VACCINATION OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED TO SEAFARERS

Working with our global network of offices and alongside port authorities, assigned Northern Marine seafarers are being provided with opportunities to be vaccinated.

At the time of writing, authorities in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and the United States are offering visiting international seafarers the chance to be vaccinated in port during port turnarounds.   

Northern Marine’s seafarer workforce is made up of a diverse group of nationalities, and the opportunities to be vaccinated while working may be the first chance some have to receive a vaccine.

Almost one third of the seafarers who work on Stena Bulk tankers have now been fully vaccinated and Northern Marine continues to actively seek new vaccination opportunities for crews, both in their home countries and in port locations around the world.

Barrie Finlayson, Head of Crewing, Northern Marine Manning Services, said: “The most recent data available suggests that the link between positive cases and hospitalisations for those vaccinated shows the vaccine diminishes the impact of the virus on an individual.”

“This news is encouraging as we very much see a successful vaccine programme as an opportunity to provide protection to our seafarers and also allow freer global movement of people and we encourage all our seafaring colleagues to accept the opportunity to be vaccinated, whether at home or in a port.

“The health and safety of our colleagues will always remain our number one priority and until such time that we can demonstrate significant progress on our seafarer vaccination uptake, we will continue with our robust safety protocol that has been in place since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Eighteen months on from the beginning of the pandemic, these protocols still create challenges for our colleagues, such as restrictions on collective movement when travelling, and requirements to isolate before boarding.

“Despite these challenges, they understand the importance and effectiveness of the protocols and continue to adhere to them, which in turn has ensured we have been largely successful thus far in limiting the spread of covid-19 onto our vessels.

“The efforts of our colleagues at sea in following the protocol are very much appreciated and are a clear demonstration of the collective ambition to continue to protect each other.”

Northern Marine manages a vast range of different tankers and gas carriers, operating all over the world.

Vessels are managed from key operational hubs including Glasgow, Houston and Singapore, with crewing offices in locations including Glasgow, Manila, Mumbai and St Petersburg.

Barrie added: “In certain countries and regions in the world vaccination programmes have progressed significantly, and therefore some populations are moving to what they describe as a ‘new phase’ in the pandemic.

“Our focus on providing opportunities for our seafarers to be vaccinated is a united global approach across our network of offices and is coupled with a communication campaign to our colleagues at sea highlighting the importance of getting a vaccine.”