Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Message from the Managing Director

Our team around the world is busy working from home while our offices remain closed at the start of 2021. However all phone extensions are redirected, so please contact us the usual way by email or phone.

As Covid-19-related challenges and priorities continue to affect all our lives both in business and in private, we have been completely focussed on adapting services to what Members need most from their Association. I am proud to be part of this effort and to work with a highly dedicated team of professionals, not just within the secretariat but also from our wider global Membership; working hand in hand to address issues and find solutions for our industry.

Throughout 2020 we pulled together a significant body of work and created this Covid-19 Information Centre - and we will endeavour to keep it up to date as the situation continues.

Resources include links, e.g. to key geographic information such as the ITF’s ‘Country information for Seafarers’, IAPH’s ‘World ports information portal’, Wilhelmsen’s ’Global Port Restrictions Map’ or the P&I IGs online restrictions tracker. We have also collated information from industry partners such the ICS guidelines for Ship Operators or their template letters/ certificates to get seafarers recognised as key workers. We further maintain and regularly update crucial information on survey and inspection requirements from charterers and their associations OCIMF and CDI, as well as MoUs, Class, Flag and Coastal States etc.

For quick links and downloads, please use our resource library: https://www.intertanko.com/info-centre/coronavirus-resources.

Please continue to share any links and information of value so it can be made available to the wider Membership. Your input has been and continues to be crucial.

In responding to Members’ enquiries, the Secretariat has built up a catalogue of answers relevant to the wider Membership, which have been collated in several ‘frequently asked questions’ sections, grouped currently under the headlines:

• Crew changes and the ship shore interface
• OCIMF and CDI inspections and charterers  [View Q&A]
• Port State and Flag Administrations: Surveys and Certification slippage  [View Q&A]
• Ship building and repair yards  [View Q&A]
• Charterparty and other contractual issues  [View Q&A]

A range of INTERTANKO guidance documents, developed during this time can also be found there, addressing topics from Outbreak Management Plans for vessels, to Crew Change Management, and from actual Covid-19 charterparty clauses to wider guidance on Chartering Issues for tankers.

Most of these documents have been developed with the invaluable help of Members and Associate Members and many in detailed consideration of other guidance provided by authorities and industry partners. The Outbreak Management Plan for example is to be read in conjunction with the ICS ‘Coronavirus (Covid-19) Guidance for Ship Operators for the Protection of the Health of Seafarers’, completing an already very useful industry resource with needed operational detail.

Working closely with other bodies continues to take time and effort but the benefits of leveraging a combined industry voice have been tangible in many areas. Whilst not resolved, many aspects of the challenges facing Members have finally been recognised by other stakeholders, which will allow us to jointly address them.

The complex problems surrounding crew change operations for example are being tackled through the united work of multiple industry bodies with flag and coastal states, many of whom are part of our Association’s Associate Membership and actively involved.

INTERTANKO Meetings

Member engagement has been terrific with our shorter, restructured Regional Panel Meetings held as webinars and several sets of virtual board meetings during the year. We have also successfully continued the work of our Committees through conference calls and video conferring, keeping deliverables flowing and Members abreast of news and developments beyond the pandemic.

You can register for INTERTANKO events via our online event calendar (https://www.intertanko.com/events-panels/events-calendar). If you would like us to keep you informed proactively, please indicate your areas of interest on your personal website profile on www.intertanko.com to receive topical information bulletins and event invitations.

As we continue to look for ways to improve our value to you as Members, we welcome any feedback on how we can enhance services further. Please do continue to propose additional lines of activity. As I hope we have demonstrated, we are doing our utmost to provide useful, useable support and bring the weight of your combined Membership to bear on international decision making, protecting your operations and interests.

Kathi Stanzel, Managing Director (Katharina.Stanzel@intertanko.com)