“After months of this crew-change crisis getting worse, governments must do their bit,” said Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation. “That means that port states where ships dock, flag states where ships are registered, transit hubs with airports and the home countries of seafarers all need to make visa, quarantine and border exceptions for seafarers now, not tomorrow, not next week.” In addition to the U.S., Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the U.K. agreed to the change in rules for ship crews. China hasn’t signed onto the agreement but shipping industry officials say most crew changes for ships routed through Asia take place in Singapore and Dubai. Some 150,000 sailors fly around the globe each month to connect with ships to replace colleagues that have been at sea for months. The widespread […]