Crew in crisis: Covid-19 vaccine shortage maroons Indian seafarers

Seafarers across the world have been the unsung heroes in the fight against Covid-19 over the last one year. While the medical fraternity, sanitation workers and police personnel were hailed as front-line warriors, seafarers have truly been "out of sight and out of mind". They are collateral victims of the Covid crisis and have been fighting a war of a different kind.

As the pandemic rages across the country, perhaps the only thing stopping the Central government from imposing a complete lockdown is the impact that it could have on the economy. But our mandarins ashore seem to forget that it is the seafarer in his merchant ship who keeps the wheels of the national and global economy moving by providing the connectivity of a several thousand nautical miles. After all, over 90% of the country’s trade by volume and over 72% by value, including crude oil, is shipped across the seas, which is vital for our economy and energy security.

When Covid-19 struck in early 2020, the closure of borders, flights and the lockdown had meant that thousands of seafarers who had finished their contracts were unable to sign off from their ships and return home. This resulted in extended separation from their families and extension of work beyond the contractual period, often resulting in fatigue and depression, with potential for accidents at sea. On the other hand, those waiting ashore to join their ships too faced problems with job uncertainties and loss of income.

A year later, seafarers continue to be a troubled lot. The problem this time is of one of shortage of vaccines in the country. Most mariners come in the 18-plus age category. India has opened up vaccination to those above 18 years of age from May 1 as part of the third phase of the vaccination programme. This, however, has only been a symbolic move since there is an acute shortage of vaccines in the country. Therefore, while an increasing number of seafarers have registered on the Co-WIN portal for vaccinations, they have not been successful in getting slots for the jab. With no clear roadmap given by the government, uncertainty and anxiety prevail.

To make matters worse, global ship owners have recently made it clear that they will only hire seafarers who have been fully vaccinated, in the interest of crew safety and with an eye on the bottom line. It is often difficult to isolate a Covid-infected person in the close confines of a ship and urgent medical assistance may not always be available out at sea.

While Indian sailors, who constitute about 10% of the global seafaring community, wait ashore for the vaccine, the governments of countries such as Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and China, with great foresight, have gone ahead and vaccinated their mariners. Consequently, global shipping companies which normally prefer Indian seamen have no option but to pick up seamen from South East Asian countries. Thus, Indian seafarers have been hit hard, with no jobs and no income, which means there will be no repatriation of valuable foreign exchange.

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Further, in recent weeks, ship owners have also stopped making crew changes in India. If the pandemic situation worsens and we enter the third wave, foreign-flagged ships may avoid Indian ports altogether and ships with record of travel to India may not be allowed to call at foreign ports, which could cripple our economy. The fact that only 10% of our cargo is carried in Indian-flagged ships makes this problem acute.

The problem of vaccinations is not peculiar to seafarers alone. Recently, the Air India Pilots Association indicated that they will abstain from work if all aircrew above the age of 18 years are not vaccinated. This is a legitimate demand considering that aircrew fly to different domestic and foreign cities on a regular basis and are susceptible to increased risk of Covid infection.

On the other hand, the chief ministers of West Bengal, Delhi and some other states have indicated that they will consider giving vaccinations on priority to journalists, which, though a good move, is obviously borne out political expediency and intended to appease that constituency. Clearly, seafarers are equally, if not more, vulnerable to the pandemic as much as journalists are.

What is surprising is that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and other organs of the UN have asked member states to designate seafarers as "key workers" and accord priority for their vaccinations. But for some reason, our generalist bureaucrats ashore in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (New Delhi) and the Directorate General of Shipping (Mumbai) have not been able to convince the government to vaccinate seafarers on priority. Even the Nautical Adviser to the Government of India, who invariably is a former merchant navy officer, appears unable to do much in this regard. If the government gives the go-ahead, the seamen’s Charge Discharge Certificate number inserted in the Co-WIN portal would help identify them for early vaccination.

Today, our seafarers feel undervalued and abandoned. Our leaders and civil servants, who only pay lip service to seafarers on the National Maritime Day (April 5) and some other similar occasions, will need to do much more to steer the ‘ship of the nation’ out of the storm that we are currently in.

While India has always been a maritime nation, both historically and geographically, our generalist civil servants lack "maritime-mindedness" and have a predominantly continental outlook. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine yet against "sea blindness".

(The writer is a former naval officer and currently a trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Studies, Bengaluru)