Page 26 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2022

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ing awareness about the crew change crisis and
proposing realistic solutions, such as creating
a safe corridor and providing vaccinations for
crew personnel that the Republic of Cyprus
has adopted.
Finally, here is some interesting data about our
company’s actions and performance during the
pandemic that we are proud of:
• We performed twenty-four (24) deviations
to Manila Bay (Philippines) and Vung-Tau
(Vietnam) for crew changes at the compa-
ny’s expense (without company clients or
personnel contributing to these expenses);
• We launched an on-demand, one-to-one
remote medical consultation service, which
provides our seafarers in need with diag-
noses and medical advice;
• We established an internet and telephone
allowance for our crews to facilitate their
communication with their families;
• We established a private insurance scheme
for our officers;
• We performed annual performance
appraisal evaluations for all employees
based on the goals, skills, and experiences
set individually for each employee;
• From 2019 to 2020, our shore-based per-
sonnel’s female-to-male increased by 6%;
this ratio reached 30% in 2021;
• We had a 3-year reduction in the average
age of our employees from 2020 to 2021;
• Our retention rate for senior and junior offi-
cers on board our vessels increased by 10%
in 2021 vs 2020;
• We introduced a work-from-home program
for our shore-based personnel;
• We launched an extensive in-house
team-building coaching programme on a
Safe Bulkers has endorsed the Neptune Decla- one-to-one basis with our in-house coach/
ration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Changes psychologist;
to address the unprecedented crew change • We promoted more than 20 officers to
challenges instigated by the pandemic. The senior officer ranks in the past two years.
Neptune Declaration urges the implementa- • 40% of the company’s superintendents
tion of four main actions to address the crisis: have sea-going experience;
• Recognising seafarers as key workers and • 95% of the company’s employees have
giving them priority access to COVID-19 attended higher education;
vaccinations; • Our overall approach is aligned with the
• Implementing high-standard health pro- Seafarers’ On Board - Best Practice Char-
tocols; ter, as articulated by the Sustainable Ship-
• Increasing collaboration between ship ping Initiative (SSI), whose philosophy is to
operators and charterers to facilitate crew go above and beyond the standard provi-
changes; sions of the Maritime Labour Convention
• Ensuring airline connectivity between key (MLC). The company’s steadily increasing
maritime hubs for seafarers; adaptation of the 17-point Charter demon-
As Safe Bulkers’ CEO, I have actively partici- strates our strategic commitment to sup-
pated in international forums and panels, rais- porting our workforce.

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