September 2022 seems a very far cry from the summer of 2020, a period of time where seafarers were rightly railing against the flip-flapping inaction of many maritime administrations around the world. It might seem a long time ago now, but Singapore came in for repeated flack for its initial ‘cake and eat it’ attitude towards seafarers with many hitting out at the republic’s deliberately obstructive crew repatriation rules. It was not just Singapore – most nations struggled to come up with smooth, well thought out procedures in the first year of the pandemic. How can Singapore keep shipping flowing smoothly in the event of another global health crisis?
Opportunity Amidst Adversity
At the height of the frustration back in June 2020, Kuba Szymanski, secretary-general of InterManager commented “Singapore and Dubai have always been saying we’re the best hubs in the world, we’ll do anything for you but when the difficult times hit they have proven to be lacking.” David Borcoski, CEO of ASP Ships Group, lamented “Singapore could have been a global hub for crew changes during covid and instead the considerable local assets went unused”. There are plenty of lessons to be learned for Singapore authorities from the covid crisis from a maritime point of view, specifically seafarers. As such a crucial global hub port, the city is a vital conduit for crew changes.
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore established the Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience Fund (STAR Fund) with the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), unions and international organizations to ensure that crew changes are conducted safely amongst seafaring nations. The pandemic brought to the forefront the importance of shipping and seafarers, argues Beng Tee Tan, the executive director of the Singapore Maritime Fund. She added that “We need to continue building on this awareness and to give seafarers due respect and ensure their physical and mental well-being”. Carl Schou, president and CEO of Singapore-based Wilhelmsen Ship Management, praised the MPA and commented “I don’t think any other country did this at least so early in the pandemic – and this is what makes Singapore such an attractive place to be…”. It portrays that Singapore is very solution-oriented, a case other littoral states must emulate.
An Exemplary Case
Vinay Gupta, managing director of local ship manager Union Marine Management Services (UMMS), reckons that in general Singapore authorities handled the covid crisis “pretty well” and other jurisdictions could learn and follow from them. Looking from Hong Kong, a city still bedeviled by strict covid protocols, Kishore Rajvanshy, the veteran managing director of Fleet Management, is full of praise for how Singapore handled the pandemic. Rajesh Unni, CEO of Synergy Marine Group, says that while he would have liked procedures to have moved more swiftly, Singapore was able to mobilize stakeholders in key industries like maritime far quicker than in most jurisdictions. “The lessons learned about how to effectively manage a pandemic that threatens trade – which is Singapore’s lifeblood – have been well learned here…” he added. “Throughout the pandemic, Singaporean authorities collaborated with international authorities and managed to bring the situation locally under control” relates Dr Shahrin Osman, regional head of maritime advisory for class society DNV.
For seafarers, better international collaboration will help establish a standardization of requirements that crewing management companies need to comply with. The biggest challenge has been keeping up with varying vaccination policies, which has disrupted their ability to freely disembark at different ports. If the Singaporean authorities are able to ease and affix some of these requirements by working in sync with their international partners, then they can create a greater sense of certainty and stability for seafarers.
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Source: Splash247
