Low Vaccination Rates Among Seafarers Worldwide Intensify Supply Chain Disruptions

[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Bloomberg News analyzed on the 13th (local time) that the low vaccination rate among seafarers is exacerbating global supply chain disruptions.

Due to the nature of their occupation, seafarers often spend extended periods away from their residences, making vaccination difficult. Moreover, the fact that a majority of seafarers worldwide come from emerging countries with low vaccination rates is another variable. Bloomberg explained that half of the 1.6 million seafarers worldwide are from emerging countries such as India, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Bloomberg also reported that it is unknown how many seafarers worldwide have been vaccinated because there are no companies or institutions compiling statistics on seafarers. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) estimated that only about 35,000 to 40,000 seafarers, or 2.5% of the global seafarer population, have been vaccinated.

Indian local media Hindu Business Line, citing industry sources, reported that as of May, 14% of Indian seafarers had received the first vaccine dose, while only 1% had completed the second dose.

Among seafarers, many are from the Philippines, accounting for 460,000, or 25% of the global seafarer population. Accordingly, the Philippine government established a priority vaccination policy for seafarers, but vaccine shortages have caused delays in vaccination. The ICS estimated that the vaccination rate among Filipino seafarers is only 1%, and it would take more than a year to vaccinate all of them.

There are concerns that unvaccinated seafarers traveling worldwide are spreading the COVID-19 virus. In May, in Indonesia, after a ship carrying a Filipino seafarer infected with COVID-19 docked, one seafarer died and dozens of hospital staff were infected with the Delta variant. Around the same time, a port in Shenzhen, China, was closed for several weeks after one employee was infected with COVID-19. This further worsened the already severe supply chain disruptions.

Such low vaccination rates among seafarers are identified as one of the causes aggravating supply chain disruptions by causing operational setbacks at ports. There are also forecasts that the ongoing supply chain disruptions will affect the Christmas shopping season at the end of this year.

To increase seafarers' vaccination rates, there are calls for establishing vaccination facilities at all ports and vaccinating all incoming seafarers. In the United States, seafarers entering ports are vaccinated regardless of nationality. However, countries where vaccination is conducted this smoothly are only a few.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.