The Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainability of the Maritime Labour Force

Introduction

The new type of coronavirus has spread rapidly to many countries of the world since December 2019. The World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as a “pandemic” on 11.03.2020, and then worldwide precautions were commenced to be taken in the fight against the pandemic. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on public health, the speed and severity of its spread have put a great deal of pressure on national health systems. This was followed by socio-economic problems arising in the fields of production, supply chain and employment. It is understood that the COVID-19 pandemic has also deeply affected the maritime sector on a globally. Sustainability of maritime transport, which is at a key point, is important in order to ensure the continuity of commercial activities and the transportation of needed basic products, raw materials and medical products. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the maritime sector as well as all sectors.

Maritime transport is very important for the sustainability of international trade. Considering that approximately 80% of world trade on volume basis and more than 70% on value basis is transported by sea (UNCTAD, 2020), it is possible for ship operators to protect their assets with a sustainable maritime labour force. However, when both the literature and the reports obtained from the maritime sector are examined, it is seen that there is a constant supply shortfall especially in the officers and the lack of seafarers is emphasized. According to the “Man Power Report” published by Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO, 2015), it is expected that the global demand for the maritime labour force will increase until 2025. It is also seen that the BIMCO/ICS (2021) report emphasizes the seafarers' shortage until 2026. When the difficulties inherent in maritime nature and the difficulties of working conditions are added to the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it becomes clear that seafarers need to be supported much more to do their jobs. The longevity of the human factor, which is at the center of sustainability, has become an important issue for the maritime industry. For this reason, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has made multiple calls, in collaboration with a wide range of relevant shipping associations, to designate seafarers as 'key workers' who will exempt them from travel restrictions and allow seafarer changeovers (IMO, 2020a; ILO, 2021). Despite this, many seafarers all over the world have faced the uncertainties brought on by the pandemic.

Public health strategies to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic have included the closure of national borders and the cancellation of international flights, which have affected crew changeovers. The measures taken led to the long stay of seafarers on vessel or at home, who should be considered “key workers” in terms of their main role in maintaining the flow of vital commodities such as food, medical equipments and fuel (Slišković, 2020).

In the study, after an introduction to the subject was made, the subject was explained in the background and supported by a literature review. Sustainability and its dimensions, which are among the basic concepts of the study, were explained, and especially the social dimension in which the human factor was included was emphasized. In the next part, an overview of maritime transport in the Covid-19 pandemic was made. In the next section, the working conditions were mentioned by defining the seafarer, which is one of the main factors of maritime transport. In particular, the difficulty of the maritime profession due to its nature was explained and the shortage of seafarer was emphasized. It was told about the difficulties experienced by maritime labour force during the Covid-19 pandemic of seafaring, which is usually a difficult profession. The increasing number of problems experienced during the pandemic has pushed the maritime labour force further away from being a sustainable profession. The MLC 2006 contract, which includes seafarers' employment contracts and the obligations of maritime companies on these contracts, working hours, health and safety, living spaces and seafarers' welfare, was included in the study as it is closely related to the subject and the applicability of the MLC 2006 contract during the pandemic was mentioned. In the next part, strategic factors were put forward and solutions and recommendations were made for the continuity of maritime transport and the sustainability of the maritime workforce, which ensures the operation of ships, in order not to disrupt international trade in cases such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, the conclusion was reached by including other future studies related to the study.