Temporary Advices
This FAQs answer sheet includes a number of questions from seafarers who have contacted the SeafarerHelp team.
New guidelines to avoid or manage an outbreak of coronavirus on board ships are now available.
We can pick up the Covid-19 by touching surfaces contaminated with the new coronavirus.
Psychotherapists are ready to put their knowledge into practice to help you manage what may be left now, so you can be #goodagain.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, several protection rules were imposed during Seamen's Club activities:
• Free carriage of the seamen from ship to club back and port.
• Frequent desinfection of the vehicles (handles, steering wheel, dashboard).
• Hydroalcoholic gel and masks available in the vehicles.
• Hand disinfection.
• Mask is mandatory.
• 4 seamen per vehicle.
• No seamen on the front seat (besides the driver).
• Carriage of seamen of a single ship (no mixing with the crew of another ship).
If you have arrived in Constanța and, together with your colleagues, would like to go out to the city, call us at +40 723 000-555. We are waiting for you!
Do not exchange money except at authorized exchange centers!
If you use individual transport, look for authorized taxi cars only and pay attention to the fare.
If you are out in town, it is preferable not to be alone.
Do not buy alcoholic beverages to bring them into the harbor.
Pay attention! There are some crooks who pretend to be from Seamen's Club. They will ask you for money in various forms and then disappear. Ignore them or call the police. Seamen's Club representatives will never ask you for money.
If you are not European, you can use ONLY GATE 1 to exit and enter in the port.
A waiver has been issued for one company under the 101-year-old Jones Act, which stipulates goods transported between U.S. ports be carried on ships built and registered in the U.S. as well as crewed by American workers, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement Thursday.
A White House official said Thursday that the exemption applied to one tanker but other waiver requests are under consideration.
The move is designed to address fuel shortages spurred by the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, which shut down a major artery for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel across the U.S. East Coast. Even with fuel shipments resuming from around 5 p.m. New York time Wednesday, it’s unclear how long it will take for the network to return to normal.
“This waiver will enable the transport of additional gas and jet fuel between the Gulf Coast and East Coast ports to ease supply constraints,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Colonial Pipeline – To Waive Or Not To Waive The Jones Act
Biden is also urging Americans “to just purchase what they need, and not hoard fuel, as supply is restored,” Psaki said. Gasoline stations from Florida to Virginia have reported running dry after Colonial Pipeline Co. was forced to take systems offline May 7, and pump prices soared above $3 a gallon for the first time in six years.
While the government has temporarily lifted U.S. shipping requirements to combat fuel shortages after major storms, including Hurricanes Sandy and Harvey, the issue is politically fraught. The Jones Act is championed by some of the nation’s biggest shipbuilders and vessel operators, as well as their allies on Capitol Hill. It also has the backing of a key Biden constituency in organized labor, including the Seafarers International Union.
Waiving the requirements allows foreign-flagged tankers to fill the supply gap left by the interruption to the pipeline. It would take an estimated six to seven days for a tanker to carry fuel from the Gulf Coast to New York Harbor. By contrast, a shipment of fuel from Europe could arrive in 10 to 14 days. A single cargo delivery into the East Coast is usually about 300,000 barrels.
The company and tanker affected by the Jones Act waiver have not been identified.
“We believe widespread panic buying, coupled with the one- to two-week time frame for fuel to reach delivery points along the pipeline created an opening for a non-U.S. tanker,” Height Capital Markets analyst Josh Price said in a research note for clients.
Under federal law, the U.S. could waive Jones Act shipping requirements if “necessary in the interest of national defense.” However, first, the Maritime Administration “would have to determine that qualified U.S.-flag vessels cannot meet the need,” said Charlie Papavizas, an expert in Jones Act law at Winston & Strawn LLP.
Related: White House: Foreign Shipping Companies Need to Prove Need for Jones Act Waiver
The Maritime Administration completed a survey of available Jones Act-compliant tankers on Tuesday, though the results have not been made public.
The American Maritime Partnership, a group that represents U.S.-flagged ship owners and has opposed efforts to scale back Jones Act protections, did not immediately respond to the administration’s move. Previously, Wednesday, the group’s president said it “does not object to a targeted approach to issuing waivers when there is a legitimate need and when such action does not reward those who would utilize foreign vessels to game the system at the expense of American jobs and national security.”
