Furthers Foremost Group Commitment to Supporting and Advocating for Crews

NEW YORK, NY – January 26, 2021 – Foremost Group, an American dry bulk shipping company, today announced that it has joined over 300 industry leaders, including shipowners, charterers, crew advocates and other stakeholders, in signing the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change. Signatories of the declaration commit to setting high standards and using best practices to support the wellbeing, health and safety of crew members in the maritime shipping industry.

Foremost Group Chair and CEO Angela Chao commented, “Throughout the pandemic, the world’s more than one million seafarers have delivered extraordinary performance to ensure that everything from raw materials to finished products safely reaches its final destination. In these times, and always, we owe it to each of these men and women to be doing everything we can to ensure their safety and fair treatment both on the sea and ports of call around the world. Foremost Group is proud to have joined such a diverse group in signing the Neptune Declaration and looks forward to continuing to work with our partners in this important effort.”

The Neptune Declaration seeks to:

• 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 practices
• Increase collaboration between ship operators and charterers to facilitate crew changes
• Ensure air connectivity between key maritime hubs for seafarers

For additional information, visit: https://www.globalmaritimeforum.org/neptune-declaration/

For coverage of the Neptune Declaration, visit: Associated Press, BBC, Lloyd’s List, Thomson Reuters and TradeWinds.