The Liberian Registry announced yesterday that it has acceded to the the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change, making it the first registry on a list of over 300 stakeholders. The registry brings together distinguished ship managers, shipowners, insurers and charterers from a variety of countries including CMA CGM, Maersk, BP, Cargill, Synergy Marine, Wallem, NYK and Wilhelmsen.
“I am very proud that the Register of Liberia has joined the Neptune Declaration. We are honored and committed to continuing our efforts to facilitate crew changes aboard our 4,600 vessels worldwide, ”said Alfonso Castillero, Chief Operating Officer of the Liberian Registry. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) estimates that as of December, some 400,000 seafarers were still on board after the expiration of their regular contracts due to crew change restrictions imposed by many states. The Neptune Declaration was created to break the deadlock. Its main tenets were the following requirements: to provide seafarers with priority access to vaccines against COVID-19; ensure the possibility of air communication; intensify cooperation when changing crews.
