| To: | All seafarers on board of vessels under full management of Aug. Bolten and Lydia Mar |
| Date: | 12.06.2024 |
Dear Masters, Officers and Ratings on board of Aug. Bolten and Lydia Mar managed vessels!
We need capable and qualified seafarers as much as you need reliable and high-quality employers providing safe jobs on board good vessels. It is a give and take, so we asked ourselves once again what we can do for our seafarers rather than what our seafarers can do for us.
Hence, it is now our pleasure to hereby introduce our new compensation component which will be effective from July 1st 2024 for all seafarers serving on board the above-mentioned vessels.
Looking for an additional instrument to improve the welfare of our valuable seafarers and following a suggestion from our pool of seafarers, we have found a strong partner to provide you with a medical insurance cover in your country of residence.
Marine Benefits, as a subsidiary of Norwegian Hull Club, is a fully integrated global health insurance provider, based in Bergen/Norway and with an office in Manila/Philippines. They provide healthcare services all over the world in around 90 countries and have a network of more than 27,000 medical facilities and 81,000 doctors.
The monthly insurance premiums are paid solely by your employer, with no personal contribution from your side.
Who will be covered?
| SEAFARERS | from 18 to 70 years of age |
| SPOUSE / LEGAL PARTNER | from 18 to 70 years of age |
| CHILDREN | from 30 days to 21 years of age |
When will the cover be effective?
Whereas spouses and dependent children, if any, can continuously avail of this benefit, our seafarers themselves remain covered by the standard vessel’s P&I insurance against illnesses and accidents whilst working on board.
After a regular completion of your contract, your insurance cover will also be taken over by Marine Benefits for a maximum of three months of leave – at your employer’s final discretion. If you stay at home for more than three months, your employer will decide when to interrupt your and your family’s insurance cover after that period, and will always endeavor to find an amicable and workable compromise to avoid any possible hardship to the seafarer and his family.
The cover – what are the annual limits?
| LIFETIME LIMIT PER MEMBER | ANNUAL LIMITS / PER INSURED MEMBER | ||||
| ANNUAL LIMIT | INPATIENT | OUTPATIENT | MATERNITY | DENTAL | |
| 200,000 US$ | 5,500 US$ | 5,000 US$ | 500 US$ | 500,00 US$ | Covered up to 200 US$ for the seafarer |
In need of medical treatment?
If you or your covered dependents are in need of a medical treatment, you contact Marine Benefits directly by phone, website/online chat or app. Their local language support hotlines are available 24/7, and will approve the planned treatment. The treatment will be provided by one of the 30.000 medical facilities connected to Marine Benefits. The billing will be cashless for you and is handled directly between the insurance company and the medical facility. There will be no out-of-pocket expenses by you.
In case of an emergency or the unlikely event that there is no such medical facility available reasonably close to your residence, you will settle the medical bills and the expenses will be reimbursed by Marine Benefits upon receipt of vouchers within a few days only.
The insurance company covers almost all necessary medical treatments in the respective country of residence of our seafarers.
For Ukrainian seafarers and their families, there is a limited exemption that their medical treatments in all European countries will be covered.
Full details of the insurance cover will be forwarded with your personal welcome packages.
What are the next steps?
| Data collection – as per the separately enclosed Excel template “2024 Enrollment template.xlsx” | Your employer must be notified of your personal details as well as those of your spouse and children. Therefore, please fill out the provided Excel template without changing any of the tabbed fields.  The Crew ID is the CrewStar office personal number. If you do not know it, please leave this tab blank. Ukrainian seafarers, who still have their official residence in Ukraine, may enter their Ukrainian home address, even if they are currently living abroad. |
| Please do not forget to send your marriage certificate (or any equivalent legal document) and/or certificates of birth for your children to prove your family status. | |
| Enrollment for medical cover | Each new member will receive a digital welcome package as a pdf file to the email address provided in the xls template with more detailed information about the product and instructions from Marine Benefits how to use the plan |
| Furthermore, each member will receive a link to the Marine Benefit’s Member Portal app with personal login information and the unique MBAS insurance ID number. | |
| Active Consent | Once you have given your active consent to the insurance company, they will be allowed to process and store your medical data. |
| Using your membership | When your membership has been activated, you will have access to the Marine Benefits Pocket assistant. There you will find a detailed explanation of the medical plan in 16 different languages, you can find out more about the procedures, which hospitals Marine Benefits have in their network, the terms and conditions and the schedule of benefits, how to contact Marine Benefits etc. |
Please be assured that the insurance company Marine Benefits will not share any information about your or your dependant’s health records or medical conditions with your employer!
We sincerely hope that you and your families will appreciate this additional financial benefit, as your wellbeing and that of your loved ones is what we care about. Ensuring that seafarers and their families have access to quality, essential healthcare services will hopefully reduce your concerns about the welfare of dependants – especially as your jobs require you to be away from home for several months each year.
We are hopeful that we will be able to maintain this voluntary additional benefit at the terms and conditions as briefly outlined above for a long time to come, because we truly care for our seafarers and their families.
If you have any questions about this medical plan or would like to share some of your thoughts, please do not hesitate to contact your usual crew manager:
Lydia Mar Shipping GmbH Lydia Mar Shipping Co. SA
Hamburg/Germany Athens/Greece
Tel. +49 40 3601 431 Tel. +30 210 9426451-5
E-Mail: LMH-crewing@aug-bolten.de E-Mail: crew@lydiamar.gr