Djibouti announced at the UN yesterday its readiness to facilitate crew change operations in Djibouti for any ships passing through the Bab el Mandeb strait, with the necessary support provided by the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA).
The country is responding to the joint statement of the IMO and UNCTAD (9 June) - the UN's maritime and trade bodies respectively - to support crew changes and ensure that maritime personnel can return home safely when the time comes to do so.
Travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 mean that crew changes have been delayed but they cannot be postponed indefinitely; it is estimated that starting in mid-June 2020 as many as 300,000 seafarers a month will require international flights to enable ships' crew changeover and 70,000 cruise ship staff are waiting for their repatriation.
DPFZA calls on other countries to take similar steps to facilitate coordinated support for seafarers around the world and calls on all ship-owners to support the effort by availing air repatriation solutions for maritime personnel.
Maritime transport depends on the 2 million seafarers who operate the world's merchant ships, which carry more than 80% of global trade by volume, including most of the world's food, energy, raw materials and manufactured goods.