Fleet leads Indian crew change scorecard

(Posted on 08/06/20)

As the world grapples with the vast scale and human impact of COVID-19, Fleet Management is leaving no

stone unturned in its crew change endeavours. To date, FLEET has arranged crew changes for over 432

seafarers across 34 vessels and 12 ports in India, the highest so far arranged by any ship manager after the

nationwide lockdown. This takes FLEET’s tally to 1127 crew changes worldwide, which is among the highest in

the world, including 609 in China and 84 in the Philippines.

“As we navigate the global crisis, we never lose sight of the wellbeing of our seafarers,” said Kishore

Rajvanshy, Managing Director, Fleet Management Limited. “While travel restrictions, border control and

quarantine measures are posing manifold logistical challenges on crew rotation, our crewing department is

working relentlessly to manage crew change as smoothly as possible.”

Captain M S Nagarajan, Executive Director and Head of Crewing, Fleet Management Limited, said, “Managing

the end-to-end crew change in the wake of the pandemic is by no means an easy feat. However, our people

are putting their best efforts to work together with the shipping ministries, port authorities, local agents and

seafarers for seamless and safe changeovers. Medicals, coronavirus tests, lodging and land transits are being

arranged for seafarers when they are returning home or boarding a ship.”

Captain Prashant Rangnekar, COO, Elegant Marine Services (FLEET’s recruitment wing in India), said, “A

third of our seafarers are currently working at sea beyond their contractual lengths, but cannot return home due

to the travel restriction. This has a direct bearing on their mental wellbeing. To protect their mental wellness,

we have partnered with Sailor’s Society to set up a Crisis Response Network (CRN). Seafarers can access the

CRN by calling 24/7 helpline on +1-202-931-5500 or through online chat via www.wellnessatsea.org/fleetmanagement

and get confidential advice, emotional support, psychotherapy and counselling.”

To enable crew changes at foreign ports, FLEET will continue to explore possibilities of arranging charter

flights to take seafarers to ships around the world or bring them back home after sign-off.

With a 25-year history, 500+ vessels, 20,000+ qualified seafarers and 800+ shore employees, Fleet Management Limited

is one of the world's largest independent third-party ship management companies. For the last 25 years, FLEET has

pioneered many of the crewing, safety, and technical standards, which have become benchmarks in the industry.

Today, FLEET is the second largest Bulk carrier and Tanker manager, and fifth largest container manager in the world. In

the last 12 months, FLEET has helped carry 80 million tons of Bulk cargo on vessels ranging from Handy size to VLOCs

and cargoes ranging from iron ore to grain to nickel ore to windmills, steel and other project cargoes.

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