Vaccine inequality around the world is a growing threat to both people and businesses, and no industry will feel the impact of this more keenly than shipping. The world’s 1.7 million seafarers, spread widely across the surface of the globe at any given moment, have been severely impacted by restrictions brought about by COVID-19, and uncertainty over vaccination policy threatens to continue this trend. If the importance of seafarers (who transport nine out of 10 traded goods globally), is not rapidly taken into account, we face the prospect of cancelled voyages and delays to medical supplies, impacting nations’ fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

By April 2020, there were some 400,000 seafarers, many of them from China, trapped on board their ships due to COVID-19. Restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the virus had effectively made changing crews impossible, including keeping sailors on ships and massively reducing international air travel. Individuals were forced to stay on board long after their original contracts had ended, often with consequences for their mental and physical health, and meaning they did not see loved ones for more than a year.

This tragedy, which happened out of sight of the world due to the isolated nature of shipping, gradually abated as the year progressed, lockdown restrictions eased, and countries took positive steps to ensure the well-being of their seafarers. However, there are now growing concerns that vaccinations could soon become a compulsory requirement for work at sea, with some states insisting all crew be vaccinated as a pre-condition of entering their ports, and if this issue is not dealt with intelligently, global trade will suffer at a crucial moment.

The idea that all crew would have to be vaccinated is a “perfect storm” for shipowners, who may be forced to cancel voyages if crew members are yet to be jabbed. They would risk legal, financial and reputational damage by sailing with unvaccinated crews, who could be denied entry to ports.

Delays into ports caused by unvaccinated crew would open up legal liabilities and costs for owners, which would not be recoverable from charterers. Furthermore, while owners would be able to address the need for seafarer vaccines in new contracts, owners attempting to change existing contracts or asking crew to receive a specific vaccine requested by a port could open themselves up to their own legal challenges.

There is unlikely to be a quick fix. Reports estimate that developing nations will not achieve mass immunization until 2024, with some 90 percent of people in 67 low-income countries standing little chance of vaccination in 2021. The International Chamber of Shipping calculates that 900,000 of the world’s seafarers (well over half the global workforce) are from such developing nations. Therefore, if seafarers have to rely on the vaccine rollout in their home country to provide them with a vaccine, many would be unable to sail under such harsh requirements.

In addition, shipping has unique vaccine challenges which require a nuanced approach. For example, social media is the main way seafarers keep in touch with family and loved ones while at sea, but it can also lead to the spread of inaccuracies around vaccines and make crew less willing to be vaccinated. Some crew may also be reticent due to religious concerns over vaccines containing alcohol or meat products.

There needs to be a program of engagement with seafarers, whereby they have access to reliable medical information, and initiatives like vaccination centers in global shipping hubs like the Philippines have been mooted. Considering the vital nature of their work, seafarers must be allowed to go about their day-to-day roles unimpeded, and vaccine policies tailored to them.

The threat of blanket vaccination policies comes at a crucial moment for shipping in the global supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shipping is expected to overtake aviation in the race to deliver vaccines around the world in the second half of 2021, in a drive that is estimated to take four years. Not only this, but personal protective equipment (PPE) is already predominantly travelling by ship.

Recently, the World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, International Maritime Organization and other UN bodies issued a joint statement urging countries to prioritize seafarers in their national COVID-19 vaccination programs. This is the bare minimum that seafarers deserve. Not just for their own daily sacrifice, but because of the integral role they are playing, and will continue to play, in countries vaccinating their populations against the coronavirus.

Simon Bennett, deputy secretary general, International Chamber of Shipping; Edward Liu, principal representative, International Chamber of Shipping (China) Liaison Office. 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.