China plans to allow some stranded Australian coal shipments to unload despite ongoing curbs on imports, a move aimed at showing goodwill to countries with seafarers stuck on the vessels, reports Bloomberg.
Crew change possible
The measure is not a suggestive that China is loosening its ban on Australian coal imports and it is uncertain if the deliveries will be cleared by customs. Some ships may be allowed to change crews when they unload, an action that will help seafarers from nations including India who have been stranded at sea for months.
China’s customs administration didn’t immediately respond to a fax seeking comment and Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing that he was not aware of the situation.
It is also unclear how many ships will be allowed to unload. Some 61 bulk carriers are waiting to discharge Australian coal outside Chinese ports, shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Deflecting humanitarian crisis
The ships and seafarers, some of whom have been in limbo for months, have been trapped between authorities who won’t let them unload and buyers who won’t let them leave.
As the standoff has lengthened, humanitarian concerns for the approximately 1,200 stranded mariners have deepened. A seafarer on the Anastasia vessel attempted suicide, Seatrade Maritime News reported last month.
Read Also: MSC Set To End Crew Change Ordeal for Stranded Bulker
Some shipowners and charterers are negotiating with cargo owners to divert vessels to foreign ports to relieve the exhausted workers.
Major purchases halted
Cargill Inc. and Great Eastern Shipping, the lead charterer and owner of the Jag Anand vessel, jointly covered the cost of diverting the ship to Japan for a crew swap after the carrier waited for months to discharge in China.
Cargill said in a statement that diverting a vessel to relieve seafarers involves multiple costs “which would equate to millions of dollars per ship” and vary depending on the situation.
Oldendorff Carriers paid operational and crew-change costs associated with diverting two of its ships — the Caroline Oldendorff and Topas vessels — to other countries to swap crews, the company said. Both vessels have since returned to China and resumed waiting to unload their cargo.
While the ban on Australian coal has never been publicly acknowledged by Beijing, Chinese power stations and steel mills were verbally told to stop using the fuel in mid-October. Authorities also ordered traders to halt purchases of a raft of the country’s commodities, including coal, from November 6.
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Source: Bloomberg
