Day of the Seafarer

“The shipping industry and governments need to take better care of our ships’ crews, and today we are adding our voice to the call for immediate action,” stated Juan Carlos Croston, president of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA), in his welcome address to the most recent webinar jointly hosted by the Caribbean Shipping Association and the Women in Maritime Caribbean (WiMAC) last Tuesday.

In order to enable crew changes, the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has listed seafarers among the class of “essential workers” under its Disaster Risk Management Act and has put in place measures to speed up the transit of registered seafarers through its borders.

An estimated 600,000 seafarers are waiting for crew changes – 300,000 on vessels and 300,000 waiting to embark – according to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). Many of those on board have been working for up to four months past their contracted dates while those waiting to embark are typically not receiving wages, leaving them facing financial ruin.

When Claudia Grant began her career at the Port of Kingston in 1986 armed with a first degree and an eagerness to learn, little did she know that this would be her foray into a lifetime of service to the maritime industry. Thirty-four years later, she is second in command at the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), serving as Deputy Director General of the body since its inception in 2001.

The Government of Jamaica has launched protocols to enable crew changes for vessels serving Jamaican ports. The protocols form part of the measures passed under the Disaster Risk Management Act which were announced by the prime minister last week and comes after lobbying by members of the local shipping sector and a recommendation by the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), which is the agency responsible for the regulation of the welfare of seafarers in Jamaica.

Jamaica was re-elected to serve on the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at the 31st Session of the IMO’s General Assembly, held at its London headquarters, on November 29.

Jamaica, which was returned for a second successive term, will serve alongside the Bahamas as the two Caribbean countries on the IMO Council for the 2020-2021 biennium.