Global travel restrictions have created such a backlog of crew exchanges that it will take shipping companies until the end of the year to work through them, maybe longer, according to Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (HCS) president George D Pateras.
“It will take at least six to nine months before things return to normal,” Pateras told TradeWinds.
When bans in major shipping hubs are lifted, shipping companies will rush to change crews on thousands of ships, creating serious logistical and cash management problems in the process.
