seafarers News

War in Ukraine Puts Shipping’s Recovery in Jeopardy

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has the shipping industry bracing for new shocks to its labor force, which relies on experienced crew from both countries. Ukrainian and Russian seafarers make up nearly 15% of the industry’s 1.9 million seafarers and …

COVID-19 Vaccination Rates of Seafarers a Threat to Marine Insurers

COVID-19 once again poses an intensifying threat to supply chain resilience. Marine reinsurers and insurers, in particular, should stay vigilant as to the potential implications for the risk environment. Low rates of vaccination, the continued problem of crews stranded at …

Rogue Captain’s Mid-Ocean Detour Tips Investors to Crisis at Sea

Terence Tsai started hearing about the growing labor crisis in shipping in a roundabout way. First, in March, an official at a ship management company in Hong Kong let slip that a captain had purposefully diverted a vessel under its …

Ship Insurers Primed to Raise Rates After Red Sea Attacks

LONDON — Insurers are set to raise the cost of providing cover for merchant ships through the Red Sea after a series of incidents that have hit vessels around Saudi Arabian waters, industry sources said. The possibility of more attacks …

Fidelity Leads $2 Trillion Investor Group Seeking Seafarer Aid

Investors managing more than $2 trillion of assets are calling on world leaders to address the “unfolding humanitarian crisis at sea” where marine workers are stranded due to border closures and restrictions on movement imposed to contain Covid-19. The 85-member …

What Happens When Tycoons Abandon Their Giant Cargo Ships

From the deck of their tanker, Captain Samig Nabiyev and his crew could see the smoke and fire rising over the Port of Beirut, 900 meters away. When the flaming warehouse exploded, the force of the blast knocked Nabiyev flat …

Viewpoint: With Sailors Stranded, Shippers Face a Hard Choice

Before the pandemic, 100,000 seafarers traveled in and out of the world’s ports every month. Some had spent weeks or months aboard the cargo ships, tankers and other merchant vessels that are essential to moving products and commodities across the …

Shipowners and Unions Raise Concerns at Casualty Reporting Failures

Shipowners and seafarers’ unions have joined forces to express concern at flag states’ failure to submit maritime casualty reports as required under international conventions. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents 80 percent of the world merchant fleet, and …