A new action by the Seafarers Appeals Board (SAB) means a formal return to business as usual when it comes to the Shipping Rules.
Prior SAB actions temporarily amended the Shipping Rules in order to help meet manpower obligations during peak stretches of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those actions (numbers 480 and 481, respectively) are rescinded as of Nov. 15, 2021.
“The new SAB (Action Number 486) makes official what has already been happening,” said SIU Vice President Contracts George Tricker. “The hiring halls long ago returned to normal business hours. Thanks to vaccinations and other safety measures, registration and other shipping-related procedures which periodically and temporarily were done by phone or email are now back to being handled in-person, as prescribed by the Shipping Rules.”
The full text of SAB Action 486 follows:
WHEREAS, Article IX entitled Shipping Rules, Sections 7. and 9. grant the sole and exclusive authority to administer and/or amend the shipping rules to the Seafarers Appeals Board.
WHEREAS, by prior action the Seafarers Appeals Board has amended the Shipping Rules to secure and maintain an adequate supply of qualified and trained personnel aboard various U.S.-flagged vessels, in particularly Actions #480 and #481 in which Shipping Rules 2, 4 and 5 where suspended due to Coronavirus Pandemic restraints; and
WHEREAS, with the implementation of vaccinations, precautionary measures and protocols in place, the need for Actions #480 and #481 no longer exists.
NOW THEREFORE, with the aforementioned in mind, the Seafarers Appeals Board hereby rescinds the conditions of SAB #480 and #481, effective November 15, 2021.
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