The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has induced devastating implications for human everyday living and the world-wide economic climate. Maritime and air transport are two critical pursuits that underpin world wide trade and mobility and are critical to a sustainable socio-economic restoration.

Much more than 80% of worldwide trade by volume is moved by maritime transportation. The international financial system is dependent on the world’s 2 million seafarers who operate the world-wide fleet of merchant ships. Seafarers have been seriously impacted by the vacation constraints imposed in the course of the pandemic. As of January 2021, it is believed that some 400,000 seafarers are stranded on board commercial vessels, long previous the expiry of their contracts and not able to be repatriated. A similar selection of seafarers urgently want to join ships to replace them.

Passenger air transportation carried about 5.7 billion passengers in 2019 even though airfreight signifies 35% of the benefit of goods shipped in all modes put together. The total amount of certified aviation pros, which include things like pilots, air website traffic controllers and licensed servicing experts, was 887,000 in 2019, in accordance to ICAO personnel stats.  Application of stringent public health and fitness guidelines to air crew, which includes quarantine, has resulted in hindered connectivity, operational complexity and substantial value.

Maritime and air transport rely on seafarers and aircrew. They are key personnel essential to travel across borders at all occasions, which might result in the will need for them to present evidence of a COVID-19 vaccination as a issue for entry in some countries. This is in spite of WHO recommendation that, at the current time, nations should really not introduce necessities of proof of vaccination for worldwide vacation as a issue of entry, as there are nevertheless significant unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in lessening transmission and limited availability of vaccines¹. For transport and air transport to continue on to run safely and securely, the protected cross border movement of seafarers and aircrew need to be facilitated. We reiterate our simply call on international locations that have not performed so to designate seafarers and aircrew as essential workers.

With this statement, our companies also call on governments to prioritize seafarers and aircrew in their national COVID-19 vaccination programmes, with each other with other important employees, in accordance with the assistance from the WHO SAGE Roadmap for prioritizing the use of COVID-19 vaccines in the context of constrained supply released in November 2020². Seafarers and aircrew will need to be safeguarded as a result of vaccination as shortly as achievable, to facilitate their risk-free movement across borders. We also call on governments to discover and put together for the difficulties of COVID-19 vaccination of seafarers and aircrew, specifically for seafarers expending extensive durations of time absent from their residence nation.

Our corporations thoroughly support the timely progress of an intercontinental harmonized framework for vaccination certificates, to aid international travel for seafarers and aircrew.

In December 2020, WHO proven a Wise Vaccination Certificate working group to be certain that digitalized versions of vaccine certificates are interoperable³, and the UN Disaster Administration Workforce for COVID-19, below the leadership of WHO, recognized that all nations ought to take into account seafarers and aircrew, who are necessary to travel across borders throughout the pandemic, for vital allocation of vaccines.

We invite governments and other stakeholders to deliver the contents of this joint statement to the consideration of the proficient authorities and all get-togethers anxious.