The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is urging governments to apply lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath to secure reliable maritime supply chains for their citizens and the climate.
In a new report from the federation – titled “Opportunities for Seafarers and National Maritime Policies: Navigating Beyond the Chaos of the Pandemic” – industry experts identify specific examples and propose practical solutions for bolstering supply chains.
The SIU is an affiliate of the London-based ITF.
“During the pandemic, in many countries, consumers and businesses experienced shortages, including of critical goods like medicines and fuel supplies,” said Chris Given, secretary-treasurer of the Seafarers International Union of Canada and one of the report’s authors. “But what we see is that in other countries, specifically those with robust national maritime policies, governments were able to harness well-laid policy levers to get their people fed, fueled and on a quicker path back to economic and health recovery.”
Throughout the pandemic, many of the world’s shipping containers had been scattered – found in locations far from their intended destinations, the federation reported. The disarray resulted in record-high shipping prices and persistent port congestion, which quickly led to mass shortages of finished goods and left consumers at the mercy of overstretched supply chains, according to the ITF.
At the same time, upwards of 400,000 mariners were essentially trapped aboard vessels due to pandemic restrictions, unable to return home and be relieved by a fresh crew. Tired and weary, some seafarers were stuck on board for more than a year at the crew change crisis’ peak, the report stated.
“Amidst the chaos, some countries were able to use national flag fleets to shift critical cargo and get supply chains moving again. We have to remember that these are supply chains that remained logjammed elsewhere,” Given said. “In writing this report, we asked ‘Why?’ What was different about some countries that saw them come through faster and stronger, while others were very negatively exposed by these crises?”
The report also identifies governments whom the federation describes as “struggling to navigate the turbulent waters of the crises due to poor planning and policy.”
For instance, according to the ITF, Australia’s federal government “could only look on as its lack of a strategic fleet caused the country’s businesses and consumers to become hostage to an incredibly volatile global market for shipping services. Firms, households and the public sector were at the mercy of the markets and their record-high prices, even for cargo critical to the nation’s economic or physical health.”
“COVID-19 and the supply chain shocks which followed laid bare just how fragile our global supply chains are,” said SIU President David Heindel, who also heads the ITF Seafarers’ Section. “Sensible national maritime policies are an important insurance to safeguard a country’s economic, health, security, and environmental interests. After what the world has been through, what kind of government wouldn’t want that insurance for their people?”
He added, “In the absence of sensible national maritime policies, governments put their economies and their communities at extreme – and unnecessary – risk. There is another way.”
Heindel said some countries have already shown they had taken note of the pitfalls of an unprepared national maritime sector. The ITF’s report highlights recent moves by Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, South Africa, the UK and the United States to strengthen support for cabotage and other sensible national maritime policies in their domestic legislation and planning.
“The standout performance of our domestic shipping sectors, not only in the U.S. but elsewhere too, throughout these cr ises shows that when you invest in your people … and your industry, you are better prepared to provide for your citizens come what may in the global headwinds,” Heindel concluded.
Given added, “Ours is a success story. But there is more we can do, with more governments supporting our critical sector all over the world.”
ITF Maritime Coordinator Jacqueline Smith agreed. “If the world is to step up to the collective challenge of cutting carbon emissions to a safe level, then shipping needs to do our part,” she said. “We can’t do that, however, if there aren’t seafarers coming through with the right skills to handle the fuels and ships of the future.”
Smith said that up to 800,000 seafarers would require some form of retraining or familiarization by 2030 as the industry rapidly decarbonizes.
“Now is the time for governments to invest in a secure future by putting in place sensible national maritime policies. They should do this not only for people but also for the planet,” Smith said.
The ITF has more than 700 affiliated trade unions from 153 countries. Collectively, they represent millions of workers.
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