The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) have issued a joint statement calling for port and coastal States to facilitate the prompt disembarkation of seafarers for medical care as a matter of “life or death.” They call for seafarers to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination and to designate seafarers as key workers, recognizing seafarers’ valuable contribution to world trade.
In the joint statement, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and ILO Director-General Guy Rider say seafarers are facing difficulties in accessing medical care and highlight the “moral obligation to ensure seafarers can access medical care ashore without delay, whenever they need it, and to extend medical assistance on board should the need arise by allowing qualified doctors and dentists to visit ships. It is also important that a medical assessment be conducted prior to administering any treatment, which could include telemedicine assessment provided by international health providers.”
“Receiving such care can be a matter of life or death for seafarers who fall ill while working on ships. The international community should do its utmost to support those who have maintained the global supply chain under pandemic conditions over the last 18 months and keep carrying on often despite enormous personal hardships,” say the Director-General of ILO and the Secretary-General of IMO.
The joint statement notes that “almost 14 months after issuing the ‘Recommendations for port and coastal States on the prompt disembarkation of seafarers for medical care ashore during the COVID-19 pandemic’ seafarers are still struggling to access such care when needed. Advocacy from Member States, the maritime industry, social partners and seafarers themselves has once again brought the plight of seafarers to the fore.”
As enshrined in ILO’s 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006), it is incumbent upon Member States to ensure seafarers onboard ships in their territory are given access to medical facilities ashore, should they require immediate medical care, including dental care (See the Resolution concerning the implementation and practical application of the MLC, 2006 during the COVID-19 pandemic, adopted by the Special Tripartite Committee of the MLC, 2006 in April 2021.) The legal obligation to render assistance to seafarers in distress, including medical assistance, is also an intrinsic component of IMO conventions, namely the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS); the International Convention on MAritme Search and Rescue (SAR); and the Convention on the Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL).
Governments are urged to prioritize seafarers in their national COVID-19 vaccination programmes, in accordance with the WHO SAGE Roadmap for Prioritizing uses of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Context of Limited Supplies, as updated on 16 July 2021, and to offer WHO-approved Emergency Use Listing (EUL) vaccines to ensure their vaccination status is recognized internationally.
The ILO and IMO heads also encourage Governments to recognize the role other marine personnel play in facilitating global trade and, wherever possible, to also vaccinate them on a priority basis.
Information received by IMO and ILO indicates that 24 countries have thus far answered the clarion call by implementing seafarer vaccination programmes, or signaling their intent to do so, in designated ports within their jurisdictions. (Seafarer image by Dreamstime)
