OLEANDER

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Container ship crew stranded during pandemic

Most of the crew on the 'Oleander' have reached or gone past the end of their regular three-month contracts, but are unable to travel home or take shore leave because of the coronavirus crisis. Strict precautions to prevent Covid-19 getting on board the ship, as well as problems with transportation of crew and relief crew in and out of the island while international travel was still severely restricted has stranded crew on the ship. Neptune Group, the owner of Bermuda Container Lines Ltd, which operates the Oleander, was working to find ways to manage a crew change, but it had managed to do so for only three crew members so far. Shore leave for the crew has been unavailable for many weeks now. Getting a relief crew for the 'Oleander' to the island was a problem too. The Oleander managed to change three of the European crew members through recent flights to Bermuda from Atlanta and Toronto. The replacements were quarantined in Bermuda for two weeks, then tested twice before they were driven straight to the Oleander to minimise the risk of contact. Air travel from the Philippines has only recently begun to open — however, there are no connecting flights to Bermuda as yet.