Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Message from the Managing Director

Since the start of the pandemic, we have pulled together a significant body of work which can be accessed through the Information Centre.

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.

Covid-19- related information has been collated under the following headers:

• 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 Note that some of the early guidance has been withdrawn, superseded or replaced with more current information, so please check for latest versions etc.

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.

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 have been deeply frustrated and aggrieved by the 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.

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)