The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have called on governments to take urgent measures to facilitate crew change flights for seafarers.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, seafarers have had to extend their service on-board ships after many months at sea, unable to be replaced following long tours of duty or return home.

Indeed, shipping is vital to the maintenance of global supply chains, but the current situation is unsustainable for the safety and wellbeing of ships’ crews and the safe operation of maritime trade.

Each month, about 100,000 merchant seafarers need to be changed over from the ships on which they operate to ensure compliance with international maritime regulations protecting safety, health and welfare.

As a result of government-imposed travel restrictions due to COVID-19, flights to repatriate or position marine personnel are unavailable. Immigration and health screening protocols are also hampering the ability of merchant ships to conduct vitally necessary crew changes. IATA and ICS are working together to come forward with safe and pragmatic solutions that governments can implement to facilitate crew changes at certain airports.

ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten, said: “Seafarers are unsung heroes, who everyday throughout this COVID-19 crisis are going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that countries are kept supplied with the goods they need.

“We are working with the airlines to come forward with solutions. We now need governments to support our seafarers and facilitate safe passage for them to get home to loved ones and be replaced by crew members ready to keep supply chains open,” Platten said.

IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, added that airlines have been required to cut passenger services in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“But if governments identify airports that seafarers can use for crew changes and make appropriate adjustments to current health and immigration protocols, airlines can help keep global logistics moving,” de Juniac said.

ICS and IATA are calling on all governments to designate a specific and limited number of crew change airports for the safe movement and repatriation of crew. This would achieve critical mass for the resumption of crew change flights to these airports, keeping global supply chains open.

Priority airports should include those close to major shipping lanes that also have direct air connections to principal seafarer countries of residence, such as China, India and the Philippines as well as destinations in western and Eastern Europe.

Aviation and shipping companies face common challenges in carrying out crew changes while complying with immigration and quarantine restrictions introduced by most governments around the world.

As authorities continue to battle COVID-19, international transport personnel operating aircraft and ships, or transiting international borders for duty, are often affected by national restrictions designed for passengers and non-essential personnel. When applied to crew not interacting with local communities, these restrictions unnecessarily jeopardise the ability of airlines and shipping companies to keep global supply chains operating.

IATA and ICS are working with their global regulators – the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – on recommendations to governments for standardized procedures and protocols for positioning crews whilst preventing the further spread of COVID-19.

The aviation and maritime transport industries are the lifeblood of the global economy, moving the world’s goods and products which are necessary to allow society to continue to function efficiently throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

By volume, some 90 per cent of global trade is delivered by ship, including food, energy, raw materials and manufactured products.

Airlines carry, in addition to passengers, some 35 per cent of global trade by value, including critical medicines and medical supplies.

G20 governments, at their recent emergency meetings, committed to “minimise disruptions to trade and global supply chains” and identified the need to prioritize keeping air and sea logistics networks open and functioning efficiently.

Shipping companies and airlines are cooperating to meet this priority by ensuring that reliable operations continue throughout the pandemic. However, these networks will grind to a halt if replacement crews are unavailable for duty. Governments must take urgent action now to avoid further damage to the battered global economy.

OPEC is banking on global oil demand recovering by more than 10 million b/d from the second quarter to the fourth quarter of 2020 as it embarks on a global supply pact along with allies and rivals to provide relief for a coronavirus-stricken oil market.

OPEC’s analysis arm, like many other agencies, severely cut back its demand forecast for 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread fast globally, jolting an oil market with a historic shock described as “abrupt” and “extreme.”

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the outlook is subject to exceptionally high uncertainty, reaffirming that extraordinary macroeconomic action, and working together, will contribute to a faster recovery.

“Targeted and sizable fiscal support is critical to provide a safety net for the most affected households and businesses and create conditions for a rapid recovery. We welcome the actions of central banks and financial authorities to alleviate stressed global financial conditions and maintain financial stability”, the IMF added.

The producer group now expects global oil demand to plunge by 6.8 million b/d year on year in 2020 to 92.82 million b/d, with April witnessing the biggest contraction at about 20 million b/d, according to its latest monthly oil market report.

But data showed that demand in Q4 is expected to rebound to 97.30 million b/d from a low of 86.70 million b/d in Q2.

The report warned of further adjustments and downward risks due to the large uncertainties, as large-scale containment measure remain in place to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus.

These measures “have led to tumbling fuel consumption, amid product inventory builds, severely damaging jet fuel markets and driving gasoline margins into negative territory,” it added.

The impact of this is already seen in the oil products markets with refiners having to reduce or halt operations due to terrible margins.

Under the OPEC/non-OPEC deal agreed over the weekend, the producer group specifically has agreed to cut its production by 6.08 million b/d in May and June. This is based on a baseline of 26.68 million b/d and exempts Iran, Libya and Venezuela.

It will also cut 4.87 million b/d between July and December and 3.65 million b/d from January 2021 to April 2022.

The report said demand for OPEC crude in 2020 will average 24.52 million b/d, more than 4 million b/d below its production last month.

The analysis, however, shows that demand for OPEC crude in Q2 2020 will be as low as 19.73 million b/d before increasing to 30.01 million b/d by Q4.

But this is based on demand recovering by more than 10 million b/d from the second quarter to the fourth quarter this year.

OPEC’s March production of 28.61 million b/d was up 821,000 b/d from the month prior, according to secondary sources, largely due to a return of its market share strategy led by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait.

This is almost 9 million b/d over what it sees as the demand level for its crude in Q2, showing how steep the demand destruction is.

The kingdom, however, self-reported March output of 9.73 million b/d, while the secondary sources used by OPEC to monitor production estimated it much higher at 10.058 million b/d.

UAE said it pumped at record-high of 3.53 million b/d compared with a secondary sources estimate of 3.45 million b/d.

Production fell in countries that are exempt from the deal — Libya, Iran and Venezuela — by a total of just over 200,000 b/d.

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, pumped 4.59 million b/d, down 20,000 b/d month on month, according to secondary sources. It self-reported 4.50 million b/d.

The report said non-OPEC oil supply is will decline by 1.50 million b/d in 2020, a downward revision of 3.26 million b/d.

The oil price war launched by Saudi Arabia over a month ago led to a severe oil price crash, prompting oil companies, especially those in the US, to severely cut capex.

OPEC now expects US oil supply production will fall by 150,000 b/d in 2020 from the previous year.

Norway, Brazil, Guyana and Australia will be the only countries in which oil production will grow in 2020, it added.

Air Peace has denied reports that three of its crew members absconded from the quarantine facility of the Lagos Government.

Its Chief Operating Officer, Mrs Toyin Olajide, made the denial in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday.

Olajide was refering to one of its aircraft operated by Boeing B777-200ER (P4 5-NBVE) which airlifted medical supplies and some Chinese medical personnel who arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on April 8.
According to her, all the crew members that operated the flight which included six pilots, eight cabin crew, two engineers and one dispatch officer are still quarantined under the supervision of the Lagos State Government.

She explained that at the onset of the flight to China, the crew members were tested for the COVID-19 and each of the members tested negative.

Olajide said that the airline followed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) protocol to ensure that the crew members were protected from any form of exposure to the virus.

She said that on arrival at Beijing airport none of the crew members came out of the aircraft, while the aircraft was loaded with medical supplies.

”The Chinese medical team boarded the aircraft from the central door and stayed in the business class cabin before the take off of the flight to Nigeria,” she said.

She said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) approved standard protocol to protect flight crew during the COVID-19 pandemic and those of NCAA were adopted.

Sub-Saharan Africa has not been as badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic as some other parts of the world, but the economy is being pummelled.

Here’s a look at the main issues.

Perfect storm recession
For the first time in 25 years sub-Saharan Africa is about to go into recession, according to World Bank estimates.

Following 2.4 percent growth last year, the estimate for 2020 is between -2.1 and -5.1 percent as the economy contracts.
This is in part a knock-on effect from the economic hits being taken by Africa’s main trading partners: China, the EU and the United States.

Add to that the slump in the key markets of raw materials and tourism as well as the effect of measures to confine populations at home and you have the perfect economic storm for the continent.

The African Development Bank remains less pessimistic but still sees a fall into recession of between -0.7 and -2.8 percent.

Tens of millions of jobs in danger
The African Union estimates that around 20 million jobs, in formal and informal sectors, are under threat.

The United Nations puts the figure much higher, at up to 50 million.

Money transfers from diaspora drop
High unemployment and economic slowdown are also hitting African workers abroad, and therefore their money transfers back home, which are often a vital part of the economy.

The transfers to Mali in 2018 represented 5.5 percent, according to Bloomfield Investment analysts.

The figure for Senegal was 10 percent.

These cash transfers are expected to fall significantly with more than half the world’s population in some kind of lockdown.

Price of raw materials plummets
Sub-Saharan Africa’s two biggest economies, South Africa and Nigeria are heading for deep recessions, according to the World Bank, as demand drops from developed nations for raw materials such as oil and precious metals.

The same goes for Angola, Africa’s second biggest oil exporter.

Oil prices have fallen to between $20 and $30 a barrel, nearing the cost of production in Nigeria.

Even gold, a traditional safe haven for investors, is not immune. The reduction in air transport and the closure of some refineries is limiting gold exports, according to Bloomfield Investment.

And the cotton market is down sharply, a matter highlighted on Friday by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali, where around a quarter of the workforce is linked to the sector.