Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Message from the Managing Director

Our team around the world continues to work from home while our offices remain closed, but all phone extensions are redirected and you can 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 remain focussed on adapting services to what Members need most urgently from their Association. As circumstances change, so has our focus. 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.

Since the start of the pandemic, we have pulled together a significant body of work which can be accessed through the Information Centre - and we will continue to keep it up to date as the situation evolves.

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 as well as information collated from industry partners. We further maintain 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 as key resources under the headlines:

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

A range of INTERTANKO guidance documents, developed during this time can also be found in the Info Centre, 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 the 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. Note that some of the early guidance has been withdrawn, superseded or replaced with more current information, so please check for latest versions etc.

Working closely with other bodies continues to take time and effort. The benefits of leveraging a combined industry voice have been tangible in many areas, if not all. We are deeply frustrated and aggrieved by the ongoing crew change crisis and country governments’ seeming inability to comprehend the crucial importance of seafarers. Whilst many aspects of the challenges facing Members have been recognised by other stakeholders and we continue to jointly address them, the multi-agency collaboration required to effect crew changes under pandemic conditions seems impossible to drive in a consistent way around the world. This is despite the united work of multiple industry, governmental and inter-governmental bodies with Flag and coastal states and despite the extensive networks leveraged through the Association’s Associate Membership.

INTERTANKO Meetings

Member engagement has been terrific with our restructured Regional Panel Meetings held online and the various virtual board meetings we have held throughout 2020/2021. We have also successfully continued the work of our Committees through video conferencing, 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. 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)