The USA is in forefront when it comes to the vaccination of its citizens. Several US states are now offering vaccine also to crews of ships that are calling their ports in order to secure global supply chains and to support international seafarers. At Harren & Partner, we quickly took the chance to explore if our crews could get hand on vaccinations when calling US ports. Through prompt action from our US entity and our port agencies, the crews onboard our vessels MV Frauke, MV Calypso, MV Paradero and MT Patrona I were offered vaccinations during their port calls in Mobile, Alabama, Erie, Pennsylvania, Miami, Florida and Savanna, Georgia.

Captain Sebastian Westphal, Managing Director of the Harren & Partner Group, states: “We are very thankful for this opportunity. Our seafarers are away from home for months, come from several different nations with varying national vaccination programs and are exposed during travelling and our global operations. The strict and effective preventive measures onboard our vessels ensure to keep the risk as low as practically possible, but this is not easing the social difficulties our seafarers face as a consequence of the pandemic. On behalf of the company and the fleet, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the US states that grant us this opportunity and to our teams behind who have organised this very rapidly.”

Now that the crews on board the Harren & Partner fleet are offered vaccinations during US port calls, we hope that other nations will follow this good example.

Captain Andreas Schuricht, MV Frauke, concludes: “It was great that this opportunity was offered to us, and our entire crew onboard happily took a vaccination shot. Hopefully this will not only ease travelling for us, but also help to reduce exposure when we are in ports around the world. I hope that our other colleagues will soon get the same opportunity that we have just got – I am very thankful.”