CREW CHANGE

CREW CHANGE

Kenyan Seafarers Repatriated

he Kenya government in Tcollaboration with various ship owners managed to successfully repatriate over 500 of its seafarers stranded on board several seagoing vessels across the world following the outbreak of the Corona Virus pandemic.

Mrs Nancy Karigithu, Principal Secretary State Department of Shipping and Maritime Affairs told African Shipping Review in a recent interview that the crew included the 250 Kenyan youth who had been recruited by MSC Cruises following the 2018 agreement between the Italian company and the Kenya government. She admitted the exercise was indeed challenging:

“Flights were being cancelled, travel restrictions were being imposed, visa requirements were becoming more stringent and last minute changes to itineraries were being imposed on ships' movements,” she said adding that.

“There was a general uncertainty all over.We had to work very closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kenyan Embassies in the respective countries to ensure administrative processes were attained in time for the seafarers' travel.”

By the time COVID 19 hit home, 400 youth had been recruited to work onboard MSC cruise ships in the program aimed at sending at least 2,000 to sea yearly for the next five years, under Kenya's ambitious Blue Economy program.

Only 250 had however boarded their respective vessels while a further 150 were yet to embark on their contractual engagement by the time maritime nations closed their borders due to the pandemic.

Mrs Karigithu said the seafarers were flown from different cities across the globe after terminating their cruises in Miami – the largest passenger port in the world; Port of Genoa which is a major cruise port in Italy and the Port of Marseille in France.

CREW CHANGE

Others disembarked at the United Arab Emirates' Port Rashid in Dubai before being flown to Nairobi.

All the repatriation costs such as Air tickets, quarantine costs, medical tests and local transport for the seafarers were all borne by the ships owners under International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 which partly states:

“A seafarer has the right to be repatriated at no cost to him when the seafarer is no longer able to carry out his duties under his employment agreement.”

At the same time a group of 191 Kenyan seafarers who had been recruited by the Carnival Cruise – an international cruise line headquartered in Florida, USA char thtered Air Europa on 9 July, 2020 to fly the Kenyan crew from the Barbados in the Caribbean to Nairobi. Another group of had been recruited by the Norwegian Cruise Lines were flown back home on a special Kenya Airways flight landing in Nairobi on th27 June 2020. The Holland America Cruises which specializes on cruises to Alaska, Panama Canal and Mexico, is another line that had Kenyan crew working on its ships.The company recently sailed one of its cruise vessels, the Mv Westerdam to drop seven crew members in Mombasa. But how did the PS get to know about the teams which had not been part of the Kenyan government – MSC program? “The crew approached me through the Social Media as they were desperate to come home,” she explained. “We got in touch with the employer and were able to plan their repatriation working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.When they contacted us the ship was in US but due to COVID 19 restrictions they could not disembark so the ship sailed to Barbados from where the company charted a flight to Nairobi for them.” The PS said it was a very fulfilling moment to see so many of the seafarers arrive home safely in one go. The later team got engaged on board the prestigious cruise lines through the internet. On the “Return to Work” plan for the seafarers once the situation calms down the PS stated that the government was in constant conversation with the employers and have been advised once air travel is allowed in Kenya the crew members will start flying back to board their respective ships. Of the repatriated seafarers only four tested positive for COVID 19, and were let to recuperate through isolation as none required hospitalization. But how did the Kenya government manage this feat, at a time thousands of seafarers from different nations still remained stranded in their respective ships long after the completion of their contractual engagement? “We heeded to the call by International Maritime Organisation (IMO), ILO and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Transport Workers’ Federation to recognise seafarers as key workers and also learnt from the initial 13 countries that had already opened their ports for crew change,” she said. “The plight of our seafarers, said the PS “at this moment is a great concern to us and we will do our best to ensure they are assisted at this difficult time. ” Mrs Karigithu noted that Mombasa was of strategic importance in the region hence they worked under the leadership of the Ministry of Health to develop the protocols on crew change which mitigate the spread of COVID - 19 during crew change.

Ms. Nancy Karigithu

On the “Return to Work” plan for the seafarers once the situation calms down the PS stated that the government was in constant conversation with the employers and have been advised once air travel is allowed in Kenya the crew members will start flying back to board their respective ships.

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ESPS Santa Maria approached the Panama-flagged MT “AEGEAN II” and confirmed the inial assessment that the reported suspicious movements were due to damages in the hull caused by rough sea. Contacted by EU NAVFOR OP ATALANTA Force Commander, RDAM Villanueva, Bossaso port authority reported that MT “AEGEAN II” had not been hijacked and that Garadfoo police had been sent on board to inspect the vessel when she was driing off Bereeda waing for technical assistance. While ESPS Santa Maria was collecng informaon, the Master revealed that there had been certain incidents on board the vessel. At this point, the event cannot be classified as a marime security event, but a more detailed invesgaon is in progress. MT “AEGEAN II” weighed anchor and is currently underway proceeding to an intermediate desnaon being closely monitored by ESPS Santa Maria. This incident underlines, once again, the importance of EU NAVFOR Somalia's presence at the Horn of Africa in the fulfilment of Operaon ATALANTA's mandate and that cooperaon with local authories, as well as other stakeholders in the region is essenal to ensure freedom of navigaon in the region. In the light of this event, it is important to emphasize, once more, the importance of registering to MSCHOA's Voluntary Registraon Scheme. This will allow EU NAVFOR Somalia to monitor vessels in the area and use its assets in a more efficient way. EU NAVFOR Somalia connues to urge the Marime Industry to remain vigilant when transing the high-risk area and to comply with the recommended Best Management Pracses (BMP 5).

SECURITY

This incident underlines, once again, the importance of EU NAVFOR Somalia's presence at the Horn of Africa in the fulfilment of Operaon ATALANTA's mandate and that cooperaon with local authories, as well as other stakeholders in the region is essenal to ensure freedom of navigaon in the region.