Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. Becomes a Signatory to The Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc., one of the world’s largest owner-operators within the Supramax / Ultramax drybulk segment, today announced that it has become a signatory to The Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change, a global ‘call to action’ initiative to help end the unprecedented crew change crisis affecting the maritime industry.

The outbreak of COVID-19, and its impact to worldwide travel, has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis on the seas, leading to hundreds of thousands of seafarers being left stranded on ships beyond their contractual employment periods. Although a number of international organizations, governments, and companies have spoken out on this matter, too little has been done to help resolve this crisis.

The Neptune Declaration has been adopted by over 300 leading companies and organizations who are committed to work together in order to help raise awareness and resolve the crew change crisis. The signatories to The Neptune Declaration call for the following actions be implemented:

• Recognize seafarers as key workers and give them priority access to COVID-19 vaccines
• Establish and implement gold standard health protocols based on existing best practice
• Increase collaboration between ship operators and charterers to facilitate crew changes
• Ensure air connectivity between key maritime hubs for seafarers

Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk’s CEO, commented, “We are pleased to join with many other industry stakeholders as a signatory to The Neptune Declaration. We think this is an important initiative and believe in the power of speaking with a collective voice in order to raise the awareness necessary to drive change. Having said this, we also believe it is an imperative that companies take concrete steps and expend the required resources to effect real outcomes for the individuals being impacted. We have made, and will continue to make, seafarer welfare a priority at Eagle with the continuous goal of maintaining zero seafarers working beyond their contractual employment periods.”