, the organisation suggests.
Ship classification and seafarers’ certificates
Keeping supply lines open would also help to alleviate the shortage of mechanical and electronic parts for ships, the ECSA and ETF point out. Both draw the attention of Ministers to the so-called “operational” consequences of the outbreak.
In particular, they call on European States and classification companies to be flexible with regard to ships forced to dry-dock so that their certificates can be renewed. Indeed, “the availability of the dry dock is severely limited due to the precautionary measures taken to contain the virus”, they say.
In a note addressed to the Transport Ministers ahead of this Extraordinary Council, of which EUROPE obtained a copy (see EUROPE 12448/9), the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council also pointed out another problem: that of the validity of seafarers’ certificates and employment contracts, as some have expired or are about to expire while the seafarers are on board and have no possibility of landing and being repatriated.
It suggested, in fact, that “the necessary measures should be adopted for the temporary extension of the validity of all certificates and other documents of seafarers”.
The European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, for her part, spoke by telephone on the eve of the Council with representatives of the European Community Seaports Organisation (ESPO) and the Federation of European Private Port Companies and Terminals (Feport). “Trade must keep moving, important demand for protective gear, ports have contingency procedures”, she listed in a tweet, seemingly acknowledging their recommendations. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)