Why does a crew member work on board for 12 consecutive months at most?

Without the contribution of the crew, half of the world's people would be frozen and the other half would starve. This is a well-known sentence in the international trade circle. However, there is not possible.  The crew has been very professional and dedicated, so we are free out of those suffering. If it had not been affected by the new COVID-19 epidemics, the issue of crew turnover would not have aroused widespread concern in the community.

However, so far many people still don't understand or even question the difficulty of changing the crew during the epidemic: "we are all working all the time. why should the crew change shifts? Can't you work longer? " Today, let's talk about why the crew have to change shifts regularly and why it is difficult to change shifts this year.

Shipping is an industry with a long history in a highly international field, so many international conventions have been formed so far. Even the "trivia" in the eyes of ordinary people, such as the change of crew, is clearly stipulated in international conventions. According to standard A2.5.2(b) of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006, seafarers are entitled to the maximum period of service on board the ship before repatriation-which should be less than 12 months. Generally speaking, the crew can work on the ship for up to 12 consecutive months.

Why such stipulation exists? This has much to do with the nature and working environment of the crew.  Every one of us has lived in a social environment since we were born, and when crew members enter the narrow ship space to work and live, such emotions as depression, loneliness and homesickness appear.  With the passage of time, the feeling of emptiness will gradually increase, which required the crew to adjust their emotions to keep them calm and focused.

Thinking from another perspective, most of us have experienced the indoors days after the outbreak.  Back then, we didn't need to work at home, but we were free to surf the Internet, make phone calls, watch TV and play games. Even so, many people will still feel empty, bored,and lonely.

The crew have to work and live for more than half a year or even a year on hundred-of-meter long ships sailing in the endless sea. They face the same environment and the same colleagues every day with machines rumbling all day long. They seldom make phone calls and cannot surf the Internet at any time.  Some of them may have just started their marriage life, some may have missed the birth and growth of their children, and some may have even missed the critical moment to protect their loved ones.

Normally, the crew can apply for leave in advance according to the contract. "If the crew has the idea of taking a vacation but impossible to take as planned, they may lose concentration and even have psychological problems, which will affect the safety of the ship's operation." according to one crew member.

When we finish talking about spiritual problems, next comes to be material problems. The crew members are mainly divided into two categories. One category is the self-owned crew members employed by the shipping company. They will have a certain salary during the leaves, but it is far lower than their income on board.The other type is the dispatched crew employed by the crew management company, who have almost no income when they do not work on board.

Shipowners are also eager for the crew to change shifts as scheduled. Take the "Chinese Crew Collective Agreement" applicable to Chinese crew members, members of the China Shipowners Association and Chinese ships owned and/or managed by these members as an example, it is clearly stipulated in Article 11 that the continuous working period of crew members in ships is generally not more than 8 months. If the ship stops at the port or the sailing route is inconvenient to change crew members, the working period may be appropriately advanced or delayed by 2 months. If the crew member fails to disembark after 10 months of work, it shall be deemed as overdue. If the crew have extended their service on board, the owner shall pay additional extended subsidies to the crew starting from the 11th month.And overdue subsidies should not be less than 100% of the crew's base salary according to the provisions of the Labor Law and international practices.

Even owners of non-Chinese ships will pay extended subsidies of varying amounts according to other agreements. The cost brought by this expenditure and the possible safety problems caused by the crew's extended service are one of the important reasons why shipowners are calling for the solution of crew shift change.

According to data released by the International Transport Workers Union (ITF), there are about 150,000 crew members on board in the near future who need to change shifts. After counting 54 major shipping companies, the China Shipowners Association found that 20,809 Chinese crew members had to be relieved at the end of May due to the rigid shift demand caused by the shift duration required by the Convention.

Due to epidemic prevention and control, long before, crew shifts were still generally prohibited or discouraged in all parts of China. Even after the Ministry of Transport issued the "Regulations on Further Strengthening the Shift Management of Chinese Seafarers on International Navigation Vessels" on April 1, and the six departments including the Ministry of Transport jointly issued the "Notice on Accurate Prevention and Control of Outbreak among Seafarers on International Navigation Vessels" on April 22, all regions still remained relatively negative.

As for the reason, Some local governments do not understand the specific provisions of the relevant international conventions and agreements on crew change, and do not understand the serious consequences that may result from the failure of crew change in time; There are many departments that can restrict the crew to change shifts, and none of departments such as the customs, ports, border inspection, maritime affairs, public security, health and others can take the lead; Some local governments do not want the crew to give themselves "trouble" caused by selfish departmentalism.

In addition, there are also various problems in individual crew management companies and docks. These problems have seriously affected the normal development of the prevention and control of the epidemic among the crew of international ships, which also hurt the feelings of the vast number of ocean-going crew. At several recent press conferences, the Ministry of Transport mentioned several shifts of crew members, and coordinated with various departments to guide the various regions to gradually push forward and solve the problem of Chinese crew members changing shifts in ports within China.

Thankfully, under the strong impetus of the Ministry of Transport, all localities have begun to take active actions to ensure that the Chinese crew members of international navigation ships to change shift according to the principle of "implement policies preciously and change completely", thus the problem got eased. Differing from previous crew shifts, Chinese crew shifts need several more steps during the epidemic prevention and control period. The agency shall submit relevant materials to relative departments including the berthing dock, maritime bureau under jurisdiction and the customs more days in advance than usual. Besides the conventional materials, it shall also submit additional materials such as undertaking and letter of guarantee. The crew members who plan to change shifts can only disembark to be quarantined after they have passed the customs quarantine without abnormality and their nucleic acid test is negative.

With regard to segregation, the implementation policies vary slightly from place to place. It was stipulated in Tianjin that it takes more than 14 days for the ship to leave from the last berthing point abroad to approach the port in the country. Moreover, the "Registration Form of the Crew's Isolated Health Record on Board" shows that the crew can go through the entry formalities and disembark after quarantined by the customs under normal health conditions. If the duration is less than 14 days, separate observation shall be conducted at home or at a designated place according to the requirements of the place of entry to make up for 14 days. However, most parts of our country require the crew to be isolated and observed for 14 days after changing shifts and disembarking.

There are also many shipping companies and agencies complaining that some places still got problem to change the crew in time. We would like to say that the crew members have made important contributions to the development of the world economy and the progress of human society. During the epidemic prevention and control period, they are also the vanguard in ensuring the stability of the international logistics chain and industrial chain. So there is still a lot of work to be done by various departments to achieve the goal of "sail happily and go home safely".

为何一名船员最多在船上连续工作12个月？

如果没有船员的贡献，世界上一半的人会受冻，另一半人会挨饿。这是国际贸易界众所周知的一句话。然而没有“如果”，船员们一直很专业、敬业，所以我们既没有受冻也没有挨饿。如果不是受新冠肺炎疫情影响，船员换班问题也不会引发社会各界的广泛关注。

可是至今很多人对疫情期间船员换班难仍然不解甚至质疑：“我们都是一直在工作的，为什么船员就要换班呢？多工作一段时间不行吗？”今天，我们就来聊一聊，船员为什么要定期换班，今年船员换班为何难？

航运业是一个历史悠久的行业，也是一个高度国际化的领域，所以已经形成了很多国际公约。即使船员换班这种普通人眼里的“琐事”，在国际公约中也是有明确规定的。根据《2006年海事劳工公约》标准A2.5.2(b)款，海员有权得到遣返前在船上服务的最长期间——这段时间应少于12个月。通俗地说，船员最多在船上连续工作12个月。

为什么会这样规定呢？这与船员的工作性质和工作环境有很大关系。我们每个人从出生开始就生活在社会化环境中，而船员在进入狭窄的船舶空间工作生活时，诸如沮丧、孤独、思乡之类的情绪便开始出现。随着时间的推移，空虚感会逐渐加重，需要船员自我调节情绪，保持冷静和专注的思想。

换位思考一下，疫情发生以后，我们大部分人都经历了居家封闭的日子。回想那个时期，我们在家里不需要工作，还可以自由地上网、打电话、看电视、玩游戏。即使如此，很多人还是会感觉到精神上的空虚无聊和寂寞难耐。

而船员要在一望无际的大海上、在几百米长的船上工作生活半年以上甚至一年的时间。他们天天面对着相同的环境和相同的同事，整天机器声隆隆作响，很少打电话也不能随时上网。他们有的可能刚刚开始婚姻生活，有的错过了孩子的出生和成长，有的错过了守护至亲的关键时刻。

通常情况下，船员可按照合同约定提前申请休假。“船员一旦动了休假的念头，如果无法按计划休假，就可能出现注意力不集中，甚至产生心理问题，船舶的运营安全将会受到影响。”一名船员说。

说完精神层面的问题，我们再说说物质层面的问题。船员主要分为两类，一类是受雇于船公司的自有船员，他们在下船休假期间，会有一定的休假工资，但远低于在船收入；另一类是受雇于船员管理公司的派遣船员，他们不在船上工作时，几乎没有任何收入。

船东也迫切希望船员能够如期换班。以适用于中国籍船员、中国船东协会的会员单位及其所拥有和（或）管理的中国籍船舶的《中国船员集体协议》为例，第十一条明确规定，船员在船连续工作期限一般不超过8个月，因船舶停靠港口或者航行的航线不方便更换船员的，工作期限可适当提前或延后2个月。船员在船工作满10个月后未能下船的视为逾期。船员在船超期服务的，船东从第11个月起应向船员支付额外的超期补贴。超期补贴按《劳动法》规定并参照国际惯例，不应低于船员基薪的100%。

即使是非中国籍船舶的船东，也会参照其他协议，支付数额不等的超期补贴。这笔支出带来的成本压力，以及船员超期服务可能导致的安全问题，是船东纷纷呼吁推进解决船员换班问题的重要原因之一。

据国际运输工人联盟（ITF）公开数据，近期内有换班需求的在船船员约15万人。中国船东协会在统计了54家主要航运企业后发现，因船员达到公约要求的换班时长而产生的刚性换班需求，5月底有20809名中国籍船员需换班。

基于疫情防控需要等原因，前一段时间，我国各地依然普遍禁止或不鼓励船员换班。即使是4月1日交通运输部发布《进一步强化国际航行船舶中国籍船员境内港口换班管理工作的规定》之后，以及4月22日交通运输部等六部门联合发布《关于精准做好国际航行船舶船员疫情防控工作的通知》初期，各地态度仍然较为消极。

究其原因,部分地方政府不了解相关国际公约、协议对船员换班的具体规定，不理解船员不及时换班可能导致的严重后果；可以制约船员换班的部门较多，海关、港口、边检、海事、公安、卫生等部门没有一个可以牵头“说了算”；部分地方政府不希望船员给自己“找麻烦”的本位主义在作祟。

此外，个别船员管理公司和码头也存在种种问题。这些问题，严重影响了国际航行船舶船员疫情防控工作的正常开展，也伤害了广大远洋船员的感情。在近期召开的多场新闻发布会上，交通运输部数次提及船员换班，并协同多部门指导各地逐步推进解决中国籍船员在我国境内港口换班的问题。

令人欣慰的是，在交通运输部大力推动下，各地开始积极行动，保障国际航行船舶中国籍船员“精准施策，应换尽换”，换班难问题逐步得到缓解。与以往船员换班不同，疫情防控期间，中国籍船员换班要多出几个步骤。代理公司要较往常提前更多天向靠泊码头、管辖海事局、海关等部门提交相关材料，除常规材料外，还需要提交承诺书、保函等额外材料。计划换班下船的船员经海关检疫无异常且核酸检测阴性后，方可下船并接受隔离。

关于隔离，各地执行政策也略有不同。天津等地规定，船舶自境外最后一个靠泊点驶离至境内港口靠港时长超过14天，且《船员船上隔离健康记录登记表》显示船员健康状况正常情况下，经海关卫生检疫无异常后，可办理入境手续换班下船；时长不足14天的应按入境地要求进行居家或指定地点隔离观察，补足14天时间。而我国大部分地方则要求船员换班下船后一律隔离观察14天。

也有不少船公司、代理公司抱怨称，部分地方仍然要靠“刷脸”“求爷爷告奶奶”才能实现船员及时换班。我们想说，船员对世界经济发展和人类社会进步作出了重要贡献，在疫情防控期间，他们更是确保国际物流链、产业链稳定的排头兵。让船员们能够真正地“高高兴兴起航，平平安安回家”，各地各部门还有很多工作要做。

来源于：船员帮