Vol. 19 No. 2 March/April 2022

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Transport workers
protest illegal sackings
Page 2

ILO promotes genderequality
Page 4

Spring wage negotiations begin
With Nippon Car Ferry Roumu Kyokai, 2 domestic shipping associations, Zennaiko; central bargaining sessions startT

he first rounds of this year’s
spring central wage negotiations for seafarers began on
March 7, 2022 at the Hotel
Mariners’ Court Tokyo, where the All Japan Seamen’s Union (JSU) met with Nippon Car Ferry Roumu Kyokai, Naiko Roumu Kyokai, Ichiyo Kai and Zennaiko. Inlate February, the JSU submitted requests
to the oceangoing labor department of theJapanese Shipowners’ Association (JSA),
Nippon Car Ferry Roumu Kyokai, Naiko
Roumu Kyokai, Ichiyo Kai and Zennaiko.
When first-round talks kicked off, business agents from labor and management
were introduced. Then, addresses were
given by shipping organization and labor
union representatives, while the organizations of negotiation committees wereconfirmed. The JSU gave a briefing on
the point of the requests that it had made.
Clause-by-clause practical discussions will
start at or after the next rounds.
An address given by JSU President
Mitsuharu Yasuura on the start of negotiations on the amendment of the labor
agreement between the JSU and Nippon
Car Ferry Roumu Kyokai (summary):
The Japanese economy began showing
signs of recovery around October of lastyear, as a decline in the number of coronavirus infections was experienced.
Due to the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, however, uncertainties are remaining now, such as administrative restrictions as well as productionsuspensions and curtailments in the autorelated and other industries resulting fromsemiconductor shortages.
There are many causes of concern outside Japan, too, including rises in crude oil
prices triggered by increases in geopoliticalrisks, such as coordinated oil production
cuts by OPEC Plus and unstable situationsin the Middle East; the trade frictions between the U.S. and China; and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration, which was launched in November
2021, is demanding the business world toraise wages to develop an economy that will
help Japan get out of deflation and begin
expanding again. To realize a new formof capitalism based on a virtuous cycle ofgrowth and distributions, the government
says that wage increases and human investments by enterprises are main pillars of its
distribution strategies.
The All Japan Seamen’s Union, for its
part, insists on the need to improve labor
conditions through wage hikes and to build
a society where workers can live without
fear. We believe that what we insist will leadto enlarging consumption and contributeto further developing the domestics shipping business.
As for the current state of the car ferrybusiness, we urge it to address many chal-President Akira Ogasawara of Nippon
Car Ferry Romu Kyokai

JSU President Mitsuharu Matsuura gives an address.

President Hiroyoshi Kuribayashi of Naiko Roumu Kyokai

From left: JSU Acting President Shinichi Tanaka, JSU President Mitsuharu Matsuura and JSU Central Executive Board Committee member Hidehiko Hiraoka

lenges. It must deal with long-continued
road-centric policies, soaring fuel prices,
capital investment to realize carbon neutrality and the infection with no signs ofblowing over.
To address environmental issues and labor shortages, at the same time, a modal
shift is being advanced to use car ferries,
and, therefore, the volume of shipments
moved is expected to grow further. Also,
their importance is clear as a means totransport emergency relief goods and carryout other tasks in times of major natural
disasters.
The birthrate is on the decline, while
the population is aging. In many industries, as such, labor shortages are becoming more and more evident. In respect toissues relating to seafarers, in such times, a

new statute was enacted in May of lastyear to enhance the maritime industry. To
promote work style reforms for seafarers,in accordance with the new law, efforts arebeing made to more accurately understandworking hours and manage them, encourage seafarers to take holidays and vacations,ensure health for them and so on.
The car ferry business is not an exception,as crewmembers are aging, while job retention rates are on the decline among young
workers. To secure and develop successors,
it is necessary and essential to improve
working conditions and environments.
For negotiations on the amendment of
our labor agreement, we have come up withbare minimum requests, taking the situation of our industry into full consideration

President Takuo Kanda of Zennaiko

and facing the risk of being infected in the
midst of the pandemic. To fulfill a role as apublic transport system for the people andsecure the stable transport in domestics logistics, we are making the requests to help
union members who work hard day andnight to ensure safe ship operations leadstable lives and to create attractive working
environments for them.
This year, we are holding negotiations
on the amendment of our labor agreement
during the pandemic again. As we are insuch difficult times, we hope that bothsides will hold sincere talks to achieve anamicable settlement within the time limit,
based on the relationships of trust that labor and management have built up. This is
the end of an address that I am giving as therepresentative of the union.

MARITIME NEWS(2)

MARCH/APRIL 2022

Canal body
Transport workers protest illegal oustings Panama
to simplify tollOver 10,000 transport
workers from almost
200 ITF affiliatedunions today expressed their outrage at the mass sacking and outsourcing of 800 P&O seafarers
through a “Global Letter of Protest” handed over to the global
leadership of DP World, the owners of P&O Ferries.
ITF General Secretary Stephen
Cotton, who is leading the global
unions’ delegation in Dubai, delivered the letter addressed to
the CEO of DP World, Sultan
Ahmed bin Sulayem calling forthe reinstatement of the sacked
seafarers and a commitment torespect workers’ rights and engage
with unions across their global
operations.
“Over the past two weeks, we’veseen protests at P&O ports from
Dover to Hull, and across Eu-

rope from Dublin to Rotterdam
in solidarity with these workers,”
Cotton said. “Today we took
the shock and condemnationof the world’s transport workers
and their supporters directly to
the global headquarters of DP
World.”In the face of brutal corporate
decision making, transport workers and their unions across theworld have stood up and are uniting to fight back for justice and respect for the critical role they play
in global supply chains.
“Transport employers across theworld should watch this dispute
carefully,” said Cotton. “This fightthat is playing out across the portsof the UK, is not just about the illegal firing of 800 seafarers, but afight about respect and the futureof the rights of seafarers globally.
It is not something that the ITF,

the ETF, and our affiliates takelightly.”
The staggering admission fromP&O CEO Peter Hebblethwaitethat the company acted illegallywhen firing these workers, should
be cause for the immediate reinstatement of these workers.
“The fact that despite admitting
to their illegality, P&O and its
owner DP World, can continue torefuse to reinstate these workers,
and even say they’d do it again,
should send alarm bells ringing
for governments across Europe,
but also everywhere DP World
operates,” ETF General Secretary
Livia Spera said.
“If governments cannot protect
their people and hold corporations accountable, it raises serious
questions about who is in charge,”
she added.
The letter demanded that DP

World treat these workers with
dignity, respect the laws that protect their rights, and:
Urgently convene a meetingwith the two unions, NautilusInternational and the RMT, together with the UK Government,
to rectify the current situation.
Guarantee that this will not
happen in any other DP World
wholly owned subsidiary and thatyou will uphold your ESG commitment to the principles of the
UN Global Compact and behave
equitably and show respect to all
workers in your supply chain.
Commit to social dialogue, respectful industrial relations and todevelop a closer relationship with
the ITF and our affiliates acrossall DP World owned subsidiaries
that ensures that no worker has
to ever endure being sacked via
Zoom again. (Source: ITF)

Russia’s war on Ukraine severely disrupting
shipping and air freight, pushing up rates
The Russia-Ukraine war is severely disrupting shipping andair freight. Russian forces are cutting off shipping routes, logistics
firms are suspending services andair freight rates are skyrocketing,supply chain firms said.
Russian naval forces have closed
shipping in and out of the Seaof Azov — one of the few accesspoints to ocean trade in Ukraine,
said Dylan Alperin, head of professional services at supply chain
software platform Keelvar.
“This has created a heavy
buildup of vessels waiting to getthrough the Kerch strait. With
70% of Ukraine’s exports distributed via ship, the congestion isworsening by the hour,” he told
CNBC.
Christian Roeloffs, CEO ofcontainer booking firm Container xChange, said: “Parts of theBlack Sea and Sea of Azov are now
dangerous or unpassable. There
have been missile attacks on vessels and ship arrests and lane closures for commercial shipping.”
The situation on the ground in
Ukraine is extremely fluid, and reports from the area are difficult or
impossible to confirm.
“Multiple ships have been hit
by munitions, seafarers have been
killed and injured and seafarersof all nationalities are trapped on
ships berthed in ports,” the International Chamber of Shipping
has warned.
Supply chain firms told CNBC
that cargo movements are at astandstill as the Ukrainian ports ofOdessa and Mariupol are closed,
damaged or under attack. Roeloffs
added that container movements

have stopped, with cargo stuck at
ports.
The port of Odessa is Ukraine’s
largest and a major grain export
port. The country is one of thebiggest exporters of grains suchas wheat, barley and corn. Russia
and Ukraine account for about
29% of the global wheat export
market.
Mariupol, an important port
city and industrial center, hasbeen experiencing heavy shelling.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is
now in its third week, and fighting continues in major cities.
Skyrocketing prices
Limited air capacity presents adouble whammy for shippers.
With airspace over Ukraine closed
to civilian flights and airlines
avoiding Russian airspace, air
freight rates are spiking, according to the firms.
“The flying ban has canceled
many of these flights and removed
10 million miles of airspace frominternational freight routes,” Alperin said. “With airlines responsible for flying around 20% of cargo,
this will dramatically decrease capacity provided by carriers.”
Judah Levine, head of researchat freight booking company
Freightos Group, said that as airlines avoid Russian airspace, they
will take alternate, longer routes— jacking up fuel costs.
Record price spikes for oil will
worsen the already bad outlook
for carriers as fuel costs rise, Alperin said. “We’re in for record
backlogs and delays while experiencing some of the highest prices

on record for transportation andbeyond.”Oil prices have been rising forweeks and surging to record levels.
Levine said that the Freightos
Air Index’s China-to-Europe rates
climbed more than 80 percent inlate February to $11.36 per kilogram, with some carriers already
imposing war risk surcharges.
Bindiya Vakil, CEO of supply
chain risk management firm Resilinc, said some insurers are also
increasing premiums for shipping
goods in the Black Sea.
Many logistics companies havealso suspended deliveries to andfrom Russia as well as Ukraine,
while container shipping firms areshunning Russia.
DHL said it has closed offices
and operations in Ukraine until
further notice, while UPS told
CNBC that it has suspended services to and from Ukraine, Russia
and Belarus.
Alperin noted that the growing
number of carriers that have suspended services in Russia make up
about 62% of total ocean freightcapacity.
Meanwhile, tanker rates have“skyrocketed,” with a spike from
157% to 591%, Alperin said.
Stranded shipping crew
The International Chamber of
Shipping warned on Thursdaythat the supply chain disruptions
are set to be worsened by a shortfall in shipping crew due to thewar.
Ukrainian and Russian seafarers
account for 14.5% of the global
shipping workforce, it said.

“To maintain this unfetteredtrade, seafarers must be able tojoin and disembark ships (crewchange) freely across the world.
However, flights have been cancelled to and from the region,
making this increasingly difficult,” it said in a statement. It
added that some crews have abandoned their ships in Ukraine due
to security worries.
“Fears over crew safety and increasing insurance premiums tosend ships to Ukraine or Russia
have also discouraged shipowners from sending vessels to thesecountries,” the association added.
In February, the association,
which represents 80% of global
merchant fleets, said “the ability to pay seafarers also needs tobe maintained via internationalbanking systems.”
The United States, European
allies and Canada have agreed to
cut off key Russian banks fromthe interbank messaging system,
SWIFT, which connects morethan 11,000 banks and financial
institutions in over 200 countries
and territories.
As the value of the Russian
ruble drops, that’s also set to haveother knock-on effects.
“With the Ruble devaluation, a
lot of Russian companies cannot
afford to pay for merchandise thatis in ships and it is going to cause
a lot of abandoned shipments andunpaid debts for orders on the water,” said James Coombes, CEO atdigital freight forwarder company
Vector.ai. “Freight forwarders
are going to get stuck with a lotof unpaid freight bills.” (Source:
CNBC)

structure from 2023
Panama Canal Authority has proposed a simplified toll structurethat provides price stability for customers with a long-term plan anda variable, demand-based structure
for the value-addded services.
Its gradual implementation will
begin in January 2023 until 2025,“giving customers time to sign
their contracts considering thestructure,” Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Administrator Ricaurte
Vasquez told Seatrade.
“By making these changes, werecognise the value of extending
greater predictability today, while
renewing our commitment toimproving customer experience,”
Vasquez said.
The new structure is an invitation
to customers to consolidate cargo inbigger ships through the neo-panamax locks, which will release capacity and use less water. “From all the
global maritime routes, Panama is
the only one using freshwater, anyof the Canal’s decision today are
geared towards improving freshwater utilization,” Vasquez said.
The proposed toll structure will
reduce the number of tariffs from
430 to less than 60. The new system has three components: A fixedprice, the vessel’s capacity and dynamic pricing.
The Panama Canal is eliminating toll bands and introducing
simplified tariffs according to thelocks used, as well as the vessel typeand size category. Tolls will be determined by two components:
A fixed tariff per transit, according to the locks used and the vessel
size category (Regulars, Supers, andneo-panamax), that will remain inplace until year 2025.
Neo-panamax locks: All neopanamax vessels going through theneo-panamax locks will pay a fixed
tariff of $300,000.
Neo-panamax Container vessels will pay $200,000 if less than
10,000 teus, $300,000 if over
10,000 teus.
Panamax vessels transiting
through the neo-panamax locks
will pay $60,000 if Regular and$100, 000 if Super.
For some types and sizes of vessels, these categories are further divided to avoid exceeding the value
the Canal provides to customers.
Replacement of tariffs for vessels
in ballast: The Panama Canal is reducing complex tariffs for vessels inballast that are not consistent withthe value provided to customers.
Under the proposal, vessels transiting in ballast will pay a percentof the regular laden toll, independent of the market segment, andthe special return trip tariffs forcontainer and liquefied natural gas(LNG) vessels will be phased out.
(Source: Seatrade–Maritime News)MARITIME NEWSMARCH/APRIL 2022

(3)

IMO receives sewage sludge disposal ban proposal

A

global ban on the dumping of sewage sludge at
sea is a step closer, following the submission to IMO of a
proposal to amend the 1996 London Protocol on the prevention ofmarine pollution by the dumpingof wastes.
Sewage sludge is a waste thatcurrently may be considered fordumping at sea under both theLondon 1996 Protocol and its
precursor 1972 Convention. In
the past, a substantial number ofStates permitted the dumping of
this waste at sea.

Under the London Protocol all
dumping is prohibited, except
for possibly acceptable wastes on
the so-called "reverse list" (Annex 1).
The proposal, submitted by the
Republic of Korea and Mexico,
would amend the Annex to remove sewage sludge from thepermitted list. If the proposal isagreed by the Contracting Parties, then the dumping of sewage
sludge at sea would be prohibitedworldwide.
The Contracting Parties already agreed at their last meetingin October 2021 that there wassufficient evidence and justification for amending Annex 1 of
the London Protocol to remove
sewage sludge from the list of
permissible wastes.
This followed a world-wide review of current practices of managing or dumping sewage sludge
at sea. The review indicated thatthe practice had declined considerably over recent decades that
it was already prohibited undermany regional conventions andthrough domestic legislation,and that alternatives existed forthe use of the sewage sludge.
The next meeting of Contracting Parties is scheduled for October 2022. If adopted at thatmeeting, the amendment would
enter into force 100 days after
adoption.
The London Protocol enteredinto force on March 24, 2006 andthere are currently 53 Parties to
the Protocol.
This year marks 50 years sincethe 1972 London Convention
was adopted - The London Convention was the first global treaty
to recognize that the oceans could

no longer be a dumping groundfor any kind of waste. Bans on the
dumping of radioactive wastes at
sea and industrial waste were implemented in the 1990s.
The 1996 Protocol introduced
a precautionary approach, moving from a banned list to a smaller, permitted list. Since then, theLondon Convention and Protocol
have evolved to regulate emergent
technologies, including carbon
sequestration and marine geoengineering - very much relevant totoday’s ocean and climate change
agenda. (Source: IMO)

UN nations renew call to collaboratively support seafarers
Four United Nations agencies
have issued a joint statement urging stakeholders to collaborate toprevent undue hardship to seafarers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The International Labor Organization (ILO), International
Maritime Organization (IMO),
United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have today
issued a joint statement asking
stakeholders to take action to support the world’s 1.9 million seafarers from being unduly impacted
by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.
The statement comes in thewake of the Omicron COVID-19
variant of concern (VOC), whichhas, once again, caused many
countries to close their borders,curtail crew movements, require
additional vaccinations and approved paperwork, and, in manycases, deny seafarers access to appropriate medical care.
The UN agencies warn that the
impact of these actions would
not only cause seafarers (many ofwhom are from developing countries) undue hardship but could
also create supply chain disruptions that would affect the global
population.
“The full impact of the Omicron variant and related response
measures on crew changes is not
yet clear and further VOCs may
yet emerge,” the statement says.
The United Nations agencies
call for common and proactive

approaches to address evolving
challenges to international shipping and its key workers, minimize adverse impacts on seafarers
and their families, as well as on
global trade, supply chains andsustainable development, while
continuing to protect local communities.
Calls to action
The agencies reiterated 10 actions
that can be taken, summarized
below:
1. Ensuring seafarers can accessmedical care and medical evacuation if needed
2. Granting seafarers “keyworker” designation, removing
barriers to crew change and safe
movement across borders, andrecognizing relevant documenta-tion for this purpose.
3. Prioritizing seafarer vaccination in national COVID-19
vaccination programmes and exempting them proof of vaccination as the only mandatory condition for entry, in accordance withWHO recommendations.
4. Providing access to COVID-19 tests and appropriate PPE.
5. Ensuring consistent application of internationally agreed protocols and standards and avoiding
punitive measures, fines and excessive costs.
6. Adopting the latest legal instruments, including the MLC,
2006 and the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003, as amended (No.
185), and ensure their implementation.

7. Implementing WHO sectorspecific guidance for the management of COVID-19 on board
cargo ships and fishing vessels
8. Provision of public key certificates associated with any healthproof to relevant trust networks,
such as ICAO for international
travel.
9. Regularly updating relevant
guidance and mechanisms in linewith developments and evolving scientific insights on medical
emergencies at sea.
10. Working to keep seafarers
safe, limiting disruption to supply chains, and preventing theunchecked spread of emerging
VOCs, which could prolong the
pandemic and its wide-ranging
socioeconomic
consequences.
(Source: IMO)

Container ship reduces emissions through synthetic fuel
MAN Energy Solutions reportsthat the 1,036-TEU container
ship, ElbBLUE has reduced its
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
by 27% by operating on a blend ofclimate-neutral, synthetic naturalgas (SNG) and conventional liquefied natural gas (LNG), comparedto LNG alone. Compared withheavy fuel oil (HFO), GHG emission reduction was even as high as
34%. The data has emerged frommeasurements initially carried out
on board the ship in September
2021 when ElbBLUE became thefirst container ship worldwide to
replace a portion of its bunkered
gas fuel (around 50%) with SNG.
Dr Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN
Energy Solutions, said: “With thisproject, we have proven the technical viability of our concept of themaritime energy transition. Today,
more than ever, we are convincedthat climate-neutral, synthetic fuels point the way to green shipping– and even further beyond.
“The current, global, politicalsituation underscores the futurerole that synthetic fuels can playin a diversified energy supply inthat they point the way toward

less dependence on raw material
deposits, suppliers and price fluctuations. As a result of the militaryattack on Ukraine in violation ofinternational law, LNG prices, forexample, have risen massively inrecent weeks and are now at a similar level to SNG.”
Stefan Eefting, Senior Vice
President and Head of MAN
PrimeServ Augsburg, said: “Withthis pilot project, we have proventhat any LNG-powered ship canalso operate with green SNG frompower-to-X. Even with a blend ofjust 50% SNG, GHG and pollutant emissions are significantly reduced. When operated exclusively
on SNG, we would expect a reduction of at least 80% in GHG emissions for modern ships.”
Gas operation also drasticallyreduces other polluting emissions
compared to HFO. In the case of
ElbBLUE, nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) dropped by almost
87%, while emissions of sulphuroxides (SOx) and particulates
were almost completely eliminated (~99%). These values wereachieved in both the exclusive operation on LNG and on a blend of

LNG and SNG.
Measurements were carried out
on a voyage between Brunsbüttel, Germany and Rotterdam, theNetherlands with SNG comprising approximately 50% of the
bunkered gas at 85% engine load.
ElbBLUE is powered by an MAN
51/60DF four-stroke engine. As amulti-fuel engine, the unit allows
operation with either HFO or liquid natural gas (LNG) as fuel. The
ship's test-run proved that the latter can be replaced by SNG without engine modification.
Owned by German shipping
company, Elbdeich, and operated by charterer, Unifeeder, ElbBLUE sails the North and Baltic
Seas. It made headlines back in2017 under its former name, Wes
Amelie, when its MAN 8L48/60B
main engine was converted to thecurrent MAN 8L51/60DF fourstroke unit, which enables dualfuel operation with gas. This was
the world’s first conversion of acontainer ship to multi-fuel operation with climate-friendly LNG.
In September 2021, the shipreached another milestone on
the road to climate-neutral ship-ping when, in the Elbe port ofBrunsbüttel, it became the world's
first container ship to bunker
climate-neutral synthetic marinefuel–some 20 tons. The liquefied
SNG was produced in a power-togas plant operated by kiwi AG in
Werlte, Germany and generated
from 100% renewable energy.
SNG is considered a carbonneutral fuel as its combustion releases only as much CO2 as captured during its production using
power-to-X technology. However,just like LNG, SNG consists largely of methane (CH4) and, during
operation, small unburned quantities of the gas can escape–so-called
methane slip. Methane is considered a greenhouse gas that, whenreleased unburned into the atmosphere, is 28 times more harmful
to the climate than CO2. MAN already offers solutions for methaneslip-free operation in two-stroke
engines. For four-stroke engines,
the company is working on various
solutions to further reduce the escape of methane from the combustion chamber.
Eefting added: “We have alreadybeen able to halve methane slip inour dual-fuel, four-stroke engines
in recent years through internal engine measures, and we see further
potential in the area of exhaust gas
after-treatment. We are currently
developing special oxidation catalysts with which we have been able
to reduce methane slip by a further
70% in laboratory tests. Next year,
we will test the catalyst on board aship for the first time and expect
to have a market-ready technology
by 2025.”
MAN Energy Solutions has
been committed to a Maritime Energy Transition aimed at climateneutral shipping for many years.
From the company’s perspective,
this requires the industry-wide andmassive use of climate-neutral fuels
as direct electrification of oceangoing shipping via batteries is nottechnically feasible. The development and conversion of the infrastructure and global fuel-supply
chains required for this can only
be successfully achieved in close
cooperation between the shipping
industry and political regulation,a scenario MAN Energy Solutions
vigorously advocates for. (Source:
MAN Energy Solutions)

(4)ADVISORIES/WARNINGSMARCH/APRIL 2022

ILO guide focuses on gender equality in crises settingsA

virtual panel discussion
organized during the66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
provided the platform for thelaunch of a new guide designed
to strengthen gender equality andwomen’s empowerment in fragile,
conflict and disaster settings.
The new publication will guideILO staff, constituents, and other stakeholders on integrating
gender-responsive and conflictsensitive approaches in initiatives
related to employment and decent
work across the HumanitarianDevelopment-Peace Nexus, i.e.
the interlinkages between humanitarian, development and peaceactions.
The new guide, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
in the World of Work in Fragile,
Conflict and Disaster Settings,
provides an overview of how fragility, conflicts and disasters affectgender equality in world of workrelated areas. It also presents the
key global frameworks and contains practical guidance – bothgeneral recommendations andtechnical area-specific guidanceon gender mainstreaming in crisis
settings.
To enhance the impact of action both in terms of genderequality and peace and resilience,
the Guide recommends, among
others:• Recognizing that crises affectwomen, men, girls, and boys differently, and the importance ofgender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in promoting peace, preventing crises,
enabling sustainable recovery andbuilding resilience.
• Avoiding stereotypical portraying of women, men, girls,
and boys and always taking into
consideration that women, as wellas men, are not a homogeneousgroup. Different personal characteristic such as sex, gender, race,
ethnicity, caste, sexual orientation, sexual identity, disability, indigenous or tribal belonging andothers may intersect resulting incompounded discrimination.
• Supporting positive genderrelated changes that may have occurred in the labour market.

Omicron wave impacts crew change
The March Crew Change Indicator confirms increasing trends
since January in percentage of
seafarers onboard vessels beyond
contract expiry, as the industry is
feeling the full effects of the Omicron wave.
The latest Indicator shows thatthe number of seafarers onboard
vessels beyond the expiry of theircontract has increased from 4.2%
from 5% in the last month, while
the number of seafarers onboard
vessels for over 11 months has remained stable at 0.4%. The number of seafarers onboard beyond
the expiry of their contracts is thehighest number since the December 2021 Indicator. The Neptune
Indicator also reports a 6-percentage point increase in seafarer vaccines, from 66.8% in February to
72.8% in March, as seafarers are
increasingly gaining access to firstand second shots. However, there
are calls for increased access tobooster shots for seafarers.
With increased numbers of seafarers onboard beyond contract
expiry, ship managers cite challenges to crew changes. The effectsof the Omicron wave are causing ahigh number of infections amongcrew members onboard vessels
as well as among crew members
who are due to join vessels. Thishas caused the postponement ofmany crew changes. Additionally,crew change and entry restrictions
remain in place in many countries. Crew changes in China andrepatriation of Chinese seafarers
are especially hard as the country

has tight restrictions in place. This
has led to increased costs, operational disturbance, and delays asowners try to accommodate crewchanges.
There are, however, some positive reports of eased restrictions.
The Philippines have removed thequarantine rule for inbound travelers, but still require PCR testing. Australia, whose borders haveremained tightly shut throughout
the pandemic, has announced itwill open borders and this is expected to ease crew changes in theregion.
Simultaneously, seafarer vaccination rates are still increasingat an encouraging pace. The seafarer vaccination rate is at 72.8%,
which is similar or above to thepercentage of some large North
American, Asian, and European
shipping nations. Despite thisoverall good progress that ship
managers note, they also highlight some continuous challenges.
Vaccine hesitancy remains strongin certain geographies. Additionally, an increase in breakthroughinfections among crew has caused
some seafarers to raise questions
on vaccine effectiveness. Practicalchallenges also remain in ensuring seafarers’ access to vaccines.
Short and overnight port stays
make it hard to find the time for
seafarers to benefit from vaccine
opportunities while on land, andsome countries lack flexibility increw change protocols to allow for
seafarers to be vaccinated. (Source:
Global Maritime Forum)• Working with men. Addressing gender inequalities andstrengthening women’s empowerment, participation and leadership cannot be done by working
with and for women only. Including men and working on genderand patriarchal norms in an inclusive way is critical to achieve positive and sustainable change.
• Leveraging the institutions ofwork and social dialogue.
• Giving due consideration to
the interconnectedness of conflict, environmental degradationand climate change, and genderinequality, and ensuring interventions leverage the mutually
reinforcing dynamics of gender,
peace, and resilience.
• Working at upstream anddownstream levels and considering the needs for both immediate
job creation-, income- and livelihoods support and for action tobuild long-term resilience, sustain
peace and bring about transformative change in terms of genderequality.
The Guide also reinforces
the strong mandate of the ILO

through the Employment and
Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017
(No. 205) to promote genderequality in the world of work in
all types of settings, including
those characterized by fragility,
disaster, or conflict.
Women and girls often suffer the most during conflicts anddisasters, including pandemics.
Crisis-related hardships combine
and compound pre-existing disadvantages; for example, they often cause women’s working conditions to worsen while increasing
their overall workload and care
responsibilities.
At the same time, crises cangive rise to changes that enable
women to take up roles that werepreviously available only to men,and crises can open opportunities
to address existing gender-based
discrimination and violations ofrights.
“Women’s empowerment andgender equality in the world ofwork is more closely interlinked
with peace and resilience than one
may think”, says Mito Tsukamo-

to, Chief of the Development andInvestment Branch of the ILO
Employment Policy Department.
“For example, in addition to contributing to sustainable development, programmes that increase
women’s employment and decent
work opportunities, responding
to their immediate and long-term
needs, can enhance social justice,cohesion and contact, yielding
positive dividends for peace andstrengthen women to act as agentsof peace”.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 1.8 billion people
across the world were already living in fragility, and the pandemic
has exacerbated the vulnerabilityof people who were already in thegrip of disaster and conflict.
The guide was developed by the
ILO Coordination Support Unit
for Peace and Resilience (CSPR)
in the Development and Investment (DEVINVEST) Branch, incollaboration with the Gender,
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Branch (GEDI) and will be available in English, French and Spanish. (Source: ILO)

Climate change could cost shipping
and port industries $25 bil. a year
Climate change has the potential
to cause $25 billion in losses forshipping every year if no tangible
actions are taken to cut emissions,a new report by RTI International
and the Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF) suggests.
The report suggests that the
global shipping and port industry is susceptible to massive infrastructure damage and tradedisruption due to climate change
impacts.
Climate change has the potential to cause annual damages
to port infrastructure that could
reach nearly $18 billion by 2100.
Worse still, storm-related port disruptions could add another $7.5
billion each year, reflecting the
economic losses incurred by ports,shippers and carriers due to port
closures and the costs to shipping
customers.
Together, these added future
costs due to climate change areroughly equivalent to the total annual net earnings for the container port sector in 2019, according
to the report.
“Just as the COVID-19 pandemic threw our ports and theglobal supply chain into crisis
mode, the climate emergency will
have major consequences for international shipping. In the faceof climate breakdown, however,the shipping industry has an early

warning bell and an opportunity
to act,” said Marie Hubatova, senior manager for EDF's Global
Transport team.
She added that by stepping up
to reduce emissions and invest inzero-carbon fuels, shipping leaders could help avoid the costly
consequences and build a moresustainable future for the criticalmaritime industry.
The EDF report contends thatinternational shipping has grownenormously over the past quarterof a century, more than doublingin annual trade volume. Due tothe growth in combination withshipping’s reliance on heavily
polluting fuels, the industry has
become a large emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), currently
accounting for roughly 20 percent
of global emissions from transportation.
Effectively, sea level rises, increase in storms and inland flooding that are an impact of climatechange are posing direct threats toshipping infrastructure and operations.
With global trade expected to
grow in the future, which translates to an increase in the volumeof goods transported by sea, climate change is emerging as a major risk to maritime trade volume.
Assuming a steady growth rate,
global trade is expected to growto reach 120 billion tons in 2100.
Under the worst-case climate scenario, that growth could be stunted by up to nearly 10 percent.
Global shipping emits two to
three percent of global GHGs
emissions. Top shipowners andports are leading the transition togreen shipping in order to reduce
future climate change costs, making new investments in zero-emission fuels and technology.
Many shipping leaders havealready endorsed a climate callto action through the Getting toZero Coalition, which aims forthe development and deploymentof commercially viable deep sea
zero-emission vessels by 2030.
(Source: The Maritime Executive)

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