Operating in China has become a challenge for ships. In its attempts to keep COVID-19 out, China has continued to ban crew changes for foreigners, and recently imposed a mandatory quarantine of up to seven weeks for returning Chinese seafarers. Even ships that have renewed their crews elsewhere have to wait two weeks before they are allowed to dock in China, Bloomberg has reported.
To comply with regulations, shipowners and managers have had to divert vessels, delaying shipments and crew changes, which has exacerbated the supply chain crisis. "China's restrictions have ripple effects," stated Guy Platten, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents shipowners and operators. "Any restriction on vessel operations has a cumulative impact on the supply chain and causes real disruptions."
Ship managers and operators are calling on China to relax its restrictions and on governments to prioritize seafarers and shipping, or risk deeper disruptions.
In fact, seafarers with emergency medical needs cannot be cared for in China, different ship managers have stated. "China is a major problem," said Bjorn Hojgaard, CEO of the ship manager Anglo-Eastern Univan Group and president of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association. “They are doing a good job of keeping the pandemic at bay, but at the cost of not letting seafarers enter the country; even Chinese seafarers are sometimes unable to enter China."
In fact, the latest restrictions in Chinese ports are targeting Chinese crews, requiring them to quarantine three weeks before returning to China, then another two weeks at the port of arrival, and two more weeks in their province before they can reunite with their families, according to Terence Zhao, managing director of Singhai Marine Services, one of the largest Chinese crew supply agents.
Chinese authorities also do not allow more than three Chinese seafarers on a flight to the mainland, so their return home can take up to months after they have left their ships, Hojgaard said.
"China is determined to achieve having zero COVID cases and it won't relax their rules because of politics," stated Zhao of Singhai Marine. "They might even intensify them due to the Winter Olympics in February next year."
Source: simfruit.cl
