Page 6 - 2022 - Q1 - Minerva in Focus

NEWS

News

Hour

United Nations bodies

call for further action to
end seafarer crisis

#crewchanges
Poseidon Principles for
Four United Nations organizations issued a 1. Designate seafarers as “key workers”
joint statement on 28 February calling for 2. Prioritize the vaccination of seafarers
continued global collaboration to address 3. Provide or administer COVID-19 tests Marine Insurance
the crew change crisis, which at times dur- and appropriate PPE to seafarers,
ing the COVID-19 pandemic has left more including PCR tests where necessary
than 400,000 seafarers stranded at sea. 4. Ensure the consistent application of #environment
internationally agreed protocols and
The International Labour Organization standards The Poseidon Principles for Marine In-
(ILO), the International Maritime Organiza- 5. Adopt the latest legal instruments, in- surance are a new global framework
tion (IMO), UNCTAD, and the World Health cluding the MLC, 2006 and the Seafar- for responsible marine insurance. The
Organization (WHO) urge governments, the ers’ Identity Documents Convention Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance
shipping industry, and other stakeholders (Revised), 2003 provide a global framework for assessing
to scale up efforts to safeguard seafarer 6. Implement the recently updated WHO and disclosing the climate alignment of
health and safety and avoid supply chain sector-specific guidance for the man- insurers’ hull and machinery portfolios.
disruptions during the ongoing pandemic. agement of COVID-19 onboard cargo They establish a common, global baseline
ships and fishing vessels, published to quantitatively assess and disclose the
The organizations note that as COVID-19 in December 2021 climate alignment of insurance portfolios
travel restrictions eased and vaccination 7. Provide, where relevant, public key in order to assess the environmental and
rates increased among maritime person- certificates associated with any health climate impact of business decisions –
nel, the humanitarian crisis at sea showed proof to relevant trust networks thus enabling the insurance sector to
signs of improvement before the Omicron 8. Continue to collaborate to ensure improve transparency.
variant appeared. that relevant guidance is regularly
updated, in line with developments The Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance
The UN organizations are concerned the and evolving scientific insights are consistent with the policies and ambi-
positive trends observed before Omicron 9. Undertake concerted, collaborative tions of the International Maritime Organiza-
could be further reversed. “While the num- efforts to keep seafarers safe and limit tion (IMO) and have also chosen to take steps
ber of seafarers that remain stranded has the disruption to supply chains toward alignment with the Paris Agreement.
decreased, it remains considerable, and Signatories of the Principles include
further efforts must be made to rectify Source: UNCTAD SwissRe Corporate Solutions, Gard, Hel-
the situation and alleviate the continuing lenic Hull, SCOR, Victor Insurance, and the
crisis,” the statement says. Norwegian Hull Club. Affiliate members
supporting the Principles are Willis Towers
Recognizing the critical role of the mari- Watson, Cefor, and EF Marine. The Interna-
time sector in keeping trade flowing during tional Union of Marine Insurers (IUMI) is a
the global fight against COVID-19, the four supporting partner.
UN organizations call on governments,
national and local authorities, and all rel- The drafting of the Poseidon Principles
evant stakeholders, including employers, was led under auspices of the Global Mari-
to take the following 10 critical actions. time Forum by a group of global insurance
6 MINERVA IN FOCUS – ISSUE 19 / Q1 2022