Strengthening global cooperation to address unforeseen challenges through enhanced health and safety measures for seafarers - Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic severely endangered the functioning of global supply chains and created a significant humanitarian crisis for seafarers and other marine personnel. IMO ensured that the FAL Convention was updated as a result of the lessons learned. The new provisions focus on enabling ships and ports to remain fully operational during a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), in order to ensure complete functionality of global supply chains to the greatest extent possible. The envisaged consideration and adoption, at the thirty-third regular session of the Assembly, of recommendations emanating from the UN Joint Action Group to review the impact of the pandemic on the world's transport workers and the global supply chain will emphasize the importance of protecting the well-being of seafarers and strengthening global cooperation to address unforeseen challenges through enhanced health and safety measures for seafarers, accelerated adoption of digital technologies, and collaboration and coordination between different stakeholders in the maritime industry.