Do Flags of Convenience Enable Ebola?

U.S. shippers have been assured by a variety of governmental agencies that cargo vessels of Liberian Registry are no more vulnerable to carrying the Ebola virus than vessels sailing under other Flags of Convenience.

Beyond dispute, however, is the fact that Liberia is the world’s second largest registry, representing 3200 ships of more than 100 million gross tons.

Liberia is also the epicenter of the deadly and highly contagious Ebola virus, now killing thousands of Africans and threatening tens of thousand more in the coming months.

But the first scare of infection on our shores came from a vessel calling the North Carolina Port of Morehead City, sailing under the flag of Singapore. The M/V PAC Adara had previously called the Port of Dakar in Senegal, and while still in the open sea had told U.S. Coast Guard officials that a sick man was aboard.

The merchant seaman did not have the virus, but he was hospitalized, nonetheless, before his ship was allowed to return on its journey.

Meanwhile, three global shipping organizations have issued guidance to their members on the risks posed to ships’ crews calling in countries affected by the Ebola virus.

The ICS (International Chamber of Shipping), IMEC (International Maritime Employers’ Council), and the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) urgently advise that on all such vessels:

5. After departure the crew should be aware of the symptoms and report any occurring symptoms immediately to the person in charge of medical care.

The advice is supplemented with information from the World Health Organization on the virus, but fails to address a larger question being asked by shippers:

Is this yet another manifestation of too many flags being flown without sufficient risk management in place?

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MR