1. No category

Issue 190 nov/dec 2007
Warning on
equipment
identity
codes
Los
artículos
en español
aparecen
en las
páginas
6y7
Статьи на
русском
языке
приводятся
на стр. 6 и 7
Beating
the officer
shortage
page 2
Time for
better ship
design
pages 4/5
Concern
about
competence
page 8
Singapore shows its gratitude to seafarers
SEAFARERS on board some 600
ships in Singapore received
hampers to mark World Maritime
Day. The initiative, which is run by
the Maritime and Port Authority
of Singapore, is now in its fifth
year and is designed to show
The Sea is published by
The Mission to Seafarers
Editor: Gillian Ennis
News: David Hughes
It is distributed free of
charge to seafarers through
chaplains and seafarers’
centres. However, if you
want to be sure of getting
it regularly, send us £1.50
or $3 for post and packing
and we will mail it to you
for a year (six issues).
It is available from:
Kathy Baldwin
The Sea, The Mission to
Seafarers, St Michael
Paternoster Royal,
College Hill,
London EC4R 2RL.
Tel: +44 20 7248 5202
Fax: +44 20 7248 4761
Email:
[email protected]
Website:
www.missiontoseafarers.org
Singapore Organisation of Seamen.
Grace Fu, Singapore’s minister of
state for national development
(above left), presented the first
hampers to seafarers at a ceremony
to mark the start of the 2007
programme of hamper distribution.
New deal will improve seafarers’ pay and conditions
ITF agreements will
apply ‘Bill of Rights’
I
UK registered charity no: 212432
appreciation for the contribution
of seafarers to world trade.
The hampers, which contain food,
magazines, DVDs and information
about Singapore, were this year
co-presented by the Singapore
Maritime Officers’ Union and the
T may be another four
or five years before the
ILO Maritime Labour
Convention comes into force
but seafarers on all ships
with International Transport
Workers’ Federation (ITF)
agreements will be covered by
its provisions from next year.
This was one of the major
outcomes of recent negotiations over seafarers’ pay and
conditions. Representatives
of the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) agreed a
deal for open registry vessels
covered by IBF agreements
which includes an average 8
per cent pay increase and a
$10 per month per seafarer
levy paid by employers to
subsidise the employment
of developed economy ratings. The ITF had originally
demanded a 10 per cent pay
increase and the employers
had offered 3 per cent.
The inclusion of the mandatory clauses of the ILO
Maritime Labour Convention in IBF agreements from
January 2007 means that the
convention will apply to seafarers on these agreements
well before it enters force,
possibly in 2011 or 2012.
The convention, often called
the seafarers’ Bill of Rights,
covers almost all aspects of
working and employment
conditions at sea.
The deal only applies
to the 3,500 vessels, and
roughly 70,000 seafarers,
covered by IBF agreements.
However, ITF official Stephen
Cotton said that the ITF
would include the clauses applying the ILO convention in
all its agreements from next
year. That means the crews
of most ocean-going ships
flying “flags of convenience”
will be covered.
ITF spokesman Brian Orrell expressed particular satisfaction that the IBF had
agreed to establish IBF Developed Economy Ratings (DER)
funds to encourage companies to offer employment
to seafarers from traditional
maritime nations who had
suffered major job losses dur-
ing the past two decades.
“This shows”, he said,
“that the IBF can create innovative solutions to problems and improve the overall
standards in the industry for
all parties.”
The Sea asked Mr Orrell
if the deal meant developing
country seafarers were getting a worse deal than they
otherwise would have done
so that a number of ratings
from rich countries could
take some of their jobs. This
suggestion was dismissed out
of hand by the union side. Mr
Orrell pointed out that it was
the employers who paid the
levy, not the seafarers.
He also stressed that unions from the main seafarer
providing countries, who
were not actually at the table,
supported the initiative to
put developed economy ratings on open register ships.
The delegates on both
sides described the talks,
which started in Sydney
in May and proceeded via
Tokyo and Pusan to end in
London in October, as “a
particularly difficult and
challenging series of meetings”.
The Maritime Union
of Australia (MUA), whose
national secretary Paddy
Crumlin was part of the
ITF negotiating team, was a
driving force behind the DER
initiative. The MUA wants
Australian ratings on the
LNG carriers that run from
Australian offshore gas fields.
More ships are on the way
and the IBF agreement will
probably allow the MUA to
successfully negotiate deals
to put its members on the
ships.
Partly, the MUA has been
spurred into using the IBF as
a way to find employment
for its members because the
current Australian Government has not enforced cabotage restrictions around the
Australian coast. As a result,
the number of berths for Australian ratings has declined
drastically.
See Justice Matters P6
SLOPPY programming of
communication devices
is preventing rescuers
from finding ships in
distress, according to the
US Coast Guard.
The agency has
warned mariners to
make sure they enter
their nine-digit maritime
mobile service Identity
(MMSI) number into
marine radios equipped
with digital selective
calling (DSC) and
automatic identification
systems (AIS).
It pointed out
that many marine
communication devices
required the MMSI to
identify the user of the
device.
“Statistics show,”
it said, “that many
mariners in distress do
not properly identify
themselves nor provide
a precise location when
radioing for help. This
delays rescue services
in arriving at the scene
quickly and providing
the assistance needed.
“Leaving the
MMSI unprogrammed,
entering a false identity
or not updating a
previously-programmed
device with your own
identity may delay a
rescue and, in certain
situations is unlawful,”
it cautioned.
Seafarer
saved by
a floating
bottle
A SEAFARER on
Japanese coastal
products tanker
Sakura Maru survived
being in the sea for
10 hours thanks to an
empty plastic bottle.
According to Japanese
press reports, the
28-year-old man had
fallen overboard near
the coast of Kamaishi,
northern Japan. He
was not wearing a
life jacket, but an
empty bottle floated
by shortly after he fell
and he clung on to it
for support.
The Japanese Coast
Guard mounted a
search and rescue
operation but failed to
find the man who was
eventually spotted by
the crew of a fishing
boat six miles from
where he went overboard.
2 the sea nov/dec 07
Owners’ fleet banned from US for three years
Awards for ‘magic pipe’
whistleblowers
T
HREE engineers, an oiler and the
bosun from the general cargo
ship Sportsqueen have each been
awarded US$50,000 for testifying against
Indian-based shipping company Accord
Ship Management and the vessel’s chief
engineer Francisco Sabando, who has
been jailed.
The case is one of a number of socalled “magic pipe” cases prosecuted in
the US recently.
The owner pleaded guilty to four
counts: conspiracy, violation of the
Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships
(APPS), and two obstruction of justice
charges, according to a Department of
Justice statement. Under a plea agreement, Accord will pay a criminal fine of
US$1.75m and serve a three-year term
of probation during which time all of
the ships in its fleet will be banned
from US waters and ports.
Mr Sabando pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges and will
serve a prison term of five months.
“Accord Ship Management and
the crew of the Sportsqueen chose to
violate the law and were not willing
to take the steps to ensure compliance and because of this, they will be
banned from the opportunity to do
business in US ports,” said Ronald Tenpas, Acting Assistant Attorney General
for the Justice Department’s Environ-
ment and Natural Resources Division.
“Today’s jail sentences and fines are a
strong reminder that the United States
government does not tolerate deliberate pollution by vessel companies or
their crews.”
At a separate hearing, the ship’s
master, Nicanor Jumalon, also pleaded
guilty to similar charges and was jailed
for eight months for lying to the Coast
Guard during its investigation.
The Sportsqueen case is only one of
several that have been before US courts
in the past couple of months. Almost
all have involved foreign-flag ships,
but one US seafarer faces six charges
which include conspiracy to discharge
oil through a “magic pipe” and falsifying oil log books. Patrick Brown was
the chief engineer on US-flag ro-ro
Fidelio, now the Patriot, in 2003 when
Coast Guard inspectors claimed to
have found a hidden “magic pipe”.
Two other engineers on the vessel
operated by Pacific Gulf Marine have
already pleaded guilty, but Mr Brown
has refused to accept a plea bargain
deal and now faces trial.
Help to get the record straight
THERE appears to be widespread
confusion about what should be
entered in ships’ oil record books
(ORBs), according to the UK P&I Club
which has issued a technical bulletin
summarising members’ concerns and
suggesting a standard format for ORB
entries.
The aim is to avoid fines from port
state control authorities and others
for incorrect record keeping. The club
says the areas of most concern relate to
oil sludge and other residues retained
on board; transferring or disposing of
those residues; operating the oily water
separator in respect of non-automatic
disposal methods; and transferring and
collecting bilge water and sludge.
The bulletin covers the identification, location and volume of tanks, the
quantities within them and detailed
records of operations. All entries must
be in ink not pencil and recorded at
the time of operation, cautions the
club. It also reminds masters and crew
of alarm, cleaning and maintenance
requirements for oily water separators
and emergency draining of oil to the
engine room bilges even if transferred
to holding tanks.
Industry takes steps to beat officer shortage
Shipwrecked
crew held
‘hostage’ in
India
SURVIVORS from the
Eritrean-flag general
cargo ship Denden,
which sank off the
Indian coast in June,
have finally gone home,
having been refused
permission to leave
Mangalore until the
owners paid for the
wreck to be cleared.
Three crew members
died when the ship
went aground off
Mangalore after its
engine broke down
during bad weather. The
other 21 - 13 Eritreans,
three Ghanaians, three
Pakistanis, one Sudanese
and a Sri Lankan – were
held at a local hotel.
They had lost all their
passports and other
papers in the sinking and
the Indian authorities
would not allow them to
leave the country until
a bond for removing
the 1977-built ship had
been placed. During
their stay they were
supported by Mission
to Seafarers’ Mangalore
chaplain Osmand Shiri.
The Mangalore Port
Authority was criticised
for holding the men
as “hostages” but
contended the delay in
their return home was
due to state-owned
Eritrean Lines’ failure to
guarantee payment. An
acceptable bond was
eventually provided in
early October.
Failure to
communicate
Modified for training leads to injury
ONE company that has taken steps to get
THE first twelve cadets to sail on the Capricorn Voyager came
from Turkey, Ireland, India and the Philippines.
round the problem of lack of berths for
cadets is Chevron. Its brand new 105,000
dwt crude oil tanker Capricorn Voyager
(above) can accommodate 12 cadets and a
training officer. Although it is basically a
yard-standard vessel built by Samsung, the
design was modified to allow an additional
deck to be added to the accommodation
block. Considerable other upgrading work
was required, with even heavier anchors
needed as the extra deck increased the
ship’s tonnage.
Ship managers look at ways Two cadets per ship
should be minimum
to boost crew numbers
MEMBERS of the
International Ship
Managers’ Association
(InterManager) may
have to make at
least one cadet berth
available on ever y
ship they manage
as a condition of
membership.
This is one key element of a package of
new proposals being
considered by the association as a way of
helping to increase
crew numbers and encourage an industrywide drive to improve
training.
Another is to
monitor standards
at training colleges.
In what it describes
as a radical move,
InterManager would
establish minimum
standards for nautical
schools with a view
to these schools being accredited by the
association and used
as reputable sources
of future seafarers for
its members.
The proposals,
which call for all new
and existing members
to adopt a formal cadet programme on
board their ships, are
being examined by
InterManager’s newlyestablished manning
and training committee.
InterManager
also says it will back
efforts to convince
shipowners to support
their ship managers
by investing more
in their training and
cadet programmes. It
is concerned about
the tendency for
newbuildings to be
constructed without
appropriate accommodation to train
cadets on board ship
and intends to use its
influence to have cadet berths reinstated
on ships under construction.
TWO cadets per ship is
the minimum intake
required to sustain
the supply of skilled
officers, a leading ship
manager has warned.
Anglo-Eastern Ship
Management’s quality
assurance and training director, Pradeep
Chawla, told a recent
conference on maritime manpower in
Singapore that perhaps the only way to
prevent future shortages was to make two
cadets a mandatory
requirement in the
manning scales for
ships
Captain Chawla
said that, for the past
three years, individuals and organisations
had been predicting a
serious shortage of officers. “The warnings
fell on deaf ears in most
cases. Calls to recruit
more cadets and spend
more on training were
ignored by the industry
in general.”
The predictions,
he said, had come true
and the industry today
was in the middle of
a very severe shortage of officers, with
the chances of finding
good quality officers
going down in the
next twelve months.
A SEAMAN painting the
exhaust pipes on a ship
undergoing a survey
in Melbourne was
severely injured due to
breakdown in communication, the Australian
Transport Safety Bureau
(ATSB) says.
According to the
accident report, the
surveyor asked the chief
engineer to test the
safety valve on a boiler.
The steam pressure
was increased and the
safety valve operated as
intended, but the steam
line vented directly at
the seaman, who was
severely burned. The
chief engineer did not
know that the exhaust
pipes were being
painted at the time.
Ban on
TBT paints
next year
TBT antifouling
paints that contain
organotins will be
banned worldwide in
September 2008 as
a result of Panama’s
recent ratification of
IMO’s 2001 International
Convention on the
Control of Harmful AntiFouling Systems on Ships
(AFS convention).
When the convention
is in force, ships will no
longer be permitted
to apply or reapply
organotin compounds
which act as biocides
in their anti-fouling
systems. Ships will not
be allowed to have such
paints on their hulls
unless they have a barrier
coating preventing the
organotin compounds
from leaching into
the sea. Organotin
compounds were found
to be harmful to marine
organisms.
Philippines
dirty tricks
claim
ONE of the top training
centres in the Philippines
has once again
apparently been hit by a
dirty tricks campaign.
In 2005 the Far East
Maritime Foundation Inc
(FEMFI) was blacklisted
on a widely distributed
circular bearing the
name of a non-existent
European owners’
organisation.
Now it appears
somebody has forged
an order from the
presidential office
ordering it to close
because of alleged
violations of regulations.
Fairplay Daily News
reports that the FEMFI
has asked Philippine
authorities to investigate
the fake closure order.
The training institute
says it believes a rival
college in the highly
competitive Philippines
maritime training
scene was behind the
deception.
Hatch cover
found in busy
shipping lane
THE UK’s emergency
towing vessel Anglian
Monarch recovered
a 25 tonne hatch
cover floating in the
busy Dover Strait in
September, leaving the
country’s Maritime and
Coastguard Agency
puzzled as to how the
the hatch, possibly
from a panamax bulker
carrying grain, could
have fallen off a vessel.
Nobody reported
the loss overboard of
the hatch cover, which
had to be removed
because it was a hazard
to shipping capable of
causing catastrophic
damage to a small
vessel like a yacht and
even damage to the
hull of a larger vessel if
hit at speed. However,
it now seems possible
it came from the small
cargo ship Jork which
sank after hitting a gas
platform in the North
Sea in August.
nov/dec 07 the sea 3
Northwest Passage
emerges from ice
RUSSIA
CANADA
THE Arctic’s fabled Northwest Passage became
fully navigable at the end of the northern
hemisphere’s summer as a result of melting
sea ice, according to the European Space
Agency (ESA). This opened up the long-sought,
but formerly impassable, route between
Europe and Asia. The agency says the sea ice
has shrunk in the Arctic to its lowest level
since satellite measurements began 30 years
ago, as shown in the mosaic image (right)
which is created from nearly 200 images
acquired in September by the advanced
synthetic aperture radar instrument on board
the ESA’s Envisat satellite.
The dark grey colour represents the ice-free
areas, while green represents areas with sea
ice. The yellow line is the most direct route of
the Northwest Passage across northern Canada.
The blue line is the Northeast Passage along the
Siberian coast which is partially blocked.
Use of the routes by shipping could halve
some voyage times and save millions of dollars.
However, environmental concerns would
inevitably mean considerable opposition
to the development of the waterway for
commercial use.
NORTH POLE
GREENLAND
‘No case to answer’ claim widely accepted
Concern about seafarers
held on drug charges
A
CROATIAN master,
his Lithuanian first
mate and Filipino
bosun remained in jail in
Greece on drugs charges as
The Sea went to press. This
was despite widely accepted
claims by their lawyer that
they had no case to answer
and intense international
interest in the case, including
the involvement of the
International Transport
Workers’ Federation.
An ITF spokesman confirmed that the union body
had raised the case at the
International Labour Organisation and the International
Maritime Organisation and
was liaising with the lawyers
trying to persuade the Greek
court to free the men.
Kristo Laptalo, Konstantin
Metelev and Narciso Carcia
were arrested when 51.6 kilos
of cocaine were found hidden
among more than 27,000 boxes of bananas being discharged
‘Doors must
be closed’
THE US Coast Guard
has a issued a warning
that watertight doors
must be closed at sea
unless actually being
used to move between
compartments.
The warning came
after five seafarers died
when an offshore supply
vessel capsized and sank
following a collision with
a cargoship in poor visibility in the Mississippi
River. A Coast Guard investigation found the
supply vessel’s watertight
doors had been open. The
agency stresses watertight
doors are a critical element of damage stability,
and particularly so in
smaller vessels.
from the Bonita Bananas reefer
ship Coral Sea at the Greek
port of Aegion in July.
Captain Laptalo called
the case against him and the
other two crew members “a
farce”. Lloyd’s List reports
that Captain Laptalo, in a
brief telephone call to the paper, said: “I am a seaman. I do
not have a problem with the
heat, or bad food or being in
a small room. These are not
things I cannot stand. But the
awful thing is that at the age
of 58 I am a prisoner when I
should not be a prisoner. It is
the indignity. ”
The vessel’s manager, Belgian-based Trireme Vessel
Management, strongly supports the men’s claims of
innocence. “No member of
the crew could have known
that the boxes containing
the drugs would be unloaded
in Aegion. Also, it would be
impossible to introduce the
drugs into the cargo while in
the holds given the limited
access to the holds and lack of
space,” said managing director Kevin Bragg.
The company is reported
to have stopped sending vessels to Greece since the arrest
of the seafarers. The men’s
lawyer, Stamatis Tzelepis, said
that although jailing of crew in
drug cases was almost routine
in Greece the Coral Sea case
still stood out.
“I personally have never
seen such a case where there
was absolutely no evidence before the judge. The big issue in
this case is that when the ship
left Ecuador the captain could
not know the destination and
therefore could have no plan
to deliver any drugs.”
Efforts to free the men on
bail were set back in early October when a different judge
was appointed to hear the case,
probably delaying any hearing by a month. Meanwhile,
the 1976-built ship remains
under arrest at Aegion and the
prosecutor is reported to be
resisting applications for the
release of the vessel.
In another similar case,
the bulker B Atlantic and its
crew have been detained in
Maracaibo, Venzuela, after
drugs were discovered taped
to its hull, clearly without the
crew’s knowledge. Venezuelan
prosecutors are reported to be
pressing charges against the
ship’s Ukrainian master and
second officer for suspected
drug trafficking, and are seeking the confiscation of the
ship.
Other ships have also
experienced difficulties as a
result of drugs found during
underwater inspections.
According to a representative
of the B Atlantic’s owners,
other owners need to be aware
of the dangers in Venezuela
of having crew members
thrown in jail and their vessel
confiscated.
Boxship safety code call
IN a hard-hitting accident
report into a box stack collapse
on board a containership in
the Baltic, the UK’s Marine
Accident Investigation
Branch (MAIB) says it wants
to see a containership code
of practice.
Earlier this year, a stack of
seven 30-foot cargo containers
on the Dohle-managed
Annabella collapsed. The
damaged boxes included the
upper three which contained
hazardous cargo – butylene
gas – causing a full-scale
emergency.
It was found that the collapse occurred as a result of
downward compression and
racking forces acting on the
lower containers, which were
not strong enough to support
the stack as their maximum
allowable stack weight had
been exceeded and they had
not been lashed.
In its report, the MAIB
criticised the containership
business for having no dedicated trade group providing
guidance on best practice in
a sector where cargo handling
was largely unregulated and
focused on the need to maximise efficiency and speed.
“While key industry players will attest that safety
is of paramount concern,
evidence obtained during
this and other MAIB investigations into container shipping accidents suggests that
in reality the safety of ships,
crews and the environment
is being compromised by the
overriding desire to maintain
established schedules or optimise port turnaround times,”
the report said.
It found shortcomings
in the flow of information
relating to container stowage
between the shippers, planners, the loading terminal
and the vessel and said that,
while the industry recognised
that the master had to approve the final loading plan,
in practice the pace of modern container operations was
such that it was very difficult
for ship’s staff to maintain
control of it.
The safety issues identified in this and other incidents, and others that were
becoming apparent in the
investigation into the structural failure of the MSC Napoli earlier this year, demonstrated “a compelling need
for a code of practice for the
container shipping industry,”
the MAIB said.
French
seek master
after fatal
collision
FRENCH police are
hunting for the master,
chief officer and a rating
from the Kiribati-flag
general cargo ship
Ocean Jasper, which is
being held in the French
port of Brest following a
fatal collision.
The French
authorities suspect that
the Turkish-owned ship
collided with the French
fishing boat Sokalique,
whose skipper died
when the vessel sank.
The six other crew
members of the fishing
boat survived.
The French
authorities believe the
Ocean Jasper failed to
render assistance. The
French Government has
requested permission
from Kiribati to take the
lead in the investigation
but the inquiry has
stalled due to the flight
from France of the key
individuals thought to
have been involved in
the incident.
France now wants
the men brought back
to Brest to face charges,
but its jurisdiction is
uncertain as the incident
took place outside its
territorial waters.
Revised
guidelines
for medicals
THE Philippines’
Department of
Health has issued
revised guidelines
which aim to reduce
wide differences in
medical requirements
and examination
procedures and to
provide standards for
the conduct of preemployment medical
examinations of
seafarers.
The new guidelines
give doctors some flexibility when examining
very experienced seafarers and in setting
standards on specific
illnesses or type of
vessel.
Delay on
ECDIS rules
criticised
THE International
Maritime Organisation
(IMO) has not agreed to
proposals to make the
electronic chart display
and information system
(ECDIS) compulsory
for all new ships built
after 2010. A proposal
for ECDIS to be phased
in for existing tonnage
over a three to five
year period also failed
to attract sufficient
support.
Global coverage
provided by official
electronic navigation
charts is now between
82 and 94 per cent.
IMO will discuss the
matter again next year
but Allan Graveson,
senior national secretary
of the seafarers’ union
Nautilus UK, said it
was regrettable that it
had once again put off
an important decision
that needed to be
taken immediately.
“Technology is moving
ahead of the regulators,”
he said.
IMO has also put off
a decision on whether
ships must have bridge
watchkeeper alarms. It
was argued that fatigue
was the underlying
concern and would not
be addressed by bridge
alarms.
Cargo
training
call
TRANSPORT insurer TT
Club has called for the
compulsory training of
those handling dangerous goods on land prior
to shipment by sea under
the International Maritime
Dangerous Goods (IMDG)
code.
The club says that the
consequences of badly
packed, mis-declared and
inaccurately labelled hazardous cargoes in terms
of loss of life, damage to
vessels and destruction of
goods, continues to be at
unacceptable levels.
It points out that between 5 and 10 per cent
of an average containership’s payload is made
up of declared hazardous
goods. This means that
on 8,500 teu vessels plying the Asia-Europe trade
the contents of upwards
of 600 containers, or at
least 8,000 tonnes of
cargo, is declared to be
“hazardous”.
English
learning tool
free on web
A NEW “learning tool”
for seafarers wishing to
improve their English
language skills is now
available free of charge
on the Internet at
http://mareng.utu.fi
MarEng is a transnational project that aims to
improve communications
among multinational
crew members.
It is partially financed
by the EU’s Leonardo
da Vinci programme
and brings together
sixteen partners from
six EU member states:
Belgium, Finland, Latvia,
Poland, Spain and the
UK. The partners consist
of a wide variety of
maritime institutions, and
education and maritime
experts such as English
teachers, researchers,
training managers,
seafaring professionals
and representatives of the
maritime industries are
involved in the project.
nov/dec 07 the sea 5
4 the sea nov/dec 07
MICHAEL GREY
NEWS
Controversy after kidnapped
crew released in Somalia
THE kidnapping and subsequent release of the crew of
the Danica White by Somali
pirates has been surrounded by
controversy.
Danish union 3F is reported
to be preparing legal action
against the vessel’s owner, H
Folmer & Co, for US$1.8m in
compensation on behalf of the
ship’s five Danish crew, two
officers and three seamen, who
were held hostage for 83 days.
It is questioning why the
ship was sailing so close to the
Somali coast, why no lookout
was posted and why a pirate
alarm on board did not work.
Eventually a ransom
of $1.5m was paid for the
seafarers’ release. The payment
attracted fierce criticism in
some quarters that it would
encourage further kidnappings.
One of the Danica White
crew said in a television
interview after his release that
he and his colleagues had been
threatened several times that
if the ransom wasn’t paid they
would have their throats cut or
be shot.
The International Maritime
Bureau’s (IMB) piracy reporting
centre says it has received
reports of 26 actual and
attempted attacks by Somali
pirates so far this year. But it
says that many more attacks
may have gone unreported. It
warns that vessels not making
scheduled calls to ports in
Somalia should keep as far
away as possible from the
Somali coast, ideally more
than 200 nautical miles.
The resurgence of piracy off
Somalia this year is in stark
contrast to last year when the
problem had been virtually
eliminated by the Islamic
Courts then in control of
much of the country.
In another worrying
development, piracy has
returned to the Malacca Strait
after a lengthy period of no
attacks. In August armed
pirates boarded a tug and
barge under way. All the
communication equipment
was damaged and the pirates
stole the ship’s documents and
personal belongings of the
crew and kidnapped the master
and chief engineer. Since then
a number of attempted attacks
on large merchant ships have
been reported.
Meanwhile, the lawless
situation in Nigeria has
prompted Norwegian offshore
support specialist Farstad to
pull out of its joint venture
there.
While other foreign
companies still operate in
Nigeria, there have been
numerous reports of attacks
on ships. The IMB warns that
in the Lagos area particularly,
pirates are violent and
have attacked, robbed and
kidnapped crews. The IMB also
cautions crews to be generally
vigilant in other areas in
Nigeria.
Helpline now offering
text messaging service
THE launch of
SeafarerHelp’s text
messaging service
is proving to be a
valuable means of
communication with
seafarers, says Mike
Campling, director
of the International
Seafarers Assistance
Network (ISAN),
which runs the
helpline for seafarers
and their families.
“The success of
this service is perhaps
not surprising, given
that it is easy, cheap
and convenient
no matter whether
seafarers are at sea or
ashore,” he said.
According to
ISAN, text messages
are exchanged daily
with seafarers, keeping
them up to date with
the progress of their
cases.
Like SeafarerHelp’s
phone and email
service, text messaging
is available 24 hours
a day, seven days a
week. It is currently
offered in English,
Filipino, French,
Hindi and Russian.
“If a seafarer or
one of their family
members wishes to
speak to us, they can
send a text with a
contact number and
we will call them
back. They can even
specify the language
they would like us
to call them in,” said
Mr Campling. The
contact number for
the text messaging
service is + 44 (0)7624
818 405.
With a major manning crisis looming, there is a need for ship designs which will provide rather more
comfort and a more pleasant way of life for the crew, says Michael Grey
I
t cannot be a
great deal of fun
going to sea with
the expectation
of seeing
wide horizons and the
wonderful colours of the
world’s oceans, but instead,
spending your off duty
hours looking out of your
window at the back end
of a container. And even if
that particular container
is exchanged, perhaps for
one of a different colour
when the ship reaches
port, it is not a great
increase in visual variety.
Seafarers are constantly
being lectured on their
unhealthy lifestyles, with
too much fatty food and
insufficient exercise. But
let’s be realistic. Where do
you actually go to get that
exercise which will have
the corpuscles surging
around the arteries?
You could perhaps run
up and down the stairs
in the seven-decked
accommodation island,
or perhaps take a skipping
rope up on the monkey
island, but you would have
to be careful not to get it
tangled up in the aerials,
and the noise of you
skipping would drive the
watchkeeper barmy.
You could take a brisk
walk to the forecastle
and back, but that’s not
much fun on a tanker with
the weather deck awash.
And squeezing along
the leeward alleyway of
a container ship, under
the seven-high stack
of containers, between
the rail and the hatch
coaming, is about as much
fun as a stroll around a
gasworks.
Ships are utilitarian
vehicles designed to
carry cargo, it might be
suggested, and nobody
could deny that this is
the case. But why is the
modern ship designed in
such a fashion that the
requirements of the crew
seem only an afterthought?
The tower block which
was fashionable ashore
in the 60s and 70s has
been proved a sociological
failure, isolating its
inhabitants on their
separate floors and
promoting crime and
breakdown.
But it seems to suit
naval architects to plonk
a tower block on the deck
In the time of the Vikings, crews fitted in where
they could. Conditions may have improved but
the requirements of seafarers are still usually an
afterthought. (Photo: PA Photos)
Seafarers are constantly lectured on their unhealthy
lifestyles but where do they go to keep fit? A brisk
walk to the forecastle is hardly tempting on most ships.
(Photo: Patrick Forbes)
of a ship, with a couple
of cabins on each deck,
with no space even for
people to sit out in the
sun. Moreover, the block
has to be sited where it
does not interfere in any
constitute a sort of useful
breakwater to protect the
deck from boarding seas.
In our environmentally
enthusiastic age we have
endless discussions about
habitats for wildlife,
way with the carriage of
cargo, which means the
extremities of the ship,
right aft and abaft the
stern frame, or perched
on the forward end of the
forecastle, where it can
leaving our fields untilled
around the edges, and
gardens uncultivated so
that birds and beetles can
be thus encouraged. One
would not wish to describe
seafarers as “wildlife”,
but they must get pretty
wild at the habitats they
are being presented with
aboard the bog-standard
ships of today.
Will the sort of
accommodation that is
available aboard modern
merchant ships encourage
seafarers to stay at sea?
Older mariners, who knew
a more generous life some
years ago, will suggest
that accommodation has
got a good deal worse as
everyone tries to squeeze
the costs out of a ship.
Of course, the actual area
of accommodation is
prescribed by International
Labour Organisation
convention, but that is
supposed to be a minimum
standard. The trouble is
this minimum tends now
to be what is on offer.
As long as ships have
been at sea, those who
manned them have been
treated as something of
an afterthought by their
designers. Think of the
wonderful ships of the
Vikings, with the crew
huddled under the thwarts
and canvas shelters as
the ship scudded across
the freezing Denmark
Strait. Even a thousand
years later, the seafarers
were squeezed into the
forecastle and poop, which
were a bit inconvenient
for cargo. They fitted in
where they could. Only
in the 50s and 60s of the
last century was there a
measure of generosity
in the accommodation
provided, with some
companies providing
single berth cabins,
swimming pools and
recreation rooms and
gyms, along with plenty
of deck space for exercise
and deck games. They
were doing this, not
primarily because there
was a sudden outbreak
of generosity bursting
in shipowners’ breasts,
but because of successive
manning crises, as
potential seafarers
discovered that they
would rather be doing
something else ashore.
Then there was the
great recession of the
70s and 80s and the end
of a more generous life
afloat. Ships henceforth
would be built for their
utility, or more correctly
for the convenience of
the shipbuilder, who
wanted to build in large
blocks. What could be
simpler than a six decked
accommodation “tower”,
fitted out and ready to be
welded up and plugged
in to a hull: the simpler
the better, with no extra
decks, or extraneous
complications, to put up
the price.
But now we have
what some people like
to think is the “mother
of all manning crises”
heaving itself over the
horizon, and a need to
consider ways of attracting
and, as importantly,
retaining people afloat. At
some stage clever naval
architects need to put two
and two together and talk
to seafarers about the issue
of habitability. And as a
result of this meeting of
minds there just possibly
will be an attempt to
design ships which, in
addition to satisfying
their primary function,
will provide rather more
comfort and a more
pleasant life for the crew,
who won’t just have to “fit
in where they can”. Bring
it on.
THE SIRC COLUMN
Refurbished centre in Hull
A REFURBISHED seafarers’ centre has been opened
in Hull, UK, by the Humber Seafarers’ Service, an
independent charity whose sponsoring societies
are the Apostleship of the Sea, the British and
International Sailors’ Society and The Mission
to Seafarers.
Support from the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and
The Merchant Navy Welfare Board has enabled
the centre to be equipped with an internet café
and wifi area as well as telephones, a chapel,
and a small shop. After normal opening hours,
a section of the centre is accessible via a key
code, enabling seafarers to make a hot drink,
telephone home and pick up any literature they
might need. (Photo: David Whateley)
Action urged on mental disorders
THE London P&I Club has
warned that the shipping
industry should pay more
attention to psychological
disorders among seafarers.
“Too often, such
problems are not identified,
or dealt with, as quickly,
as knowledgeably or as
sympathetically as is the
case with physical illness
and injury. This seems to
be particularly the case in
the context of the robust
working environment typically
encountered at sea,” it says.
“The club views with
concern the large numbers of
It’s time for a better lifestyle
seafarers now being repatriated
early suffering from a range of
psychological difficulties. One
report suggests that as many
as one in three repatriations
which require a medical escort
are related to such ailments.
Great care must be taken to
protect the interests of all seafarers when dealing with such
issues. In extreme cases, the
afflicted crew member can be a
danger to others on board, or
may constitute a suicide risk.”
The club quotes Professor
Francesco Amenta, Italianbased Centro Internazionale
Radio Medico’s (CIRM)
scientific director: “When
dealing with psychological
problems, including stress,
anxiety and depression,
requests for medical advice
should always be sought
at the earliest opportunity.
What may be lacking in the
maritime culture is sufficient
sensitivity to health problems.
For example, shipping is much
more sensitive to technology
and safety issues than it is
to health problems, so it is
perhaps not surprising to hear
about the difficulties being
encountered in dealing with
mental health issues at sea.”
Managing the risks from hazardous chemicals
Hazardous chemicals are a common cause of
injuries and fatalities at sea so there is a need
for more information about them and effective
chemical risk management systems, says
Professor David Walters of the Seafarers
International Research Centre
T
he limit of our
knowledge about the
extent and effect of
hazardous substances in the
working environment of
seafarers suggests the need
to exercise a precautionary
principle in managing their
risks. To manage the risk
effectively requires better
understanding of the nature of
the problem, what constitutes
best practice in chemical risk
management on board ships
and how such practice can
be effectively stimulated and
supported. These issues are
central to some new research
that is currently being developed
at the Seafarers International
Research Centre (SIRC).
Chemical substances make
an essential and important
contribution to the quality
of modern life. They are used
and transported in great
variety and quantity, with
a substantial proportion of
global chemical production
being carried by sea from
producers to users. Many other
substances are in daily use in
ship operation, cleaning and
maintenance, with further
substances used in ship
construction and repair. We
know some of these substances
are hazardous to health but
our knowledge concerning the
hazards of exposure to many
more is so limited that we
simply do not know the extent
of their risks to health.
Despite the gaps in our
knowledge, we know, for
example, that more than
one third of recognised
occupational diseases are
caused by exposure to chemical
hazards, and that 22 per cent
of employees throughout the
European Union (EU) consider
themselves to be exposed
to dangerous substances for
at least a quarter of their
working time. We also know
that some 24 million workers
in EU countries are exposed
to occupational carcinogens.
No such detailed information
on the exposure of seafarers
has ever been gathered
systematically. But such
surveys that exist suggest
substantial exposures. In
a recent study, 55 per cent
of a sample of over 6,000
seafarers thought themselves
to be exposed to chemicals,
with the highest exposures
experienced, not surprisingly,
on tankers. Some health
effects of chemical exposure
at sea are documented,
especially the elevated cancerincidence demonstrated
among merchant seafarers
generally, and specifically
in relation to working on
tankers, and in engine rooms
where exposures to known
carcinogens are commonly
reported in studies of seafarers.
Other than carcinogens,
chemical substances have been
associated with other kinds of
health problems such as the
neurotoxic effects of organic
solvents among seafarers.
Hazardous chemicals
are also a common cause
of accidental injuries and
fatalities on board ships, in
particular in the loading and
unloading of cargo, during
A large proportion of
global chemical production
is carried by sea. (Photo:
Graeme Cookson)
cleaning operations, in fires
and explosions and as a result
of accidental leakages and
spills. In addition, previous use
of substances such as asbestos
in ship structure has created a
mounting legacy of suffering
and financial liability in the
industry.
All this suggests the need
to manage chemical risks on
board vessels effectively. Of
course there is a plethora of
regulatory requirements to
achieve this, but it is striking
how little we know concerning
their effectiveness or what
the drivers are that help make
them effective. What is known,
however, in combination
with knowledge of analogous
situations in land-based
industries, leaves little room
for complacency. On land, for
example, a series of failures in
the application of regulatory
provisions for chemical
risk management in most
workplaces is well documented.
As with the situation at sea,
in land-based industry proper
risk assessment is necessary
to ensure safety in carriage
and when working with
hazardous chemicals. Good
quality suppliers’ information
is essential to achieve this,
yet it is well documented that
despite detailed and extensive
regulatory requirements at both
national and international
level, the quality of such
information, both in terms of
labelling and in manufacturers’
safety data sheets (MSDS) is not
fit for purpose. An indication
of similar inadequacy in
the maritime sector is
seen in the many reported
situations where chemical and
biologically active cargoes are
not properly documented.
This flouts the requirements
of the International Maritime
Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code,
leading to hazardous exposures
of seafarers through lack of
safety information. Annual
inspections of containers in
member states demonstrate
significant deficiencies,
including in the marking of
containers, documentation of
contents and in labelling.
For the hazardous
substances used routinely in
ship operation, cleaning and
maintenance, it is unclear
whether a similar situation
exists on board to that
demonstrated on land, where
the poor quality of MSDS for
hazardous substances is well
known. Accounts provided by
ships’ officers and company
personnel, collected in the
course of our present research
at SIRC, suggest that at very
least there is considerable
variation in both quality and
clarity of such information.
Provision of good hazard
information may be the first
requirement for risk assessment
and management, but also
necessary is the ability of
users to understand the
information and to respond to
it appropriately. There is plenty
of evidence from land-based
experience to show that such
abilities cannot be taken for
granted, especially in smaller
companies and in workplaces
outside the chemical industry
itself. Again, little is known
of the extent of good or bad
practice in the maritime sector,
but the anecdotal evidence
gathered in our preliminary
study suggests that, again,
there is considerable variation,
with some companies able
to demonstrate that effective
chemical risk management
systems are in place, while
many others are unable to
do so. Others still are even
unaware of the need for such
approaches.
Equally important,
therefore, is the need to
understand what it is that
stimulates and sustains
implementation and operation
of good practice in chemical
risk management at sea. Given
the experience of regulatory
failure on land, it would seem
unwise to place excessive
faith in the effectiveness of
regulatory approaches alone.
One interesting but little
researched element at sea is
the actual or potential role of
economic drivers and leverage
in relation to achieving
improved and largely selfregulatory approaches to health
and safety. It is quite possible
that, by investigating the role
of such economic drivers in
determining best practice in
chemical risk management
at sea, and by documenting
what works and why it works
in these situations, significant
lessons may be learned.
They may even have a wider
application in other sectors.
Of course there will be some
limits to the extent to which
economic drivers can be utilised
to bring about improved
chemical risk management,
since there are always those
companies that fail to see
the commercial advantages
of improved quality and are
unresponsive to economic
pressures to achieve it, opting
instead to compete for business
by cutting costs. But this
also suggests there is room
for further study, concerning
“best fit” in the relationship
between economic drivers and
international regulation and
its enforcement in achieving
improved working practices on
board ships.
6 the sea nov/dec 07
JUSTICE MATTERS  BY DOUGLAS STEVENSON
MLC 2006 and seafarers’ contracts
THE Maritime Labour
Convention 2006 (MLC
2006) will provide the
world’s merchant mariners
with a comprehensive
legal framework for
protecting their rights to
decent working and living
conditions. This vitally
important convention
contains legally enforceable
international standards
that come into force after it
has been ratified by at least
30 countries representing
at least 33 per cent of the
world’s merchant vessel
tonnage.
Even though that event
may not occur until around
the year 2011, some of the
convention’s important
legal protections are already
appearing in some countries
and in some collective
bargaining agreements. For
example, the International
Bargaining Forum recently
announced that it had
agreed to incorporate
many of the MLC 2006’s
protections into its new
agreement that will take
effect on January 1,
2008. The International
Bargaining Forum,
composed of representatives
from maritime trade
unions and shipowners’
organisations from
different parts of the world,
negotiated a collective
bargaining agreement that
covers more than 70,000
seafarers working on more
than 3,500 ships.
The following describes
just a few of the protections
that the MLC 2006 provides
to merchant mariners that
some seafarers’ employment
agreements have already
incorporated:
Written agreements:
seafarers are entitled to
have a written employment
contract. Measures must
be provided to ensure that
seafarers understand their
contractual rights and
obligations. They must have
an opportunity to read their
agreement and get advice on
it before they sign it.
Wages: seafarers must
be paid their agreed wages
at least once a month and
receive a full accounting of
their wages and deductions.
Shipowners must provide
seafarers with a way to send
all or part of their wages to
their families, dependants
or legal beneficiaries by
allotment. The MLC 2006
does not require overtime
wages. It does, however,
recommend that seafarers be
paid at least 1.25 times their
regular hourly wages for all
hours worked over 48 hours
a week.
Hours of work and hours
of rest: all seafarers, not just
watchstanders, should not
work more than 14 hours a
day or more than 72 hours a
week. They must have at least
10 hours of rest a day and at
least 77 hours of rest a week.
Rest can be divided into two
periods, but one of them must
be at least six hours long
and the interval between rest
periods cannot be more than
14 hours.
Annual leave: seafarers
must be provided with
annual paid leave calculated
at a minimum of 2.5 days
of paid leave per month
of employment or in
accordance with a collective
bargaining agreement or
national law.
Repatriation: seafarers
are entitled to repatriation
at their employers’ expense
when their contract
expires, or at least once
a year. Shipowners are
prohibited from requiring
seafarers to make an
advance payment for their
repatriation expenses.
Seafarers can be required to
pay their own repatriation
expenses only when they
are in serious default
of their employment
agreement.
Medical care:
shipowners must pay
the medical expenses for
seafarers’ illnesses and
injuries that occur from the
time they commence duty
until they are repatriated.
In addition, shipowners
must also pay seafarers’
medical expenses for illness
and injuries that are caused
by their employment, even
if a seafarer is diagnosed
after employment ends.
Shipowners are not
responsible for paying for
seafarers’ medical expenses
for illnesses or injuries that
are caused by the seafarers’
own wilful misconduct
or for conditions that the
seafarer has intentionally
concealed when hired.
Disability and death
benefits: shipowners must
provide financial security
for death and long-term
disability compensation
for seafarers’ deaths and
disabilities that are caused
by their employment.
El CTM 2006 y los contratos de los marineros
EL Convenio sobre el trabajo
marítimo de 2006 (CTM
2006) ofrecerá a los marineros
mercantes de todo el mundo
un marco legal completo
para la protección de sus
derechos relacionados con
condiciones de trabajo y vida
decentes. Este convenio, de
vital importancia, contiene
normas internacionales
ejecutables a través de la ley y
que entran en vigor tras haber
sido ratificado por al menos
30 países, que representan
por lo menos el 33% del
tonelaje mundial de buques
mercantes.
A pesar de que puede que
esto no se produzca hasta
el año 2011, algunas de las
importantes protecciones
legales del Convenio ya
se están introduciendo en
algunos países y en algunos
acuerdos de negociación
colectiva. Por ejemplo,
el Foro Internacional de
Negociaciones anunció
recientemente que
incorporará muchas de las
protecciones del CTM en su
nuevo acuerdo, el cual entrará
en vigencia el 1 de enero de
2008. El Foro Internacional
de Negociaciones, formado
por representantes de los
sindicatos marítimos y
organizaciones de propietarios
de barcos de diferentes
partes del mundo, discutió
un acuerdo de negociación
colectiva que afecta a más de
70.000 marineros trabajando
en más de 3.500 barcos.
A continuación se
describen tan solo algunas
de las protecciones que el
CTM ofrece a los marineros
mercantes y que algunos
acuerdos laborales ya han
incorporado:
Acuerdos escritos: los
marineros tienen derecho a
tener un contrato de empleo
escrito. Se deben establecer
las medidas necesarias para
garantizar que los marineros
entiendan sus derechos y
obligaciones contractuales.
Deben tener la oportunidad
de leer el acuerdo y de
obtener asesoría al respecto
antes de firmarlo.
Salarios: los marineros
deben recibir el salario
acordado al menos una vez
al mes, así como los detalles
completos de los salarios y las
deducciones. Los propietarios
del barco deben proporcionar
a los marineros un modo
de enviar su salario, o parte
del mismo, a sus familiares,
las personas a su cargo o sus
beneficiarios legales. El CTM
2006 no tiene disposiciones
sobre salarios por tiempo
extra. Sin embargo,
recomienda que se pague a
los marineros al menos el
equivalente al 1,25 de su
salario habitual por hora para
todas las horas adicionales
que se trabajen después de 48
horas semanales.
Horario de trabajo
y horario de descanso:
el trabajo de todos los
marineros, no sólo de los
vigilantes, no debe superar
las 14 horas al día ni las 72
horas semanales. Deben tener
por lo menos 10 horas de
descanso al día y 77 horas
de descanso a la semana. El
descanso se puede dividir en
dos periodos, pero uno de
ellos debe ser de al menos 6
horas, y el intervalo entre los
periodos de descanso no debe
superar las 14 horas.
Vacaciones: los marineros
deben tener vacaciones
pagadas; un mínimo de 2,5
días de vacaciones pagadas
por cada mes trabajado, o lo
que disponga un acuerdo de
negociación colectiva o la
legislación nacional.
Repatriación: los
marineros tiene derecho a la
repatriación, con los gastos
pagados por sus empleadores,
cuando se venza su contrato
o al menos una vez al año.
Se prohíbe a los propietarios
de los barcos que exijan
a los marineros un pago
adelantado para sus gastos de
repatriación. Sólo se puede
exigir a los marineros que
corran con sus propios gastos
de expatriación cuando han
incumplido de forma grave su
contrato de empleo.
Asistencia médica:
el propietario del barco
Морская трудовая конвенция 2006
г. и контракты моряков
Морская трудовая конвенция 2006 г.
(МТК 2006 г.) обеспечивает моряков,
занятых в торговом флоте, всеобъемлющей
нормативной базой, защищающей их
права на достойные условия жизни и
работы. Эта исключительно важная
конвенция содержит международные
нормативные стандарты, вошедшие в силу
после утверждения данной конвенции,
по меньшей мере, 30 странами, которым
принадлежит, как минимум, 33 % мирового
тоннажа торговых судов.
Несмотря на то, что документ, вероятно,
не будет принят примерно до 2011 года,
некоторые важные правовые аспекты по
защите прав, входящие в конвенцию, уже
действуют в некоторых странах, а также
появляются в некоторых коллективных
договорах. Например, недавно на
Международном переговорном форуме было
объявлено о договоренности касательно
включения многих правовых аспектов по
защите прав, входящих в МТК 2006 г., в
свое новое соглашение, которое вступит
в силу 1 января 2008 года. Участники
Международного переговорного форума,
в состав которых входят представители
морских профсоюзов и судовладельческих
организаций из разных стран мира,
обсуждали коллективный договор,
покрывающий права более 70000 моряков,
работающих на более чем 3500 судов.
Нижеследующая информация включает
в себя всего несколько аспектов правовой
защиты, которые МТК 2006 г. обеспечивает
морякам, занятым в торговом флоте,
и которые уже включены в некоторые
договора о найме моряков:
Письменные договора: моряки имеют
право получить письменный контракт
о найме. Необходимо гарантировать
понимание моряками своих контрактных
прав и обязанностей. Перед подписанием
договора у них должна быть возможность
прочитать его и получить по нему
консультацию.
Зарплата: моряки должны получать
утвержденную зарплату, по меньшей
мере, раз в месяц, а также полный
отчет по зарплате и отчислениям из нее.
Судовладельцы должны обеспечить морякам
возможность отослать всю зарплату или ее
часть своим семьям, лицам, находящимся
у них на иждивении, или законным лицам,
в пользу которых осуществляется выплата
выделенной доли зарплаты. МТК 2006 г.
не требует платы за сверхурочные работы.
Однако согласно данной конвенции
рекомендуется выплачивать сумму, по
меньшей мере, равную обычной почасовой
оплате, увеличенной в 1,25 раз, за все часы,
отработанные сверх установленных 48
часов в неделю.
Рабочее время и время отдыха: все
моряки, а не только вахтенные помощники,
не должны работать более 14 часов в день
или более 72 часов в неделю. Они должны
иметь, как минимум, 10 часов отдыха в день
и, как минимум, 77 часов отдыха в неделю.
Отдых может быть разделен на два периода,
но один из них должен составлять не менее
6 часов, а перерыв между периодами отдыха
не может составлять более 14 часов.
Ежегодный отпуск: морякам должен
предоставляться ежегодный оплачиваемый
отпуск, рассчитанный, как минимум, из
2,5 дней оплачиваемого отпуска на месяц
работы, или согласно коллективному
договору или государственному
законодательству.
Списание с судна: моряки имеют право
вернуться на родину за счет работодателя
по истечении контракта или, по меньшей
мере, раз в год. Судовладельцам запрещено
требовать предварительной оплаты
моряками своего возвращения на родину. У
моряков могут потребовать оплаты своего
возвращения на родину, только если они
серьезно нарушили какое-либо положение
договора о найме.
Медицинское обслуживание:
судовладельцы должны оплачивать
оказание медицинских услуг в связи с
заболеваниями и травмами моряков,
возникшими с момента заступления в
должность и до момента списания с судна.
Кроме того, судовладельцы обязаны
оплачивать медицинские издержки,
связанные с заболеваниями и травмами
моряков, которые возникли вследствие
их работы на судне, даже если диагноз
был поставлен после того, как закончился
период работы. Судовладельцы не обязаны
оплачивать медицинские издержки
моряков, связанные с заболеваниями
или травмами, вызванными сознательно
неправильным поведением моряков, или
связанные с состояниями, умышленно
сокрытыми моряками при найме на работу.
Пособия по инвалидности и смерти:
судовладельцы обязаны гарантировано
выплачивать компенсацию в случае смерти
или долговременной инвалидности моряков,
ставшие следствием их работы на судне.
debe correr con los gastos
médicos de los marineros
por enfermedades o lesiones
que se produzcan desde
que comienzan sus labores
hasta que su repatriación.
Además, el propietario del
barco debe sufragar los gastos
médicos de los marineros
por enfermedades o lesiones
que se hayan producido
a causa de su trabajo, aun
cuando se diagnostiquen
tras la finalización del
empleo. El propietario del
barco no es responsable
de los gastos médicos de
marineros por enfermedades
o lesiones que sean producto
del comportamiento
irresponsable y voluntario
de los mismos, o producto
de algún padecimiento que
el marinero haya ocultado
en el momento en que se le
contrató.
Beneficios por
discapacidad y muerte: el
propietario del barco debe
proporcionar compensaciones
financieras por la muerte o
discapacidad a largo plazo de
marineros ocasionadas por su
trabajo.
nov/dec 07 the sea 7
FOCUS ON FAITH  BY PATRICK FORBES
Thank God for pilots
IT had been a stormy ride
up the English Channel,
making compiling the end
of voyage accounts tedious
and difficult. Once we were
into the Thames estuary, the
ship seemed to straighten up
and calm down, and I began
to look forward to a couple
of days’ leave before we set
off again for the West Indies,
sunshine, and bulk sugar
loaded from barges. Once the
customs officers had cleared
the ship I would be free to go
ashore.
My uncle had once had
his car almost dismantled by
customs officers on his return
from France. I’m sure they
thought he was smuggling
drugs, jewels or Napoleon
brandy. He wasn’t. I have seen
a short customs officer make
a fisherman empty the whole
of his kitbag on to the deck
of a trawler, only to find that
the fisherman, for all that he
was built like a house, had
nothing to hide.
I remember a poem I
learned at school which was
all about smuggling, which
seems to have been a major
industry in the southern
counties of England. “Four
and twenty ponies trotting
through the dark, brandy for
the parson, baccy (tobacco)
for the clerk,” ran one of the
verses. In stories and films as
I was growing up, there was
a sort of glamour attached to
smuggling.
Nowadays I see that
customs officers have a vital
job to do in preventing drug
smuggling. But when I first
went to sea fifty years ago, I
sensed some hostility among
seafarers to customs officers
who were seen as killjoys,
determined to deprive an
otherwise innocent seafarer
of a few pleasures at the
voyage end, an extra carton
of cigarettes or a bottle of
rum to take ashore to give to
his friends or share with his
family. I even heard of one
cheeky seafarer who hid his
contraband under the settee
in the pilot’s cabin, only to
find a customs officer asleep
on the settee when he went to
retrieve his stash before going
ashore.
I wouldn’t have dreamed
of entering the pilot’s cabin.
Pilots were only slightly
lower than archangels on my
heavenly scale. Entering or
leaving port, I never failed to
be amazed at their sheer skill
and competence. And their
endurance was only matched
by those who maintained tiny
weather ships on station in
the North Atlantic in winter.
Pilots often wait around in
small pilot cutters in appalling
weather for an unfamiliar ship
crewed by total strangers and
are then expected to navigate
that ship, those seafarers, into
the safety of the port. Just
getting from the cutter to the
ship they are to pilot is often
an amazing feat of physical
strength. In grim weather,
heavy seas, they risk life and
limb to get on and off our
ships.
To my mind, pilots are
heroes. We would be lost
without them, condemned to
sail the seas and never make it
into port. And while praising
pilots, I mustn’t forget the
seafarers who bring them to
our ship’s side or who wait
patiently to take them off
again. Then there are those
who maintain lights, buoys,
navigation systems, radar
and communications, all
contributing to our safety,
to the chances of a safely
completed voyage.
So many people, often
unseen and frequently
forgotten, contribute to the
building of safety at sea.
As Christmas approaches,
why not raise a glass, say
a prayer, thank God for
pilots, for everyone on
whom we depend to get
safely to our home port. And
where customs officers keep
dangerous drugs and bombs
and weapons from reaching
our towns and cities, let’s
thank God for them too.
Gracias a Dios por los pilotos
EL viaje por el Canal de
la Mancha había sido
turbulento, dificultando y
haciendo tedioso el organizar
los asuntos de contabilidad
de final de trayecto. Una vez
en el estuario del Támesis el
barco pareció enderezarse
y calmarse, y yo empecé a
pensar en los días libres que
iba a tener antes de partir de
nuevo a la Antillas, al sol y
a las cargas de azúcar que se
suben desde las barcazas. Sería
libre de ir a tierra una vez
que los oficiales de aduanas
hubiesen inspeccionado el
barco y dado el visto bueno.
Una vez, los oficiales de
aduanas casi le desmantelaron
completamente el coche a mi
tío cuando volvía de Francia.
Estoy seguro de que creyeron
que estaba intentando
contrabandear con drogas,
joyas o coñac Napoleón.
No era así. Una vez vi cómo
un oficial de aduanas bajito
hacía que un marinero del
tamaño de una casa vaciara
por completo su bolsa en
la cubierta de un pesquero
de arrastre, tan sólo para
comprobar que no tenía nada
que ocultar.
Recuerdo un poema
que aprendí en el colegio.
Era sobre contrabando, que
en los condados sureños
de Inglaterra parece haber
sido una gran industria.
Los versos decían: «Veinte
y cuatro potros trotando en
la oscuridad, brandy para
el sacerdote, tabaco para la
autoridad». En las historias
y películas de la época
en que yo era niño había
cierto glamour asociado al
contrabando.
Hoy en día sé que
los oficiales de aduanas
desempeñan un trabajo
esencial en la prevención del
contrabando de drogas. Pero
cuando empecé a trabajar en
el mar hace cincuenta años
sentía cierto rechazo por parte
de los marineros hacia los
oficiales de aduanas, que eran
vistos como unos aguafiestas,
empeñados en privar a un
marinero inocente de unos
pocos placeres al final de
su viaje: un cartón más de
cigarrillos o una botella de
ron que llevar a sus amigos o
compartir con sus familiares.
Una vez incluso supe de un
marinero algo fresco que había
escondido su contrabando
debajo del sofá en la cabina
del piloto. Cuando fue a
buscar su alijo antes de bajar
a tierra se encontró con que
el oficial de aduanas estaba
durmiendo en el sofá.
Yo nunca habría soñado
con entrar en la cabina del
piloto. En mi escala celestial,
los pilotos estaban sólo
un poco por debajo de los
arcángeles. Cada vez que
entrábamos o salíamos de
un puerto me asombraba su
habilidad y eficacia absoluta.
Y su resistencia sólo se veía
igualada por la de aquellos
a cargo de pequeños buques
meteorológicos que deben
permanecer en el Atlántico
Norte en pleno invierno.
Con frecuencia, los
pilotos tienen que esperar,
en pequeños cúteres y
bajo pésimas condiciones
meteorológicas, a que llegue
un barco extraño con una
tripulación totalmente
desconocida. Y se espera
que lleven ese barco, a esos
marineros, a la seguridad
del puerto. Tan solo llegar
desde el cúter hasta el barco
que han de pilotar supone
a menudo una increíble
hazaña que requiere una gran
fortaleza física. Con mal
tiempo y en aguas agitadas,
arriesgan su vida para subir y
bajar de nuestros barcos.
En mi opinión, los
pilotos son héroes. Sin
ellos estaríamos perdidos,
condenados a navegar por el
mar y nunca llegar al puerto.
Pero al tiempo que alabo a
los pilotos no quiero olvidar
a los marineros que los traen
a nuestros barcos o que
esperan pacientemente para
llevarlos de nuevo. También
están los que se encargan
de las luces, boyas, sistemas
de navegación, radares y
comunicaciones. Todos
ellos contribuyen a nuestra
seguridad, a la posibilidad de
culminar un viaje a salvo.
Tanta gente, a
menudo desconocida y
frecuentemente olvidada,
que contribuye a mantener
la seguridad en el mar. Ahora
que se acerca la Navidad,
¿por qué no alzamos
nuestras copas y rezamos una
oración?: gracias a Dios por
los pilotos, por todos aquellos
de quienes dependemos
para llegar a salvo a nuestro
puerto, que es donde los
oficiales de aduanas trabajan
para evitar que drogas,
bombas y armas peligrosas
lleguen a nuestros pueblos
y ciudades. Gracias a Dios
también por ellos.
Спасибо Богу за лоцманов
Прохождение по Ла-Маншу
происходило в шторм,
что делало составление
финальных отчетов по
рейсу утомительным
и трудным. Когда мы
зашли в устье Темзы,
и, казалось, что судно
выпрямилось и успокоилось,
я уже предвкушал отпуск
в несколько дней перед
очередным отплытием в
Вест-Индию, где под ярким
солнцем будут грузить сахар
с барж. Когда таможенники
проверили судно, я мог
сойти на берег.
Однажды машину моего
дяди по возвращении из
Франции таможенники
почти разобрали на части.
Наверное, они думали, что
он тайно везет наркотики,
драгоценности или любимый
Наполеоном бренди. Но это
было не так. Я видел, как
таможенник маленького
роста заставил высокого,
массивного рыбака
выложить содержимое
чемодана на палубу
трейлера, только чтобы
обнаружить, что этот рыбак
ничего не прячет.
Помню, как учил в
школе стихотворение о
контрабанде, которая,
наверное, была основным
промыслом в южных
графствах Англии.
“Двадцать четыре пони
мчатся в темноте, везут
бренди для пастора и табак
для клерка” гласила одна
из строк. В историях и
фильмах, сопровождавших
мое детство и юность,
контрабанде придавался
некий оттенок гламура.
Сегодня я понимаю, что
таможенники выполняют
чрезвычайно важную работу,
предотвращая контрабанду
наркотиков. Однако, когда
я впервые отправился в
рейс пятьдесят лет назад, я
ощутил со стороны моряков
некую враждебность к
таможенникам, которых
считали служащими,
отравляющими
жизнь и лишающими
законопослушного во
всех других отношениях
моряка в конце рейса таких
маленьких удовольствий,
как лишняя пачка сигарет
или бутылка рома, которые
можно взять на берег, отдать
друзьям или поделиться с
семьей. Я даже слышал,
как один нахальный моряк
спрятал контрабанду под
диваном в каюте лоцмана,
а, зайдя туда, чтобы забрать
спрятанное, обнаружил
таможенника спящим на
этом диване.
Я даже и не мечтал
о том, чтобы зайти в
каюту лоцмана. В моем
представлении лоцманы
были немногим ниже по
статусу, чем архангелы. При
заходе в порт или выходе из
него я всегда восхищался
их квалифицированностью
и профессионализмом. А их
терпение могло сравниться
только с терпением тех,
кто удерживал на месте
крошечные плавучие
метеорологические станции
зимой в Северной Атлантике.
Часто в ужасную погоду
лоцманы в маленьких
лоцманских катерах
ждут незнакомые суда,
управляемые совершенно
незнакомыми моряками,
которые они должны затем
безопасно провести в порт.
Только перемещение с
катера на судно, которое
они должны направлять,
часто является невероятным
проявлением физической
силы. В ненастную погоду
и во время штормов они
рискуют своей жизнью и
здоровьем, забираясь на
наши суда и сходя с них.
По моему мнению,
лоцманы – герои. Без
них мы бы потерялись,
обреченные плавать
по морям, не имея
возможности зайти в
порт. Выражая похвалу
лоцманам, необходимо
также упомянуть о моряках,
которые помогают лоцманам
попасть на борт судна, или
которые терпеливо ждут,
чтобы помочь им снова сойти
с судна. Еще есть те, кто
занимается освещением,
буями, навигационными
системами, радарами и
системами связи, и все ради
того, чтобы обеспечить
безопасность мореплавания.
Очень многие, чью
работу не видно, и о ком
быстро забывают, вносят
свой вклад в обеспечение
безопасности на море. И в
канун Рождества, почему
бы не поднять бокал и
не произнести молитву
в благодарность Богу за
лоцманов и всех тех, от кого
зависит наша безопасность
по пути домой. А поскольку
таможенники не дают
опасным наркотикам,
бомбам и оружию попасть
в наши города, давайте
поблагодарим Господа и за
них тоже.
If you have any questions about your rights as a seafarer, or if you want more information or help, you can contact:
Douglas B Stevenson, Center for Seafarers’ Rights, 241 Water Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. Tel: +1212 349 9090 Fax: +1212 349 8342 E-mail: [email protected]
or Canon Ken Peters, The Mission to Seafarers, St Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill, London EC4R 2RL, UK. Tel: +44 20 7248 5202 Fax: +44 20 7248 4761 E-mail: [email protected]
8 the sea nov/dec 07
Panama canal expansion gets under way
AT an official ceremony
watched by an estimated
30,000 people, Panama
president Martin Torrijos
operates the button to
start the symbolic blast to
mark the beginning of the
first-ever expansion of the
nearly 100-year-old Panama
Canal. The explosion (far
left) inaugurated the first
construction project for
the 50-mile waterway’s
expansion – the excavation
work to construct the
new Pacific Locks access
channel. The seven-year
project to modernise and
expand the canal will
double capacity and allow
more traffic and longer,
wider ships. It is being
financed by a rise in tolls.
New study from P&I club paints disturbing picture
Decline in competence
‘causing more accidents’
S
ERIOUS marine
accidents are on the
increase, according to
the Swedish P&I Club, and the
shipping industry needs to do
something about it.
These conclusions are contained in a review of collision
and contact cases dealt with
by the club in the two years
up to the end of 2006. The
study focused on the causal
factors linked to failure to follow standard operating procedures, instructions for critical
shipboard operations – where
an error might immediately
cause an accident threatening people, the environment
and the ship – and emergency
response actions.
Commenting on the findings, managing director Frans
Malmros said that while there
were fewer major accidents
in the 1990s, there was now
a disturbing reversal of that
positive trend.
“The most likely explanation for an increase in the serious accident rate is a fall in crew
experience and, thus, lower
competence levels, exacerbated
by stress and fatigue.”
Mr Malmros warned that
since 2000 there had been an
increase in the number of new
recruits to shipping, but this
was coupled with lower retention and faster promotion.
“People now have less time to
get to know their ship. Meanwhile, the paperwork and
inspection-related workload
continues to mushroom, but
the average crew size is static.
“Around half of all accidents at sea can be traced back
to fundamental navigation
bridge system failures – leading to collisions, groundings
Campaign to end HIV/Aids
discrimination at sea
HIV/Aids should not be considered a threat
to public health in shipping because it is
transmitted through specific behaviour
which is almost always private. This
key message is part of a statement on
HIV/Aids that has been jointly delivered
by the International Transport Workers’
Federation (ITF) and the International
Maritime Health Association (IMHA) to
“help protect the rights and dignity of
seafarers and all those living with the
virus”.
Presented at the International Congress
on Aids in Asia and the Pacific which was
held in Sri Lanka, it also stressed that the
occupational exposure risks of HIV infection at sea were limited to the treatment
of injuries and there were well established
THE two survivors on the main
deck of the Kolossi, immediately
following their rescue.
precautions to avoid these.
Dr Asif Altaf, the ITF global HIV/Aids
project coordinator, made clear that the
IMHA and ITF considered HIV as a workplace issue that should be treated like any
other serious illness or condition on board
ship. He argued that there should be no discrimination on the basis of real or perceived
HIV status. HIV infection was not a cause
for termination of employment at sea and
people with HIV related illness should be
able to work for as long as medically fit.
He also said that selection for employment based on HIV status was unacceptable. “HIV testing should be a matter for
the individual and his/her clinical advisers,
and not a condition for obtaining employment. That testing must be voluntary.”
CAPTAIN Anil Wahane, master of
the tanker Kolossi, pictured with
the two survivors.
Fishermen rescued after 12 hours in the water
THE Master and crew of the World
Tankers VLCC Kolossi rescued two
fishermen from the sea off Kerala state,
India, in September. After their boat
had capsized in a heavy swell, the men
had survived a gruelling 12 hours in
the water by clinging to a foam fishing
box, but a third crew member was
lost. The rescue operation ended in a
rendezvous with a Coast Guard vessel,
the transfer of the two survivors and
their safe return ashore.
and contact damages. The
problem is not necessarily
attributable to crew size, but
there is certainly a direct correlation with a generic loss of
experience.”
This, he said, was a significant stress factor in its own
right for those more experienced seafarers who faced the
constant challenge of training
the inexperienced. “Clearly,
this state of affairs is unsatisfactory and the implications
of our findings offer sufficient
grounds for the launch of a new
joint industry initiative.”
Fatigue poses
similar risks
to alcohol
A NEW study by Sweden’s National
R o a d a n d Tr a n s p o r t R e s e a r c h
Institute has found that fatigue can
have a similar effect on ships’ officers
as drinking alcohol.
The report – Fatigue at Sea: a field
study in Swedish shipping – found
that risks were particularly high
where a two-watch system was used
with “really high levels of fatigue in
2.5 per cent of cases”.
On occasions the study found
the officers had to struggle to keep
awake.
Data collection included interviews with shipping companies and a
detailed examination of the working
patterns on board 13 cargo vessels.
Thirty-two officers and ratings
took part, with some working on
two-watch systems and some on
three-watch. Researchers estimated
sleepiness and stress every hour and
also monitored eye movement and
reaction time.
The study found that three-watch
participants were more satisfied with
their working hours and working
situation, while two-watch participants were more tired although stress
levels were the same.
All participants were less sleepy
and less stressed when at home. Time
on shift had an effect on sleepiness
while reaction times were longer
during night watches. Researcher
Margareta Lutzhoft said it was the
same result as when testing people
who had been drinking alcohol.
‘Staggering’
increase
in boxship
orders
SO many very large containerships are on order
that capacity is likely to
outstrip demand over
the next four years, says
German bank Dresdner
Kleinwort.
Capacity growth is
estimated at 12.3 per
cent this year, 12.9 per
cent next year and 11
per cent in 2009, but is
set to soar to 14 per cent
in 2010, which Dresdner
Kleinwort describes as a
“staggering” increase.
Set against what it
expects to be “sluggish”
growth in volumes, the
bank predicts freight
rates will fall while owners’ costs will rise. This
suggests that while all
sectors of the shipping
industry have been doing
well for the past couple
of years, the party could
soon be over for container shipping lines.
The massive increase
in capacity now looming is largely due to
the industry’s switch to
very large ships for the
main trunk routes. There
are now thought to be
at least 69 firm orders
for ships of more than
12,000 teu capacity,
with deliveries scheduled
between now and the
end of 2012. Another 33
orders are understood
to be pending and will
probably be confirmed
soon.
Drill nearly
ends in
disaster
THE dangers of
fumes from engines
in enclosed lifeboats
was unintentionally
highlighted by a recent
search and rescue
exercise in the Bay of
Islands, eastern Canada.
The exercise
was aborted when
21 people acting as
passengers had to
be evacuated from a
lifeboat launched by
the ferry Leif Ericson.
Three people were
hospitalised, apparently
suffering from the
effects of fumes, while
a further 11 people
needed treatment at a
medical centre.
1,000 fake
certificates
found
INDIA’S directorate general of shipping (DGS)
has moved to allay fears
that recent discoveries of
fake seafarers’ continuous discharge certificates
(CDCs) in Mumbai could
mean a flood of forged
certificates of competency. The CDCs, which
record sea time served
but are not certificates of
competency, have apparently been sold to over
1,000 Indian seafarers.
The Economic Times
reports that the DGS says
it issues all certificates
of competency itself
and has not delegated
the work to any other
entity. The certificates are
printed at the government security press and
contain a number of
security features that
cannot be replicated.
The deputy head of DGS,
Captain Harish Khatri,
said the government
was always on the alert
against the threat of fake
certifications. “The raid
on the scamsters is an
example of the seriousness and swiftness with
which action is taken on
all forged certifications
rackets to ensure the
continued reliability of
the country’s certification system.”
New Queen
Elizabeth
on order
CARNIVAL Corporation
subsidiary Cunard Line
has ordered a new
92,000 gt liner, to be
named Queen Elizabeth
and scheduled to enter
service in the autumn of
2010.
Cunard already owns
and operates the two
most famous ocean liners,
Queen Elizabeth 2 and
Queen Mary 2, and a
third – Queen Victoria
– is due to be named by
the Duchess of Cornwall
in December of this year.
However, in November
2008 the Queen Elizabeth
2 will cease her role as an
ocean-going passenger
vessel and will be
delivered to Dubai World.
The new Queen
Elizabeth will fly the
Red Ensign, and her
home-port will be
Southampton, as is the
case with the other ships
in the Cunard fleet.
SE Asia
welfare
boost
A MAJOR project to
enhance seafarers’
welfare in south east
Asia has been agreed at
a meeting in Singapore
of the International
Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare.
Delegates from 26
countries met to discuss
how to extend welfare
facilities in the region
and encourage more
organisations to become involved in their
provision.
Four years’ worth of
funding has been made
available to examine,
update and extend welfare provision. Representatives of shipowners, unions, missions,
port authorities and
governments will now
form a regional welfare
committee to initiate
the programme.