Page 7 - Annual Review 2020

Out at sea the crew was safe from COVID-19, however they were worried about their loved ones back home. Most remained in communication with their family and were reassured. Wherever neces- sary companies took it upon themselves to liaison with family members regarding their wellbeing and whether any assistance was needed. Providing increased or unlimited communication packages and other such interventions kept our seafarers at peace. Stress was often brought on due to exces- sive news on social media which could have been avoided but being unable to sign off in an emer- gency situation was a stress that was difficult to overcome. One could always sense the emotions that built up on board when the ship was nearing a port. The greatest fear was contracting COVID-19 during a port call. Shore leaves were cancelled to prevent this but over time would lead to mental fa- tigue. Strict port rules made it difficult to seek med- ical consultation at ports for illness or injury. And finally but not the least the uncertainty of returning home would take its toll.
While our crew on board had their set of challenges our seafarers on leave ashore were initially happy to be with their family in these difficult times. But in the weeks to follow with crew changes not hap- pening, concerns were mounting because of the uncertainty of their new contract, no earnings, fear of losing their job to another nationality, loan com- mitments on the personal front etc. Their timelines for career examinations and renewal of certificates were up in the air as also for those on board. Finally when crew changes did start, having to deal with the family not wanting their seafarer to leave home during the persistent pandemic was an issue.
Globally crew change had come to a grinding halt. Air travel, road and rail services became non-exis- tent. Seafarer’s contracts were ending. Investing a great amount of time into communicating with and reassuring our ship staff and on-signers was the need of the hour and gave us great returns. Most of our members’ seafarers rose to the occasion and patiently waited for their sign off/sign on.
India became among the first few countries to set up protocols and start crew changes, thanks to the proactive office of the DGS. The SOP for crew change has undoubtedly been cumbersome but has kept our ships COVID-19 free. The starting point had required seafarers and support service providers to be declared as “Essential Workers” to allow free travel across the country. There were many stumbling blocks like lack of laboratories for testing and DGS approved doctors in small towns, expired passports, requirement for travel passes to go cross country, etc. The key challenge was the lack of coordination between various Government (Central / State) agencies. DGS intervention would set to rest such challenges. Several companies carried out international crew changes using Vande
Annual Review 2020
Bharat Mission flights and often chartered flights at huge costs and logistic challenges. In fact, over- all for a crew change anywhere, companies are spending up to three times their usual amount. To date more than 150,000 commercial ship sign on/ sign offs have taken place including both domestic and international. While few countries have opened up for crew changes they are imposing increasing restrictions and international air travel remains a limiting factor. The rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country have been causing charterers and countries to view us warily if a crew change has recently taken place at an Indian Port.
It has been trying times for our seafarers, but the strong hearted ones have ridden the wave well. A few handful just did not have the capacity to deal with the adversities brought on by COVID-19. We needed to be patient and give them their space and our support.
With all the obstacles the Quality, Safety, Health and Environment Cell have had to find work around solutions to keep all in check. Most were working from home, even if they could go to the office au- dits would have to be carried with social distancing and appropriate use of PPE. Boarding the vessel by inspectors and auditors posed a risk to all. Keep- ing these challenges in mind, where possible ex- tensions were taken for audits. When audits were falling due with no further scope for extension, we either had to come into the office (as the lockdown was getting lifted) or carry out remote audits. Audits in the office with PPE have been a very draining ex- ercise. For remote audits procedures needed some amendment. External Audits for the ships were carried out wherever boarding of the auditors was permitted.
Amidst all this talk of commercial shipping let us not forget the impact COVID-19 has had on our Mari- time Training Institutes.
One of the first directives from DGS was to stop bio-metric attendance to prevent the spread of the virus. Initially the Modular and other courses and then the Pre-sea courses were stopped. Education on campus came to a grinding halt. It was a painful decision but all students had to be sent home quite early in the semester. Reeling under this abrupt in- terruption the institutes had to establish a live line of communication with all the students. The clock was ticking and we could not afford to lose time. The faculty had to embrace completely new elec- tronic teaching-learning methodologies. But, how does one keep a class of 40 students engaged on-line? How does one ensure effective learning? At the students end lack of appropriate hardware and unreliable connectivity in remote areas of the country were major challenges. Students had left campus abruptly never imagining how long they would be gone for, hence no books had been tak-
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