THE MINISTER OF THE SEA GIRARDIN ANNOUNCES THE MOVEMENT EASYING OF 23,000 MARINE

USPA NEWS - After a long debate within the IMO Maritime Safety Committee on November 10, 2020, according to the wishes of the Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin, France obtained the establishment of a global database of ports . This tool is essential to facilitate the organization of crew changes on board ships. Sailors are on the front lines amid the COVID-19 pandemic and must be protected.

After a long debate within the IMO Maritime Safety Committee on November 10, 2020, according to the wishes of the Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin, France obtained the establishment of a global database of ports . This tool is essential to facilitate the organization of crew changes on board ships. Sailors are on the front lines amid the COVID-19 pandemic and must be protected. Closure of borders, bans on stopovers, absence of certain air links or even degraded sanitary conditions have generated an unprecedented crisis for international maritime transport by paralyzing crew changes. At the end of September 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated at 400,000 the number of sailors stranded on board ships and unable to return home.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since the start of this pandemic, France has been active by setting up a crisis unit managed by the one-stop shop of the French International Register, which has so far enabled the relief of nearly 23,000 sailors. Through the French representation at the IMO, it is continuing its action by securing the implementation of a new tool to facilitate the movements of seafarers. This world database of ports is a continuation of France's action to facilitate relief work, by listing the conditions and means available in each port in the world. It gives unique access to official information from States and allows comparison of the situation between ports. This measure will help simplify the organization of succession in each country.--------------------------- The measure taken by the IMO on November 10 will be operational by the end of this year. It is intended to be supplemented by the proposed amendment to the maritime labor convention, submitted at the instigation of Minister Annick Girardin to the International Labor Organization, to identify situations where the maximum duration of presence at board of sailors. "I am happy that this database now makes it possible to identify, in each geographical area, secure ports where relief can be organized. "Declares Annick Girardin, Minister of the Sea." I invite the Member States to declare to the IMO the list of their infrastructures likely to accommodate the relief workers so that the Port States, the Flag States and the shipowners can organize these crew movements, and resolve health emergencies, in complete safety for the populations. " Source: Ministry for Sea,