For nearly five months, thousands of civilian mariners assigned to the Navys fleet of U.S. Military Sealift Command ships have been living under what are believed to be some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the military. And those restrictions were dropped on them with almost no notice, according to their advocates.

Under the Gangways Up order issued by MSC March 21, the mariners or CIVMARs have been forced to live on their ships, unable to go home when pierside and sometimes unable to obtain basic hygiene and comfort supplies, according to union officials representing the workers.

Such restrictions aimed at keeping the crews free of coronavirus infection are pushing the crews to their breaking point, three unions representing the workers warned in a July 29 letter to Rear Adm. Michael Wettlaufer, MSC commander.

The letter, posted to the Seafarers International Unions website, notes increasingly grave concerns regarding the mental health and well-being of MSCs CIVMARs as a result of the order.

There is growing anger, frustration and despair throughout the fleet, the letter states. People have a breaking point and many of these crewmembers are nearing it.

The letter was also signed by leaders of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association and the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.

It alludes to the July 22 suicide of Third Officer Jonathon Morris aboard the deployed dry cargo ship Amelia Earhart.

Don't miss the top Navy stories, delivered each afternoon

(please select a country) United States United Kingdom Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of The Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

Subscribe

By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Navy Times Daily News Roundup.

While not explicitly tying Morris death to the order, the unions wrote that the Gangways Up restriction may have, in some part, contributed to this unnecessary and senseless act.

MSC officials have declined to comment further on Morris death, citing an ongoing Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation.

Morris father, Jeffrey Morris, told Navy Times Thursday he was sure Jon was equally stressed as other CIVMARs but that he would not speculate on why Jon took his own life.

We are genuinely worried that if restrictions are not eased, the likelihood of shipboard emotional instability will increase, the unions letter states. Further, the stress-related fatigue caused by the Gangways Up restrictions could lead to safety and mission degradation and operational mishaps.

The current situation is taking a terrible toll on the families of these mariners as well, the letter continues. The CIVMARs feel unsupported and abandoned.

It ends with the unions asking Wettlaufer to reconsider the order and adopt a more appropriate and reasonable leave and liberty policy.

An effective policy

MSC spokesman Tom Van Leunen defended the policy in an email to Navy Times, stating that it has proven effective in protecting against COVID-19 and preserved mission capability.

The order affects about 3,900 CIVMARs and 1,500 contract mariners, he said.

MSC ships resupply other vessels at sea and are supposed to serve as vital surge capability should conventional war break out, ferrying troops and materiel to the fight.

This relatively small number of mariners are essential to national security, Van Leunen said.

While Van Leunen confirmed that MSC received the unions letter, he declined further comment as the unions have filed grievances over the policy and taken the matter to arbitration.

Randall Rockwood, a retired CIVMAR and vice president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots union that cosigned the letter sent to MSC, questioned the efficacy and fairness of the order.

Active-duty sailors and contractors come and go from some pierside ships each day, he said, even as the CIVMARs are forced to remain onboard.

The amount of holes in the bubbles the CIVMARs are supposed to be in for their own safety are too numerous to count, Rockwood said.

The CIVMARs are being treated like second-class citizens, worse than convicts, he added. The convicts are being let out of jail.

Zero foresight'

Rockwood also said the order went into effect with next to zero foresight.

Relating what he had heard from union members, Rockwood said some CIVMARs received so little notice that their cars were left parked at the pier because they showed up for work the day the order went into effect and were unable to leave again.

It was as close to instantaneous as you can describe, Rockwood said. One minute theyre coming and going, the next its no one can go ashore.

For the first few months, CIVMARs on pierside ships were not allowed to go to the Navy Exchange for basic supplies, and their colleagues had to toss supplies aboard from the pier, Rockwood said.

They would literally throw the required products onto the ship and receive money via Venmo or a weighted packet, he said. It was so archaic and thoughtless.

In recent weeks, CIVMARs have been allowed to get off the ship for supply runs to the base NEX, but morale is terrible among the crews, Rockwood said.

Some crew members have been stuck on the ship up to four months beyond their contracted assignment, he said.

Rockwood blamed Wettlaufer, the MSC commander, for the ordeal the mariners are enduring.

He continues to treat them as if their interests, well-being, families and loved ones are irrelevant, he said.

A complaint filed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission late last month on behalf of one ship captain alleges that MSC acted unfairly and negligently by forcing CIVMARs to remain on their ships while failing to provide adequate protective equipment for the crews.

More than 40 CIVMARs have since been added to the complaint.

Darrin Gibbons, a Virginia attorney who filed the EEOC complaint, said he is seeking class-action status to bring in more CIVMARs.

The Navys actions are tantamount to false arrest and false imprisonment of its own employees, the complaint alleges.

The complaint seeks an end to the order and compensation owed to the crews, he said.

While the Navy has allowed active-duty sailors, civilians and contractors to move freely between work and home while observing COVID-19 protections, civilian mariners haven been subject to draconian measures due to a perception that CIVMARs are at risk due to their age, the complaint states.

The only public explanation for the order was found in a May 7 letter from MSC leadership to Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, according to the EEOC complaint.

In a copy of the letter enclosed in the EECO complaint, MSC Executive Director Steven Cade writes that the 5,400-person CIVMAR force is older on average than their active-duty peers, making them potentially more vulnerable to effects of the COVID-19 virus.

Maintaining physical distance from others who might be carrying the virus and restricting close personal contacts off the ships is vital and necessary to protect MSCs Mariners and embarked personnel from virus exposure, Cade wrote.

Exceptions to the policy are granted on a limited, case-by-case basis, he wrote, including for medical reasons, to obtain basic health and comfort items or for travel to essential training.

We understand the strain this puts on our mariners and families, Cade wrote in the letter, which was sent in response to a complaint from one of Cantwells constituents, a mariner.

The senators office did not respond to a Navy Times request for comment.

Cade wrote that the policy had proven effective because only two of 166 MSC ships reported positive COVID-19 tests among its CIVMARs.

We are operating in unprecedented times and countering COVID-19 is critical to ensuring the health and safety of our CIVMARs, he wrote.

Twenty-four CIVMARs assigned to the fleet replenishment oiler Leroy Grumman tested positive for COVID-19 in April while the ship was undergoing maintenance in Boston, Van Leunen said.

One mariner, Joseph Bondoc, passed away of complications from COVID-19 at a Massachusetts hospital on May 21, Van Leunen said.

The ships crew was living in a hotel at the time of the outbreak and was not subject to the Gangways Up order because the ship was not inhabitable, he said.

A crew member aboard the hospital ship Comfort also tested positive for COVID-19 this spring.

Visit link:

'Despair' spreading throughout the Military Sealift Command fleet over 'draconian' COVID-19 restrictions, unions warn - NavyTimes.com