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Volume 48 | Number 01 | January 2015 | £3.50 €3.70
Dutch firm claims a
first for LNG tankers
rules coming into effect on
F
1 January 2015, Dutch shipping
With new shipping emission
company Anthony Veder has taken
the lead in introducing two new
LNG-powered tankers, pictured left,
which are claimed to be the first of
their kind.
Named in Teesport last month,
the 3,604dwt Coral Star and Coral
Sticho are being chartered by the
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
to carry Liquefied Ethylene Gas (LEG)
from its Wilton facility on Teesside to
manufacturing plants in NW Europe
and Scandinavia.
The state-of-the-art Dutchflagged ships, with a cargo capacity
of 4,768 cu m, will emit dramatically
fewer pollutants than the vessels
they are replacing — cutting NOx
emissions by over 85%, with SOx
Union accuses UK
of safety failings
and soot particles reduced by nearly
100%, and CO2 by 20%.
‘By demonstrating their
commitment to using LNG-powered
vessels, SABIC and Anthony Veder are
leading and embracing this cuttingedge technology,’ said company CEO
Jan Valkier. ‘They could be at the
forefront of opening up a whole new
sector of sea-going transport.’
The vessels were part-funded
by the European Union’s TEN-T
programme, which aims to support
efficient transport infrastructure
within Europe. It gave almost €4m
towards the costs of constructing
the UK’s first LNG bunkering facilities
at Teesport and the LNG propulsion
system of the two ships, describing
the project as ‘a real breakthrough’.
g Owners warn on new rules — see
page 9.
Inside
F Weighty issues
Maritime medics’
meeting considers
the growing
problem of obese
crews — page 25
Authorities condemned for decision not to prosecute in case which led to the loss of six lives
P
Nautilus International has condemned the ‘abysmal failure’ to
take any legal action against the
owners of a substandard ship that sank off
the coast of Wales in 2011 with the loss of six
lives.
The Union says the decision not to bring
any prosecution over the loss of the Cook
Islands-ﬂagged Swanland gives a green
light to other shipping companies who
compete by ﬂouting rules and regulations.
A Marine Accident Investigation Branch
(MAIB) report concluded that the 34-yearold vessel had suffered a catastrophic structural failure as a result of factors including
poor maintenance, corrosion, overloading
and poor distribution of its 3,000-tonne
limestone cargo.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said the Union has spent more than
a year questioning the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police over the decision not to
take any legal action against the ship’s UKbased owners and managers.
However, MCA chief executive Sir Alan
Massey told the Union that ‘because the
01_front.indd 1
ship was not within UK waters it was outside our jurisdiction’.
The wreck of Swanland was found 12
miles off the Welsh coast, at a depth of
approximately 80m, and the MCA argued
that it would go against the principles of
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to
bring a prosecution when a ship had sunk
outside UK territorial waters.
Sir Alan said the circumstances of the
loss had been examined by the MAIB and
a coroner’s inquest. ‘Given that report, and
the verdict of the inquest, the issues regarding jurisdiction and the passage of time,
and despite the fact that there has been
tragic loss of life, I do not believe that
embarking on a lengthy investigation
into this matter is an appropriate use of
resources, or likely to result in a successful
prosecution,’ he told the Union.
Wales police told Nautilus that ‘there
was no evidence of any serious criminal
offences or gross negligence’.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it
had not been asked to give advice to the
police about the Swanland’s loss, but noted
that the coroner had withdrawn an unlaw-
ful killing verdict ‘as he concluded that the
ship met all regulatory, class and SOLAS
requirements’.
The CPS told the Union it was ‘a moot
point’ whether the ship has to be within
UK waters when it sinks for Section 100 of
the UK Merchant Shipping Act to apply, but
said a case to needed to go before the courts
for a judge to decide.
Mr Dickinson said he was appalled by
the lack of action. ‘This was a truly shocking case, involving a ship that had been
deliberately operated outside of accepted
international standards, with an absence
of effective safety management, appalling survey and audit processes, and longterm corrosion and wastage problems,’ he
pointed out.
‘We reject the argument that a prosecution cannot be brought because the ship
might have sunk outside UK waters,’ he
added. ‘It had sailed from a UK port, was
owned and managed in the UK, and did not
suddenly become unsafe at the point at
which it sank, but must have been unsafe as
it transited UK waters to that point. Therefore we say that section 100 applies, both in
accordance with the plain words of the statute and what must be the underlying safety
policy, aimed at criminalising such unsafe
operations.
‘The way in which the authorities have
shrugged off responsibility for this case
suggests to us that there is no interest in
taking effective action against those who
brazenly ﬂout international minimum
standards to gain unfair commercial
advantage over those who abide by the
rules,’ Mr Dickinson said.
‘The MAIB said it hoped the report
would act as a catalyst for action to tackle
serious safety problems in the general cargoship sector — with almost 250 general
cargoship losses worldwide between 2002
and 2011, accounting for the deaths of more
than 800 seafarers — but the absence of
any will to impose deterrent punishment
on substandard operators means, sadly,
that this case is unlikely to be the last of its
kind,’ he added.
Due to the failure of the authorities to
bring any proceedings, Nautilus is now
exploring whether a private criminal prosecution could be commenced.
F Pilots in focus
Photographic essay
puts the spotlight
on the work of
Mersey Pilots —
pages 26-27
F Medallion men
Nautilus Council
member among
the recipients of
the 2014 Merchant
Navy Medal —
pages 19 and 44
10/12/2014 18:32
02 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
NAUTILUS AT WORK
Why it pays
to be a
Nautilus
member
What do you think
about your Union?
latest membership survey —
A
and is urging members to use the
Nautilus has launched its
opportunity to tell the Union what
they think of the services and benefits
it provides.
The new survey is the third to be
conducted by the Union to gather
feedback on the services and support
offered by Nautilus. It asks members
for their views on all aspects of the
Union’s work, including recruitment
and organising, collective bargaining,
campaigns and communications, and
legal and welfare services.
The survey is conducted and
analysed by an independent
organisation, and the results are
assessed by the Union’s governing
body — the Council — in determining
whether changes and improvements
need to be made.
Nautilus general secretary Mark
Dickinson said he hopes that as many
members as possible will take part
in the survey. ‘This is an extremely
important exercise which we conduct
on a regular basis to ensure that we
continue to reflect members’ views
and experiences, and provide the
services and support that meet their
needs,’ he added.
‘Previous surveys have resulted
in significant changes to the way
in which we work and the range of
services that we provide for members,’
Mr Dickinson said. ‘We are never
complacent, and this is your chance
to let us know what we can do to
serve you better. Please use this
opportunity.’
g Members can access the survey
via the Union’s website and any
members wanting to complete the
questionnaire in hard copy form
should contact the communications
department at head office or email
[email protected]
ITF urges radical re-think
of European ports policy
Workers’ Federation (ITF)
A
has issued a strong warning to the
The International Transport
European Commission over the future
of the continent’s ports.
The ITF’s fair practices committee
steering group has called for a radical
re-examination of the way in which
Brussels deals with ‘vital national and
international resources’ — warning
that the Commission appeared to be
‘actively promoting the infringement
of procedures in ports where social
dialogue between employers and
unions is working well’.
The committee said it was
concerned that the measures were a
response to the ‘justified demise’ of
the latest EU port reform plans.
‘We don’t know whether it’s sour
grapes or a desire to smuggle in a new
port package under another name,
but it’s putting the whole model of
successful and productive dialogue
at risk,’ said Terje Samuelsen, Europe
chair of the ITF dockers’ section.
BBC Radio gives a star
role to Mariners’ Park
A
Residents at the Nautilus
Mariners’ Park estate in
Wallasey were made famous last
month, when the facilities were
featured in the BBC Radio 4 series
Lives in a Landscape.
Presenter Alan Dein visited the
park and spoke to some of the 150
residents, including Captain Ronald
Pengelly.
The programme told how living
with other former seafarers in a
special community has given residents
a new lease of life.
‘They track ships on the internet,
take the ferry across the Mersey and
throw themselves into a sports day,’
Mr Dein reveals. And he also notes
that Mariners’ Park retains a strong
attachment with today’s Merchant
Navy.
g You can listen again to this halfhour feature on BBC iPlayer at www.
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04stvxt
getting you down, then maybe
F
Nautilus Plus can provide you with
If the January blues are
South Tyneside College trains a
fourth generation seafarer
above with his father, Jon,
F
was set to graduate in December as
Andrew Spawls, pictured
an engineering officer of the watch
— starting a seafaring career just
as his father, grandfather and greatgrandfather did before him.
Andrew, who has been
sponsored by Maersk, becomes the
fourth generation of his family to go
to sea when he completes his studies
at South Shields Marine School, and
he intends to follow his forefathers’
footsteps all the way through to
chief engineer.
Andrew’s great-grandfather,
John Henry, was born in 1887 and
was the first to become a chief
Commissioners want to see more EU crews on EU ships
P
Park are known for their
A
community spirit, and some of them
Residents of Mariners’
are pictured above last month as
they joined the UK-wide effort to
make sure that no seafarer would
miss out on Christmas cheer.
Early in December, the Nautilus
retirement estate saw a flurry of
festive activity, with 26 gift boxes
02-03_at work.indd 2
filled, wrapped and delivered to the
Liverpool Seafarers’ Centre.
The boxes were destined for
working seafarers who would
not be home for Christmas, and
contained a mix of practical items
such as toiletries, warm hats
and gloves — as well as muchappreciated yuletide treats such as
chocolates.
college. Andrew’s grandfather was
South Shields’ principal lecturer
until retiring in 1983, and his father,
Jon, joined the marine school
in the late 1970s and returned
there throughout his career until
qualifying as a chief engineer in
1995.
‘The sea has given me a good life
and I’ve enjoyed seeing the world,
but I’ve no real idea why it has
played such an important part in our
lives,’ said Jon.
‘I know that my father would be
very proud of what I have achieved
and of what Andrew is setting
out on. I only wish that he and my
grandfather were around to see it.’
EU hints of
jobs action
by Justin Stares
All present and correct…
engineer — he was at sea for both
world wars. His grandfather, Vic,
followed his father to sea and served
in the MN convoys of the Second
World War, and Andrew’s father,
Jon, is a chief engineer with OOC,
working on platform supply vessels.
Andrew said he was proud to be
carrying on the family tradition. ‘I
don’t know if it runs in the blood,
but the sea certainly seems to hold
an attraction for us,’ he said. ‘I’ve
never liked the idea of sitting still or
working in an office — I want to see
the world and this career allows me
to do that.
The family also has strong
connections with the South Tyneside
Nautilus has welcomed
signs that the newlyinstalled European Commission is gearing up to get more
European seafarers working on
European Union-ﬂagged ships.
Commissioners and civil servants have been asking why so
many non-Europeans crew EUowned vessels, and stating publicly that something should be
done about it.
Signs of a new policy push
emerged during the European
Parliament hearing of Slovak
Maroš Šefcovic, who has ultimate
responsibility for energy and
transport in the new commission.
Without prodding by Euro
MPs, Mr Šefcovic pointed out that
there were tens of thousands of
Filipinos working on EU vessels.
Why are these ships not crewed by
Europeans, he asked?
He also promised MEPs that
he wanted to ‘enhance a culture
of compliance, and improve the
effectiveness and consistency of
social law enforcement practices
in the transport sector to avoid
a race-to-the bottom, preserve
services of general interest and
to make sure that employees in
the sector are fully aware of their
rights under EU legislation, in
order to prevent social dumping’.
Slovenian Violeta Bulc, the
new Brussels transport commissioner, made similar comments
during her parliament hearing
in late October. She said growth
in the maritime industries was
incompatible with Europe’s high
levels of unemployment.
These comments were then
followed up by Christine Berg,
an ofﬁcial in the Commission’s
directorate-general for mobility and transport. She told MEPs
that the Commission was putting
together an ‘action plan’, and that
the ﬁrst step would be ﬁnding out
just how many Europeans are
employed today on European vessels. Current ﬁgures are estimates
only.
Europe’s shipowners have
been slightly alarmed by this talk,
as many rely on low cost nonEuropean labour to bolster profits. But those who have followed
EU maritime policy for any length
of time know these good intentions have until now never been
followed up by concrete action.
The one real attempt to protect
shortsea seafaring jobs for Europeans — the so-called manning
directive — was launched more
than a decade ago but was torpedoed by national governments
after shipowner lobbying.
However, Nautilus and other
EU seafaring unions are stepping
up campaign efforts to revive the
idea of measures to safeguard
employment standards on ships
operating within EU waters.
Unions have also called for a
closer link between state aid and
the employment and training of
EU seafarers.
z Justin Stares is editor of
Maritime Watch — www.
maritimewatch.eu
some great reasons to get out and
do some more shopping!
The exclusive range of offers
includes money-saving discounts
designed to support Nautilus
members both personally and
professionally. There is no sign
up process, nor any extra charge
to access these benefits — you
are automatically eligible once
you have logged into the Nautilus
website.
Some of the amazing offers
available this month include:
z Corporate gym membership *
If your New Year’s resolutions
include getting into shape, why not
get a free voucher for access to a
wide range of gyms across the UK?
Nautilus Plus offers access to
corporate gym membership at over
2,700 gyms including Virgin Active,
Fitness First, Nuffield Health, LA
Fitness, David Lloyd and DW Sports.
You can also take a friend with a
guest pass or take a free trial to
experience the club prior to joining.
If you join a David Lloyd leisure
centre, you’ll receive one month
free and get a free seven day family
pass.
Use the online proximity report
to find your nearest participating
gym or leisure centre and follow
the instructions via Nautilus Plus to
validate your discount for chosen
health club.
z LifeSearch — life assurance*
Nautilus Plus has teamed up with
LifeSearch, one of the UK’s leading
life insurance advisers, to provide
members with all the guidance and
advice to ensure they are properly
protected in the event that they
become unable to earn a living due
to long term disability.
Nautilus Plus members will
received two months’ premium back
after purchase. Visit Nautilus Plus or
call 0800 804 6814 and quote NTU
z Cottage Holidays*
Save 10% on cottage and short
break holidays in the UK and
Europe with CottageStayUK. They
work with over 14,000 cottages
and villas in the UK and Europe
to give members maximum
choice. So whether it’s a romantic
break or a getaway with friends,
CottageStayUK helps you find the
right property at a great price.
Access these benefits, plus many
more, by logging into Nautilus Plus
at www.nautilusint.org. Terms and
conditions apply to all benefits,
see website for details. Offers are
subject to change without notice.
g *Insurance is subject to
underwriting. LifeSearch — two
months’ premium will be repaid
if you take out an insurance policy
and your policy remains in place for
12 months from the date your cover
starts, with all payments up to date.
g Nautilus Plus is managed on
behalf of Nautilus by Parliament
Hill Ltd of 3rd Floor, 127 Cheapside,
London, EC2V 6BT, which is
authorised and regulated by the
Financial Conduct Authority for noninvestment insurance mediation
only under registration number
308448. Details can be checked on
the Financial Services register by
visiting the FCA’s web site at www.
fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do
10/12/2014 18:17
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 03
NAUTILUS AT WORK
UK bids to keep
marine sector
competitive
Seafaring skills to be a key element in new drive to maintain a global lead
P
Nautilus has given
a cautious welcome
to the government’s
announcement of a wide-ranging review of the international
competitiveness of the UK maritime sector.
Launching the initiative, shipping minister John Hayes said
the study will examine issues
such as ship ﬁnancing, ownership and operation, maritime
education and skills, and the
government’s administration of
maritime activities — including
ship registration and the work
of the Maritime & Coastguard
Agency.
Due for completion by the
summer of 2015, the review
will identify potential areas of
growth and will produce recommendations to the government
on ways to improve the international competitiveness of the UK
maritime sector.
Mr Hayes said he hoped the
study will ensure that the maritime sector ‘can succeed in the
future. We want to keep the
industry at the heart of the government’s long-term economic
plan: a great maritime sector for
a Great Britain’.
The minister described the
review as ‘a landmark for the
industry’ and said he hoped it
would keep the UK’s status as a
world leader in maritime services.
‘This is a once in a lifetime
opportunity to set the UK on a
course to maintain its strength
and grow its strength as a maritime nation,’ he added. ‘I am conﬁdent the study will have a longlasting effect.’
Mr Hayes said skills are likely
to ﬁgure strongly in the review
— both in terms of supply and in
ensuring that training and education meets industry needs.
He said views will be sought
from ‘interested parties’ across
the maritime and business spectrum. ‘Evidence is vital to make
sound decisions to make change
for the better,’ he added.
Nautilus general secretary
Mark Dickinson commented:
‘There is no doubt that the UK
maritime sector is facing huge
challenges, especially from the
Far East, and we welcome the
government’s aim of averting
complacency and looking for
new opportunities.
‘However, we also need to be
vigilant that this is not an exercise simply to cut costs and to
02-03_at work.indd 3
shortreports
TENDER CONCERNS: Nautilus has joined other
unions in a Scottish TUC meeting to discuss concerns
over the forthcoming tender for Caledonian MacBrayne
services. National ferry organiser Micky Smyth said
the issue of pension rights is at the top of the agenda
and is being raised by MSPs. Unions are also seeking
assurances on key elements of the tender specification,
including safeguards on employment, terms and
conditions, training, and health and safety.
DUMPING DISPUTE: cruise ships dumped more
than a billion gallons of sewage in the ocean this year,
much of it raw or poorly treated, according to a report
from the environmental group Friends of the Earth last
month. It said the 16 major cruise lines are slowly getting
greener, but more than 40% of the 167 ships analysed
still rely on ‘antiquated’ waste treatment technology.
PORTS PLEDGE: the UK government is confident
of securing an exemption for British ports from elements
of the EU’s proposed ports regulation, shipping minister
John Hayes said last month. He told guests at the UK
Major Ports Group parliamentary reception that the UK
would not agree to anything within the proposed port
services directive that would damage the industry.
TEMPORARY PROBLEMS: a report by the TUC
has found that zero-hours contracts and agency work
are preventing young people from obtaining permanent
positions. The TUC found that 81% of temporary agency
workers in the UK are aged between 20 and 24, and that
64% of those aged 25 to 29 say they are in temporary
work because they cannot find a permanent job.
PIRACY DEATH: a seafarer was shot dead by
pirates who attacked a Vietnamese tanker off the east
coast of Malaysia last month. The Maritime Piracy
Humanitarian Response Programme said the attack
on the 3,100dwt VP Asphalt 2 was close to the position
where another ship was attacked in October and it called
for ‘very intense investigation’ of the incident.
FUTURE PROOF: ships’ officers are among 40
‘jobs of the future’ identified by the UK Commission
for Employment and Skills (UKCES) as offering the best
opportunities for job-seekers. The Careers of the Future
report used information including pay, business need
and predicted job opportunities to produce the shortlist
spanning which spans 10 different sectors.
ECO ALERT: countries need to be careful about
defining what an ‘eco-ship’ is, the International
Chamber of Shipping warned last month. It told the
Organisation of Economic Cooperation & Development
that the formal definition could be mis-used to provide
incentives to artificially boost shipbuilding in some
countries.
Shipping minister John Hayes launches the competitiveness review at Lloyd’s Register Picture: Mat Curtis
turn the UK register into just
another convenient ﬂag running to international minimum
standards,’ he added.
‘Nautilus is determined to
make a substantive and constructive contribution to the
review and we will ensure that
it reﬂects the clear need for the
future success of the maritime
sector to be ﬁrmly rooted in the
strong and sustained supply of
skilled UK seafarers.’
The study will be chaired by
Jeffrey Evans, a director at international shipbroker Clarksons
and the chairman of Maritime
UK, which represents shipping,
ports and business service sectors.
Its terms of reference include
assessing the current competitive position of the various UK
maritime sub-sectors, including:
z ship ﬁnancing, ownership
and operation
z the provision of maritime
business services
z maritime education, skills,
research and technology
z government administration
of maritime activities, including
ship registration
z government regulatory and
policy activities affecting the
maritime sector
z marine manufacturing and
engineering
The initiative aims to identify
challenges to and opportunities for growth and set out recommendations to improve the
future performance of the sector.
However, the terms of reference make it clear that any
recommendations have to be
‘ﬁscally neutral in line with the
government’s wider economic
strategy’.
The review will also be
expected to produce recommendations to ‘allow ongoing assess-
ment of the sector’s performance
into the future’.
And it will additionally consider ways in which the maritime
sector can support the competitiveness of other UK industries.
Mr Evans said he was
delighted to have been asked to
chair the review as it was crucial
that the UK is able to take a share
of the predicted growth in global
trade over the next 20 years.
He also stressed the need for
a continued supply of maritime
skills. ‘The maritime service
sector provides high-skilled
employment, high income
employment, and is the driving
force behind our status as a maritime powerhouse,’ he added.
‘There is a global shortage of seafarers and the problem will grow.
The UK is best place to exploit
opportunities for career development and we need to attract
the right talent.’
SHIP BANNED: the Moldovan-flagged general
cargoship Mansour M has been banned from European
ports for the third time in four years after jumping from
a port state control detention in Greece last month.
The 3,785gt vessel will now be subject to a 24-month
exclusion order.
DRUGS BUST: cocaine with an estimated UK
street value in excess of £40m was seized in a raid on a
Singapore-flagged refrigerated cargoship last month.
The drugs were found concealed within a shipment of
bananas onboard the 14,030gt Star Stratos.
STENA BOOST: Stena Line has announced an
increase in capacity on its Holyhead-Dublin service, with
confirmation that the Stena Nordica will be replaced by
the larger ro-pax Stena Superfast X early in 2015.
RULES BLAMED: Dutch owner Transfennica has
blamed the new low-sulphur rules for a decision to axe
its ‘motorway of the sea’ service between the UK, Spain
and Belgium.
RESCUE GUIDE: new guidance on large scale
rescue operations at sea has been published by the
International Chamber of Shipping.
10/12/2014 18:33
04 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
NAUTILUS AT WORK
shortreports
Have your say on
seafarer supply
HAL PENSIONS: an amendment to article II
(pensions) for the collective bargaining agreement
(CBA) expiring in 2015 is about to be signed on behalf of
Nautilus members by the Union, Holland America Line
and Marine Manpower Services (MMSG). Nautilus fully
endorses the amendment as it improves retirement
savings programmes for members who work for MMSG
under the CBA. Nautilus national secretary Jonathan
Havard advised any members with individual concerns
to contact the Union, which will assess matters, and if
appropriate, raise concerns on a case by case basis.
NORTHLINK TALKS: Nautilus national secretary
Steve Doran and Serco Northlink Ferries liaison officers
have taken part in two meetings with Serco Northlink
management to discuss Maritime Labour Conventioncompliant terms and conditions of employment. Mr
Doran said that the meetings have been positive and a
number of members’ concerns have been raised. The
company is currently revising the draft based on these
meetings and an update will be provided once the
amendment is received.
HANSON PAY: industrial organiser Paul Schroder
and a liaison officer representative have met Hanson
Ship Management to discuss members’ pay and
conditions aspirations and other issues. It was agreed
at the meeting that the liaison officer structure would
be amended to allow for one representative per vessel
for future negotiations. Mr Schroder is due to meet the
company once more on Thursday 8 January, where the
company will present a formal response to the claim.
PG GUIDANCE: industrial organiser Derek Byrne
has met with PG Tankers to discuss members’ pay and
conditions claim. The claim included an above-RPI pay
increase, a request to increase broadband allowances,
payment for attending training courses and a review
of the exchange rates used. Members will be informed
when a formal response to the meeting has been
received.
WESTERN ASPIRATIONS: members
employed by Western Ferries are being asked for their
pay and conditions aspirations ahead of the 1 April 2015
review date. Members should submit details of any
increases in workloads and responsibilities that have
taken place in the last 12 months.
TANKERS WAIT: national secretary Steve Doran
is awaiting a formal response to the pay and conditions
meeting held with Maersk Offshore on behalf of
members serving onboard Tankers. Members will be
informed when a formal response has been received.
CREWING CROWNED: members employed
by Crown Crewing have accepted the company’s 2.5%
pay and conditions offer in conclusion of the 2014 pay
negotiations.
invited to have their say on
F
life at sea as part of a major new
Nautilus members have been
industrial organiser Paul
A
Schroder meeting Melanie Hall and
Pictured above is Nautilus
Thomas Heier from Carnival UK.
The meeting took place at the
Union’s South Woodford office and
discussed possible dates for furture
Partnership at Work meetings,
which will now be increased to
every other month.
‘Talks were also held about the
programme for Nautilus ship visits
in 2015, where the intention will be
to visit all 11 ships around central
Europe, as we did in 2014,’ Mr
Schroder added.
‘These initiatives are intended
to give more members the chance
to be involved in the PAW process,’
he pointed out, ‘and members will
be informed when the dates are
confirmed.’
More talks on
Stena savings
Nautilus calls for company to table a formal pay offer
P
Nautilus ofﬁcials and
Stena Line liaison ofﬁcers have attended a series
of meetings with the company to
discuss plans for future cost savings and changes to terms and
conditions.
During the talks, management
conﬁrmed that progress is being
made on the savings programme
— but not as quickly as had been
planned.
The company said it is approximately halfway through a process which it hopes will lead
to a £1.3bn group-wide saving,
based on around 170 individual
improvement plans.
Nautilus senior national secretary Garry Elliott said that he
is pleased that progress is ﬁnally
being made with the company
but warned that there are still
a number of concerns to be
addressed.
Mr Elliott conﬁrmed that
once a formal pay offer has been
received he will be consulting
members on the company’s proposals and undertaking a number
of ship visits.
He agreed that despite the outstanding areas, there had been
positive discussions around a
number of areas, including concerns over the transfer of technical management of Irish Sea vessels to NMF.
Nautilus was successful in getting Stena Line to reconsider its
position on proposed new salary
rates for junior ofﬁcers, taking
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account of the potential for savings and against the impact on
progression, study leave and promotion when vacancies arise.
The talks also covered arrangements for study leave and the ﬁlling of ofﬁcer vacancies on Irish
Sea vessels.
Stena Line management indicated that the company would
be making a ‘modest’ pay award
from 1 January 2015, but added
that this was unlikely to match
current rates of inﬂation.
The Union called on the company to make a formal offer as
soon as possible and advised that
no formal consultation would
take place on the proposed new
starting salaries until this had
been received.
Concern at
windfarm
dismissal
F
Nautilus has expressed renewed
concerns over employment
practices in parts of the growing
offshore marine renewables sector.
Industrial organiser Paul Schroder
recently represented a member who
was summarily dismissed from his job
as a skipper with a crew transfer vessel
operator after eight months of service.
‘There were various issues with
his employment and the company
subsequently terminated his
employment without an investigation
or disciplinary,’ Mr Schroder said. ‘We
challenged this, but the company
stated that as he did not have two
years’ service it was not willing to
engage in any further dialogue.
‘We believe that just because you
do not have two years’ service to be
able to claim unfair dismissal, this
should not be used by companies
to dismiss people without following
the proper procedures,’ he added.
‘This case does seem to highlight an
attitude in the windfarm sector where
some companies feel that they can
hire and fire without any recourse.’
Nautilus represented the member
and ensured that he received all his
notice pay and expenses.
Minister meets on
RFA pay wrangle
MARINE
TAX SERVICES
(CARDIFF) LTD
complete service
for mariners
international research project into
maritime labour supply and demand.
Views from the ‘sharp end’ have
been sought as part of the latest study
of global seafarer trends, conducted
by BIMCO and the International
Chamber of Shipping every five years.
The collection of data for the
BIMCO/ICS Manpower Report 2015
has now started, with the aim of
establishing whether there is a
shortage of seafarers, if the industry
is recruiting and training enough
seafarers, and what will the situation
look like in 10 years’ time.
The survey will seek information
from more than 100 major employers,
as well as data from all maritime
administrations around the world on
the certificates they issue. Information
on ship types will be updated, as
will the manner in which seafarer
nationalities are recorded. Both
changes will allow for a more selective
and refined analysis of the results.
The 2015 survey will also use social
media to gather opinions from a range
of maritime professionals. The first
one targets seafarers, and researchers
have been seeking views on a number
of issues concerning life at sea — and
feedback on job satisfaction, working
conditions and retention, in particular.
g If you are reading this before
Christmas, there’s still time to
take part in the survey at: www.
maritimemanpower.com — or
contact the project team by email:
[email protected].
due to meet Anna Soubry,
A
the minister of state for defence
Nautilus International was
P&O North Sea and Irish Sea
A
liaison officers, and management
A meeting of the combined
took place last month to continue
joint discussions. The meeting
covered a number of issues,
including the issuing of permanent
contracts, recruitment and
retention, and step-up pay.
Pictured above, left to right,
are back row: Dave Webb, P&O
statutory compliance manager;
Jonathan Havard, Nautilus national
secretary; Peter Capon, P&O
fleet HR manager; Clive Gossop,
head of operations North Sea
onboard services; Alan Tweed,
Nautilus liaison officer. Front row:
Phil Oestreich, Nautilus liaison
officer; Micky Smyth, national
ferry organiser; Eugene McMahon,
Nautilus liaison officer; Phil Roache,
Nautilus liaison officer; and Dave
O’Neil, Nautilus liaison officer.
personnel, welfare and veterans, last
month under stage three of the Royal
Fleet Auxiliary’s avoidance of disputes
procedure.
The Union has also received a
formal response to the meeting which
took place under stage two of the
procedure at the end of November.
The response confirmed that the
RFA could not alter the pay structure
to accommodate the 8% increase
requested by members, but did state
that existing cadets would be retained
on the current terms and conditions,
and gave an assurance on the
composition of the proposed career
panel.
The RFA also confirmed that
whilst the disputes procedure was in
effect, it will be continuing towards
implementation of the Future
Development programme in order
to meet the government’s mandated
timelines.
National secretary Jonathan
Havard has also received
correspondence from the RFA
Commodore on proposed increases
to study leave funding, a proposed
expansion of the RFA special
bonus scheme and the proposed
amendments to new cadets’ terms
and conditions.
Mr Havard said that he would
welcome feedback from members on
the new proposals which have been
distributed.
10/12/2014 18:32
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 05
NAUTILUS AT WORK
EU move to end
crew loopholes
Nautilus backs proposals to stop seafarer exclusions from key directives
P
Nautilus International
has welcomed an important step forward in
the long-running campaign to
prevent seafarers from being
excluded from key elements of
European employment protection laws.
General secretary Mark Dickinson led the union team that negotiated with European owners to
achieve a joint compromise agreement which was subsequently
adopted by the Italian presidency.
‘The social partners worked
hard to ﬁnd common ground on
the exclusions and both sides are
convinced that the compromise
agreement can contribute to closing some loopholes and ensuring that seafarers are treated on
an equal footing with land-based
workers,’ he said.
Mr Dickinson said the agreement between the European
Community Shipowners’ Associations and the European Transport Workers’ Federation should
help to pave the way for European
Parliament approval of the plans
to end exclusions from EU labour
law for seafarers.
Following intensive discussions, both sides of the industry
told MEPs last month that they
were ready to accept a package
which will ensure that seafarers
are protected by directives covering such issues as transfers of
undertakings, collective redundancies, and rights to information
and consultation.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson, second from left, is pictured with owners and unions at the European
Parliament employment committee hearing on ending employment directive exclusions
Speaking at a European Parliament employment committee
hearing, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson told MEPs
that excluding seafarers from the
rights enjoyed by shore-based
workers was unjust.
He said unions and owners
had worked hard to ﬁnd common
ground and both sides are convinced that, while not perfect, the
compromise agreement can contribute to closing some loopholes
and ensuring that seafarers are
treated on an equal footing with
land-based workers.
Shipowners’ spokeswoman Pia
Voss described the agreement as ‘a
fair but delicate balance between
the interests and concerns’ of
both sides. She said it reﬂected the
complexity of the industry ‘whilst
aiming at avoiding any potential
adverse effects, both for European
seafarers and for European shipowners’.
Talks within the Council of
Ministers focused on the directive
on the transfer of undertakings
and another on collective redundancies — which will both apply
to seafarers for the ﬁrst time.
Seafarers will be protected if
a business is sold, provided that
Nautilus has welcomed UK
Wightlink fleet shake-up
to Fishbourne vessel St Helen,
pictured above, which suffered a
deck collapse during the summer,
and to replace it with one of the
Yarmouth to Lymington ships early
in the new year.
Wightlink said the changes
were being made to reflect a 15%
reduction in passengers using the
Yarmouth to Lymington route in the
last four years.
04-05_at work.indd 5
GLOBAL OFFER: members employed by Global
Marine have rejected a pay and conditions offer from the
company. The offer included two options — a one-year
deal of 1.5% or a two-year deal worth 2% in 2015 and 2%
in 2016 — and both were rejected. Industrial organiser
Lisa Carr has advised the company to advise of the
outcome and has requested a further meeting.
LIGHTHOUSE ASPIRATIONS: members
employed by the Northern Lighthouse Board are being
asked for their pay and conditions aspirations ahead of
the 1 April 2015 review date. Members should submit
details of any increases in workloads and responsibilities
that have taken place in the last 12 months.
government moves to introduce
F
new legislation that seeks to ensure
Solent ferry operator
CALMAC LEAVE: following the conclusion of the
pay talks with Caledonian MacBrayne, a working party
has been looking into the unused leave issue which was
raised during negotiations. The company has written to
all employees asking them to verify the amount of leave
they have and confirm what they would like to do with
it (take it, cash it in, or a combination of both). Once
all the preferences are received, the working party will
work with management to ensure that as many of the
requests can be accommodated as possible.
MANX MEETING: a meeting has been arranged
to discuss the pay and conditions claim for members
employed by Manx Sea Transport and working onboard
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessels. The meeting
was due to take place on Tuesday 16 December and
members will be informed via a bulletin when an official
response to the meeting has been received.
the ‘transferee’ or part of the business ‘remains’ within the territorial scope of the EU Treaty. There
was discussion within the Council about whether the law should
also apply if individual ships, as
opposed to businesses, are sold.
In the end, national governments
agreed with unions and shipowners that individual ship sales will
be excluded from the scope of the
directive.
On collective redundancies, it
was agreed that ‘the employer’ of
seafarers shall notify the ‘competent authority of the state of the
ﬂag’ when laying off crew.
Nautilus welcomes UK
plans for controls on
job advertisements
Wightlink has announced
A
plans to withdraw the Portsmouth
shortreports
‘Using our fleet as efficiently
as possible next year is vital if we
are to continue our programme of
modernisation and investment,’
said Wightlink’s chief operating
officer, John Burrows. ‘To secure
the future of our service, we have a
responsibility to match the capacity
we provide with customer demand.’
Nautilus industrial organiser
Lisa Carr said the company had
assured her that there will be no job
losses, but seasonal staff will not be
recruited in the summer.
that jobs are advertised in Britain
before being advertised abroad.
The proposed new regulation
will require employment agencies
and businesses to advertise jobs
locally if they also intend to advertise
for foreign workers to work in UK
jobs. It will prohibit agencies from
advertising UK jobs in the European
Economic Area unless the jobs are also
advertised in English in Great Britain at
the same time, or if the job has already
been advertised in GB for at least 28
days beforehand.
The government hopes the new
legislation will improve equality in
the labour market. There is currently
no legislation regulating where job
vacancies are advertised, which
means jobs in the UK could be
advertised in other countries and not
in Britain or in English.
Nautilus responded to the
consultation on the proposed
legislation, stating that a definition
of a ‘GB vacancy’ would be needed
within the regulation to clarify its
parameters. The government took this
onboard and defined a GB vacancy as
a ‘vacant position, the duties of which
are ordinarily to be performed in Great
Britain.’
Nautilus director of legal services
Charles Boyle welcomed the new
legislation and said that it was
relevant for seafarers as it would mean
that jobs working in UK territorial
waters would need to be advertised
in the UK.
‘Jobs undertaking cabotage or
on UK ferry services will now need to
advertised to UK seafarers for at least
28 days before they are advertised
elsewhere in Europe,’ he explained.
‘This should help to draw attention
to, and eliminate, those shipping
companies who bring in low-cost
seafarers from outside the UK to work
in UK waters.’
CARRIERS CLAIM: Anglo Eastern has
acknowledged the pay and conditions claim submitted
on behalf of members serving onboard the car carriers.
Industrial organiser Derek Byrne is waiting for a date to
meet the company and discuss the claim.
MERSEY LAY-UP: Boskalis Westminster has
confirmed that the WD Mersey will be going into lay-up
following the end of the Nigg project. The company was
due to begin moves to seek voluntary redundancies as
the Telegraph went to press.
PNTL DEAL: members employed by Pacific Nuclear
Transport Ltd have accepted the company’s pay and
conditions offer, including a 3% increase in salaries,
covering two years and a move to a 1:1 leave ratio.
ASPIRATIONAL SHELL: members serving with
Shell International Shipping Services and QGTC Shipping
are being asked to submit their aspirations for the 2015
pay and conditions claim.
PLA PAY: members employed by Port of London
Authority have voted to accept the company’s pay and
conditions offer of a 2.3% increase in pay.
The Tube, 86 North Street
Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 8RA
DELIVERY WORLDWIDE
Q Braids
Q Work Wear
Q Tropical Wear
Q Cadet Uniforms
Q Officers Uniforms
10/12/2014 18:32
06 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
OFFSHORE NEWS
shortreports
‘Ground-breaking’ Ceona newbuilding
FPSO GUIDES: Oil & Gas UK has published two
updated sets of guidelines for operators of FPSOs, FSUs,
and offtake tankers on the UKCS. The advice covers issues
including the reliability of permanent mooring systems
and enhanced management of mooring integrity
and incorporates feedback from operators on various
procedures for loading hydrocarbons from the stern of an
FPSO to the bow of a shuttle tanker.
deepwater field development
F
vessel Ceona Amazon, which was
Pictured left is the 33,000gt
DEESIDE OFFER: a pay and conditions offer
has been received on behalf of members employed
by Deeside Crewing and serving on vessels operated
by Vroon Offshore Services. The offer includes varying
increases in pay, bonus payments, and an agreement
to pay for STCW 2010 basic course costs. Members have
until Monday 5 January to accept or reject the package.
PROJECTS ALERT: international oil and gas
exploration projects worth more than $150bn could
be delayed next year as a result of falling oil prices,
a new report has warned. Norwegian consultancy
Rystad Energy said the oil price has dropped by 40%
in the last five months, rendering many potential new
developments uneconomic.
MAERSK DEAL: Rolls-Royce’s marine division has
won its largest ever single contract for deck machinery
with a deal from Maersk Supply Service to supply the
equipment for six new anchor handlers in a deal worth
£54m. Lloyd’s Register is to class the six ships, plus four
options, which are being built by Kleven Verft in Norway.
NKOSSA HOLDING: Nautilus national secretary
Steve Doran is awaiting a formal response to the pay
and conditions meeting held with Maersk Offshore
management in November on behalf of members
serving onboard Nkossa II. Members will be informed
when a formal response has been received.
SEAHORSE SITUATION: members employed
by Seahorse Maritime and serving on Sealion vessels are
being consulted on the company’s pay and conditions
offer, which includes a 2% pay rise across all ranks,
effective from 1 December 2014. Results were expected
before Christmas.
HAVILA BALLOT: members employed by Havila
Marine have voted to be balloted for some form of
industrial action after the company refused to improve its
pay offer. Members rejected the company’s offer, which
included a 3.5% increase in pay for officers and 3% for
ratings.
BIBBY CLAIM: a meeting to discuss the pay and
conditions claim for members employed by Bibby Ship
Management on the coastels agreement was postponed
last month. Industrial organiser Derek Byrne is currently
seeking a new date for the meeting.
FLETCHER NEWBUILD: Fletcher Shipping has
taken delivery of the newbuild platform supply vessel FS
Cygnus, boosting its PSV fleet to four. Built by Simek in
Norway, FS Cygnus is due to be followed by a sistership, FS
Scorpius, in April 2015.
Tax breaks to
boost UKCS
Ministers promise reforms to boost North Sea activity
P
UK offshore operators have welcomed
last month’s government announcement of a raft
of changes to the tax system for
North Sea oil and gas in an effort
to maximise investment in the
sector rather than focussing on
revenue for the Treasury.
In his autumn budget
statement, chancellor George
Osborne announced a 2% reduction in the supplementary tax
rate for the offshore oil and
gas industry — and on the following day Treasury secretary
Danny Alexander announced
plans for a consultation on different options for long-term tax
reform.
Ministers hope the measures
will boost investment in the sector by up to £9bn and encourage
the exploitation of remaining,
but harder to tap, reserves.
‘We’re incentivising and working with the industry to develop
new investment opportunities
and support new areas of exploration,’ Mr Alexander said. ‘This
will help ensure that the industry
continues to thrive and contribute to the economy. This level of
support is only possible because
we can draw on the combined
strength and resources of the
United Kingdom.’
The proposals include an
investment allowance to simplify and replace the existing system of offshore ﬁeld allowances,
measures to stimulate exploration, and possible transferability
of decommissioning tax reliefs.
They are in line with Sir Ian
Wood’s review of the sector,
which recommended a new
regulator, and called for closer
cooperation between industry,
government and the regulator.
Industry association Oil &
Gas UK welcomed the moves and
said these were an important
ﬁrst step which underlined the
importance of the industry.
‘We are encouraged to note
that ﬁscal policy will now be
framed in the context of the sector’s wider economic beneﬁts
and will also take account of the
global competitiveness of the
industry in terms of commodity
prices and costs,’ said chief executive Malcolm Webb.
‘This move brings the offshore [industry] in line with
onshore oil and gas production and could help attract new
entrants into the basin. However, we will certainly need further reductions in the overall
rate of tax to ensure the long
term future of the industry.’
The industry is calling for
a further 12% reduction in tax
burdens to completely wipe
out the 2011 windfall tax costs.
‘With strong commitment from
HM Treasury, the swift implementation of the Wood Review
and industry action on cost and
efﬁciency, we can today be a little more optimistic about the
future,’ Mr Webb concluded.
Study warns of threat to jobs
be lost in the UK offshore sector
F
during the next five years, a new study
As many as 35,000 jobs could
has warned.
Produced by the financial
consultancy EY for Oil & Gas UK, the
training organisation Opito, and the
Department for Business, Innovation
& Skills, the report says employment
in the sector could fall from 375,000
to 340,000 by 2019 if exploration and
production continues to decline at
current rates.
The report — titled Fuelling the
next generation: a study of the UK
upstream oil and gas workforce —
found that oil and gas firms provide
one in every 80 jobs in the UK.
It noted that with average salaries
of around £64,000, the sector
compares well with the national
average of £26,500.
The study found that just 13%
of workers are over the age of 55
in the sector, which is lower than
the national average of 32%, and
it forecasts that the potential job
losses could be offset by the need
to recruit 12,000 new workers for
decommissioning projects.
christened in Bremerhaven at the
beginning of December.
Built by Lloyd Werft within two
years of the letter of intent being
signed, the Gibraltar-flagged ship
is described as a ‘ground-breaking’
vessel purpose-built to perform in
multiple pipelay and operational
modes.
Capable of operating with
minimal logistical support, the multifunction construction vessel can carry
up to 8,500 tonnes of pipe, with a
large under-deck storage capacity
for line pipe, flexibles or umbilicals,
together with a deck area of 4,600
sq m.
Ceona Amazon is designed
to operate in remote, harsh and
deepwater environments, such as
the waters of West Africa, the Gulf of
Mexico and Brazil.
Following the christening, Ceona
Amazon has gone to the Huisman
yard in the Netherlands, to be fitted
out with a 570-tonne multi-lay pipe
tower and two heavy duty 400-tonne
offshore cranes.
Ceona CEO Steve Preston
described the construction as ‘a
stunning achievement by industry
standards’ and he paid tribute to the
company’s engineers and managers
who developed the concept for the
ship’s design in-house.
Culture shift
is needed,
study warns
North Sea need to make a
F
cultural shift to make the most of the
Companies operating in the
its remaining reserves, a new study
has argued.
The report from the business
advisory firm Deloitte calls for
offshore operators and the
government to ‘adapt to a new
reality in the basin’ to reflect the fact
that ‘the easy days’ are no more.
The study suggests that drilling
activity on the UKCS needs to double
to more than 90 wells per year over
the next two decades to make the
most of the estimated $1.3tn worth
of oil and gas which potentially
remains, and it also points to
the need for closer collaboration
between companies to drive
efficiency and cut extraction costs.
Derek Henderson, senior partner
in Deloitte’s Aberdeen office,
commented: ‘Only about a third of
the known recoverable resources in
the UKCS are left. The “easy oil” days
are gone and we need a fiscal regime
that is more reflective of the current
state of the basin.
Seawell starts major re-fit
intervention and diving support
A
vessel Seawell, right, was due to
The UK-registered light well
begin a major upgrade at the Damen
yard in Vlissingen in mid-December.
Work on the 1987-built vessel will
include an exchange of all six gensets,
including new foundations, overhaul
of all thrusters and azimuths,
replacement of two cherry pickers and
swapping the twin-slewing cranes for
a new single-boom 50T crane with
active heave compensation.
06_offshore.indd 6
All switchboards will be renewed
and adjustments made to the
operation of moonpool doors,
winches and other equipment.
The existing derrick will be
demolished and replaced with a new
one, and Damen also promises that
the ship’s accommodation ‘will be
dealt with thoroughly’.
Work on the Helix-owned vessel
— which will be carried out in the
yard’s covered dry dock — will also
include statutory dry-docking items.
10/12/2014 18:34
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 07
NEWS
Union warns on
criminalisation
Nautilus Council chairman speaks at South Korean conference on Sewol
cu m capacity Adam LNG —
A
delivered to the Oman Shipping
P
Safety in shipping will
not be delivered by making scapegoats out of seafarers, Nautilus told a conference
organised by South Korean trade
unions in the wake of the Sewol
ferry disaster.
Council chairman Ulrich
Jurgens was part of a panel of
expert speakers taking part in
a two-day symposium staged
by the Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions (KCTU) and relatives
of the 295 people who died when
the ship sank in April 2014.
The
KTCU
says
the
government’s
decision,
in
2009, to relax standards for
passenger ships was one of the
main factors behind the Sewol’s
loss. Deregulation allowed older
ships to remain in operation,
and this was compounded by
modiﬁcations to the Sewol and
regular overloading.
The unions also pointed to the
‘precarious employment status’
of the Sewol’s crew, with more
than 70% of the key seafarers
employed
on
short-term
contracts.
Mr Jurgens told the meeting
that Nautilus is concerned about
the issue of accountability within
a highly complex industry. It can
be hard to determine liability
or apportion blame when there
are so many parties involved in
ship operation, he said, but using
criminal law may simply apply an
‘end of the pipe’ principle to avoid
future failures.
‘Focussing the attention on
the master and crew, or sometimes focussing on owners and
operators, may just be looking for
New LNG ship will help
boost Omani training
Pictured above is the 162,000
Company (OSC) last month and
described as one of the world’s most
advanced fuel efficient LNG carriers.
Built by Hyundai Heavy
Industries (HHI) in South Korea,
the vessel features an efficient hull
form design and dual-fuel electric
diesel technology which enables
its engine to run on ‘lean burn’
principles.
The ship will operate worldwide
Nautilus Council chairman Ulrich Jurgens, front left, at the South Korean trade union symposium last month
an easy solution by identifying a
scapegoat,’ he added. ‘This scapegoat may be the weakest, or most
visible, link in the chain.’
Mr Jurgens said some reports
suggested that the real culprits in
the Sewol case may sit in government, the maritime administration or the classiﬁcation society.
‘Seafarers do not design ships,
they do not build them and do not
issue certiﬁcates conﬁrming the
ships’ seaworthiness. They have
to work with what is provided for
them,’ he pointed out.
He argued for greater transparency over the way in which
ﬂag states operate. ‘Too often, the
maritime administrations operate in a way which is often justiﬁed by referring to “commercial
conﬁdentiality” and we want to
see complete transparency and
accountability of all those people
who are involved in surveying
and certifying ships’ safety.’
Criminal law should be used
sparingly against masters and
crew members when they unintentionally fail to discharge their
duties to fully comply with the
law, he argued. Professional penalties such as taking away their
certiﬁcate or demotion and particularly re-training should prevail.
‘On the other hand the application of the criminal law should
be expanded to include all those
public decision-makers who
facilitate unsafe shipping for the
sake of their own, or their organisation’s, perceived beneﬁt,’ he
concluded. ‘Having the right rules
is one thing, but enforcing them is
another.’
Mr Jurgens said the KTCU had
also organised meetings between
the symposium speakers and
MPs from two opposition parties,
as well as a visit to the tent village
erected in the middle of Seoul by
the victims’ families.
‘It was very moving to hear one
of the mothers talk about the loss
of their son and the treatment
they have experienced from government,’ he told the Telegraph.
Other speakers at the conference included David Walters from
Cardiff University, Ingrid Christensen from the International
Labour Organisation and Andrea
Peart from the Canadian Labour
Congress.
z The captain of the Sewol and
14 other members of the ferry’s
crew have ﬁled appeals against
their convictions on negligence
charges.
Capt Lee Joon-seok had been
sentenced to 36 years in prison for
gross negligence and dereliction
of duty, chief engineer Park Gi-ho
was sentenced to 30 years for
homicide, and the other 13 crew
were convicted and sentenced
to between ﬁve and 20 years on
charges ranging from criminal
negligence to accidental homicide.
Prosecutors, who had sought
the death penalty for the master,
have also ﬁled appeals.
Anger as court orders damages for pirates
of piracy has slammed a European court
F
ruling ordering France to pay damages to nine
A welfare organisation caring for the victims
Somali pirates it arrested following attacks on a
cruiseship and a yacht in 2008.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that
France should pay between €5,000 and €2,000
to each pirate for ‘moral damages’, plus amounts
varying from €3,000 to €9,000 to cover legal
costs, on the grounds that their human rights were
disregarded when they were arrested.
The Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response
Programme (MPHRP) described the ruling as
‘unbelievable’ and ‘an insult to the seafarers and
yachtsmen they attacked’.
The Strasbourg-based court said France had
been guilty of violating the pirates’ ‘rights to
freedom and security’. The ruling acknowledged
that the pirates had been arrested more than
4,000 miles from French territory, but said the
authorities were wrong to keep them in custody
for an additional 48 hours before bringing them
before a judge on arrival in France.
MPHRP programme director Roy Paul said he
We are able to offer competitive, specially
negotiated fares for all types of air travel,
be it UK Domestic, European or Worldwide.
hoped EU member states would move to reverse
the judgment. ‘These pirates, in my opinion, gave
up any of their rights when they set sail to attack
innocent seafarers who were simply doing their
essential work,’ he said.
And Chirag Barhi, MPHRP South Asia regional
director — who survived eight months at the
hands of pirates in 2010 — added: ‘The seafarers
held by pirates such as the ones caught by France
have been held for up to four years and no court
has ever awarded them anything for their “moral
damages”.
with 25 crew, including four Omani
cadets.
OSC now operates 43 ships
and chief operating officer David
Stockley said the expanding fleet
includes VLCCs, VLOCs, LNG carriers,
LPG carriers, product tankers
and multi-purpose vessels. The
company has signed an agreement
with the International Maritime
College Oman to provide training
berths to enable all its cadets to
complete their required sea service
onboard its vessels.
Nautilus seeks
assurances on
ransom laws
shipping minister John Hayes to
F
express concerns over the potential
Nautilus has written to UK
for proposed new counter-terrorism
laws to restrict or even outlaw the
payment of ransoms to pirates holding
seafarers hostage.
The Union has added its voice to
fears raised by marine insurers about
the way in which the measures could
restrict or prevent future ‘general
average’ or kidnap and ransom policy
payments to secure the release of
ships and seafarers held by pirates.
It has urged the minister to
ensure that the government clearly
retains the legal distinction between
terrorism and piracy.
General secretary Mark Dickinson
pointed out that a significant number
of Nautilus members have been
held hostage in recent years — and
as recently as October one was held
captive for a fortnight in Nigeria before
a ransom was paid for his release and
that of other shipmates who were
taken from his vessel.
‘This Bill is not the first time that
Nautilus has had to express serious
concerns about this subject Mr
Dickinson added. ‘It is a complex
and contentious issue and it should
be emphasised that, in most cases,
negotiations on ransom payments
are made between pirates and the
shipping company affected, and not
necessarily the countries of origin of
the hostages or the flag state of the
ship.
‘We continue to believe that any
attempt to make the payment of
ransoms illegal — or even to delay
the payments— would jeopardise
the safety of seafarers held captive
and that pirates would have little
reluctance to carry through threats
to kill and/or cause environmental
damage if they are not paid. At no
stage has any minister provided us
with the requested assurances or
information on what the alternative to
non-payment of ransoms would be.’
z The European Union has agreed
to extend its counter-piracy initiative
Operation Atalanta by two more years
until December 2016.
Launched in 2008, the operation
seeks to deter piracy off the coast
of Somalia and to protect World
Food Programme vessels delivering
humanitarian aid to the country.
Announcing the decision to extend
the mission, the EU Naval Force stated:
‘Despite the significant progress
that has been achieved off the coast
of Somalia since the operation was
launched, it is widely recognised that
the threat from piracy remains; the
pirate business model is fractured but
not broken.’
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07_news.indd 7
10/12/2014 17:33
08 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
LARGE YACHT NEWS
MLC findings ‘show
Sir Robin takes third prize value of Nautilus’
in transatlantic solo race
F
The 75-year-old former
Merchant Navy officer Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston, above, was given
a standing ovation when he was
presented with third prize in the
3,542-mile Route du Rhum singlehanded transatlantic race,
He told the awards ceremony
at the Salon Nautique in Paris that
he was delighted to have secured a
podium place. ‘I didn’t expect to get
on the podium when I started the
race,’ he admitted. ‘I was up against
some damn good competition from
lighter, more modern boats than
mine that are easier to manage. My
boat is hard work.
‘The top international solo sailors
were racing, and it was tough.
However, owing to considerable luck
I did manage to get on the podium
which was a delightful finish to a very
enjoyable event.’
Sir Robin, who was the oldest
entrant in the race, finished after 20
days, seven hours, 52 minutes and
22 seconds at sea — three days, 46
minutes and 19 seconds behind the
winner. ‘It was wonderful to get back
to sea again and participate in one of
the classic ocean races,’ he added. ‘I
might even do it again in four years’
time, but I think I would like a less
heavy boat to handle by that time.’
First year inspection results highlight the most common problems for crews
P
Statistics from the ﬁrst
year of policing the
Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) demonstrate the
importance of the measure for
the superyacht sector — and
the need for crew members to
belong to Nautilus, the Union
says.
Port state control authorities,
ﬂag states and the International
Transport Workers’ Federation
have all revealed details of the
results of inspections since the
MLC came into effect in August
last year.
Some of the most common
problems uncovered during
these checks have been deﬁcient
seafarer employment agreements, late payment of wages,
no risk assessments for noise,
vibration and chemical handling, poor hours of work and
rest records, and lack of awareness of onboard complaints procedures.
An example of the scale of the
problems is shown by the Isle of
Man Ship Registry, which carried
out 373 MLC inspections in the 12
months following the convention’s introduction. Of these, 152
ships were found with deﬁciencies, and 33 yachts.
Nautilus national secretary
Garry Elliott said the inspection
results show how much the MLC
was needed. ‘We are very familiar with many of the problems
that have been uncovered, but
the convention now gives a ﬁrm
framework in which to check for
compliance,’ he added.
‘With more and more yacht
crew joining Nautilus, we are
gaining an increasing amount
of experience in making sure
that they receive their rights and
entitlements,’ Mr Elliott pointed
out, ‘and we can provide specialist support and advice in dealing
with breaches of the convention.’
He said the Union is now
planning to stage some more of
its poplar MLC training courses,
which give seafarers an insight
into their rights and their
responsibilities under the convention.
z Charter yachts over 500gt —
even those chartered for only a
couple of days a year — are now
subject to the MLC, a leading
management ﬁrm warned last
month. Smaller vessels need
not be certiﬁed, but are strongly
advised to do so, it added.
Morpho Luxury Asset Management said that owners and
managers must put their house
in order right now if they are
to avoid reputational damage
down the line for breaching the
requirements covering issues
such as pay, medical beneﬁts,
hours of work, quality and size
of accommodation, repatriation,
the right to communicate with
relatives, and social security
beneﬁts.
Inspectors now have the
right to board vessels and check
for compliance with the MLC, it
pointed out. Those that do not
comply, will have a wait of at least
several hours and in extreme
cases may even be detained.
‘From a charter point of view,
that would be a disaster,” said
Morpho founder Neil Anthony
Richmond. ‘It could lead to a
legal claim for breach of the
charter agreement — with all of
the reputational damage that
implies.’
US probe after falling
bridge strikes yacht
voyage in the Norwegian
A
fjords is the striking 48m classic
Pictured above on a maiden
sloop Wisp, recently delivered by
the Dutch builder Royal Huisman.
The 252gt cutter-rigged yacht
can accommodate up to six guests
and six crew. There are three crew
cabins, and following the owner’s
brief to ensure the crew are well
looked after, there is a small
forward cockpit reserved exclusively
for their use.
Registered in the Cayman
Islands, Wisp is fitted with a
Caterpillar C18 Acert engine and
has a range of 5,570nm at 10
knots. Unusually for a sail boat,
the engineroom has its own airconditioned control room separated
from a machinery space with full
standing height and service spots.
Yacht crew join now!
email [email protected]
or call +44 (0)151 639 8454
by Michael Howorth
launched into the cause of an
F
accident in which the 49m superyacht
An investigation has been
Rockstar was damaged after a
drawbridge crashed onto it as it was
being towed into the port of Miami by
two tugs.
An area of the yacht’s upper
deck was badly damaged as it was
struck while passing under the Broad
Causeway Bridge.
There were 15 people reported to
Trade Show (METS) chalked
U
up new records — with more than
The 2014 Marine Equipment
Nautilus International works closely with the MCA and
regulatory authorities in Europe and around the world, and this
SRB is one of only two that the MCA recognises worldwide as
evidence of acceptable
service.
p
Once your yacht service is verified
O
in our office in Antibes, then the
MCA accepts the Nautilus SRB as
M
ssufficient proof of onboard and sea
sservice and no further supporting
ddocumentation is required.
zContact the membership
ddepartment either via email or
telephone to receive your free SRB.
te
08_yachts.indd 8
Vane helps deliver frugal fuel
consumption on new yacht
by Michael Howorth
Record-breaking 2014 METS H
by Michael Howorth
As part of our growing support for seafarers serving in the
large yacht sector, all members are entitled to a free copy of
the Nautilus service record book, which has been produced to
assist in the recording and calculation of qualifying sea service
for the purpose of certification.
be onboard at the time, but no one
was injured.The Cayman Islandsregistered yacht was trapped for 20
minutes before being allowed to push
back from the bridge. It was then
towed to another location
Local media suggested that the
60-year-old bridge may have suffered
a hydraulic system failure. CBS Miami
has reported that the 60-year-old
road causeway is expected to undergo
a US$13m renovation soon and this
will include replacing parts of the
drawbridge mechanism.
21,000 visitors and almost 1,360
exhibitors over the three days.
Organised by Amsterdam RAI in
association with the International
Council of Marine Industry
Associations, the 2014 marine leisure
industry trade fair attracted 6.5%
more international visitors than the
previous year.
The show featured three pavilions
dedicated to superyachts, marinas
and construction materials. 62% of
the stand floor space has already been
booked for METS 2015, which will be
held from 17 to 19 November.
The Dutch builder Heesen
is claiming a ‘green’
breakthrough following sea trials of
its latest newbuilding, the 42m Alive,
pictured above.
The twin-prop vessel, powered
by two MTU 12V 2000 M72
engines, delivering 1,080kW at
2,250rpm, has been fitted with
a specially-developed Hull Vane
— an underwater foil system that
harnesses waves to produce power.
The Hull Vane, in combination
with the already proven Heesen
fast displacement hull form and
conventional diesel engines,
produces remarkable results.
During sea trials the yacht
exceeded her contractual speed of 16
knots by 0.5 knots. The contractual
fuel consumption prediction proved
to be correct: 4,000nm at 12 knots.
Heesen said this means that over
750 miles comes free of charge
thanks to the remarkably frugal fuel
consumption — some 30% less than
on a conventional yacht of similar
size and displacement.
HOTLINE
FOR YACHT CREW
Nautilus has established a dedicated phoneline in Antibes
to offer advice and assistance:
+33 (0)9 62 61 61 40
Nautilus International, in strategic partnership with
D&B Services, 3 Bd. D’Aguillon, 06600 Antibes, France.
10/12/2014 18:33
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 09
NEWS
MLC checks show
wages problems
First results of ITF and PSC inspections reveal the most common deficiencies
P
Almost one in every
three ships checked by
International Transport
Workers’ Federation inspectors
in the year since the Maritime
Labour Convention (MLC) came
into effect were found to have
problems relating to the seafarers’ bill of rights.
A report presented to the ITF’s
fair practices committee last
month reveals that ITF inspectors
uncovered MLC issues onboard
2,172 of the 7,482 vessels inspected
between 20 August 2013 and 19
August 2014.
The most common problems
included owed wages, employment agreements, repatriation,
medical issues, international
standards (such as food and
accommodation), salaries, and
dismissals and victimisation.
Almost half the ships found
with MLC-related issues had
three or more problems, and ﬁve
ﬂags — Panama, Malta, Antigua &
Barbuda, Liberia and the Marshall
Islands — accounted for more
than half of all the inspections
with MLC problems.
The ﬂags with the highest proportion of MLC problems were St
Vincent (71% of vessels inspected),
Russia and Turkey (both 61%), Singapore (37%), Panama (28%) and
Antigua & Barbuda (27%).
Russia was the country where
ITF inspectors found the most
ships with MLC issues (217), followed by Australia (192), Germany (168), Italy (162), Spain (143)
and the UK (114).
z Deﬁciencies related to the MLC
accounted for almost one in ﬁve
of all ship detentions in Europe
over the past year, port state
control authorities have revealed.
In the 12 months following the
its entry into force, 113 ships were
detained for MLC-related deﬁciencies by countries belonging
to the Paris MOU on PSC.
The MOU secretariat said 7.4%
of all 46,798 deﬁciencies found on
ships in this period were linked to
the MLC, with the most common
detainable deﬁciencies being
payment of wages (39.5%) and
manning levels (28.6%). Hours of
work and rest accounted for 7.7%
of all detainable deﬁciencies.
Inspectors also noted particularly high levels of deﬁciencies
associated with health and safety
and accident prevention, food
and catering, and accommodation.
z The MLC inspection results
show that it is still ‘not quite
time for pats on the back and
high-ﬁves’, the specialist insurer
Seacurus cautioned last month.
It said overall conﬁdence that the
convention is being successfully
implemented should not conceal
the fact that there are grounds for
continuing unease about the risk
of seafarers being abandoned and
owed wages.
‘MLC 2006 states that wages
should be paid at least every
month, so it is disappointing to
see that so many seafarers have
experienced delays,’ said Seacurus MD Thomas Brown. ‘There are
clearly reasons for concern in this
regard.’
Backing for
controls on
box weight
Stena claims a world first
in methanol conversion
51,800gt ferry to be the first
F
ship in the world to run on methanol
Stena Line is to convert a
in a €22m project supported by the
European Union’s ‘motorways of the
sea’ scheme.
During a six-week dry-docking at
the Remontowa shipyard in Poland,
the Stena Germanica — pictured
above — will be fitted with ‘dual
fuel’ equipment developed by the
engine manufacturer Wärtsilä in
cooperation with Stena Teknik that
will enable methanol to be used as
the main fuel grade, with the ability
to use marine gas oil as back-up.
Stena hopes the use of methanol
will cut sulphur emissions by about
99%, NOx by 60%, particulate matter
by 95% and carbon dioxide by 25%.
Chief executive Carl-Johan
‘Robust’ policing is
urged on SOx rules
sulphur emission control areas
F
set to take effect on 1 January, a
With the strict new shipping
F
International Maritime
Organisation moves to
introduce new controls on container
weights have been backed by shippers.
The maritime safety committee
has approved amendments to the
SOLAS Convention which will require
mandatory verification of container
weights — either by weighing the
packed container or all the goods,
packing and securing materials and
tare weight of the container.
The Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF)
said a Containerisation International
survey had shown that 60% of
shippers believe they will be able to
comply with the IMO rules when they
are introduced in July 2016 and almost
80% supported the idea of a blacklist
for those who misdeclare cargo.
Hagman said the results of the
project will be closely assessed and
other ferries could be converted to
methanol if it proves successful.
‘Due to our size, we have a broad
perspective on handling the new
sulphur regulations and it is likely
we will use some different types of
solutions in the coming years,’ he
added.
Stena is trialling a number of
alternative fuels and methods for
reducing emissions — such as LNG,
electric propulsion and scrubbers
— but it believes methanol has the
potential to be an important fuel for
the shipping industry in the future.
The emissions are similar to using
LNG but the need for infrastructure is
much less and handling is simpler, it
points out.
Southampton expansion completed
is now able to handle the
A
latest generation of ultra-large
The UK port of Southampton
containerships, following the
completion of a £40m dredging
project.
The work to widen and deepen
the approach channel to the port —
which involved the removal of more
than 5m cu m of material — means
that ships with a draft of up to 15.5m
are now able to access DP World’s
container terminal.
Associated British Ports said
the project will also improve
navigational safety for ships using
Marchwood Military Port and
Fawley Refinery. ‘As the trend in
shipping is for ever-larger vessels,
it is vital if Southampton wants
to remain at the forefront of the
industry that the port ensures its
facilities adapt to handle them,’ said
port director Nick Ridehalgh.
DP World’s SCT 5 berth is dredged
to 16m and be further deepened to
17m to meet future demand.
leading shipowners’ organisation has
urged government to take a ‘robust’
approach to enforcement to prevent
unfair competition.
BIMCO president John Denholm
warned that effective controls will
be crucial to maintaining a level
playing field for shipping companies
operating in ECAs and ensuring that
compliant companies are not left at a
disadvantage.
Failure to crack down on operators
who flout the rules would distort
competition and ‘seriously expose
compliant shipowners and operators
who are bearing the high cost of ultralow sulphur diesel oil’, he added.
BIMCO is also worried about the
potential for fuel costs to rise even
further if an international 0.5%
sulphur cap is introduced in 2020.
BIMCO has also expressed concern
at European Commission proposals for
regulating CO2 emissions from ships.
It complains that the plans — which
are set to be introduced in 2018 — will
force the reporting of commercially
sensitive information about cargoes.
The scheme will require all ships
over 5,000gt calling at European
ports to monitor, report and verify
both the CO2 emissions and the cargo
work done on an annual basis. BIMCO
warned that the system will ‘create
additional red tape for shipping
without any positive impact on the
environment and may well negatively
affect the prospect of an international
agreement on the issue in IMO’.
Compressed air EBS training
Compulsory from January 2015
Book your training
As from 1 January 2015 it will be compulsory in the UK sector
of the North Sea for all personnel to have completed the
compressed air emergency breathing system (CA-EBS) training.
You will need an in-date BOSIET, FOET or HUET certiﬁcate as a
prerequisite to undertake CA-EBS training. We offer:
For information on availability and prices visit our website:
www.warsashacademy.co.uk/offshorecourses
Or contact our admissions and recruitment team:
T. +44 (0)23 8201 5004
E. [email protected]
· CA-EBS ‘bolt on’ to BOSIET or FOET course
· Standalone CA-EBS course
www.warsashacademy.co.uk
09_news.indd 9
10/12/2014 17:37
10 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
NEWS
Backing for plan
to cut ‘red tape’
Industry welcomes IMO proposals to ease the paperwork burden on crews
P
King’s Lynn opens
seafarers’ centre
port chaplain Sr Marian Davey
A
is pictured with a visiting crew
Apostleship of the Sea (AoS)
member at the UK port of King’s
Lynn following the opening of a new
seafarers’ centre last month.
The centre was formally opened
by Bishop Alan Hopes, Bishop
of East Anglia, and Bob Jones,
chairman of the Merchant Navy
Welfare Board, which largely
funded the new facilities.
‘It is the first time in the port’s
recent history that a space has been
set aside specifically for seafarers
to use,’ said Sr Marian. ‘This is a big
first. Up until now, crew had to go
into town to buy top-up cards to be
able to contact home. Now they
have free use of wi-fi and internet at
the centre, because AoS is paying for
that cost.’
With many ships docking at the
port for less than 24 hours, access to
facilities to contact home or to meet
welfare workers used to be limited,
she added. The site provided for the
centre by Associated British Ports is
a good location and works well for
seafarers coming off their ships.
‘Everyone at ABP, from
management and staff to the
shipping agents, has been
encouraging and supportive, and
measures are in place to ensure that
seafarers coming ashore have all
the information they need about
the AoS centre,’ Sr Marian added.
Lairdside Maritime Centre
Seafaring unions and
shipowners have welcomed plans to reduce
red tape for shipping presented
to the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) last month.
The proposals have been
developed by a steering group
established to examine ways in
which the shipboard administrative burdens associated with IMO
conventions and codes can be
eased.
The report was drawn up to
reﬂect the ﬁndings of the ﬁrstever public consultation undertaken by the IMO. Carried out
between May and November
2013, this gathered the views
of 3,229 seafarers and shipping
industry personnel on the paperwork problem.
The feedback showed signiﬁcant numbers of complaints
about the impact of cuts in crew
levels, combined with an increase
in the amount of rules, paperwork and checklists, along with
duplication of documents and an
increasingly litigious culture.
Analysis of the consultation responses showed that 351
of the 563 mandatory requirements were not perceived as an
administrative burden by any
of the respondents. The remaining 182 were each perceived as an
administrative burden by at least
one respondent — although the
working group concluded that
148 of these did not meet the criteria for an administrative burden
(unnecessary, disproportionate
or obsolete).
The report recommended that
13 of the administrative requirements should be reconsidered —
in particular for potential harmonisation with other requirements
— and 21 had the potential to be
classed as obsolete and could be
deleted.
It identiﬁed the potential
for many of the administrative
requirements to be eased by
using electronic documentation.
The working group suggested
electronic certiﬁcates and similar
documents should be treated as
the same as original paper certiﬁcates.
The report also proposed an
electronic ‘single window’ information exchange system to fulﬁl
multiple reporting requirements
and said shipowners, administrations, classiﬁcation societies and
commercial parties should accept
electronic or software solutions
as a suitable replacement for
paper documentation.
It also called for work to identify and reduce potential administrative burdens to be carried out
before approving new or existing
IMO regulations.
Nautilus general secretary
Mark Dickinson commented:
‘The workload pressures generated by excessive paperwork and
unneccessary duplication are one
of the biggest complaints that our
members have, and anything that
can help to ease the burden on
seafarers has got to be welcomed.’
BIMCO deputy general secretary Lars Robert Pedersen commented: ‘If the recommendations
of this report are put into practice,
they will establish an enhanced
and modern platform for simplifying the daily work onboard
ships as well as ashore.
‘Shipping needs to be able to
use the latest technology for its
reporting — and recognition of
electronic certiﬁcates ought to
be a prerequisite in this day and
age,’ he added. ‘BIMCO therefore
urges the IMO Council to make
ﬁrm decisions on the basis of the
recommendations and remove
unnecessary administrative burdens.’
Honorary degree for former BP master
honorary degree of Doctor
A
of Maritime Operations from
Pictured right receiving an
Southampton Solent University is
Captain Nigel Palmer, the former
chairman of the Merchant Navy
Training Board (MNTB).
Capt Palmer was presented with
the award to honour his work to
enhance maritime training while
MNTB chairman, which resulted in the
introduction of a foundation degree
programme for UK officer cadets.
Capt Palmer began his career as
a cadet with the BP Tanker Company
in 1967 and was seconded to the
Australian NW Shelf LNG project
between 1991 and 1997, when he
returned to the UK to head up the BP
Shipping fleet.
After retiring as BP Shipping’s
director of government and industry
in 2004, he has served on the MNTB,
as chairman of the Maritime Skills
Alliance since its formation in 2004,
and was non-executive director of the
Maritime & Coastguard Agency from
2007 to 2011.
Capt Palmer is an Elder Brother
of Trinity House, chairman of the
Britannia P&I Club and chairman of
the Marine Society & Sea Cadets.
Trinity House consults on AtoN review
lighthouses around the coasts of England,
F
Wales and the Channel Islands has diminished,
Reliance on the traditional system of
Trinity House has concluded following its latest
review of aids to navigation.
‘With the exception of leading lights and “PELS”,
landfall lights and passing lights are now less
important and their primary function is for coastal
navigation, confirmation of position and spatial
awareness,’ the GLA said.
Traditional aids to navigation can now be
regarded as a secondary, but complementary,
system to the primary navigation system of GNSS, it
suggests.
Generally, having one AtoN in view is acceptable,
the review proposes, and a maximum range of 18
miles is considered sufficient for most lighted visual
AtoNs.
The review has also concluded that fog signals
are no longer considered to be AtoNs and will only be
ECDIS COURSES
Welfare centre at new port
Other Courses Available include:
F
■ Ship Handling for both Junior and Senior Ofﬁcers
■ ISPS Designated Security Duties
■ ISPS Prevention of Piracy and Armed Robbery
For further information :
t: +44 (0)151 647 0494 f: +44 (0)151 647 0498
w: www.lairdside-maritime.com e: [email protected]
10-11_news.indd 10
London Gateway, the UK’s
newest port, now has special
facilities for the crews of visiting
ships. Centres for Seafarers chairman
John Hughes is pictured right with DP
World London Gateway CEO Simon
Moore, at the official opening of the
building last month.
The DP World London Gateway
centre is equipped with free wi-fi,
used as hazard warning signals.
The GLA says it has deployed 32 AIS stations at
a number of shore and buoy locations around the
coast since the 2010 review. These transmit AtoN
messages, and Trinity House says it will continue to
deploy AIS as an aid to navigation ‘where there is
seen to be added value in doing so’.
Trinity House is seeking comments on the initial
results of the review process, which should be made
by 14 January 2015.
computer space, telephones, woolly
hats and a small library of books.
Visiting seafarers will also
have access to port chaplains and a
canteen.
The centre was opened by Mr
Moore — himself a seafarer many
years ago — following a blessing by
Deacon Paul Glock, one of the visiting
port chaplains.
10/12/2014 18:18
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 11
NEWS
IMO call
to revise
fatigue
guide
International Maritime
A
Organisation approval of proposals
Nautilus has welcomed
to revise the global guidelines on
seafarer fatigue.
The existing guidelines were
developed in 1999 and the IMO’s
maritime safety committee (MSC) was
urged to approve a comprehensive
revision and update to ensure that
they reflect the latest scientific
knowledge about fatigue.
A paper submitted by the
International Federation of Ship
Masters’ Associations, Australia,
Dominica, the Marshall Islands,
Norway and the Nautical Institute to
last month’s MSC meeting was given
unanimous support and will now be
considered in detail by the human
element, training and watchkeeping
sub-committee.
The paper warns that fatigue
continues to be a ‘serious safety
hazard at sea’ and points out that
‘compelling evidence’ about the
impact on human performance has
been produced in research.
‘To date, the industry has taken
a very fragmented approach to
managing fatigue at sea,’ it adds.
‘Fatigue can no longer be viewed as an
issue only for the individual seafarer
— rather it is a multi-faceted hazard
that requires a multi-faceted approach
to ensure the associated risks are
effectively managed.’
The paper argues that advances in
scientific research since the guidelines
were published have provided a much
deeper understanding of the causes
and consequences of fatigue, allowing
for more targeted risk management
approaches to be adopted.
Making sure that the latest
research is reflected in the guidelines
will help to provide more effective
fatigue risk management systems,
it states, and such non-mandatory
guidance will set the standard
for ‘good practice’ in identifying,
controlling and monitoring the risk
factors associated with seafarer
fatigue.
Master picks up
bravery award
Schettino
takes to
the stand
for the
first time
DFDS ferry crew praised for their ‘heroic teamwork’ in battling huge blaze
who was in command of the
F
cruiseship Costa Concordia when
P
A Danish ferry master
who
was
praised
for his courage and
professionalism
in
leading
successful attempts to ﬁght a
devastating ﬁre onboard his
vessel has been presented with
the 2014 International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) Award for
Exceptional Bravery at Sea.
Captain Andreas Kristensen
was given the IMO medal and
certiﬁcate on behalf of the crew
of the 24,196gt ro-ro cargo ferry
Britannia Seaways exactly one
year after the incident in which
the blaze broke out in heavy seas
around 70nm off the coast of
Norway.
The ﬁre burned for almost 13
hours and at one stage the ﬂames
were up to 30m high — and with
the ship’s cargo including some
70 tonnes of diesel, aviation fuel
and gasoline in jerry cans and tank
containers, there were serious
concerns for the safety of the 20
crew and 12 passengers onboard.
Capt Kristensen had decided
not to evacuate all non-essential
personnel by helicopter, on the
grounds that slowing the ship
and turning windward to help get
them off would have exacerbated
the ﬁre.
An explosion below deck
caused the engine control system
to break down — but the crew
Capt Andreas Kristensen collects the IMO bravery award Picture: IMO
succeeded in transferring operations to manual mode and kept
the engines, auxiliary engines
and ﬁre pumps running, while
controlling the huge amounts of
water coming into the cargo holds
from the ﬁre-ﬁghting.
Capt Kristensen and his Danish, Polish and Filipino crew managed to manoeuvre the ship to
shelter, enabling a ﬁre-ﬁghting
vessel and specialist teams from
ashore to help extinguish the
blaze.
Presenting the award, IMO
secretary-general Koji Sekimizu
praised the crew for their ‘heroic
teamwork’ — pointing out that
they had put their own lives on
the line to save others and to avert
a major marine pollution incident.
Capt Kristensen — who ﬁrst
went to sea at the age of 17 and
trained with the East Asiatic
Company before serving with
Maersk and DFDS — said he was
‘extremely proud’ to have been
Cruiseship
job ‘scam’
warning
Australian
alarm at
rescue law
fraudulent employment offers
A
for seafarers have been highlighted
Nautilus concerns over
(MUA) has condemned plans to
F
give the country’s ministers the power
The Maritime Union of Australia
to secretly turn back merchant ships
carrying rescued refugees and asylum
seekers.
The Migration and Maritime
Powers Legislation Amendment Bill
— which went before the Australian
Senate last month — would give the
immigration minister the power to
secretly decide whether Australia’s
international obligations apply to any
given ship.
MUA national secretary Paddy
Crumlin said the measure would
undermine the ability of seafarers
to go to the aid of people in distress
at sea and would threaten the
governance of shipping ‘by removing a
layer of accountability in a dangerous,
unpredictable industry’.
10-11_news.indd 11
in command of a ship where the
crew had performed so well.
‘I was watching it from a safe
distance on the bridge, but the
crew were ﬁghting the ﬁre on the
open deck in high seas, or working in the engineroom to avoid a
blackout, which could have had
fatal consequences,’ he added.
He said the honour should be
shared with the ship’s passengers — Norwegian soldiers who
had helped the crew during the
ﬁre-ﬁghting, and the Norwegian
emergency services who supported them.
Capt Kristensen had joined the
ship only six days before the ﬁre
and he said the incident underlined the importance of high
training standards and regular
drills.
‘When the alarm goes off, you
do not know how people will react
— but in this case they did everything they were trained to do, and
a bit more,’ he told the Telegraph.
‘This was deﬁnitely one of the better team-building exercises!’
The Britannia Seaways crew
were one of 35 nominations submitted to the IMO for this year’s
bravery award. Five professional
rescue workers from Argentina and two from South Korea
were presented with certiﬁcates
of commendation during the
ceremony.
Raising a glass for Seafarers UK, left to right: Simon Emeny, Admiral Lord West of Spithead, Barry Bryant and
Richard Fuller
Brewer’s boost for Seafarers UK
Seafarers UK has been given a
A
boost worth almost £40,000 thanks
Cheers! The maritime charity
to healthy sales of Seafarers Ale over
the past year.
The brewer and pub firm Fuller,
Smith & Turner presented the
charity with a cheque for £38,676
at the opening last month of The
Admiralty — its new HMS Victory-
themed pub overlooking London’s
Trafalgar Square.
The donation was handed over
to Seafarers UK’s director general
Barry Bryant, accompanied by The
Admiral Lord West of Spithead, a
long-term supporter of the charity,
by Fuller’s CEO Simon Emeny and
sales director Richard Fuller.
Fuller’s acquired the Gale’s-
branded Seafarers Ale in 2005.
Ever since, a donation per pint sold
has been made to Seafarers UK.
The total raised to date exceeds
£170,000 — money that contributes
to Seafarers UK’s annual grants of
£2.5m, which are paid to charities,
organisations and projects that
support seafarers in need, their
families and dependants.
once again — with a new recruitment
‘scam’ currently circulating, offering
seafarers bogus employment with
Princess Cruise Lines in a wide variety
of positions.
An email advertisement seen by
the Union purports to come from
‘Management’ at Princess Cruise Lines
Australia and asks applicants to submit
resumes to Mrs Gloria Richardson at
[email protected].
It lists jobs ranging from male nurses
to youth counsellors, paying between
$45,000 and $125,000.
Princess Cruise Lines has
confirmed that the email is bogus and
all members are reminded that they
should not be asked to pay to apply for
any position.
Recruitment agencies listed in the
Telegraph are verified as genuine,
although members are advised that
some crewing agencies may not be
advertising a specific position, but
instead may be seeking to develop
their database of job hunters.
Captain Francesco Schettino,
it capsized off the coast of Italy in
January 2012, has begun his defence
against charges which could put him
in prison for at least 20 years.
The Italian shipmaster — who
is on trial on multiple counts of
manslaughter, causing a maritime
disaster and abandoning ship —
took to the witness stand for the first
time last month.
32 people died when the ship
struck rocks off the island of Giglio,
but Capt Schettino told the court that
he had helped to reduce the numbers
of deaths on the night by delaying
the order to evacuate.
He said he had deliberately
delayed sounding the alarm in order
to avoid causing panic among the
4,229 passengers and crew. While he
regretted that 32 people had died,
the death toll would have been much
higher had he given the abandon
ship order when the vessel was
further from the shore.
Capt Schettino said he had
decided that the prevailing winds
would push the ship into shore,
from where he calculated that an
evacuation would be easier than had
it remained out in the open sea.
Asked why he instructed crew
to tell passengers that the ship had
simply experienced a power blackout
and that they had nothing to worry
about, he replied: ‘I did that to calm
the passengers down. I feared that
otherwise there would be panic.’
Cross-examined by prosecutors,
Capt Schettino insisted that he had
been in control of the situation
and had ‘a clear idea’ of what to do
after the ship was holed, and he
had been confident that the vessel
could remain afloat despite the rapid
ingress of water.
Capt Schettino’s lawyers have
stressed that no one died when the
ship struck the rocks, and argue that
evacuation problems arose as a
result of a failed back-up generator
and the flooding of supposedly
watertight compartments.
The master denied that he had
taken the ship close to the island to
impress a dancer with whom he was
having an affair and he told the court
that there was a ‘commercial aspect’
to performing such ‘sail-by salutes’
which were commonly carried out to
please the passengers.
Capt Schettino said he had left
the bridge barely half an hour after
ordering the launch of lifeboats, as
he needed to get a radio from his
cabin. But as he walked back, the
ship listed to starboard and he was
left with no option but to disembark.
‘Either I had to throw myself into the
water — perhaps that would have
been better — or I had to get into the
lifeboat.’
The master is the only crew
member on trial, as others who faced
charges had plea bargains accepted.
Prosecutors have called for a prison
sentence of more than 20 years if
Capt Schettino is found guilty, and
the trial is expected to continue into
the new year.
10/12/2014 17:44
12 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
HEALTH & SAFETY
New scheme aims
to cut at-sea risks
Insurers seek seafarers’ support for trial project to combat common hazards
Training package for P
man overboard rules
a new training package which
F
has been produced to help seafarers
Pictured above is a scene from
comply with new SOLAS Convention
‘man overboard’ requirements.
The Videotel Recovery of Persons
from the Water (Man Overboard
Edition 2) programme aims to
ensure that all crew members
are properly prepared for such
situations, in line with the SOLAS
requirements that came into force in
July 2014.
Videotel chief executive
officer Nigel Cleave stressed
the importance of planning and
practice. ‘As with any incident,
the first response is crucial,’ he
pointed out. ‘The actions of every
member of the crew are vital to a
positive outcome. Best practice has
been developed over a number
of years using the experiences of
many generations of seafarers
and the introduction of new rescue
equipment — our role is to ensure
that expertise is brought into play
when needed.’
The new programme — which
is available through VOD (Videotel
On Demand), VOD Online, and
e-Learning CBT, and features an
accompanying workbook — covers
prevention, planning, initial
action to take when a person goes
overboard, the responsibilities of
the watchkeeper and master, the
processes involved in searching for
the casualty, preparing to rescue the
casualty, recovering the casualty
into the craft, recovering the craft
and caring for the casualty.
Seafarers are playing a
pivotal role in a pioneering new project launched
by a leading P&I club last month
in a bid to cut the risk of the most
common accidents.
The ‘self-assessment’ scheme
unveiled by the UK Club claims
to move beyond ‘tick-box
compliance’ to a proactive system
that will help owners pinpoint
and control the most frequent
onboard hazards.
The programme — claimed
to be the ﬁrst of its kind in the
industry — draws on an extensive
database of more than 12,000
major claims to provide benchmarks against seven primary hazards and 76 major threats with the
potential to develop into an incident. The risk matrix scheme enables operators to check against
some 450 potential control meas-
ures that have been identiﬁed by
the Club.
It aims to offer owners a
simple system to score against
these risks and compare their
performance against the averages for similar trades and similar
ship types, or even between different ships in their own ﬂeets. The
self-assessment kits are based on
the ones used by the Club’s surveyors and cover areas including
personal injury, pollution, cargo,
collision and third party property
claims.
Under the scheme — which
is being trialled with 20 of the
UK Club’s 400 members — crew
members are being asked to score
the effectiveness of the control
measures onboard their ships on
a scale from one to ﬁve, ranging
from very good control of risks to
very poor or non-existent control.
Each member’s scores will
be analysed by the Club, with
the effectiveness of each control benchmarked. A formal risk
assessment report will be provided to the company, showing
the risk expressed as a percentage. Detailed specialist claims
prevention advice will be given by
the Club in response to particular
ﬁndings.
UK Club loss prevention
director Karl Lumbers said the
scheme has already generated
signiﬁcant
interest
among
seafarers and it should help
them to play a more active role in
identifying and controlling risks.
‘The aim is to encourage crews
to identify the issues and our
inspectors have found that they
want to take responsibility and
ownership for the risks onboard.
‘The seafarers want something
like this and can see how it will
help them to reduce accidents
onboard their ships,’ he added.
‘By involving the crew in this
way, we are encouraging them
to take more pride in their
professionalism and their ships.’
Mr Lumbers said he was
conﬁdent the programme would
not be a ‘tick-box’ exercise and
would not increase the workload
of masters and ofﬁcers. ‘With this
system we are hoping that we can
prove what we do has an effect,’ he
added.
He said the scheme will give
shipowners the tools to take an
active part in preventing costly
claims and the Club will reduce
the frequency of mandatory
surveys for ships in cases where
the self-assessment results are
broadly in line with its own gap
analysis.
Poor safety management cited in
Club concern over report on heavylift ship accident
masters’ orders F
F
Ship masters need to improve
the standard of their night
orders, a P&I club has warned.
The London Club says its ship
inspection department has recently
observed a number of negative
findings in connection with masters’
night order books — and most
notably in respect of preparations for
entering ports.
In the latest issue of its StopLoss
Bulletin, the club notes, ‘The value of
Ex Tax Inspector at Cardiff
Marine - 30 years experience
with seafarers’ tax
£195.00
FLAT FEE PER TAX RETURN
01908 583 738
12-13_h+s.indd 12
masters’ night orders should not be
under-estimated in the quest for the
efficient and safe performance of a
ship, particularly during port calls.
‘Invariably,’ it adds, ‘deepsea
masters function as “day-workers”
and, with an early morning ETA at
the pilot station, there is a great
deal for ships’ officers and crew to
prepare after a long voyage. Efficient
planning in advance can help an
operation to be carried out in a
controlled and safe manner with the
minimum of stress for all parties.’
The club says night orders should
cover points such as:
z calling the master with sufficient
time available to appraise the
full navigational situation and to
develop proper night vision before
reaching the pilot station or taking
the con
z calling the pilot station to confirm
ETA and berthing prospects
z ensuring that day crew are called
at a reasonable time so that items
such as anchors are cleared, pilot
boarding arrangements are safely in
place, and flags/call signs are ready
to be run up
‘Consideration should also be
given to calling the duty engineer to
ensure that engines are on standby
suitably in advance of being required
for manoeuvring. It is also important
to endeavour to ensure that bridge
manning is increased as required,
that mooring ropes are prepared,
and that bridge arrival checklists are
completed, and required systems
checked,’ it adds.
Australian accident investigators
have highlighted shortcomings
in safety systems and planned
maintenance procedures as key factors
in an incident in which a heavylift
vessel struck a wharf in the port of
Brisbane.
The Antigua & Barbuda-flagged
HC Rubina had sailed from Africa in
October 2013 with its propeller pitch
being manually operated from a local
control station at the aft end of the
engineroom after the CPP control
system failed while leaving the port of
Beira in Mozambique.
While the 8,821gt ship was being
manoeuvred off its berth, a flexible
coupling for the shaft alternator
that was providing power to the bow
thruster suddenly failed. The aft
end of the engineroom rapidly filled
with smoke, forcing the engineer
controlling the propeller pitch to leave
the local station — with the propeller
pitch setting left at between 3% and
5% ahead. The vessel suffered minor
damage after making heavy contact
with the wharf.
The Australian Transport Safety
HC Rubina after the accident in Brisbane in 2013 Picture: ATSB
Board (ATSB) found that the vessel’s
shipboard planned maintenance
system provided no guidance for the
maintenance of the shaft alternator’s
flexible coupling.
Investigators concluded that the
coupling had exceeded its prescribed
service life by two years, but they
found no records of its maintenance
before mid-2008.
The report said the ship’s
managers did not ensure that the
defective propeller pitch control
system was reported to the flag state,
the coastal state or the classification
society, and the method used by the
ship’s agent in Brisbane to collect
information for the port’s online
booking system did not ensure that
such defects were reported and passed
to the pilotage service.
Investigators also noted with
concern that there had been a serious
breakdown in communications
onboard as the incident began to
develop.
‘At a critical time during the
incident, the crew used Russian
instead of English — the required
language on the ship’s bridge,’ the
report states.
‘As a result, the pilot was left out
of the communication loop and his
ability to make informed decisions at
those times was limited.’
Pilot lacked latest sounding charts
crude from Scotland ran aground off Germany
A
because the pilot failed to get the latest sounding
An aframax tanker carrying 87,000 tonnes of
charts for the area, an investigation has revealed.
The 97,220dwt Bahamas-flagged Katja
grounded on a sandbank in the Jade Fairway while
sailing towards the port of Wilhelmshaven in August
2012. The tanker was refloated with tug assistance
on the next tide and the German investigation body
BSU said the ship’s double hull had helped to ensure
there was no pollution.
Investigators said the pilot had misjudged the
situation when he took the ‘unwieldy’ tanker too
close to the edge of the dedicated corridor within the
300m-wide fairway after a course alteration. With a
strong ebb current combining with the tanker’s slow
manoeuvring response, the accident had become
‘unavoidable’.
The BSU report said investigations had failed to
clarify why the pilot had not been aware of the latest
current sounding chart before joining the ship. ‘Such
accidents could be avoided if it was ensured that
sea pilots always have access to current sounding
data,’ it adds. ‘This could be achieved by means of
so-called portable pilot units. Ideally, sounding data
could be made retrievable on such devices not only
in portable data format but also in converted data
format, this enabling their display on an electronic
chart.’
The BSU said the pilot had also left the ship’s
bridge team ‘in uncertainty’ over the exchange of
information with vessel traffic services ashore, as
these communications were carried out in German.
10/12/2014 18:19
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 13
HEALTH & SAFETY
‘Cuts in Med SAR
will increase the
pressure on ships’
Nautilus concerns over the
F
safety issues for merchant shipping
Legal experts have echoed
arising from the scaling back of
search and rescue operations in the
Mediterranean.
Seafarers’ Rights International
(SRI) warned about the implications
for ship masters following the
decision to launch the EU Frontex
operation Triton in November
— with a reduced budget and a
focus on border control— in place
of Italy’s Mare Nostrum mission,
which helped to save the lives of
more than 150,000 migrants in the
Mediterranean.
SRI executive director Deirdre
Fitzpatrick pointed out that the SOLAS
Convention places a responsibility
on ships to go to the aid of anyone in
distress at sea.
‘This is a serious obligation on
masters and under many national
laws, the master who fails to render
assistance to any person in danger
of being lost at sea could face
prosecution, and on conviction, a jail
sentence,’ she added.
‘However,’ she stressed, ‘a master
must be equally cognisant of his duty
to protect the lives of his own crew
and passengers and not to expose
them to risks including risks of
infection such as Ebola that may arise
when he rescues people at sea.’
More than 600 merchant ships
have diverted from their routes to
rescue people at sea during 2014
and SRI warns that any reduction in
SAR by governments could increase
the number of incidents to which
merchant ships have to respond —
with consequent burdens and legal
responsibilities on masters and
crews.
Former Nautilus general
secretary Brian Orrell, who chairs
the SRI advisory board, added:
‘The obligation of masters to assist
persons in distress at sea is steeped in
maritime tradition and legal history.
‘It is therefore of concern if
budgets for search and rescue
in the Mediterranean are being
reduced,’ he added. ‘This may
increase the number of search and
rescue missions that masters have
to undertake, as well as their risks
of criminal prosecution for any
perceived failure to attend to persons
endangered at sea.’
The Kiribati-flagged general cargoship Baris, pictured above, was found drifting by the Greek Navy last month with more than 700 refugees crammed
onboard, more than 500 of whom were women and children from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The ship was towed to Crete after being kept at sea for three
days until all aboard were proved to be free of Ebola Picture: Reuters
Fatal wave was
not a ‘rogue’,
report
concludes
Warning over
shortcomings
of Polar Code
over the adequacy of the Polar
F
Code, which was adopted by the
Nautilus has expressed concerns
International Maritime Organisation’s
maritime safety committee last month
in an effort to control the safety of the
increasing amount of shipping in polar
waters.
The product of several years
of negotiation, the Code covers
all aspects of the navigation of
passengerships and cargo ships of
500gt and above in polar areas —
from the construction of ships, the
training of crews and navigation, to
improved coordination of search and
rescue operations.
The SOLAS-related provisions of
the Code are now in place, and the
environmental elements are expected
to be agreed early in the new year,
which will mean the Code is likely to
come into force in January 2017.
However, speaking at the IMO
meeting on behalf of the International
Federation of Ship Masters’
Associations, Nautilus professional
and technical assistant David Appleton
said that while the provisions for
ships designed, built, operated and
manned for service in polar waters
are adequate, there are grounds for
considerable concern for other vessels
that enter these waters.
‘The production of the Polar Code,
in our opinion, has achieved very little
in terms of improving safety in such a
hostile environment,’ he added. ‘For
example, the inadequacy of life-saving
appliances on cruiseships including
12-13_h+s.indd 13
the absence of a lifeboat seat for every
person. This places a great burden on
shipmasters — who no doubt will be
held responsible when an incident
occurs.’
Green groups also warned that
the regulations do not go far enough
to adequately protect the fragile
Arctic and Antarctic environments.
They are particularly concerned that
the Code does not outlaw the use of
heavy fuel oil in polar regions and will
allow vessels with inadequate icestrengthening to operate in the area.
John Maggs, president of the Clean
Shipping Coalition, commented:
‘Sadly, the negotiations have resulted
in a Code that falls far short of what
is required. Without urgent further
strengthening, it is just a question of
when, not if, an incident occurs, with
serious consequences for the delicate
Arctic and Antarctic environments.’
‘We have concerns that lessons
are not being learned from recent
shipping incidents, and Polar Code’s
adoption will do little to reduce risks to
the Antarctic environment,’ said Sian
Prior, shipping advisor to the Antarctic
& Southern Ocean Coalition.
‘The Polar Code should demand
that ships sailing in Antarctic waters
are adequately strengthened
and stabilised for dealing with ice
collisions, that they report their
positions on a regular basis to a
centralised system, and that they are
routed away from important wildlife
sites.’
g The salvors’ view — see page 29.
Investigation points to safety management problems on passengership
P
An investigation into
an incident in which a
passenger died after a
cruiseship was struck by a huge
wave in February 2014 has criticised the vessel’s safety management system.
One passenger was killed and
16 passengers and crew were
injured when two restaurant windows were shattered by the wave
that hit the 22,080gt Marco Polo
in the approaches to the Channel,
some 8nm from the entry point
to the NE-bound lane of the ‘off
Ushant’ TSS.
An investigation report published by the Bahamas Maritime
Authority (BMA) concludes that
the ‘phenomenal’ wave which
struck the ship could have been
as high as 19m.
The 46-year-old ship was
sailing from the Azores to the
UK port of Tilbury with 735 passengers and 349 crew onboard at
the time of the accident. Investigators said the crew had been
‘actively managing’ the vessel’s
course and speed and had conducted the voyage planning with
a high degree of professionalism,
with the aim of running ahead of
the worst of the predicted storm
area.
However, the report notes,
the storm moved much faster
than forecast and was also signiﬁcantly more intense than
forecast — developing into one
of ‘extraordinary violence and
energy’, with reported wind
speeds of 70 knots.
The BMA said the extreme
wind and sea conditions had
made it hard for the ship to maintain its course. Its exposure to
the yawing effect of the wind and
Above, a view of the sea conditions shortly before the Marco Polo was
struck by a ‘phenomenal’ wave in February 2014 and, below, the damaged
restaurant windows Pictures: Bahamas Maritime Authority
waves was exacerbated because
the ship’s speed had to be reduced
to prevent engine damage from
propeller ‘racing’ — and this also
increased its exposure to beam
seas.
Investigators said they had
discovered ‘fundamental weaknesses’ in the documented safety
management system on the
ship. ‘In fact, the conclusion was
drawn that in some respect the
documented procedures interfered with the professional management of safety and pollution
prevention onboard the ship by
providing conﬂicting, irrelevant
or inaccurate information,’ the
report adds.
The BMA notes that the company had not implemented a
proactive weather management
system to support the master. At
the time of the accident, the ship
was using ofﬁcial Inmarsat-C
SafetyNET and unofﬁcial internet sources for meteorological
information.
The report calls for the ship’s
operator to review the meteorological information provided to
the master and to take a more
proactive approach to weather
management by using a dedicated information provider. It
also recommends a review of
the SMS to improve plans and
procedures for anticipating and
encountering heavy weather.
The report points out that this
is ‘by no means the ﬁrst passengership to suffer window breakage in bad weather’ — with at least
16 such reported incidents since
2000, one of which involved two
passenger fatalities.
Investigations found that
the rectangular windows in the
Marco Polo’s restaurant had
probably been installed between
1991 and 1993, replacing the original circular portholes.
The report notes that the Load
Line Convention does not set
impact resistance requirements
for window glass or window
assemblies and the classiﬁcation
society rules at the time also contained no strength standards.
Post-accident inspections of
the windows in the restaurant
and in other locations onboard
the Marco Polo called into question the adequacy of the classiﬁcation society’s annual load line
survey, carried out in December
2013, the report adds.
It said there was evidence of
‘long-standing weaknesses’ in
the class survey regime in respect
of load lines.
The report recommends a
ﬂag state review of the guidance
on the protection of passengership windows and side scuttles
by deadlights and storm covers,
and also calls for the Bahamas to
review the effectiveness of classiﬁcation society loadline surveys
and ISM audits.
10/12/2014 17:38
14 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
INTERNATIONAL
shortreports
ITALIAN RESCUE: the creation of a second
register for Italian merchant vessels has saved the fleet,
the country’s shipowners have claimed. The owners’
organisation Confitarma said that 18m gt of the 19m gt
of Italian-owned tonnage is now on the international
register. Of the 38,500 seafarers working in Italian
shipping, 23,000 are Italian and 15,000 from non-EU
countries.
COLOR CONCERN: Norwegian maritime unions
have voiced concern that the ferry operator Color Line
is considering a switch of flag on the Oslo-Kiel route,
from the national NOR flag to either the Norwegian
international register, NIS, or Denmark’s international
register, DIS. NIS or DIS would mean a loss of up to 700
Norwegian jobs as cheaper foreign crews could be hired.
PM’s promise
on SNCM jobs
Unions seek assurances as court puts French ferry firm into administration
by Jeff Apter
CHINESE CRUISES: China is encouraging
shipping mergers and acquisitions to further boost its
maritime sector and expand its cruise industry potential
— including building its first self-developed luxury
cruiseship. Some reports forecast that China will account
for about half the world’s cruise passengers by 2020.
DENMARK RAPPED: the International Labour
Organisation has again raised concern with the Danish
government over its failure to amend a law that prohibits
Danish unions from representing foreign seafarers
working onboard ships on the country’s DIS international
register.
BIG ORDERS: the Canadian company Seaspan says
it is planning to order some ultra-large containerships of
between 18,000 to 20,000TEU. The expanding operator
presently has six 10,000TEU and eight 14,000TEU
newbuildings due for delivery between now and the end
of 2016.
AUSSIE BAN: Australia has banned the
Indonesian-flagged multi-purpose ship Territory Trader
from its waters for three months under its ‘three strikes
and you’re out’ rule. It said the ship had been shown to
have a history of malfunctions and breakdowns.
CHILE SWITCH: Chilean shipowner Ultragas,
which operates 21 LPG carriers, has registered its first
vessel on the Danish international ship register, DIS.
More vessels are to follow, according to the Danish
Shipowners’ Association.
WATER SKILLS: in a new waterborne transport
policy paper, the European Research Association has
called for ambitious emission reductions, new high-tech
vessels and improved training standards for crews.
P
The French prime minister has assured unions
that he will seek to
protect jobs after the troubled
Mediterranean ferry operator
SNCM was last month placed into
administration by a court in Marseilles.
The commercial court has put
the company into ‘observation’
for six months, during which
time potential buyers can examine its ﬁnances before bidding for
all or part of its business.
French
prime
minister
Manuel Valls said the government is watching developments
closely and he would work to
ensure that as many jobs as possible are protected. But, he added,
the bankruptcy of SNCM was ‘an
unfortunate but inevitable outcome’ after a decade of decline.
Daniel Suzzoni, of the Marseilles branch of the FOMM-CGT
ofﬁcers’ union, said that serious
concerns remain over the ﬁnancing of the company during the
next six months. There are particular fears over the European
ITF slams attack on
Panama tug union
Workers’ Federation has accused
F
the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) of
The International Transport
a ‘classic case of union-busting’ in its
attempts to close down the country’s
tugboat captains’ union, UCOC.
The ITF had already accused
the PCA of violating international
agreements by failing to provide
decent pay and safe working
conditions for more than 9,000
affiliated maritime workers in the
canal zone.
Last month it said the authority
had been using ‘tortuous and
opportunistic tactics’ to try to force the
closure of the tugboat captains’ union
by seeking a court ruling to suspend it
as a ‘precautionary measure’ and to
seize and freeze its assets.
‘This is a classic case of union
busting and a fundamental breach of
14-15_int.indd 14
the International Labour Organisation
principles of freedom of association,
which the Panamanian government
rightly adopted,’ said ITF general
secretary Steve Cotton.
‘The PCA is acting like a state
within a state. It is impossible to avoid
the suspicion that behind its legal
submission is a particularly drastic
attempt to avoid having to negotiate
a collective bargaining agreement
with the UCOC — with a side helping
of revenge for trade unions’ rightful
attempts to question the PCA’s
behaviour.’
The ITF said it appeared that the
authority was also seeking to distract
attention from the delayed canal
expansion project and to cover up the
‘substantial safety and operational
issues arising from the waterway’s
current operation’.
Commission’s demand for the
repayment of €440m it claims
SNCM received illegally when it
was privatised in the mid-1990s.
He said the union is also
alarmed by questions of whether
SNCM’s recent 10-year public
service lifeline contract to
run services to Corsica can be
transferred to a potential investor.
‘As things stand now, failure
to solve these vital issues prevent
any serious progress being made
on the SNCM question and could
lead to its liquidation,’ he warned.
‘Strangely, the court’s judgement has put a company with
€43m in its current account into
six months observation based
on the simple fact that Transdev, the majority shareholder,
asked SNCM to reimburse loans
it granted just ﬁve months previously.’
French unions accuse ministers
of failures on maritime policy
have written to the country’s
A
prime minister, Manuel Valls,
Five French seafaring unions
SHORTSEA DEAL: the French containership
company CMA CGM has bought the German shortsea
shipping operator OPDR.
Under a banner reading ‘scandal of the state’, union members meet to
discuss the SNCM crisis Picture: Thibaud Teillard
expressing grave concern at the
government’s neglect of merchant
shipping.
The CGT, CFDT, CFE-CGC and
CFTC unions complained that
employment was barely covered in
the new transport minister’s recent
communication to the cabinet on the
country’s maritime policy.
The unions pointed out that two
French product tanker operators
had folded during the two years
the government had spent trying
to reform the 1992 oil transport
act. And they further criticised the
government for its failure to include
the maritime sector in its energy
transition policy.
‘Merchant shipping continues
to be a major consumer of heavy
fuels while northern European
countries are investing in their fleets’
conversion to LNG propulsion,’ the
letter stresses. ‘The present loss
of maritime jobs derives from the
shipwreck of the SNCM that has
been torpedoed by unregulated and
uncontrolled competition. This has
affected ferry activity in northern and
southern France which already report
the country’s highest unemployment
rates.’
The unions warned that the
absence of an effective national
maritime policy and subservience
to shareholders will result in further
attacks on all parts of the maritime
industry. They said the sector had
become a testing ground for extreme
free market practices, including the
adoption of France’s International
register (RIF).
The letter calls for the prime
minister to deliver on promises
made by previous governments and
to set out genuine ambition and
concrete measures against growing
unemployment in the French
shipping industry. ‘Other countries
are doing it and so must France as a
maritime nation,’ they argued.
A spokesman for the CFE-CGC
ofﬁcers’ union added: ‘The task
will be difﬁcult, but we count on
the chairman of the court to give
priority to any restructuring of
SNCM that keeps it aﬂoat and not
heed the shareholders that seek
its bankruptcy.’
Some potential investors have
already come forward. French
businessman Daniel Berrebi,
owner of Mexico-based Baja Ferries, has written to the court and
the administrators with a ‘ﬁrm
offer’ to take over parts of SNCM.
His bid would provide a minimum of 800 full-time employees
in a ‘new company offering individual contracts with respect for
merchant navy collective agreements’. SNCM presently employs
1,800 people, 1,500 of them on
permanent contracts.
Marseilles
businessman
Christian Garin — a former
shipowner and chairman of
the Marseilles port authority,
who is acting with a group of
unidentiﬁed investors — said
he was seeking access to the
company’s ﬁnancial data with a
view to preparing a ﬁrm offer.
Owner fined
for dumping
been fined A$20,000 (€13,557)
A
for illegal dumping of waste off the
A Chinese shipping company has
coast of Australia.
The case followed an Australian
Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)
investigation which found that plastic
bags full of waste had been thrown
overboard from the Panama-flagged
bulk carrier Xin Tai Hai in June 2013.
The ship’s master was fined
$6,000 on charges of illegally
discharging garbage and failing to
record it in the garbage record book.
Following the case, an AMSA
spokesman warned: ‘Ship owners
and their masters need to understand
these incidents are investigated and
will lead to prosecution, if ships are
found to have disposed of garbage
illegally.’
The new biggest boxship
last month is the 187,541gt China
A
Shipping Container Lines vessel CSCL
Pictured right during sea trials
Globe, which has claimed the title of
the world’s largest containership.
Built in Japan by Hyundai Heavy
Industries, the 19,000TEU vessel is
the first in a series of five ordered in
May 2013. The ship is 400m loa and
has been deployed on the AsiaEurope trade loop.
The Hong Kong-flagged CSCL
Globe is powered by a high-efficiency
77,200bhp electronically-controlled
main engine which burns around 20%
less fuel per TEU in comparison with
10,000TEU containerships.
CSCL Globe and its sisterships
will have Route Specific Container
Stowage (RSCS) notation developed
by DNV GL to provide more efficient
usage of cargo capacity with more
flexibility and more laden containers
onboard on specific routes.
10/12/2014 17:05
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 15
INTERNATIONAL
shortreports
Orange gets a
new cableship
NIGERIAN APPEAL: the Nigerian Association
of Master Mariners (NAMM) has added its voice to calls
for urgent action to increase the number of Nigerian
seafarers working on ships in the country’s shipping
trades. NAMM president Captain Ade Olopoenia said
master mariners are ‘greatly worried by the dearth of
indigenous seafarers’ and said the country should adopt
an integrated development programme to boost the
training and employment of Nigerian nationals.
Marine cable-layer Pierre de
A
Fermat, which entered into service last
Pictured right is the new Orange
month.
Built by the Vard shipyard in
Romania and completed in Braatvaag,
Norway, the 8,488gt French-flagged
vessel can carry 2,300 tonnes of cables
and accommodate 80 people. The ship
can lay and repair telecommunications
and power cables, particularly in
offshore wind farms. Its first project is
working in the Scottish Highlands &
Islands for British Telecom.
Flag-out threat to
German shipping
Union and owners warn on jobs as biggest operator leaves national register
P
German seafarers have
voiced alarm at a decision by one of the country’s biggest shipowners to ﬂag
out all its vessels in a drive to cut
costs.
Reederei NSB — which has
more ships under the German
ﬂag than any other operator —
said it would switch the registry of 38 vessels over the next 18
months, putting more than 480
German and European seafarers
out of work by 2017.
The containership operator
claimed that remaining under
the German ﬂag would threaten
its existence at a time when market conditions are ‘persistently
poor’. It said that it was no longer
‘economically feasible’ to employ
German or European crews.
Chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer Lutz
Weber commented: ‘We regret
that, even with the involvement
of politics and associations, we
weren’t successful in bringing
the framework of support for
the German ﬂag to another level,
which would ensure a European
employee at sea the long-term
ability to compete internationally and secure maritime knowledge in Germany.
‘Unfortunately,’ he added,
‘Germany, as a maritime location,
offers European and German sailors no prospects.’
NSB said it would make a total
of 179 redundancies at short
notice, with the remainder of jobs
to go on a phased basis as three
ships will be re-ﬂagged every two
months.
Klaus Schröter, from the Verdi
union, said there are concerns
that NSB’s move will mark a
‘downward spiral’ and other ships
will follow out of the German ﬂag.
The union is calling for the government to increase the support
for the employment of German
seafarers, he added.
He said statements from
independent auditors showed
the company is healthy, but it is
facing pressure to improve its
returns and action is needed to
align the German ﬂag seafarer
employment regime with countries like the Netherlands and
Denmark.
Verdi is critical of the failure to
link state support to the employment of German seafarers, Mr
Schröter added. ‘Our marine
policy demands to show what
needs to be done so that German
seafarers have a future and career
opportunities on German ships,’
he said.
The German shipowners’ association, VDR, warned that the
country’s operators are facing a
‘bitter choice’ between employing German crews and the survival of the companies and more
could follow NSB without action
by the government.
VDR
president
Michael
Behrendt said it costs owners as
much as €500,000 a year extra
to keep their ships on the German
ﬂag and they needed measures
such as increased income tax concessions to promote the employment of German seafarers. ‘We
do not solicit crisis support for
our company, but support for the
sustainability of the maritime
business location of Germany,’ he
added.
Australian seafarers stage a
sit-in to protest at lost jobs
world gave their backing last
A
month to the Australian crew of a
Maritime unions around the
tanker who had staged a 20-day sit-in
onboard the ship in protest at the use
of low-cost seafarers in the country’s
coastal trades.
The 18 seafarers serving on the
50,760dwt Tandara Spirit took the
action in response to fears that
their jobs would go as a result of a
decision by the energy firm Vitol to
end the charter for the vessel to ship
fuel between its Geelong refinery
and Adelaide and replace it with a
Vietnamese-flagged ship.
The strike was called off when the
seafarers agreed to ‘avoid the threat
of destructive legal action’ being
brought against them by the vessel’s
owner, Viva Energy, through the
federal court.
‘We are ordinary working people,’
the crew wrote in a statement. ‘We’re
not trying to be political activists. We
14-15_int.indd 15
The Tandara Spirit’s crew during their 20-day sit-in last month
just want to do our jobs in Australian
waters. So although we are ending
our sit-in for now, our conviction that
we are doing the right thing — both
for ourselves and for the nation — is
unbent.
‘We believe that there can and
should be a role for hardworking
Australians in shipping fuel to
this country. We do not believe
our industrial system should be
undermined by companies who would
prefer to pay foreign crew slave wages.’
The Maritime Union of Australia
(MUA) claimed that the crew were set
to be replaced by seafarers earning as
little as A$2 (€1.4) an hour.
MUA Victoria branch secretary
Kevin Bracken said it was wrong
that Australian workers could be
undermined by such ‘disgraceful’
practices and he called for the
country’s government to adopt a
national fuel security plan to ensure
that Australian cargo is carried around
the coast by Australian ships with
Australian seafarers.
The union points out that Australia
imports more than 90% of its fuel on
foreign tankers — up from 60% in
2000.
Five Australian-crewed tankers
have been operating between
domestic refineries, it says, but two
of these vessels are under threat of
removal.
Delegates attending the
International Transport Workers’
Federation fair practices committee
last month agreed a motion
supporting the crew, expressing
concern at ‘the consistently poor
standard of ships’ that have been
chartered in to replace Tandara Spirit,
and calling for an investigation into
whether Vitol uses substandard
shipping on a global level.
WRECK REQUEST: the owners of the
containership Rena are seeking the approval of New
Zealand authorities to leave the wreck of the vessel
in place on the reef where it ran aground in 2011. The
operators claim that while full removal of the wreck
from the reef is ‘technically possible’, the risks associated
with such an operation — including extensive
further damage to the reef and further discharge of
contaminants — are too high.
NIGERIAN ATTACK: two Turkish seafarers
were kidnapped from the Maltese-flagged tanker Basat
off the Nigerian coast. Armed pirates firing weapons
boarded the Dutch-owned ship, operated by Tune
Chemical Tankers, and stole personal belongings from
the 14 Turkish crew. Two seafarers who were unable to
take refuge in the ship’s citadel were taken hostage.
The operator declined to comment on the question of a
possible ransom demand.
DANISH DEAL: Danish maritime unions have
welcomed a ‘landmark’ court case which ruled that a
Filipino seafarer injured while working on a Danish ship
should receive the same amount of compensation as a
Danish crew member. The government’s appeals panel
had wanted to pay the seafarer less than half the amount
that a Danish crew member would have received, on the
basis of an estimate of what he would have earned in his
home country.
INDIA SIGNS: Indian seafaring unions have
welcomed the country’s ratification of the Maritime
Labour Convention last month. Abdulgani Serang,
general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers
of India, described the decision as ‘an important
development’ that would give crew members more
safety and security in discharging their professional
duties.
US CHECKS: ships visiting US ports are to face a
coordinated inspection campaign by the US Coast Guard
and the US Environmental Protection Agency to check
compliance with North America and the Caribbean
emission control area rules which require the use of
0.1% sulphur fuel within 370km of the US and Canadian
coastlines with effect from 1 January 2015.
PENSION PROTEST: Spanish seafarers who
have worked on Norwegian ships and paid taxes to
Norway for many years have protested about their lack
of pension rights. Both Norway and Spain have turned
down their requests for national pension entitlements
and the seafarers claim that this is a breach of the
European declaration of human rights.
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10/12/2014 17:05
16 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
YOUR LETTERS
What’s on
onyour
yourmind?
mind?
Tell your colleagues
shipping.
Keep
yourTelegraph
letter to ahave your name, address
colleaguesin
inNautilus
NautilusInternational
International—
—and
andthe
thewider world of
but
you must
let the
maximum
words if you
canyour
— though
contributions will beand
considered.
Use number.
a pen name or
wider world300
of shipping.
Keep
letter tolonger
a maximum
membership
just
membership
number
you don’t
want to be identifi
in anyour
accompanying
— Telegraph, Nautilus
300your
words
if you can —
thoughif longer
contributions
will ed — say soSend
letter to thenote
Editor,
but
you must let the Telegraph have your name, address and membership
number. Send
yourShrubberies,
letter to the George Lane,
be considered.
International,
1&2 The
Editor,
International,
1&2number
The Shrubberies,
George
Lane,Woodford,
South Woodford,
Use aTelegraph,
pen nameNautilus
or just your
membership
if you
South
London E18 1BD, or use head office fax
London
E18to
1BD,
use head
ceso
faxin+44
(0)20 8530 1015,
or—
email+44
[email protected]
don’t want
beor
identifi
ed —offi
say
an accompanying
note
(0)20 8530 1015, or email [email protected]
Follow us
on Twitter
There’s no lack
of passion here
at the Waverley
P
I write in response to the
letter in the November
Telegraph regarding the latest in
a long line of publications about
my current command — P.S
Waverley.
There seems to be a
misconception that the company
became far more corporate with
‘unheard of’ ﬁnancial security in
the year 2000. In fact, the funding
from the HLF and others was
spent entirely on the fabric of the
ship during her major rebuild.
Whilst it was envisaged
that this rebuild would reduce
maintenance costs, there was
no tangible beneﬁt, as the desire
to keep the ship in her newly
restored condition proved
costly — as were increasing
statutory costs and the increase
in insurance premiums for what
was now virtually a new ship.
The operation of the ship
remains as ﬁnancially precarious
as ever and no ﬁnancial security
was or is discernible. We remain
in operation due to hard work and
determination.
Where’s my Telegraph?
If you have moved
recently, your home copy
may still be trying to catch
up with you — particularly
if you gave us a temporary
address such as a hall of
residence.
To let us know your new
address, go to www.
nautilusint.org and log in
as a member, or contact our
member-ship department
on +44 (0)151 639 8454 or
[email protected].
Have your say online
Last month we asked: Do you think Europe should
introduce US-style ‘Jones Act’ controls over the
crewing of ships operating services within EU waters?
No
12%
Yes
88%
This month’s poll asks: Do you think it is right that
the shipping industry should be facing the strict new
controls on sulphur emissions? Give us your views
online, at nautilusint.org
16-18_lets_SR edit.indd 16
There was no new regime
and indeed no senior personnel
changes within the organisation
in 2000, and the only funding
received by the organisation
in that year was a grant which
represented less than 1% of
operating costs.
In response to the alleged
constant changes in management
structure and frequently
changing ofﬁcers and crew, there
was little or no change to the
management structure until the
end of the 2011 season.
Among present-day
employees are the technical
superintendent with 24 years
of service, chief executive with
17 years’ service, and myself as
senior master with eight years’
service. None of the above
were approached or invited to
contribute to this book.
Still acting in relief roles on the
ship, and all easily accessible, are
two former senior masters and a
former chief engineer.
Perhaps most conspicuous
by his absence as a contributor
is the man, who in my opinion,
did more for the preservation of
Waverley than any other, with his
Waverley career spanning 25 years
as chief engineer, operations
director, chairman and project
director of Waverley’s rebuild. He
left the company in 2011, but was
likewise easily contactable until
his tragic and untimely death in
late July this year.
I ﬁnd it strange therefore that
the compilers were unable to
source the information necessary
when the people who could
have provided it are contactable
onboard Waverley or through the
company’s telephone number
which is both public knowledge,
and I understand, noted in their
own publication.
In short, I can see no reason
why this book did not cover the
years from 2000-2014 other than
the unwillingness of the authors/
contributors/compilers to print
the opinion of anyone other than
a chosen few.
I can also assure those who
yearn for the halcyon days that
there is no lack of passion among
those who remain within the
management team today. We
are perhaps though tinged with
a measure of reality, which by
necessity comes with modern day
ship management.
Capt. A.T. O’BRIAN
Senior Master, P.S. Waverley
mem no 178124
Royalist retires after decades
of good service to Sea Cadets
Cadets training ship Royalist is
F
pictured arriving in Portsmouth for
The Marine Society & Sea
the final time last month — to take
part in a decommissioning ceremony
to mark the end of 43 years of service.
More than 30,000 cadets have
sailed onboard the Cowes-built vessel
since it began operating in 1971 and
it has covered some 212,850nm on
offshore voyages around the UK and
Europe.
TS Royalist is due to be replaced in
March by a new 32m ship — bearing
the same name — which is being
built in Spain at a cost of £4.8m.
MSSC chairman Captain Nigel
Palmer said: ‘The spirit of adventure
that our current flagship represents is
hard to match, but after 43 years it’s
time to move on.
‘The new ship is an exciting
development both technically and in
the journey Sea Cadets, as a charity,
is making.’
Picture: Gary Davies/Maritime
Photographic
Owners should not have to take
the blame for failings of crew
The Telegraph reports many instances
of ship detentions due to mechanical,
navigational, safety and crew
deficiencies. Unpaid crew wages also
are mentioned.
When official inspections
reveal unkempt food stores, dirty
refrigeration spaces, serious lack of
engine and deck maintenance and
obvious safety related issues, who is
to blame?
According to media outlets
including the Telegraph and the ITF,
it appears that owners are being
punished for the failings of the
ship’s staff. I can only offer sympathy
to owners whose crews have not
performed and are obviously not fit
for purpose.
I accept that there are exceptions
and some owners have proved to
be very negligent in many ways.
However, from first-hand experience
I have observed the couldn’t
care less attitude and complete
ignorance of certain crew members
of multinational origin, lacking in
leadership, who think that they are
only there to operate in the most basic
manner as possible.
R.J. HARROP
(former chief engineer and retired
surveyor)
MASTER’S GUIDE TO SHIPBOARD
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
ES
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE MERCHANT
R
RCHANT
NAVY
Witherby Seamanship International
4 Dunlop Square, Livingston,
Edinburgh, EH54 8SB,
Scotland, UK
Tel No: +44(0)1506 463 227
Fax No: +44(0)1506 468 999
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.witherbyseamanship.com
10/12/2014 17:06
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 17
YOUR LETTERS
THE VIEW FROM MUIRHEAD
Union subs
are worth
every penny
the displeasure of being
P
dropped like a lead weight by a
Earlier this year I had
Experience is what matters most
I have the same problem as
Capt Fillingham (‘Onerous new
requirements have put paid to
my career’ — letters, December
Telegraph).
As I wasn’t working when the ETO
STCW regulations came into force, I
didn’t have a company which might
have paid for the various courses
required — so, despite having been a
radio officer and electrotechnical officer
for 40 years, I have had to call it a day.
If I invested in all these courses,
would it be an investment? I am 65 and
would be older by the time I finished
getting the paperwork. Who would
then give me a job? Ageism is a fact of
life: you can legislate against it, but
you can’t legislate against employers’
perceptions.
The STCW certificate for ETOs was a
good idea for the new entrants, but not
so good for those of us who started as
ROs and then learnt on the job.
I can do the job, but I may not.
ROSE KING
mem no 428796
One rule for us, another for yachties?
In December’s edition of the
Telegraph, on page 8, there is an
article about Sir Robin Knox-Johnson
sailing from St Malo to Guadeloupe
single-handed — a distance of 3,542
miles. Well done Sir Robin.
On page 9 opposite there is an
article about the master of a wind
farm transfer vessel being fined
£9,702 for not keeping a proper
lookout. It has always baffled me
how these lone yachtsmen seem to
be exempt from the International
Rules for the Prevention of Collision at
Sea which very clearly states that ‘all
vessels’ must keep a proper lookout
at all times.
Letters to ‘them wot know’ have all
come up blank, with no one wishing
to get involved in this argument.
Do any other seafarers have views
on this?
Capt. NAIRN LAWSON
mem no 997665
Giving you a voice on your future
Worried about your retirement? Join us!
The Nautilus Pensions Association is a pressure group and support
organisation that:
z provides a new focal point for seafarer pensioners — increasing
their influence within, and knowledge of, the Merchant Navy
Officers’ Pension Fund and other schemes within the industry
z serves as a channel for professional advice on all kinds of
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16-18_lets_SR edit.indd 17
large company, despite having
received a written offer of
employment from them and
resigning from my previous
employer.
After attempting to digest the
news, I felt that I had two choices
a) to let it go and move on or b)
stand up to the company
involved. I of course wanted to
stand up and reclaim what I had
lost during my period of
unemployment, but I
immediately felt intimidated and
over-shadowed when I
considered the size of the
company involved; especially as
this was only the third employer I
had dealt with since qualifying as
an OOW in 2013.
As a result I immediately
looked to Nautilus International
for help.
In response to my plea for
help, Lisa Carr, one of the Nautilus
industrial organisers,
emphatically committed herself
to ﬁghting my case with me and
immediately reinstalled a level of
conﬁdence which I had
previously lost.
Throughout the ordeal, Lisa
and her team worked hard to help
prepare my case for tribunal and
later conducted tough
negotiations resulting in a fair
and just outcome.
I therefore want to take this
opportunity to publicly thank
Lisa and her team for their
continued support throughout
the last eight months and convey
my deep appreciation for
everything they have done for
me.
The entire organisation
should never be undervalued and
I would, and have, recommended
that seafarers — whether a rating
or ofﬁcer, young or old — join
Nautilus. By doing so you will
ensure that your voice is an
effective and powerful beat of a
larger banging drum, and never
an ineffective whisper in a
complex international
playground.
Readers of the Telegraph, I talk
from experience when I say that
for a small price per month, the
value of membership with
Nautilus International is
priceless. I urge seafarers
internationally to never cow to
the immoral and bullying
practices of some businesses and
collectively promote and defend
the rights that we enjoy on land,
at sea.
JOE BOWRY
mem no 202943
‘Officer shortage’
reflects industry’s
failure to train
As a captain and master mariner, I
am curious if any other members are
becoming frustrated by the experience
requirements of shipping companies for
seagoing positions.
How did the industry reach a position
where it is now impossible to re-train
and go on a different ship type; why is
this now the case? British seafarers are
extremely resourceful and adaptable
people.
For some time now, I have not seen
an advertisement for British officers
for tankers, bulk carriers, anchor
handlers, heavy lift, general cargo or
container ships. There are still some
advertisements for the offshore industry
— however, even these are reducing
in numbers as new state of the art
Scandinavian-flagged vessels come out,
manned completely by Scandinavians
working freely in the UK sector. Fair
play to them — at least they treat their
seafarers well and are looking after their
interests.
I was one of many who invested in
courses such as the Nautical Institute DP
induction course only to be told it is not
enough or, even worse, just completely
ignored. The experience requirements
don’t appear to stop there: every
advertisement requires previous
experience on a specific ship type.
I, along with many others I suspect,
am in now in a chicken and egg
scenario where not even one shipping
company is willing to re-train me. I
am not looking for special treatment
and have even offered to work for free
during any training period. To me and so
many others it is so obvious there is no
shortage — I doubt very much if even
one personnel manager will write in
reply to this letter.
Needless to say, this will have an
effect on shore positions as fewer British
officers will have the required experience
on ship types to fulfil the roles of pilots,
consultants and surveyors. It’s now
too late in my case — I am leaving the
industry completely fed up with begging
people to give me a job.
It’s yet more fuel to the fire of the
shipping companies’ case to open
more colleges training people to British
standards in some far-off country. I
believe there is not a shortage of officers;
the shipping companies’ lack of interest
in planning strategically for the future
and governments’ flag state policy are
both to blame for the situation. If it
causes them major inconvenience in the
future, they really deserve it.
mem no 181112
telegraph
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production editor: June Cattini-Walker
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Although the Telegraph exercises care and
caution before accepting advertisements,
readers are advised to take appropriate
professional advice before entering into
any commitments such as investments
(including pension plans). Publication
of an advertisement does not imply any
form of recommendation and Nautilus
International cannot accept any liability
for the quality of goods and services
offered in advertisements. Organisations
offering financial services or insurance are
governed by regulatory authorities and
problems with such services should be
taken up with the appropriate body.
Incorporating the merchant navy
journal and ships telegraph
ISSN 0040 2575
Published by
Nautilus International
Printed by Polestar Colchester
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Mark Dickinson MSc (Econ)
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which are registered charities.
10/12/2014 18:19
18 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
YOUR LETTERS
Warsash celebrates
its 2014 graduates
who celebrated the completion of their threeF
year training and education programme at Warsash
Pictured right are the 61 new navigation officers
Maritime Academy at the autumn passing-out
ceremony.
The event marked the qualification of officers
from September 2011 Deck HND and January 2012
Foundation Degree cohorts and was attended by
representatives from companies and organisations
including: Anglo Eastern (UK); the Government of
Bermuda - Ministry of Home Affairs; BP Maritime
Services (Isle of Man); Carisbrooke Shipping; Carnival
UK; Chiltern Maritime; Clyde Marine Training;
Concordia Maritime AB; Graig Ship Management;
Maersk Crewing; Princess Cruises; RCL (UK); Ship
Safe Training Group; Thomas Miller & Co; and Viking
Recruitment.
The ceremony rounded off another successful year
for the academy, with forecasts that some 300 new
officer cadets are set to start their studies there in 2015.
Advice from the engineroom
Maritime Professionals
P
Forum call for experiences, here
In response to the Young
are mine from the engineroom,
I imagine it will encourage
dialogue with older seafarers and
hopefully offer insight for cadets
and new ofﬁcers.
Newspapers and magazines
Most ships now have the internet,
but it still nice to take the latest
newspapers or magazines you
enjoy onboard. These will provide
some entertainment during
smokos.
Conduct
You will make mistakes, forget
things and make a mess. However,
persistence in these negative
activities will cause unnecessary
aggravation for yourself. I was told
before my ﬁrst trip ‘Don’t let
things get out of hand.’ If you are
ﬂagged for not having completed
a report — get it done. If your cabin
was a mess during the master’s
weekly inspection, clean it up and
do not let it happen again.
It sounds very simple and it is,
but it’s also easy for things to get
blown out of proportion. Manage
your commitments and you can
get the most out of your valuable
trips as a cadet.
Show respect to others and
you will be shown respect. Newly
qualiﬁed ofﬁcers should
remember that if you speak to the
chief engineer like he is a moron,
you will not get respect from any
of the other engineers either. Just
because you passed your orals
does not mean you are God’s gift
to marine engineering!
I was strongly advised by
people not to loan any money to
anyone onboard as it has the
potential to cause problems
further down the line.
Build good working
relationship through little
gestures whilst on watch/
day-work etc. If you are working
with one of the crew on a job,
getting the soft drinks during
your break will create a stronger
bond and help you achieve your
objectives.
In the latest of a series of letters
offering guidance to trainees
and junior officers, we hear some
wise words about the best way to
handle yourself below decks...
I remember when I was in
charge of a riding squad and
engineroom crew during
crisis-management to keep the
lights on due to jellyﬁsh being
sucked into the cooling sea water
system. After swapping over
strainers from sea-chests
continuously for hours,
everybody was very tired. It was
hot, humid, smelly and fairly
unpleasant conditions, so during
the respite period I grabbed soft
drinks on my own account and
gave them out to everyone. This is
an instance where a small gesture
really helps to keep your team
motivated and focused.
Bullying
This is a sad reality of being at sea.
Bullying takes on many forms
and it is important that you learn
to seek help and escalate any
issues immediately — Nautilus
can help with this and you should
also try to ﬁnd someone onboard
to talk to. It is important to
manage your mental health
whilst onboard, as an issue early
on in your career may come back
to bite you later on without you
even realising.
I had an issue during my ﬁrst
trip as a fourth engineer which
was out of my control but gave the
chief engineer a reason to act
Fund can help
you to climb
career ladder
If you’re a Merchant Navy rating,
electrotechnical officer or yacht crew
member looking to move up the
maritime career ladder, Nautilus
may be able to help you…
We have just increased the value
of the support on offer to help with
the costs of studying for your first
ticket — with up to £17,500 now
available, plus a discretionary
£1,500 bonus payment for those
who successfully obtain an approved
OOW certificate!
The support is provided through the
JW Slater Fund, named in honour
of a former general secretary of the
Union, which has been awarded
to over 1,400 seafarers since it was
launched in 1997.
The scheme provides help for
selected UK-resident applicants
16-18_lets_SR edit.indd 18
towards the costs of any necessary
full-time or part-time education,
as well as some financial support
during college phases for those
having to go off-pay while they study
for a certificate.
Administered by Nautilus
International, the scheme can
provide assistance worth up to
£17,500 to help ratings study for their
first certificate, as well as offering
similar assistance for ETOs and yacht
crew to gain STCW 2010 certification.
Nautilus International is now inviting
applications for the 2014 Slater Fund
awards.
g If you are keen to get your officer
qualifications, don’t leave things to
chance. The Slater Fund is just the
ticket — fill in the form or apply via
the website: www.nautilusint.org
Complete this form and send it to:
Slater Fund, The Marine Society, 202 Lambeth Road, London SE1 7JW.
I am over 20 years of age and normally resident in the UK.
Please send me details of the John Slater Award.
Name: _________________________________________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________________________
extremely aggressively towards
me. This was witnessed by all of
the engineering staff, yet nobody
spoke out. Two trips later, on my
last day onboard, I started to act in
auto-reaction mode due to the
incident which happened a year
and half before and had a very bad
accident which was out of
character for me and a ‘freak’
accident.
If you witness any bullying, it
is important to record it and if
necessary escalate it. It should not
happen but it is easy for senior
ofﬁcers to forget what it is was like
to be at the bottom of the ladder.
Personal diary/log keeping —
very important
In my opinion keeping a personal
log is one of the most important
tools for long term development.
When you are a cadet you have
your training portfolio as your log
of work and learning, but once
you are an ofﬁcer it is good
practice to maintain this.
Apart from a stamp in your
discharge book and sea-service
testimonial the only thing you
will take away from a threemonth trip could be memories...
which will fade with time. The
long-term beneﬁt of a log means
you have a body of work that you
can reﬂect back on to see what you
were doing and when.
I am currently making a
shore-side transition but I plan to
return to sea, and being able to
reﬂect on my trips will prove to be
invaluable. In the medium-term it
will help with problem-solving if
you document problems and
solutions, so that on future trips
you can see what problems you
had, what you did to ﬁx it and
most importantly why.
In the short-term it is evidence
of all of your activities, thoughts,
issues and solutions, which could
be invaluable in the event of on an
issue onboard. I record every
engineering incident and any
issues as I witness them. I put it in
my notepad with the date, days
onboard, days till pay off, duty
engineer, location, destination,
condition (loaded/empty/sailing
etc.) and ER or SW-temp.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Email:
_________________________________________________________________________________
This form is also available online at: www.nautilusint.org or email your name,
address and request for Slater Fund details to: [email protected]
Try to solve issues for yourself
When you come across a problem,
do not panic. If it is a dangerous
situation or highly-concerning
then escalate it to senior engineers
immediately, and keep your head.
Think through the system or
component and think about what
questions another engineer would
ask you, ‘Did you check x, y or z?’,
‘What was the pressure/
parameters?’, ‘What does the
planned maintenance history
say?’, ‘What does the manual say?’
This will allow you to explain
any engineering issues and answer
queries in more depth, in turn
helping you with problem solving.
Taking ﬁve minutes to slow down
and explore an issue will usually
resolve panic situations.
What to pack
As a cadet, you do not need to take
any personal tools onboard, but
as an engineering ofﬁcer it is
critical. It will save you time and
make you the go-to person if
other engineers are in a mess or
are not as prepared as you! Here’s
a list of my essentials:
z torch — make sure it is
intrinsically safe and carry spare
batteries
z multi-tool — my preference is
Leatherman Skeletool CX with
extra-bit collection
z wide-head (plumber) shifter
with thin jaws — worth its weight
in gold
z standard shifter, normal jaws
— use in combination with above
to loosen/tighten nuts and bolts
simultaneously
z small shifter
z 15cm steel rule
z notebook — make sure you
have a good bag to put it in that
will stop it from being destroyed
from constant sweating
z bicycle hex-key set-tool — get
one with a 8mm hex key attached
z small ﬂat head screwdriver —
ideal for picking out seals and
cleaning out O-ring seats, but use
a rag to stop scratching surfaces
z large ﬂat head screwdriver.
z PTFE thread-tape and electrical
tape
z combination electrical locker/
cabinet key — to save time
looking for a key to access a
breaker
z camera — I use an old phone
left in airplane mode
z tweezers— you will get nasty
splinters
z nail cutter —as above.
z socks — ﬁnd a good
manufacturer; I like Helly Hansen
for the hot engineroom
BARI KHAN
mem no 192926
10/12/2014 17:06
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 19
MEMBERS AT WORK
Speaking up for seafarers
Nautilus Council member Captain Norman Martin has
recently been honoured with the Merchant Navy Medal
for his Union activities and services to the Western Isles
ferries. He tells SARAH ROBINSON about a rich and
fulfilling life devoted to the sea…
A
When Norman Martin
was a cadet in the 1960s,
it was all very much
‘chores before breakfast’. Taking
the hold temperatures wasn’t
too bad, but removing the rats
from the traps might put you
off your porridge a bit. Think of
this, though: young Norman was
on a ship with space for 12 ﬁrst
trip cadets. 12 whole cadets. It’s
enough to make today’s lonely
trainees weep into their feeble
broadband connections.
‘I was lucky that British and
Commonwealth had recently set
up ﬁve new training ships when
I joined,’ explains Norman. ‘I was
only just 17 when I went away to
sea on the SS Clan Sutherland,
but having all the other cadets
there meant I didn’t really feel
homesick, and I was very excited
about all the travel. We were also
fortunate to be in the care of a
dedicated training ofﬁcer, David
Morris, who was an experienced
second ofﬁcer holding his certiﬁcate as master.’
British and Commonwealth
was the parent company of Clan
Line and Union–Castle, where
Norman’s uncle Ronnie Wright
from Millport was already a shipmaster. He had seemed a glamorous ﬁgure to a teenage boy at
a time when international travel
was relatively uncommon. ‘I
always used to visit his ship when
he came to Glasgow, and that’s
what made me want to go to sea,’
recalls Norman.
Happily for the aspiring
ofﬁcer trainee, he had done well
in mathematics at school, and
British and Commonwealth
thought he had what it took to
follow in his uncle’s footsteps.
The owner of the company, Sir
Nicholas Cayzer, made a point of
interviewing all the applicants
for cadetships at the head ofﬁce
at St Mary Axe in London, which
Norman thinks with hindsight is
quite amazing, and suggests that
modern employers should consider following suit.
The training programme
proved to be interesting and
varied, with spells on Clan Line
general cargo and refrigerated vessels to Australia and
around Africa, Hector Whaling
tankers worldwide, and Union–
Castle passenger vessels to South
Africa. During the apprenticeship scheme, much of the written
work took place onboard alongside the practical training, but
there was also a six month midapprenticeship release at Warsash nautical college.
“
It would
be easy to
sit up here in
the islands
and let the
heather grow
out of your
ears, but
Union work
keeps you in
touch with
the wider
world
”
Thanks to this excellent foundation, it was a straightforward
matter for Norman to get his
second mate’s certiﬁcate. ‘I did it
after three weeks at the college in
Glasgow the week I turned 21,’ he
remembers. ‘It was a great step up
to be taking a watch on the bridge
instead of dealing with the rats.’
For a change of scene, he
decided to join Blue Star Line,
taking passenger ships to South
America and fruit and meat cargoes from Australia and New
Zealand to Fiji, Samoa, Bermuda,
Barbados and the east and west
coasts of the USA and Canada.
Later he worked worldwide on
refrigerated fruit ships and bulk
carriers with Whitco Marine,
including voyages to Japan,
Greenland and a thousand miles
up the Amazon.
The young mariner loved his
deepsea work, but when the time
came to get married and start a
family, he realised it would be
wise to ﬁnd a job closer to home.
He tested the waters in the early
1970s with two summer seasons
on the MacBrayne ferries at Mallaig — the Loch Seaforth and
Clansman — and enjoyed the
experience. ‘It was fascinating
to be using a magnetic compass
and steering in quarter points
through the inner channels and
across the Minch to Stornoway
and out to South Uist and Barra.’
So in 1976 he joined the company
full time. It was a move that would
deﬁne his career, as he still works
on the Scottish lifeline ferries
today, with 30 years in command.
A
Norman had signed up
with the Nautilus predecessor union MNAOA
back in 1965, thanks to a rep visiting his ship in the Port of London.
But he didn’t become an active
unionist until the early 1990s (the
NUMAST days), when a team of
volunteers was needed to consolidate and harmonise the payment
system at Caledonian MacBrayne.
The problem was that the
employees had a relatively low
basic salary, and the rest of the
pay was made up of ‘extras’. Overall, the job paid fairly well, but the
employees lost out because their
company pension contributions
were based on the basic salary,
and the employers too were having some difﬁculties in recruiting good crew members with the
package on offer. ‘The quoted
salary did not impress mortgage
providers,’ points out Norman
Norman Martin: then and now
Deepsea in the 1970s...
19_norman_martin_SR edit.indd 19
... and in command of the
Hebridean Isles today
Captain Norman Martin, right, is presented with the Merchant Navy Medal by former First
Sea Lord Admiral Sir Lord West of Spithead during a ceremony at Trinity House last month
drily. With a keen awareness of
these issues, he got his teeth into
the challenge of consolidating
the extras into a higher basic salary, and found the work very satisfying.
He realised he had developed
a taste for union activity, so in
1997 he stood for election to
the NUMAST governing Council. ‘Clever people like Brian
Orrell and Derek Bond have a
way of drawing you in,’ he says
slightly ruefully, remembering
the Union’s redoubtable former
general secretary and deputy GS.
‘But I did want to be part of the
Union’s campaigns on issues like
piracy and fatigue. It would be
easy to sit up here in the islands
and let the heather grow out of
your ears, but Union work keeps
you in touch with the wider
world.’
Jumping ahead to the present
day, Captain Norman Martin is
now the master of the CalMac
ferry Hebridean Isles, he has volunteered numerous times on
sail training vessels such as the
Lord Nelson and the Stavros S
Niarchos, and he is the longestserving member of the Nautilus Council. ‘I’m not sure if that
makes me the father or grandfather of the group,’ he chuckles.
Why has he stayed so long, and
what does he think of the Union
these days?
Not surprisingly, he believes
Nautilus is very much a force for
good. ‘We have such a dispersed
and fragmented industry that it’s
important for members to have
someone at the centre to speak
for them. I think the Union secretariat do an excellent job, but it’s
vital that we have serving seafarers on the Council to guide their
work and feed in the latest information and members’ views.’
Norman takes his role as a
representative seriously. After 11
years worldwide, he says he is still
at heart a deepsea man as well as a
ferryman, and always tries to bear
in mind that he is there to speak
for all members, and indeed to
represent the industry as a whole.
‘I’m lucky at my company,’
he continues. ‘I get relieved on
time, I get paid on time, I get
holiday leave and sick leave, and
the company pick up training
costs — which is vital with all the
revalidations needed now. But I
know that when companies have
good conditions, that didn’t happen by magic. People before us
fought for what we have, and it’s
our responsibility to stay vigilant
and ﬁght for others following on.’
He feels that Nautilus has
been far-sighted in its international outlook, and agrees that
the Union should spend some of
its time campaigning to improve
conditions in the wider industry:
‘When you protect the rights of
vulnerable people, you protect
the rights of everyone. When
standards are raised across the
board, Nautilus members beneﬁt
too.’
He also praises the Union’s
timely actions in its role as a pension trustee, pointing out that
former deputy general secretary Peter McEwen and his team
identiﬁed potential problems in
the UK pensions industry over
10 years ago, and quickly started
putting measures in place to
secure the MNOPF scheme.
A
Now Norman's thoughts
are starting to turn, somewhat reluctantly, to his
own pension years, and he will
stand down from the Nautilus
Council in 2015. His wry humour
and thoughtful contributions will
be much missed on the governing
body, although he is likely to continue to serve the Union in other
capacities, such as on the Nautilus
Welfare Fund Committee.
It’s important to try and make
some plans to ﬁll his retirement,
he acknowledges. Although he’s
always made an effort to maintain a good family life and home
friendships in Oban, it will inevitably be a huge change to come
ashore full time after some 50
years at sea. ‘I’ll still want to be out
on the water, and I'll be happy to
accept if anyone wants to invite
me to come sailing!’
And what of the Merchant
Navy Medal? He was surprised
and touched to have his life’s
work recognised, and it was a very
proud moment for Norman and
his family to attend the award
ceremony at Trinity House in
London. But he was never in the
seafaring game to win prizes. ‘I
get paid to handle ships and keep
them safe,’ he says simply, ‘and
that’s a wonderful thing.’
10/12/2014 17:39
20 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
MEMBERS AT WORK
Two sides of one coin
The Royal Navy’s new Merchant
Navy liaison officer, Master Mariner
Lt Cdr David Carter RNR, explains
how he hopes to boost links
between the ‘Grey Funnel Line’ and
commercial shipping — and how
you might be able to help…
I
The Royal Navy has been
enjoying a close relationship with the Merchant Navy for many years. And
since the rise of piracy in the Gulf
of Aden and elsewhere this has
been rather more visible to the
merchant seafarer aﬂoat.
The welcoming sight of a
warship patrolling and intercepting pirates before they can
attack merchant ships has been
a great comfort to many of us.
I include myself in this, as a
Merchant Navy master sailing
through the Gulf of Aden every
year now since 2008.
In recent years many RN
ofﬁcers have been given the
opportunity to sail on a merchant ship to acquaint themselves with the different aspects
of ships that do not have grey
funnels.
During the period between
2009 and 2010 I was able to
facilitate three such voyages,
supported by my company
and the Royal Navy. My command was an LNG carrier, with
RN ofﬁcers sailing onboard and
seeing ﬁrst hand just what a
modern merchant ship is like.
We were engaged in a trade of
utmost strategic importance
to the United Kingdom — that
of gas from Qatar to Milford
Haven, on which we in Britain
so greatly depend.
The Royal Navy’s duty of ‘protecting our nation’s interests’ is
helped hugely by shipping companies and their seafarers sup-
porting us with these Merchant
Navy liaison voyages.
It will come as no surprise
to many merchant seafarers
that ﬁghting naval ofﬁcers will
be the ﬁrst to admit that their
knowledge of merchant shipping — our ships and the way
we go about our Merchant Navy
business — is something of a
mystery to them.
I know for sure many merchant seafarers will say as much
of warships. Those RN ofﬁcers
who have been able to perform
MN liaison voyages in the past
are now rising up the naval ladder, and their experiences are
helping the Royal Navy greatly.
I saw myself the professional
interaction on the bridge of my
ship between RN and MN counterparts, each learning from the
other, and how well this was
mutually received. There is real
‘win-win’ for both navies to be
had from such voyages.
The RN has an aspiration
from 2015 onwards to maximise the number of deck ofﬁcers from its ‘warfare’ branch to
have, as part of their training,
the opportunity to make such
a voyage on a merchant ship.
Their familiarisation with merchant shipping and merchant
seafarers will become part of
their professional skills.
I think all of us agree that
the best way for any seafarer
to gain familiarisation is to sail
on ship and to do it themselves.
The scale of this aspiration will
Two RN Sub-Lieutenants, in the blue shirts, with Captain David Carter and officers onboard the LNG carrier Shagra during a RN-MN exchange voyage from
Milford Haven to Fujairah
be challenging and it has come
to me, with ﬁrst hand great personal enthusiasm for this, to see
what can be achieved and knowing there are mutual beneﬁts
for all.
The RN has a signiﬁcant
number of such ofﬁcers per
year that would beneﬁt from,
and give their perspective and
enthusiasm to, the Merchant
Navy. A month’s voyage in a
spare MN berth will enable both
the Merchant and Royal Navy
to beneﬁt from this for years
to come. The personal contacts,
the professional understandings and, without doubt, the
realisation that we have more
in common than differences
will ensure the better safety and
security of merchant shipping
for the future. This is one of
many next steps forward for the
security of merchant shipping
and seafarers that we aspire to
into the 21st century.
I am also looking to increase
opportunities for the MN to
spend more time with the RN
for equal beneﬁt. We have much
to offer, and for engineers and
managers too!
g If you are able to assist in
increasing the number of RN
ofﬁcers on MN liaison voyages,
please contact me by email at
[email protected].
I would be delighted to hear
from you.
Lt Cdr David Carter RNR
Nautilus member’s
background makes
him the perfect
choice for the RN-MN
liaison role...
H
David Carter first went to sea as a deck cadet
with Shell Tankers (UK) in 1980 and gained his
Master Mariner’s certificate in 1992, followed by his
first command in 1998. During 34 years at sea he has
commanded 300,000dwt VLCC tankers, product tankers
and a variety of LPG and LNG carriers.
In 2008 he undertook the role of lead master in the
QatarGas LNG fleet, managed by Shell International
and the largest shipbuilding programme since World
War Two.
He stood by, delivered, performed the maiden
voyage and carried the first LNG cargo of the QatarGas
flagship Mozah, the first 266,000 cu m Q-Max LNG
carrier and the largest gas carrier ever built.
He subsequently delivered a second Q-Max, Shagra,
and achieved the top scoring fleet command in Q-Max
Al Mafyar in 2012. Latterly, he performed the sea trials
and a voyage in service in Dynagas’s Clean Ocean
and Arctic Aurora, tri-fuel diesel-electric ice-class LNG
carriers designed for the Arctic Northern Sea Route to
the Far East.
David joined the Royal Naval Reserve in 1998 as an
Amphibious Warfare officer attached to Commander
United Kingdom Task Group, and performed the Ship
to Objective Manoeuvre roles with the Royal Marines
on HMS Ark Royal, HMS Illustrious, HMS Bulwark and
all four of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s landing ship dock
(auxiliary) vessels on Exercise Joint Warrior(s) and also
Exercise Cougar 11, 12, 13 and 14. He also undertook the
Senior Naval Officer (Commercially Chartered Ship)
roles on Foreland Shipping’s strategic ro-ros Hartland
Point, Hurst Point and Anvil Point.
David joined the Maritime Warfare School, Warfare
Training Group at HMS Collingwood on 1 October 2014,
directly from deployment with the Response Force
Task Group on Exercise Cougar 14 as the Royal Navy’s
Merchant Navy liaison officer.
He has been a member of the Merchant Navy &
Airline Officers’ Association, NUMAST and now Nautilus
International since his first trip to sea.
HMS Diamond escorts the merchant ship Ark Futura during Operation Recsyr in June 2014 Picture: MoD
20_RNMN_SR edit.indd 20
10/12/2014 17:07
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 21
SEAFARER TRAINING
New opportunities offshore
A pioneering scheme has been developed
to train British cadets on semi-submersible
accommodation vessels — and a Nautilus
member is at the heart of the operation…
M
Leading
semi-submersible
accommodation vessel owner
and operator Prosafe is claiming
an industry ﬁrst with the launch of a new
scheme to train UK cadets.
The company — which is the world’s
biggest owner and operator of semi-sub
accommodation vessels — has spent
more than 18 months devising the programme to ensure it contributes to the
new generation of British maritime professionals.
Prosafe presently has a ﬂeet of 11
dynamically positioned and anchored
vessels, with two worldwide-compliant
newbuilds designed due to come into service during 2015, and another pair that
will be capable of worldwide operation
excluding Norway due to be introduced
in 2016.
At present, ﬁve of the Prosafe ﬂeet are
on long-term bareboat charter in Mexico.
The other six are manned by the Singapore-based Prosafe Offshore Employment Company, which is where all the vessels are registered. Two of these six vessels
operate in DP, three are anchored and one
is capable of operating in either mode.
The company currently employs
around 580 seafarers — but the number
is growing as it recruits for the newbuild
programme. Prosafe vessels operate
worldwide, but those serving on its North
Sea units must have the unrestricted
right to work in the UK and Norway. In
practice, this means that the most of its
seafarers are European — with the overwhelming majority being British.
To help meet the increased demand
for skilled seafarers in the ﬂeet, the company has just taken on two deck cadets,
two engineer cadets and two ETO trainees. Nautilus member Captain Michael
Jubb led the team which developed the
scheme, which he believes is the ﬁrst to
be undertaken by a company operating
only semi-submersible vessels.
‘We have been discussing the idea of
taking cadets for a number of years,’ he
said. ‘Although it is cyclical, ﬁnding candidates with the correct experience can
be challenging, and the current challenge
seems to be engineers.
‘There is no tonnage tax beneﬁt for us
in taking the cadets. By training cadets,
we see a beneﬁt as they will be exposed to
The 454-bed semi-submersible accommodation vessel Safe Caledonia
was visited by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency as part of the training
plan approval process
The Prosafe cadets, left to right: Bethany Reece, Ollie Barnsley, Lee Oddy, Thomas Wright, Luke Cornwall, and
Joshua Revy
our vessels, safety management system,
equipment, processes and procedures
early in their careers,’ Capt Jubb added.
He said the company had been conscious that it was recruiting STCWqualiﬁed ofﬁcers from the Merchant
Navy and, although it provides a signiﬁcant amount of offshore training and
encourages its ofﬁcers to go for higher
certiﬁcation, it was keen to contribute to
the skills base by taking on cadets.
The cadets were recruited through
Bibby Ship Management — although
one was already employed by Prosafe as
a technical Intern. Capt Jubb said he had
been impressed with the credentials of
the cadets and the experience that they
have already gained to prepare for their
training. The deck cadets will study at
Warsash, the ETOs at South Tyneside, and
one engineer cadet will study at Glasgow
and the other at Fleetwood.
While the engineer and ETO cadets
can get all their seatime on Prosafe units,
the deck cadets need to get half of their
12 months of seatime on merchant ships
and they will be placed through Bibby
Ship Management to get this.
Capt Jubb said the Maritime & Coastguard Agency had been very helpful
in tailoring the training to statutory
requirements. ‘We met them in Southampton in January 2014 and presented
a proposal and gap analysis of what we
believed the deck cadets could achieve on
our vessels and what we felt they would
need to be on other vessels for. ‘The meeting was constructive and they took the
information away to assess,’ he added.
‘This was followed up by a fact-ﬁnding
visit by a deck and engineer examiner to
our vessel Safe Caledonia whilst she was
anchored off Burntisland in the Firth of
Forth. We then received the proposed
seatime arrangement and approval in
August.’
Capt Jubb said Prosafe will closely
monitor the progress of its cadets, and
will provide mentoring with the support
of Bibby Ship Management. ‘If all goes
well, the idea would be to take another six
cadets in January 2017,’ he added.
Once they are qualiﬁed, the company
hopes to offer the cadets good opportunities to progress up the ranks. ‘The problem once again is the sea time for deck
ofﬁcers on MODUs, where it can be limited to 50% accrual rate with a cap at 50%
of the of the required sea time,’ Capt Jubb
explained. ‘We are trying to work around
this by having agreements in place with
other companies to allow us to second
our ofﬁcers to them to gain the seatime.
‘We have one ﬁrm arrangement in
place with a leading offshore vessel operator in Aberdeen and are in advanced
negotiations with a ferry company. We
feel that we can also assist these companies with their engineers gaining heavy
engineering experience on our vessels
when they are in yard periods so it can be
a win-win situation.’
The six new cadets taken on by Prosafe to
start in January 2015 are:
z Bethany Reece, from Aberdeen, who
has worked for Prosafe since July 2013 in
the role of technical intern in the technical
department where she has been involved
in archiving and project work. She has a
National Certiﬁcate in Mechanical Engineering and spends part of her spare time
helping to restore a Mk 1 Volkswagen Golf.
z Lee Oddy, from Lee on Solent, who
completed an apprenticeship with BAE
Systems in 2012 and worked in shipyards,
where he became interested in marine
engineering. He also has experience of
working as a third engineer on the 47m
motor yacht Big Aron.
z Luke Cornwall, from Washington, Tyne
& Wear, who has been a Sea Cadet since a
young age and was the Lord Lieutenant’s
Cadet of 2013.
z Joshua Revy, from Fareham, who has a
BTEC level 2 in vehicle systems and maintenance and a BTEC level 3 in Mechanical
Engineering (extended diploma) with a
distinction.
z Thomas Wright, from Harrogate, who
has worked as a deckhand on private
yachts since 2011. His most recent assignment was to the 210ft yacht Lady M, as
leading deckhand.
z Oliver Barnsley, from Cornwall, who
successfully completed Coast Guard Navigation courses whilst a volunteer Coast
Guard Watch Keeper for the National
Coastwatch Institution.
INTRODUCING THE...
MARITIME SKILLS ACADEMY
in association with Viking Recruitment Ltd is a centre of excellence for STCW and
professional specialist courses in safety, leadership and other essential maritime skills.
Courses currently running include:
• STCW 5-part Basic Safety Training
• Updating Training (FP&FF – PST)
• Crisis Management & Human Behaviour
• Bespoke Fire Team Training
• Security Awareness, Designated Security
Duties, Ship Security Ofﬁcer
• GMDSS
• HELM
• Yacht Interior Training
For a full list of course availability visit us at maritimeskillsacademy.com or give us a call.
MARITIME
SKILLS
ACADEMY
21 Prosafe_SR edit.indd 21
www.maritimeskillsacademy.com
+44(0)300 303 8393
[email protected]
10/12/2014 17:40
22 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
MARITIME EDUCATION
To make a
great career
even better
Nautilus is taking part in an important and wide-ranging
review of UK seafarer training. The programme got under
way last month with a top-level Merchant Navy Training
Board seminar to consider some of the key issues…
P
Why do shipowners not recruit more UK cadets? Are
training courses meeting the needs of seafarers and
employers? Can the system be improved to ensure
the nation gets the supply of skilled seafarers it requires for
the future?
These are just some of the questions posed at an industry
seminar last month which kicked off a major review of UK
Merchant Navy education and training. Nautilus will be part
of the process and will seek to ensure that it safeguards standards while also boosting training levels.
Opening the seminar, Chamber of Shipping CEO Guy Platten said the review will examine the current state of UK seafarer training and education systems and consider whether
they could be made more effective — and especially more
cost-effective.
Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) chairman David
Squire said seafarer training is one of ﬁve key strategic goals
set by the Chamber — with the aim of securing the ‘appropriate number of qualiﬁed maritime professionals’ to meet the
needs of the UK maritime sector. With growing global demand
for skilled seafarers, he said there is ‘a huge opportunity’ for
the UK to help stave off worldwide shortages.
Nigel Palmer, chairman of the Maritime Skills Alliance,
said the review will be taking place against the background of
an increasingly stronger relationship between the shipping
industry and the government. Over the next 12 to 18 months,
the strategic partnership programme will focus on the competitiveness of the UK maritime sector, he explained, and the
ﬁnancial package for training will be considered as part of
this.
Training has come a long way from the dark days of the
1990s, when the annual cadet intake was limping along at
around 300, he added. ‘Tonnage tax was a real game-changer,
but it is now over 10 years since it came into effect and if we
stand still there is a danger that we will end up where we were
before. We will lose our competitive edge and we will not be
fulﬁlling what we have agreed as strategic targets.
‘If we are not delivering the right people and not delivering
them in the right way, then we will not be meeting our objectives,’ he warned.
MNTB head Glenys Jackson said shipping companies are
seeking to attract ‘a good proportion of the better qualiﬁed
school leavers and graduates’ because of the high level of technical and management skills required for the masters and
chief engineers of the future.
However, she stressed, ‘multi-point’ entry routes remain
important — with the target mainstream FD/SPD programmes being backed by HND and HNC courses. While the
Pictured
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Little (deck), Jake Coyne (engine); Toby Scrivener (deck); Sam Williams (deck) and A
aim is to have around half of all recruits following FD/SPD
programmes, the relative cheapness of the HNC scheme may
have resulted in ‘some erosion’ of the target in recent years,
she added.
Of the 781 new-starters in 2013-14, 374 were on FD/SPD programmes, 404 on HNCs and three on degree courses. In contract, of the 879 ofﬁcer trainees starting in 2010-11, 433 were
on FD/SPD programmes, 412 on HNCs, 28 on degree courses
and six were experienced seafarers on conversion courses.
Gemma Grifﬁn, vice-president HR & crewing for DFDS Seaways UK, said her company had taken positive action in
response to the disturbing demographic proﬁle of the British
seafaring workforce. ‘The average age of the ABs on our three
ships is 51,’ she said, ‘and it is not just about replacing these
people, but about replenishing t
experience and knowledge is a m
threat to our business.’
DFDS has helped to pioneer a
gramme, with the ﬁrst deck traine
a ﬁrst batch of engineroom train
steps. The company has also w
develop Merchant Navy ‘trailblaz
engineroom and catering crew —
establish apprenticeship standar
electrotechnical ratings.
P&O Ferries ﬂeet director Joh
employs more than 2,000 seafa
also investing in the maritime ski
Appleton: do we need so m
will also deliver major benefits for their employers, Nautilus International
I
professional and technical assistant David Appleton told the MNTB seminar.
Improving maritime education and training to better meet the needs of seafarers
Nautilus professional and technical assistant
David Appleton speaking at the MNTB seminar
22-23 centre.indd 22
Drawing from his own experience as a cadet and an officer, and from feedback from
members, Mr Appleton pointed to a number of areas in which the current system could be
improved.
Looking at the ‘bigger picture’ — and the needs of seafarers over their whole career,
rather than exclusively at what is required by legislation — shows much closer alignment
with the needs of employers, he suggested.
When officer trainees qualify, the company needs to know it has competent, skilled,
and knowledgeable officers who are capable of using that knowledge and skill to make
decisions in real-life scenarios, without supervision, he pointed out.
‘What the seafarer needs is a job! And in order to get that job, they need a qualification
which proves to any potential employer that they have the required level of skill and
knowledge, and they are able to apply that independently to real-life scenarios,’ he
added.
‘What we have to ask ourselves is, does the current system provide either party with
100% with of what they require and, if not, how can the system be improved?’
Although the system works well in many cases, Nautilus increasingly hears concerns
from newly-qualified seafarers about the problems in finding work because of insufficient
experience, he said. At the same time, some owners complain of a perceived lack of
experience of junior officers and their ability to apply their knowledge in the real world.
Mr Appleton told how — ‘despite applying for countless jobs, everything from offshore
support vessels to bulk carriers to superyachts’ — it had taken him eight months to get his
first job after passing his orals and a further month to get his first pay cheque.
‘You hear the same story repeated over and over — the only difference is that not
everybody is in a position to hang on for nine months before they give up and go and do
something else,’ he added.
Faced with such feedback, he suggested, the industry needs to consider what is
taught, how it is taught and how it is assessed in a way that meets the needs of both
parties.
This could include such questions as whether the amount of time a trainee spends
learning celestial navigation and manual radar plotting is proportionate in today’s world
where the officer will be working on a ship using ECDIS, ARPA and AIS. ‘Could the short
amount of time available be better spent by reducing the amount of time spent on these
subjects and focusing more on more relevant subjects?’
Attention should also focus on ways to ensure that an officer’s knowledge is up to date
and relevant when they arrive on the ship, Mr Appleton said. ‘For example, when a newly
qualified engineer arrives on a ship, how much is he or she going to know about exhaust
gas scrubbers and ballast water treatment systems? Probably very little, but the reality is
that this is the equipment that they will be using on a daily basis.’
The industry should look outside the traditional rigid framework and consider
novel solutions — such as a requirement for cadets to conduct a research project and
presentation on issues that are likely to affect the industry in the first few years of their
career. ‘This would at least introduce the requirement that the student has done some
reading and kept abreast of developments in the industry,’ he pointed out.
Mr Appleton said radical thought is also needed in the way that trainees can
demonstrate their competence. ‘We have been assessing candidates for OOW by written
and oral exam since around 1850. Is it not time, 160 years down the line, that we take
another look and decide if this is still the most appropriate form of assessment? Perhaps
a more appropriate form of assessment would be to put them in a simulator and assess if
they are capable of taking charge of a watch?
Similarly, he argued, the endpoint of training should not seen as the point at which
the candidate proves their theoretical knowledge, but instead should be the stage at
which they demonstrate their practical knowledge in real life.
‘To do this, you simply move the endpoint back,’ he explained. ‘The candidate
10/12/2014 18:35
sp
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at
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of
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en
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 23
MARITIME EDUCATION
Unsimulated delight for
pupils taking the helm
and Jodi Le Breton have helped
K
to give a group of Year 8 school pupils
Nautilus members Matthew Parker
the
apprentices
Oliver
Skiggs
Bradley
Heath
Harry
the
he P&O ratings
rati
tings
tin
i gs app
appren
renti
tices
tic
i es Oli
verSk
ver
er Sk
Ski
iggs (eng
igg
((engine),
engiine
eng
ine), Bra
ine)
B
Bradl
radl
dley H
eath
eat
th (d
((deck),
deck)
deck
dec
k) Ha
k),
H
Harr
arry
nd Ashley Hawkes (engine)
hing the skills base. To lose their
is a major challenge and a future
eer a ratings apprenticeship prorainees now qualiﬁed as EDH and
trainees following in their footalso worked with the MNTB to
lblazer’ apprenticeships for deck,
ew — along with further plans to
andards for onboard services and
or John Garner said his company
seafarers on its 21 vessels and is
me skills base. Six deck and engine-
room apprentices have started this year, and the company
has more than 50 cadets — who all get a job when they qualify.
The high age proﬁle of the workforce is a concern, Mr Garner said, and while some ofﬁcers are now choosing to serve
beyond the traditional retirement age the low levels of training in the 1980s mean there is something of a ‘generation gap’
— with the pressure on supply being increased by demand
from the offshore sector.
Mr Garner said companies are concerned about ﬂag state
‘gold plating’ of training requirements — warning that typespeciﬁc ECDIS training could cost ‘millions’ while also reducing the ﬂexibility to assign seafarers to different ships within
a ﬂeet.
Captain Andrew Cassels, VP safety and operational risk
the chance to sail a containership and a
superyacht — on the simulator at Warsash
Maritime Academy, pictured.
The pupils from Sandown Bay Academy
were chosen after they were awarded
the ‘Most Innovative Project’ prize in a
regional competition called ‘My School
is an Island’. Their project focused on
using renewable energy and low-carbon
transportation.
The two chief officers, who both
serve with the ferry operator Red Funnel,
assisted the students with their projects as
mentors in the Go4SET programme, which
promotes STEM subject-based careers to
schoolchildren.
Matthew said: ‘It was a privilege to
with BP Shipping, explained his company’s accelerated development programme — which aims to identify potential highﬂiers among the junior ofﬁcers and to give them the skills
they need to transfer to management posts ashore.
‘We have invested a lot in talent and we want them to stay
with the company,’ he said. ‘We look at ways to give them the
training and the tools to move into senior positions, and the
programme gives them the breadth of experience in the
ofﬁce and the understanding of how the company works to be
able to properly take on senior roles.
‘Our expectation is that some of these ofﬁcers will be the
future senior marine and engineering managers in the company, and maybe the future senior leaders too,’ Capt Cassels
added.
much celestial navigation?
spends time understudying the OOW, they prove their theoretical knowledge through
assessment and they return to sea for a period on cadet wages, but taking charge of a
watch as they normally would, with the added safety net that they are supervised whilst
they gain confidence.
‘This way both parties win. The recruiting company can be confident that the
candidate is actually able to apply their knowledge, the seafarer has a qualification
that has enabled them to truly prove their competence, and a seafarer with a UK CoC is
suddenly an even more attractive prospect to industry than one from another country
who has no further sea time since their oral exam.’
Such officers will either progress to the highest ranks at sea or seek to go ashore
at some point and use the skills and knowledge they have acquired at sea in specialist
maritime roles ashore. ‘The only scenario where the employer or the industry as a whole
does not benefit is the scenario where the seafarer comes ashore and leaves the industry
altogether,’ Mr Appleton pointed out.
However, he warned, similar questions also need to be asked about seafarer training
at later stages of their career. ‘Is the emphasis placed on certain topics still proportionate
and is the way that it is assessed still the most appropriate? For example, I believe formal
management and business qualifications for somebody sitting their master’s ticket would
be of benefit both onboard and ashore.’
Depending on which route is followed, achieving the second certificate of competence
can require anything from six weeks to nine months at college and cost anything from
approximately £3,000 to £8,500, Mr Appleton added. ‘This is without taking into
consideration accommodation, travel and living costs and if the seafarer is provided with
paid leave, the cost of providing cover while they are at college.
‘Off the top of my head, I cannot think of many other industries where the process
of training and promoting your employees is potentially so arduous,’ he said. ‘For some
seafarers and their employers this will be too significant a hurdle, so in some cases we will
end up losing talented individuals unnecessarily.’
22-23 centre.indd 23
One way to make the process less arduous for seafarers and their employers, whilst
meeting all of the requirements of the STCW Convention, would be to reassess the entry
point.
‘If you are looking at the bigger picture and planning for the whole career of a seafarer,
what benefit is there of sending somebody on a course where a few years down the line
they will need nine months at college in order to gain their next certificate when there is
a course readily available that will only require six weeks?’ he stressed. ‘Admittedly the
financial outlay at the beginning will be slightly larger, but in the long run a few months
extra on cadet wages pales into insignificance when compared to the costs mentioned
earlier.
‘For some, the current system of going to college for however long is required
before taking their exams makes perfect sense — but why should this be the only route
available?’ If I can achieve a master’s degree or even a doctorate by correspondence
what possible reason is there that somebody cannot achieve a chief mate’s or second
engineer’s by correspondence, completing modules in their leave and then sitting the
assessment once they are ready?
‘By allowing more flexibility and removing barriers to progression, both at sea and
ashore, not only will you improve the overall level of competence in the workforce but you
will increase retention as well,’ Mr Appleton concluded. ‘You can have the best training in
the world — but if a person becomes disillusioned with the system, then all of the time,
effort and money that has gone into their recruitment and training is wasted because they
are either going to leave the industry altogether, or they will plod grudgingly stay and get
on with job whilst never reaching their full potential.
‘This is why, perhaps even more important than delivering the right content to the
right people, it is important to deliver it to them in the right way. In a way that they
perceive as helping them rather than hindering them, where they feel they are included in
the process rather than having it dictated to them and, where they feel it is delivered in an
efficient and effective way.’
work with such an enthusiastic team of
young people and I enjoyed sharing with
them what makes working at sea such an
interesting and varied career.
‘I’m delighted that several of the pupils
are interested in pursuing a career in the
Merchant Navy, and spending the day
at Warsash Maritime Academy provided
them with a valuable insight into the
range of opportunities available to them.’
Jaenicke: cadets
should chip in
for their training
British officers is among
K
the highest in the world and
The pricetag for training
it’s time to consider whether
cadets should contribute to
the costs, the MNTB seminar
heard.
‘The days of companies
footing the whole bill may be
over,’ said Viking Recruitment
MD Matthew Jaenicke.
‘Individuals may have to
contribute to their cadetship
and have a responsibility to
put some funding in.’
The meeting heard that
attitudes towards student
debt have changed in recent
years, with young people now
much more open to starting
their working lives with large
loans to pay off. One speaker
said that there are already
clear signs of potential officers
‘voting with their pockets’ —
and there are 34 self-funded
cadets at Plymouth University,
for instance.
Chamber of Shipping
employment and legal policy
director Tim Springett said
studies showed that some
96% of cadets who get their
OOW certificate go on gain
employment at sea — a
‘success’ rate that many other
courses would struggle to
match. Owners said the bill
for UK officer trainees has
risen sharply in recent years
as a consequence of the
government’s Support for
Maritime Training (SMarT)
scheme failing to keep pace
with the significant increases
in tuition fees. SMarT used to
cover around 43% of cadetship
costs, Mr Springett said, but its
value has now fallen to barely
20%.
Graeme Thomson, head of
Maersk Crewing’s UK office,
complained that UK cadets
are the second costliest in the
world — with their training
(including salaries and travel
to and from ship) adding
up to $68,000, compared
with $30,000 in Denmark,
$14,000 in Russia and the
Philippines, and between
$6,500 to $12,000 in India.
‘Maersk would train more
UK cadets if the costs were
lower,’ he added.
Chamber of Shipping
chief executive Guy
Platten suggested that the
forthcoming review should
include a working group to
examine different funding
models for training.
MNTB chairman David
Squire said a wide range of
ideas need to be considered.
‘This is a very important period
for us to review all of this,’ he
pointed out. ‘We don’t know if
the next government is going
to continue giving us SMarT
and we have to be prepared to
come up with other options.’
10/12/2014 18:35
24 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
MARITIME SECURITY
Nigerian naval police with a group of
suspected pirates arrested after they
attempted to hijack a barge and its crew
near the port city of Calabar
Picture: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
How to survive as a hostage
A Nautilus International member who was freed in
October having been taken hostage and kept in captivity
by Nigerian pirates has urged other seafarers to learn
from his experience. The master — who does not wish
to be identified — was serving onboard an AHTS vessel
when he and four other crew members were kidnapped
by pirates who had boarded the ship off the coast of
Nigeria during the hours of darkness. He describes how
the events unfolded and offers advice to others who
might face a similar ordeal…
J
The pirates came onboard
the ship shortly after
midnight. The alarm was
raised by the watch team only after
the pirates were spotted already
onboard and quickly gaining
access to the bridge, and so only 12
of the 14 crew managed to get into
the citadel.
They had used a big hammer to
smash their way onto the bridge
and around the vessel and then we
could hear them moving about
outside the citadel. The 12 crew
members who had made it to the
citadel spent two hours inside it
while the pirates sought to break in.
They were trying to break the door
down and everyone was very scared
as there was nowhere else to hide.
They spent half an hour trying
to penetrate through the steering gear watertight door before
another nightmare started and
they began hammering on a skylight. At some point they managed to lift it up by about 5cm
and then they used a metal saw to
break in and come inside.
The four non-Nigerian crew
on the ship — one Romanian, two
Filipino and one Indonesian —
were taken ashore with one local
seafarer. I don’t know how they
managed to navigate through the
darkness and heavy rain, but it
took us about an hour and a half
to reach the Niger delta and then
we steamed through creeks for
about another hour before reaching their base in the jungle.
The group holding us included
24_pirates_v1dt.indd 24
ﬁve young gunmen who were
responsible for guarding the hostages, 10 ‘senior gunmen’ (the
assault team responsible for the
attacks and kidnapping), and six
leaders supervising and ﬁnancing the activities of the group.
Although it was difﬁcult to determine who the leaders were, we
learned that the group had been
responsible for hijacking three
other offshore support vessels and
a tanker in recent times.
Negotiations began two days
after we were taken from the ship.
When they hijacked us, there was a
lot of excitement about the money
they would be getting and they
were initially expecting to get very
big amounts of money. Unfortunately for us, we knew that the
company could not afford to pay
anywhere close to the expected
ransom… thus our worries for our
lives were big. The pirates even
bit the Nigerian crew member
when he conﬁrmed that the vessel
belonged to a small local company.
The pirates knew the process
of negotiation very well: amiable
settlement with the owner in the
initial stage, followed by threatening the owner, disclosing the
event to families, authorities,
government bodies, etc, persuading the payment settlement.
At this point of the story, having got home and got help and
advice from Maritime Piracy
Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) through assistance from Nautilus, I must share
my thoughts on what I’ve learnt
from my experience.
It was awful that someone was
treating you as merchandise, but
in that situation there were signs
to consider:
z there was no company insurance coverage for this kind of
event, and, in most cases, the risk
for ransom payment will not be
covered
z from the moment of kidnapping until release is concluded,
any media coverage of the event
will severely jeopardise efforts
to release hostages. This is
because the ‘deal’ is made with
an untrusted party that can break
the agreement at any point if they
consider that they could get more
z from the morality point of
view, any amount of money (big
or small) paid to the pirates for
release of the hostages will in fact
be used for new pirate attacks,
endangering more lives
z thus the negotiating process
will take time, during which it is
up to you to survive
Eventually — some 14 days
after we were taken hostage — a
payment of about 50 times less
than the initial demand was
agreed, along with the pirates
receiving new electronic laptops,
smartphones and keeping valuables they had seized from the crew
members and from the vessel.
But even when we thought we
were being freed, our ordeal continued. There was another scary
moment in the day of our release,
when the extract team of two people, representing the owner, came
to deliver the ransom and retrieve
us from the Niger delta. Because
the pirates were not happy with
the ransom ﬁnally agreed, they
stripped the two men of all their
belongings, watches, mobile
phones, wallets and jewellery, then
started drinking whiskey received
as part of the ransom, ﬁring their
weapons, then calling the owner
and asking for more. The transfer
and release of hostages took somewhere from three to four hours at
the meeting point, and during that
time our survival was very uncertain.
Even the boat driver, who
was taking the hostages and the
extract team, after completing
the handing over from the pirates,
to the point where a car escort was
awaiting, tried to demand some
extra money. Knowing that no
one in the boat had any phone,
the driver stopped the boat in the
remote location and called some
fellow boat drivers to help him
get more than agreed initially,
and there was another alarming
stand-off before we ﬁnally made
it to safety.
J
Looking back at the experience, I would say it is
important not to show
anger or fear. My big concern was
for the well-being of my wife and
children, and I would advise anyone in that position to try to keep
smiling and not think about anything. We were quiet and cooperative — we washed the dishes,
swept around the base camp and
dug a drainage channel around
the hut of leaves — but they were
all constantly taking drugs and
carrying guns, with their ﬁngers
on the trigger all the time. Any
attempt to free us by force would
have been a disaster — all they
were waiting for was a commercial
solution: the ransom payment.
We had been kept in very poor
conditions in the jungle, and I had
been unable to sleep for three
days when the camp ﬂooded due
to continuous rainfall. The crew
were concerned because they did
not have access to their malaria
tablets, and after release all but
one have been diagnosed with
malaria infection. There were all
kind of dangers in the jungle, and
malaria is just one of them.
I urge seafarers working in
the region to check their insurance cover — even if the ransom
is not part of the company cover,
make sure your life is covered well
enough so that is not only you and
your family interested in your survival. Discuss with your employer
what contingency plan they have
in place in the event that the
undesirable happens. Decide for
yourself if it is good enough.
Before getting to the high-risk
area, prepare a list of personal
contact details to be used in case
it is needed; leave it with your
employer and with your nearest
embassy in the region. Seafarers
should familiarise themselves
with the security systems and
equipment onboard their vessels.
The Best Management Procedures were useful and if you follow
all the precautions and restrict
access as much as possible, you
will buy yourself more time.
I’ve worked at sea for 15 years,
starting out on Maersk containerships. This was my ﬁrst time working in west Africa, although I had
visited ports in the area before.
My work for the company that
owned the AHTS was to help train
the crew and also to set up procedures to stop any illegal trading of
the fuel onboard.
When we spoke to the pirates
a lot of them were talking about
payback time, saying how the
west had been taking their money,
keeping them in slavery for centuries and now stealing their fuel.
I felt that I lived through about
seven life or death situations
throughout this period in captivity. You get through day by day and
you have to be certain that you will
get through to tomorrow, because
the uncertainty will destroy your
mental health otherwise.
Advice service
for seafarers
and their families
FREE, FAST &
CONFIDENTIAL
SAIL is an advice service operated by Greenwich Citizens
Advice Bureaux on behalf of the Seamen’s Hospital Society.
We provide information, advice and support to serving and
retired merchant seafarers, ﬁshermen and their families on
a wide range of issues including:
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Post: 30 King William Walk, Greenwich SE10 9HU
10/12/2014 17:41
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 25
SEAFARER HEALTH
Maritime medics met last month to discuss the
growing problem of overweight seafarers. Why is
obesity a big issue for crew members – and does it
boil down to the simple question of fit or fat?
Seafaring’s
growing
problem…
K
Obesity, to coin a phrase, is something of a
weighty problem for the shipping industry
— it accounts for more than one in four of all
restricted, time-limited or failed UK seafarer medical examinations.
So it was little surprise that the issue of ‘ﬁt or fat’
dominated discussions at this year’s Maritime &
Coastguard Agency maritime health seminar last
month.
More than 100 MCA approved doctors met to
consider the issues raised by the apparently growing
girth of many crew members, and to hear some
expert evidence on the challenges that obesity may
present onboard ships today.
In 2013 UK medical examinations, obesity
resulted in 1,567 seafarers receiving time-limited
medical certiﬁcates, 53 restricted, 275 restricted and
time-limited, 75 being declared temporarily unﬁt
and two failures.
Over the past year, the MCA has been asking the
doctors to focus on seafarers with a body mass index
(BMI) over 35, to help improve data and understanding of the medical decision-making process — with
the aim of ensuring greater consistency on potentially contentious assessments of ﬁtness.
Seafarers, of course, are not alone in facing the
battle of the bulge. Globally, more than 2.1bn people,
or nearly 30% of the world’s population, are overweight or obese, and on current trends almost half of
the world’s adults will be fat by 2030.
In the UK, obesity rates have risen four-fold over
the past decade and the country now ranks third in
the global overweight ‘league table’, consultant physician Dr Rob Andrews told the conference.
Not only does excess weight increase the risk of
many life-shortening diseases — including cancer,
heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and
musculo-skeletal conditions — it presents particular
risks for seafarers, he added, and most notably if sudden illness or other health problems develop at sea.
Obese crew members are more likely to become
short of breath and to get tired more quickly, as well
as being more prone to have trips and falls. They may
also face problems in emergencies, evacuations and
entering or leaving enclosed spaces — risks which
may also compromise the safety of other crew
members.
Dr Andrews said doctors should also focus on
obstructive sleep apnoea — a condition which is
more common among obese people and can severely
disrupt sleep patterns, leading to increased risks of
fatigue-related accidents.
He said there are many myths about the best
ways to lose weight, but low calorie diets, drug therapy and bariatric surgery (gastric bands) have been
shown to be the most effective.
Andrew Neighbour, who runs The Physical Initiative, said he has built up data on more than 10,000
seafarers who have taken part in the maritime health
and ﬁtness programme. This has revealed some worrying statistics, he added, with as many as 70% having been shown to be unable to satisfactorily complete a three-minute 10-inch step test — although
the programme can reduce this total to around 20%.
Mr Neighbour said that emergency duties
onboard ship are presently allocated to crew members irrespective of their ﬁtness. ‘I think that a safety
assessment and physical ability test reﬂecting the
size, shape and function of the seafarer will be a
much better way to proceed in the future,’ he added.
Lt Cdr Alan Cartwright, from Warsash Maritime
Academy, pointed out that the STCW 2010 Manila
Amendments will introduce many new requirements for training — including refresher courses for
personal survival, ﬁre-ﬁghting and rescue boats —
which will place physical demands on seafarers, with
Wearing bulky breathing
apparatus in confined spaces
poses additional challenges
for overweight crew members
extremes of heat and cold, whole body vibration and
issues of mobility.
David Riley, team leader at the Academy’s ﬁre
school, said the advanced ﬁre-ﬁghting training in
particular requires seafarers to be relatively ﬁt and
agile. In total, he pointed out, a ﬁre kit can amount to
22kg of additional weight to be carried around.
Marine consultant Neil McNabb, a master mariner with cruiseship and tanker experience, said participation in a ﬁre party can be very strenuous and
can leave even a ﬁt seafarer feeling exhausted after
30 minutes.
He said the marked increase in the average size of
ships is also adding to the physical demands on seafarers — especially when this coincides with reductions in crew complements.
Dr Sally Bell, who was appointed as the MCA’s
chief medical advisor in March 2014, said the question of ‘ﬁt or fat’ is a difﬁcult one and can be a common source of complaint arising from seafarer medical examinations — especially if seafarers or their
employers consider there have been unfair or unsafe
decisions — and the Agency is seeking to ensure that
assessments are as consistent as possible.
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Media Partners
10/12/2014 18:20
26 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHY
Positive images of pilotage
Nautilus
International is
launching its 2015
photo competition
this month, with
the ever-popular
theme of ‘life
at sea’. To show
how it’s done,
professional
photographer
Colin McPherson
took his camera
out on the water
last month with
Liverpool pilot
James Smart. If
you think your
photography skills
could match up
to Colin’s, turn to
page 36 and find
out how you could
win up to £1,000...
26-27_pilotd_SR edit.indd 26
I
Photographer Colin McPherson
joined Liverpool pilot James
Smart as he was helping to take
the Panama-ﬂagged containership MSC
Sandra outbound from the Seaforth
container terminal.
The 43,575gt vessel is a regular visitor,
operating a service linking Montreal,
Liverpool, Antwerp, Bremenhaven and
Le Havre. The pilotage takes around
ﬁve hours in good weather from going
onboard, sailing into Gladstone lock,
running down to the River Mersey and
disembarking approximately 11nm
outside the port, clear of the main
channel.
‘I am an appropriated pilot for MSC
and go onboard their ships regularly,’
James explains. ‘That way we become
familiar with the vessels and crew, gain
experience and build a good working
relationship with MSC. We are then able
to provide the best possible service to
them.’
He has served as a Liverpool pilot for
nearly eight years following a seagoing
career that began at the age of 16 as a
deck cadet with P&O/Princess Cruises.
He spent 12 years with the company and
attended Warsash Maritime Academy
There are
around 9,000
acts of pilotage
in Liverpool each
year…
“
”
in Southampton for all his studying
through to his Master Mariner CoC.
James left P&O in 2006, having had
an interview with Liverpool Pilots, and
he did agency work on aggregate and
maintenance dredgers and onboard a
science/survey vessel to gain some ship
handling experience before joining the
pilot service — continuing something of
a family tradition.
‘We have quite a long seafaring
history in our family, but the pilotage
side began with my dad’s uncle, Eric
Smart, who was a Liverpool pilot during
the war,’ he says. ‘That got my father,
Roger Smart, and my two uncles, Ray
and Mike Smart, interested and they
all became Liverpool Pilots. Ray and
Mike later became pilots in the port of
Southampton.
‘I can’t say I was ever destined to be a
pilot, but as soon as my family told me
about their careers I knew I wanted to go
to sea,’ he says. ‘The priority was to get
my master’s and then decide what to do. I
had a fantastic career with P&O/Princess,
but the opportunity to join Liverpool
Pilots came about and I feel very lucky to
be in this job now.
‘I really enjoy the satisfaction of
sailing a large ship in or out of Liverpool.
I recently became appropriated and
do a lot of containership work, and still
can’t believe that I actually get to handle
these large ships under sometimes
challenging conditions,’ he adds.
‘I remember being nervous about my
ﬁrst small coaster out of Garston, but we
have an excellent training system that
builds you up steadily and with support
from my colleagues over the years it’s
been a wonderful start to my career.
‘When you start with us, you have six
months’ initial training, accompanying
pilots on jobs that we call leadsmans.
Once you have completed the required
number of leadsmans, you present
yourself for your Class 4 oral exam. The
process is the same all the way up the
classes to Class 1 and it takes seven years
to become an appropriated pilot.
‘During the training, we spend time
on the tugs to experience the job from
their point of view and also spend time in
VTS, so we get a full picture of other areas
that support pilotage.
‘Our training meets A960
international standards and we were
one of the ﬁrst pilotage services in
the UK to be accredited with ISPO by
Lloyds Register,’ James points out.
‘Several years ago we invested in our
very own simulator to enable trainees
and also current pilots to practise on
different types of vessels under varying
conditions, and recently we added a tug
escort simulator. We now offer external
training, tug and azipod workshops as
well as the MRM Human Factors training
course.’
I
There are around 9,000 acts of
pilotage in Liverpool each year
and each pilot does an average of
approximately 185 movements a year.
The main challenge for pilots is the
size of the tides in Liverpool. ‘We have
a 10.5m range on a spring tide, with 5.5
10/12/2014 18:21
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 27
MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHY
“
The main
challenge for
pilots is the size
of the tides…
”
knot rates,’ James explains. ‘Owners want
to bring their vessels in with maximum
cargo and it’s our job to make sure they
get in safely with sufﬁcient under-keel
clearance. We time the approaches
to pass Liverpool Bar safely. It can be
difﬁcult manoeuvring large ships in
these tides and we get fantastic support
from the two tug companies, Svitzer and
Smit, who have lots of experience.
‘The other challenging aspect of
piloting ships in Liverpool is the weather.
As we are located on the Irish Sea we get
some very strong winds and, combined
with the tides, this can make the job even
more challenging.’
There is a wide range of tonnage using
the port, including tankers, general
cargo, cruise ships, barges, RFA and Royal
Navy, tall ships, offshore and wind farm
support vessels.
At present, there are 55 pilots — with
number 56 due to start training soon.
‘We are always monitoring the number
of pilots we need against how busy the
port is,’ James adds. ‘Recently we have
seen the port becoming very busy with
projects like the Gwynt y Mor windfarm
construction, and Cammell Lairds have
been busy with their RFA maintenance
26-27_pilotd_SR edit.indd 27
programme and the Queen Elizabeth
aircraft carrier project.
‘There are more and more cruiseships
visiting year on year and of course we
are involved with the new Liverpool
2 container terminal project,’ he
says. ‘When the new river terminal is
completed we will be able to bring in
the post-panamax containerships
that other ports are now receiving. We
are currently involved in the dredging
campaign for the deep-water channel
leading up to Liverpool 2 and also with
the construction of the berth, with
barges carrying piles being towed into
the river. We are already training on our
simulator, which is based at our ofﬁce in
Birkenhead, for the arrival of these larger
ships.’
These developments are fuelling
demand for new pilots. ‘There are lots
of good jobs at sea now and also new
jobs in areas such as the private yacht
industry,’ James reﬂects. ‘Wages and time
at home have improved and so we have
to make sure a job at Liverpool Pilots is an
attractive career to come in to. If you are
young and have your master’s ticket with
command experience, then we want to
hear from you.’
10/12/2014 18:21
28 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
MARITIME SAFETY
As Allan Graveson of Nautilus told the conference, some engineers need running shoes because of the distances they cover
Conference speaker John Wright of Wrightway
Listen to your crews!
w
Neglecting safety management is like leaving
your garden to run wild.
That was the message from John
Wright of the maritime training
company Wrightway, speaking
on HQS Wellington in London last
month.
Mr Wright told the Maritime
Human Element Training conference that getting a pristine
garden takes a lot of time, effort
and continual care — and the
shipping industry should take a
similar approach to safety.
The metaphors and similes
came thick and fast from Mr
Wright as he spoke about attitudes to safety. ‘Behaviour is the
tip of the iceberg because we can
see it,’ he explained. ‘But what
drives those behaviours is the
much bigger issue of attitudes,
and these are hidden beneath the
surface.
‘Changing collective beliefs,
attitudes and values is difﬁcult —
normally a ﬁve to 10 year period
— but it’s worth it to get a perfect
garden.’
Mr Wright said attitudes
across the industry need to be
reversed — going back to a time
when captains were trusted to
run their ships rather than being
treated like ‘boys in short trousers’ and being required to defer
every major decision to those
working ashore. ‘This is not a
good way to run a business,’ he
added. ‘Companies pay captains
a lot of money to run ships; why
not trust them to do that job?’
He said that human element
training is the best way to bring
all staff together to learn how to
change attitudes and trust each
other — and simulator activity
is the best way to carry out that
training.
Human element training can pay for
itself many times over, a conference
heard last month, and enginerooms
need special attention. DEBBIE
CAVALDORO reports…
‘The best courses have a mix of
ﬁve senior engineers, ﬁve bridge
team and two shore-side staff,’
he added. ‘This way there can be
two simulators running together
in a realistic set-up. We can then
properly examine what happens
to each area when there is a problem with one.
‘One of the key learning outcomes is getting all three areas
talking together so that no issues
are hidden.’
If you ask the crew what’s
wrong and why safety attitudes
are the way they are, they will
tell you, Mr Wright added. Then
it is just a matter of taking their
concerns, issues and solutions
onboard and making an investment for change. ‘People know
the cost of things; you won’t hear
ridiculously expensive solutions
— you’ll hear real ideas, which
will make a signiﬁcant difference.
If you follow your crew, I guarantee you will see a three to one
return on investment, and you
WERE YOU AWARE that following the successul outcome of a judicial
review in respect of two Seatax clients, (brought before the Courts by
Nautilus in collaboration with Seatax Ltd as expert advisors on the Seafarers
Earnings Deduction), it was deemed that the two Seatax clients did have a
legitimate expectation in applying the only published Revenue Practice with
regard to the application of a day of absence in relation to a vessel sailing
between UK ports. HMRC did not want to accept this practice (although
referred to in their very own publications) but have now accepted that
expectations of a claim based on such practice would be valid until the published practice is withdrawn.
Following on from this, HMRC have now conﬁrmed that this Practice is withdrawn as of the
14 February 2014. Seatax was the only Advisory Service that challenged HMRC on this point.
WHY TAKE CHANCES WITH YOUR TAX AFFAIRS?
Let Seatax use their knowledge and 35 years experience to
ensure you do not fall foul of the rules
Please visit our website for full details of the case.
OUR FEES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Annual Return ...................................................................................................... £215.00 inclusive of VAT at 20%
NAUTILUS members in the UK sailing under a foreign ﬂag agreement on gross remuneration can obtain a 10% reduction on
the above enrolment fee by quoting their NAUTILUS membership number and a 5% reduction on re-enrolment.
or
ite, e now
r
W on re
ph r mo :
fo tails
de
Elgin House, 83 Thorne Road, Doncaster DN1 2ES.
Tel: (01302) 364673 - Fax No: (01302) 738526 - E-mail: [email protected]
www.seatax.ltd.uk
28 engine rooms_SR edit.indd Sec2:28
won’t get that sort of return from
any other business investment.’
He added that in order for
the industry to grow it must
shift away from the ‘18th century “I talk, you listen” management style’, to one where ideas
and strategy are driven from the
ground up. Managers need to ask
how they can help their staff to
realise their potential and allow
them to drive a safety culture
which is adopted at all levels, he
concluded.
Monica Lundh, a lecturer at
Chalmers university in Sweden,
agreed that the solutions to many
safety issues on ships lie with the
crew, and added that the industry
needs to change the way it views
engineroom teams — adopting
polices which have been developed under human element
training for bridge teams.
Ms Lundh has conducted
research to compare the changes
in bridge design with the changes
in engineroom design. She
explained that you could see a
logical pattern of development in
bridge design, with ergonomics
becoming more central to layout.
‘When we look at enginerooms, starting in the 1970s when
there were no computers, the
engineroom was not designed to
contain one and worked reasonably well. When the ﬁrst computers arrived they were generally
put in the corner and people
accepted this on the basis that
they were retroﬁtting.
‘By the 1980s there were the
beginnings of enginerooms
being designed for computers,
but they were still in the corner
because engineers were still not
really expected to spend much
time sitting in front of them,’ she
added. ‘By the end of the 2000s
a large amount of the analogue
machines have gone and there is
a lot of computerisation, which
had been expected at the build
stage and planned for,’ Ms Lundh
continued. ‘But for some reason
we don’t touch the engineroom
control panel. This means some
of the computer screens are
still tucked away in the corner.
We have not seen the same rate
of ergonomic development in
the engineroom that we have in
bridge design.’
Ms Lundh said that during
her research she had come across
many examples of poor engineroom design — including one
job that used to be undertaken by
pressing one button and which
then required 17 mouse clicks,
and especially enginerooms with
too many alarms.
She agreed with Mr Wright
that the answers to these problems could often be found within
the engineroom crews — but
that because of their nature,
engineers are often more likely
to devise their own immediate
workarounds rather than offer
strategic solutions for the future.
‘There is so much knowledge
there, everything we need to
know is already known. But the
problem is engineers don’t just
sit back and say they can’t do
something unless fundamentals are changed,’ she argued.
‘They make it work, and by doing
so they put themselves at risk.
“
Engineers
tend to try and
solve problems
themselves
instead of
speaking out
”
We need to change enginerooms
to support crew.’
Ms Lundh concluded that
resolving engineroom design
should be easy. ‘We could simply
take SOLAS V 15 and adapt it,’ she
said. ‘And by “adapt it” I mean
take the words “bridge team” and
change them to “engineroom
team”.
‘Training teaches seafarers
about situational awareness, but
how can they have situational
awareness if all the information
is only available to the one person sitting right in front of the
screen?’ she asked. ‘If you know
what’s going on, you can use your
training to know what to do about
it.’
Nautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson said he
agreed that engineroom design
is a problem and some engineers
should be ‘given running shoes
because of the amount of distance they have to cover’.
But he argued that amending
SOLAS guidance is not the way
forward. ‘All we ever get is nonmandatory guidance — it is seen
as the answer to everything,’ he
said. ‘These are just excuses to
avoid actually doing anything
about safety.’
10/12/2014 18:21
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 29
MARITIME SAFETY
F
The International Maritime Organisation
formally adopted the Polar Code last
month, and Freddie Ligthelm, master
mariner and staff surveyor at Braemar, says it’s now
the moment for the shipping industry to carefully
consider its implications.
Climate change has led to the opening up of
Arctic and Antarctic waters for shipping during a
much longer period of the year than had previously
been possible. However, using these trade lanes
presents many challenges — both in terms of
demands on equipment in low temperatures and
the training of crew not used to working in such
testing conditions.
‘Salvage operations in the Antarctic are made
problematic purely because of the vast distances
to safe ports,’ said Mr Ligthlem from the Cape
Town ofﬁce of Braemer (which incorporates the
Salvage Association). ‘We have seen ships having to
overwinter in the Antarctic, where temperatures
may go down as far as -86°C and ice conditions
become really harsh, which most vessels are not
designed to encounter.
‘Most vessels currently venturing there do so
in the summer months and are fully designed and
capable of handling the ice conditions,’ he added.
‘However, the increasing number of passenger
vessels and chartered cargo vessels which support
the scientiﬁc fraternity domiciled there pose risks
for salvage should they become beset, trapped or
damaged by ice.
‘There are few, if any, ice escort vessels south
of the equator that could be summoned to rescue
or salvage vessels in trouble in the Antarctic,’ he
pointed out. ‘This was evident late last year when
the Russian passenger vessel Akademik Shokalski
was beset in ice approximately 1,500nm south of
Hobart. Another example is that of the Magdalena
Oldendorff, which became caught in ice in July
2002, and had to overwinter in the Antarctic.’
Mr Ligthelm says that the Arctic would be better
equipped, since several countries in the northern
hemisphere have strong designated ice breakers at
their disposal. ‘Countries such as Finland, Norway,
Russia and Canada are known to assist vessels
during winter months to reach ice bound ports,’
he explained. ‘However, the northern shipping
routes would open up remote areas such as Alaska
and Greenland, which would take some time for
ice-breaking escort vessels to reach in the event of a
vessel casualty.’
At present the Arctic shipping routes are only
navigable by non-ice classed vessels for around 50
days a year, he says. But the Northern Sea Route
(NSR) is predicted to provide up to 125 days per year
suitable for navigation by 2050, with most of the
increased demand coming from tourism.
Mr Ligthelm has raised concerns over the risks
from a lack of adequately trained and experienced
crews operating in polar regions.
‘Navigating in ice poses extreme risk and
training and experience is of utmost importance,’
he stressed. ‘Understanding the formation, strength,
movement and permeability of ice is perhaps
something that can be taught in a classroom, but it
requires ﬁrst-hand experience to fully understand
and appreciate it.
‘I undertook many Antarctic voyages during my
Time to keep
a cool head
How should the new IMO Polar Code be implemented,
and how well do we understand the risks of Arctic
and Antarctic waters? An expert in the field shares his
informed opinions with the Telegraph…
Freddie Ligthelm, master mariner and staff surveyor at Braemar
career at sea and learnt many valuable lessons, the
most important of them being: “If you can avoid
sailing through sea ice, do so”. The new Polar Code
will call for vessels travelling to the Arctic or the
Antarctic to have a designated ice navigator/ice
pilot onboard. However, the exact criteria to qualify
as an ice pilot is still a work in progress and the
IMO should avoid excluding old hands who have
gathered years of experience in the ﬁeld.’
Mr Ligthelm cited the investigation into the
Explorer casualty — during which over 100
passengers and crew took to lifeboats following an
ice-induced collision — which suggested that the
master, while experienced in ice bound waters, was
unfamiliar with the kind of ice he encountered in
Antarctic waters.
In polar regions sea spray could result in icing,
making life for those onboard very challenging.
‘Sea spray causing ice accretion on deck poses a
signiﬁcant stability hazard,’ he explained. ‘The
effects can be reduced by good voyage planning
and weather route adaption, but these might prove
costly.
‘Vessel design plays a big role in the amount of
sea spray that would be generated from the vessel
ploughing through inclement weather and seas.
The more the vessel is exposed to sea spray, the
greater the chance the vessel will experience icing.
The heading, speed and direction of the vessel
in relation to the waves and wind affects how ice
The research ship SA Argulhas engaged
in cargo operations against the ice shelf
Picture: Braemar
accretion would occur.
‘It should also be remembered that a standard
liferaft has very little survivability in ice-infested
waters, and personal protective aids and lifeboat
safety requirements will need to be redesigned to
overcome the remoteness of the areas of operation,’
he concluded.
Insurers Marsh recently reported that
underwriters are supportive of the development
of Arctic shipping routes, but wary about incurring
large, high proﬁle losses with the market in its
infancy — and Mr Ligthelm thinks they are
justiﬁably concerned.
‘These ice-infested waters could cause additional
claims both from a hull and machinery point of
view, and that of protection and indemnity,’ he
added. ‘It should be considered that the previously
“ice locked” areas would not have the necessary
resources to deal with large scale pollution cases or
wreck removals, which will be costly.’
The International Association of Classiﬁcation
Societies (IACS) has devised uniform ice classes
aiming to categorise vessels according to their
capabilities to navigate ice infested waters. The
rules cover structural requirements, machinery
requirements and low temperature equipment and
safety systems (winterisation).
‘Owners, classiﬁcation societies and vessel
underwriters will need to consider the risks involved
with the intended operation of each vessel and
design them to a higher level than would normally
be required,’ Mr Ligthelm continued.
Tug designs will also need to take into
consideration the area of operation of the vessel.
The ice formation around the Finnish and Swedish
coasts is very different from that of the greater polar
areas due to the density of the water being almost
that of fresh water, making the ice formed from it
that much denser and stronger. ‘Sea ice retreats and
disperses signiﬁcantly in the Antarctic, and due to
the two main gyres — the Weddell and the Ross —
very little multi-year ice survives the summer. In the
Arctic, sea ice survives many summer seasons and
multi-year ice ridges could build to impenetrable
levels,’ he added.
Mr Ligthelm concludes that the Polar Code is an
essential development, but he believes there must
be regulations in place to govern vessels planning
voyages to the Antarctic and the Arctic. ‘The Polar
Code is the starting point, which will evolve as
time goes by, and hopefully its requirements will
minimise casualties within polar areas.’
GET A HEAD START AT SEA
Get the qualiﬁcations and conﬁdence you need to
go further with our Maths@sea and Writing@sea
online courses.
[email protected]
marine-society.org
A charity registered in England and Wales
313013 and in Scotland SC037808
29_arctic.indd 29
10/12/2014 18:22
30 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
MARITIME POLICY
Getting the rules right
What is the best way to deliver an
effective regulatory regime for a
global industry like shipping? And
how can rule-makers prevent unfair
competition from operators who
flout the laws? These were among
the issues debated by experts at two
special meetings last month…
w
The head of one of the
world’s biggest ﬂags of
convenience and the
head of the European Commission’s maritime safety unit went
head-to-head in a debate over the
regulation of the shipping industry last month.
Organised by the London
Shipping Law Centre, the 13th
annual Cadwallader debate was
staged to explore the conﬂicts in
maritime law which force ships
to navigate ‘between a rock and
a hard place’ as a consequence of
the tensions between global and
regional regulation.
Opening the discussion, Ms
Berg described shipping regulation as ‘a child of its time’ – with
the need for global regulation growing as a result of the
increased ‘offshoring’ of shipping
operations.
However, she added, regulators have become increasingly
frustrated by ‘industry inertia’
and the failure by owners and
operators to see the political
necessity of regulations, and
regional rule-making is the consequence of this.
But Clay Maitland, managing
partner of International Registries Inc, said shipping had made
great strides since the 1970s
when the Amoco Cadiz tanker
disaster had resulted in the adoption by the IMO of the MARPOL
Convention – the ﬁrst measure to
embody the concept of port state
control.
‘Do we continue burdening
seafarers with the pressure of
ﬁlling in forms and checklists?’
he asked. ‘We have got safer ships
and cleaner seas, and the industry
is working constantly to improve
its record.’
But Ms Berg countered by
arguing that there continues to
be no level playing ﬁeld in shipping. ‘Regional regulation is
sometimes seen as parochial, but
it depends on the perspective,’
she said. ‘We talk to the industry
and we listen to the industry, but
we also have to defend European
taxpayers’ money and protect
the coastlines and the safety of
our citizens.
‘We are committed to international rules and we have
done a lot in the past 20 years
to enforce them,’ she added. ‘We
have the tightest enforcement
programme in the world, which
seeks to create a level playing
ﬁeld especially for those who
are the leaders and don’t want to
Tradewinds editor Julian Bray, left, chaired the London Shipping Law Centre debate between Clay Maitland, managing partner of International Registries
Inc, and Christine Berg, head of the European Commission’s Maritime Safety Unit
be punished by those who take
short-cuts on safety and other
regulation.’
Ms Berg said shipping should
not view measures such as the
emission controls in a negative
way, as reducing fuel use will help
to bring down costs.
However, Mr Maitland said
regional rule-making is intensifying. He said the process had
begun in the United States, withe
the Oil Pollution Act being developed as a response to the Exxon
Valdez disaster. Subsequent
incidents – such as the Erika and
the Prestige tanker losses – had
resulted in a ‘welter’ of new regulations in Europe.
‘This has often put the EU at
loggerheads with the IMO, and
sometimes even in conﬂict with
some of its member states on
matters such as the governance
of classiﬁcation societies and the
administration of conventions
by ﬂag states,’ he added. ‘This has
the potential for real trouble.’
But Ms Berg argued that if the
shipping industry wants to avoid
kneejerk regulation, it needs to
raise its visibility and demonstrate that has a ‘progressive’
approach to safety and the environment.
Europe had avoided the temptation to impose new rules in
response to the Costa Concordia
accident, she said, and with the
creation of the European Maritime Safety Agency it had intensiﬁed its work to ensure the evenhanded enforcement of global
regulations.
However, Mr Maitland replied,
port state control should not
continue growing on the basis of
new regulations from Brussels;
politicians should instead focus
on new approaches to tackling
problems that could not always
be dealt with through the inspection process.
And he complained that the
shipping industry has not been
given the credit it deserves for
dramatically improving its safety
record over the past 25 years.
Ms Berg said she agreed
with the argument that shipping should move away from a
‘checklist mentality’ to a more
risk-based approach to safety.
The European Commission is
conscious of the paperwork burden on seafarers, she added, and
is taking active steps to ease shipboard bureaucracy by simplifying administrative requirements.
Jean Richards, from Quantum
Shipping, accused politicians of
devising new regulations without
thinking of who will pick up the
costs of compliance. And ‘parochial’ rule-making often results
in a blame culture that sees seafarers being jailed, she warned.
But Ms Berg said she did not
accept the argument that regulators should take a light touch
to the shipping industry on the
basis of its economic difﬁculties.
She said operators had been complacent in their response to the
sulphur directive and the industry had sent mixed messages
about its response to the regulations.
Mr Maitland rejected the
allegations of complacency.
While accepting that some owners might take an ‘ostrich-like’
approach, he argued that regulations need to be introduced in
such a way that they do not cause
disruption.
The perennial challenge of compliance
regulations can pay dividends for dodgy operators,
K
a discussion forum attended by lawyers, shipping
Non-compliance with shipping rules and
companies and financial institutions heard last month.
Hosted by the maritime PR agency Blue
Communications, the event concentrated on the
forthcoming sulphur regulations — and the implied
conclusion appeared to be that if one regulation was
poor, then all regulations must be poor, and compliance
should therefore be taken under consideration.
Philip Roche, a lawyer with firm Norton Rose Fulbright,
said that the shipping industry had faced a ‘constantly
rising tide’ of new regulation in the last few years, and this
new set was just another ‘inevitable’ addition.
He suggested that in the UK the Maritime &
Coastguard Agency would struggle to ensure compliance
due in part to the public sector cuts of recent years and
also because the merchant seafarers who conduct ‘tick
box’ inspections would not understand what happens in
bunker tanks and engines.
Luis Benito, global strategic marketing manager
at Lloyd’s Register, argued that emission reduction
measures need to be global to reflect the worldwide
nature of the shipping industry. He felt that the issue
was only being taken seriously in Europe and the United
States, and that the commercial balance may be altered in
favour of those in other areas.
Niels Mortensen, a director at Maersk Maritime
Technology, told the audience that rumours had begun to
surface three years ago that a large number of companies
would not comply. He said Maersk had become concerned
about the potential for an un-level playing field emerging
30_LSLC_SR edit.indd 30
Speakers at the Blue Communications debate, left to right: Philip Roche, Paul Davies, Alisdair Pettigrew and Niels Mortensen
between those who paid to comply and those who did
not.
‘We looked into the statistics provided by port state
control,’ he added. ‘We found wide non-compliance and
a lack of enforcement. We also received a statement from
the European Commission which said they believed only
one in 1,000 ships were expected to be compliant.
‘There is reward in non-compliance and cheating is
very easy — as long as you don’t get caught,’ he argued.
As a result of this research, Maersk set up the
Trident Alliance to lobby with other prominent shipping
companies for robust enforcement of the regulations. Mr
Mortensen said progress had been made in the last three
years and Maersk is now generally more positive that
compliance would be achieved.
The only voice from the panel coming down on the
side of compliance was Paul Davies, a partner with the
international financial company PwC. He described the
maritime industry as ‘pretty useless’ at self-regulation,
which had in turn had resulted in lots of new rules coming
into force at one time.
‘There has been no appetite [in the industry] for
energy-efficiency measures, even though the pay-back is
only three to five years,’ he added. ‘Companies are only
looking at scrubbers now because they have no choice.
Sadly, unless you regulate nothing will happen.
‘From a finance point of view [regulatory compliance]
is a no-brainer,’ he said. ‘Compliance is not an option.
I predict that the regulators won’t put an inspector on
every vessel; they will find one or two key transgressions,
fine those companies to the hilt and the remaining
companies will then comply.’
Mr Davies suggested that pressure from charterers
will dictate whether shipping companies use low sulphur
fuels or install scrubbers, and said that the latter is clearly
going to be the preferred option.
‘Therefore, I don’t know why there is still a debate
about what to do about these regulations,’ he added. ‘And
In my view there have been a number of market failures
which have led us to this point.’
Most of the ‘failures’ cited by Mr Davies stem from the
very way the maritime industry operates, from relying on
day rates to financing developments — and, as he put it,
‘the classic shipping problem of “why should I do it if no
one else is going to?”.
10/12/2014 18:23
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 31
MARITIME FICTION
‘A way inside
their heads’
The German attack on the Cunard liner Lusitania
100 years ago proved to be a pivotal event in the
First World War. Now the story of its loss has been
re-imagined by a novelist who presents a new theory
about the decision to target the passengership…
K
2015 will see the
Disasters evoke powerful,
centenary of the sinking
if contrary, emotions: horror,
of the Lusitania, a Britishfascination, sympathy — and
flagged liner which succumbed
wondering how well we would
to a torpedo attack by a German
do. Unfortunately, the names of
submarine in the First World
victims blur, it being hard in nonWar. The incident is seen as
fiction to take us inside people’s
significant because it presaged
heads during a panic. Novels —
the widespread changes in the
think of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim
practice of warfare during the
— tend to do it better.
20th century — changes which
The Economist, 18 April 2002
increasingly saw ‘enemy’ civilians
become fair game as military
Of course, even a fictionalised
targets. At the time, though, the
account of real events needs
American people were said to
to have a sound historical
have been so shocked at the attack
foundation, and before starting his
on a passenger ship carrying
story, Mr Taylor read everything
innocent women and children
about the Lusitania that he could
that the incident prompted the
get his hands on — spending
neutral USA to join the war on the added dimension to the story. And large amounts of time in the
side of the Allies.
in terms of what happened during Imperial War Museum archives
The analysis of events these the sinking, I noticed interesting and the New York City public
days tends to be more nuanced, parallels with the modern Costa library. He found out the names
not least because the Americans Concordia disaster, where the list of the passengers in First Class,
did not actually become involved of the ship made it difﬁcult for the and, on studying them further,
in combat until the Axis powers passengers and crew to reach and noticed that more than one had
threatened them more directly board the lifeboats.’
been associated with the Skull
in 1917. And some feel that the
This is Greg Taylor’s ﬁrst foray and Bones society. This led him to
Lusitania was a legitimate military into novel-writing, but he was ﬁnd out more about the fraternity
target by any standards, given well-placed to tackle the subject (which he had been vaguely aware
the likelihood that she had been matter, thanks to his history of during his own years at Yale
carrying US-made ammunition degree from Yale and a knowledge University), and it transpired
and/or weaponry destined for use of the world of high ﬁnance gained that its members tended to
by British forces.
from his work as an asset manager. be extremely rich and wellAuthor Greg Taylor has come ‘I’ve always been fascinated by the connected — perfect characters
up with an even stronger theory Lusitania,’ he says, ‘and I thought for a plot-driven thriller.
about why the Lusitania could about writing a straight history
The billionaire Skull and
have been a target, and in a new book, but then I was inspired to Bones member Alfred Vanderbilt
novel, Lusitania R.E.X, he cleverly give the story a ﬁctional treatment particularly caught the author’s
weaves together fact and ﬁction by something I once read about the eye, as he seemed at ﬁrst to be a
to make a plausible case that the ship in the Economist magazine.’
spoilt heir to a fortune who had
vessel could have been carrying
Mr Taylor kept the inspirational achieved little of note. Yet he was
secret rocket technology — the quote, and even reproduces it in said to have given his lifebelt
forerunner to the V1 and V2 the opening pages of Lusitania to another passenger when the
‘flying bombs’ of the Second
Lusitania
was sinking, at the
econd R.E.X:
Lusit
World War and of all human
expense
of his own life. Greg
n space
expe
exploration.
Taylor
Tayl therefore decided to
It’s a good yarn in the
make this character central
mak
Dan Brown vein, with
his novel, following his
to h
jou
glamorous settings,
journey from playboy to
wartime peril, politicall
hero. He hypothesised
machinations, millionaires,,
that Vanderbilt could
hav
aristocrats and royalty,,
have matured thanks to
g
his involvement in the
and a generous helping
roc
of sex and romance. Thee
rocket technology project,
et
de
effort to develop the rocket
developing a belief that
technology and keep it
it could help to end the
wa
out of the wrong hands is
war and pave the way for
he
pe
given added spice by the
peaceful space exploration.
et
involvement of a secret
To find out more, you
ull
w
society, Yale University’s Skull
will — in the tried and
te
and Bones fraternity.
tested way — have to read
he
th
‘I’ve always thought the
the book, which is available
ng
n
Lusitania was more intriguing
now as an e-book and is due
lor
tto be released in paperback
than the Titanic,’ Mr Taylor
n
told the Telegraph. ‘There are
next month.
alth
the same extremes of wealth
f Lusitania R.E.X
By Greg Taylor
onboard — which I try and
Filament Publishing
show in the book — but the
wartime situation givess an Lusitania passenger Alfred Vanderbilt £12.95 on Amazon Kindle
31_Lusitania R.E.X_SR edit.indd 31
Author Greg Taylor reads from Lusitania R.E.X at the book’s London launch Picture: Alex Conte Photography
Telegraph poetry competition:
the merchant marine in wartime
rich and complex, and novels like Lusitania R.E.X
L
don’t pretend to tell the whole story. We are inviting
The subject of merchant shipping in wartime is
Telegraph readers to fill in the gaps by exploring the
experiences of merchant seafarers involved in conflict,
and any take on this is welcome — whether it’s to do
with the convoys of the First and Second World Wars, or
perhaps the supply ships for the Falklands or the Gulf.
z Please send in your poem about the merchant marine
in wartime to: The editor, Nautilus Telegraph, 1&2 The
Shrubberies, George Lane, London E18 1BD, or email your
entry to [email protected], marked ‘Poetry
competition’. The deadline for entries is 31 March 2015.
Winning entries will be published in the Telegraph, and
the winners will receive signed copies of the hardback
author’s limited edition of Lusitania R.E.X.
YOUR ROUTE
INTO THE
Merchant Navy
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Find out more at our SHIPPING DAY
on Saturday, February 7, 2015, 10am – 3pm
T: 0191 427 3772
W: www.stc.ac.uk
E: [email protected]
10/12/2014 17:11
32 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
OFFWATCH ships of the past
by Trevor Boult
of Britain’s great shipping
F
companies. Its origins were in
Union-Castle Line was one
the Union Line, established in
1855, and Castle Line, which
began trading in 1862. The two
companies merged in 1900
and developed passenger
liner and cargo services from
Britain providing a double halo
of routes which circled the
continent of Africa and regularly
touched the remote and
romantic islands of St Helena
and Ascension in the South
Atlantic.
The elegance of the mail ships
was enhanced by the distinctive
lavender colour of their hulls,
whilst the punctuality of their
scheduled departures from
Britain became a byword by
which it was possible to set
clocks.
As international airline
services developed in the 1950s
a downward trend in sea travel
on passenger ships began — a
process which resulted in the
numbers of ships and services
declining.
Union-Castle made strategic
ﬂeet-wide changes. An
innovation was the building
of two sistership cargo liners
— the ﬁrst cargo-only vessels
built for the mail service. Their
powerful engines enabled them
to maintain their places in the
schedules and they became
known as ‘mini mails’.
Southampton Castle was
the ﬁrst of the new ships,
launched in October 1964, and
it was followed four months
later by Good Hope Castle.
They were later ﬁtted with 12
passenger berths, an alteration
underwritten by the British
government, as they alone
called at Ascension Island and St
Helena. At the time, their visits
were among the very few links
with Britain. Deck passengers
were also carried on the interisland route.
Distinctive mail
ships were South
Atlantic lifeline
Powered by twin 8RD90
Sulzer engines, capable of a
combined power of 35,000bhp,
these two ships were the
fastest diesel-powered cargo
liners aﬂoat — designed for a
service speed of 22.5 knots but
capable of more. The hull form
incorporated a cruiser stern
and raked stem with bulbous
bow. The single extremely
large funnel, which appeared to
overwhelm the superstructure,
housed two waste heat boilers
used to supply steam for a turboalternator providing electrical
power whilst on passage.
Deadweight exceeded 11,000
tons, with large capacities for
deciduous and citrus fruits.
With temperature control, a
wide range of chilled or frozen
products could also be carried.
There were four holds forward
and three aft, served by an
impressive suite of derricks.
Several of the hatches were
capable of carrying containers.
Wine could also be carried in
bulk, with 13 permanent tanks
and associated piping to handle
60,000 gallons.
Good Hope Castle’s delivery
was delayed by labour shortages
at the builders and was taken
into service four months behind
schedule, her place being
temporarily ﬁlled by Capetown
Castle. This ship retained the
distinction of being not only
the largest motor-driven liner
in the company, but the longest
Telegraph prize crossword
The winner of this month’s cryptic crossword competition
will win a set of the Adland Coles Maritime Classics
(reviewed on the facing page).
To enter, simply complete the form right and send it,
along with your completed crossword, to:
Nautilus International, Telegraph Crossword
Competition, 1&2 The Shrubberies, George Lane,
South Woodford, London E18 1BD,
or fax +44 (0)20 8530 1015.
You can also enter by email, by sending your list
of answers and your contact details to:
[email protected].
50 YEARS AGO
In the past 10 years, the number of seafarers on the UK register has declined
by over 25,000 to about 123,000 while the tonnage has increased by
approximately three million tons to some 21.5m tons gross. At the same
time, carrying capacity has grown as a consequence of increased speed and
vessel design changes. This trend can only increase further and the increasing
amount of cargo being carried by a decreasing number of seafarers can be
rightly described as increased productivity. Technological developments are
transforming ships, more skills are being required, all of which are having a
real impact on standards of entry and training, and we have cooperated with
the changes on the understanding that our members shared the benefits MN
Journal, January 1965
25 YEARS AGO
Ferry companies should make a contribution to UK cadet training, NUMAST
Council members said last month. With a growing shortage of skilled officers
— particularly in the junior ranks — it is now time for ferry companies to
play a role in training, said Gwyn Prosser. Executive officer Jack Bromley
told the meeting that ferry firms are ‘creaming off’ the best officers from
elsewhere in the industry and there was no reason why they could not use
ships in other sections of their groups to give foreign-going seatime. Senior
assistant general secretary Derek Bond said there had been disappointingly
little take-up following a relaxation in the endorsement which was intended
to help training in the ferry sector but it is hoped that further proposals might
emerge in a new Department of Transport report on future certification
structures The Telegraph, January 1990
10 YEARS AGO
NUMAST has welcomed an announcement that should pave the way for the
introduction of high-tech seafarer identity cards. The International Labour
Office said last month that the system for issuing security identity documents
for the world’s 1.2m seafarers is ready for implementation as a result of
successful shipboard tests of biometric ID equipment. Carried out onboard
the cruiseship Crystal Harmony, the trials showed that two fingerprint
recognition products met the ILO’s ‘global interoperability’ standards.
NUMAST general secretary Brian Orrell said he hoped that proving the
system reliability would enable the rapid introduction of the 2003 Seafarers’
Identity Documents Convention, which is intended to improve security while
also protecting the rights of crew members and is due to come into force in
February 2005 The Telegraph, January 2005
THEQUIZ
1
What are the top five
shipowning nations in the
world?
number of ships on order?
4
Which flag has the largest
share of the world orderbook at
present, in ship number terms?
5
How many heavylift vessels are
there in the world fleet?
Dutch yards built 23 superyachts
last year. What was their total
worth?
2
What percentage of the world
merchant fleet is owned in the
‘top five’ nations?
6
3
Which country’s owners
currently have the largest
J Quiz answers
are on page 42.
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Membership No.:
Closing date is Friday 16 January 2014.
QUICK CLUES
1.
7.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
16.
18.
19.
22.
23.
25.
26.
27.
28.
Across
Royal (11)
Fastener (3)
Arizona city (9)
Steal (5)
Watch (7)
Detonate (7)
Flashing lights (10)
Tablet (4)
Church service (4)
Junk (5,5)
Satirical sketch (7)
Archaeological work (7)
Transport (5)
Monarch ship (5,4)
(See 2 down)
Grace (11)
Down
1. Gang members (7)
2. & 27. Biblical craft (5,3)
3. Limit (8)
4. Pull (5)
5. Refectory (9)
6. Film dog (6)
7. Historical mood (9)
32_offwatch.indd 32
of her type in the world. When
this ship was relieved by Good
Hope Castle, she was reﬁtted
and continued for two years in
a ‘one class’ extra service calling
sometimes at Ascension, St
Helena and Walvis Bay.
The disposal of UnionCastle ships continued and
was to mark the demise of its
passenger trade to the East
Africa coast. Practically all
colonies of the British Empire
had reached independence, with
a consequent rundown of the
colonial ofﬁcers, administrators
and civil servants who had
helped to ﬁll passenger lists.
Those that remained now used
the ever-expanding air services.
On 1 July 1973 St Helena
reported that Good Hope
Castle, which should have
arrived there the previous
evening, had been in radio
silence since leaving Ascension.
Neither could she be raised
on the radio by her sistership.
Fears were conﬁrmed in a later
message from Ascension. A
machinery-space ﬁre had spread
to the accommodation; the
ship was ablaze and had been
abandoned, burning and listing,
but everyone was safe. The 82
passengers and crew spent some
36 hours in lifeboats before
being taken aboard the Liberian
tanker George F. Getty and
landed at Ascension.
The stricken ship was
attended by the West German
ocean salvage tug Albatros,
which towed the vessel to
Antwerp. Another Bugsier tug,
Heros, took the ship to Bilbao.
After extensive repairs Good
Hope Castle resumed service in
May 1974.
Ofﬁcially the Southampton to
South Africa mail service ended
with the arrival of Southampton
Castle on 24 October 1977, over
120 years after inauguration. The
two fast cargo liners were sold to
an Italian company and traded
for a further six years between
Italy and South America.
8.
14.
15.
17.
18.
20.
21.
23.
24.
About lung membrane (7)
Get off (9)
Method (9)
Dreamed up (8)
Army (7)
Extras (3,4)
Fraternise (6)
Attire (5)
Angry (5)
CRYPTIC CLUES
1.
7.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Across
And he learnt to adapt to
being an early 12 (11)
Because, in short, it’s a lettuce (3)
Ditch a hill dweller constructed
as cutting (9)
Complain about water given
to baby (5)
Copy distributed around two
hours before midnight for
strength (7)
Being in the house for short
time with identification (7)
Richard taking small measures
with Scotsman has a novel feel
about it (10)
16. Put up with gloom in the
market (4)
18. In the nursery to steal
someone’s work (4)
19. Move to and fro with bacon
producer and one mixed up
bird (4,6)
22. It’s against the law to have a
sick bird of prey we hear (7)
23. Muscles appear in an instant,
one final word (7)
25. Sharp breath has nothing
on performance without the
mime (5)
26. Large house with spirits … (3,6)
27. … small one in reserve (3)
28. Let me in tent anyway, no
more than I deserve (11)
Down
Turned over school with
helicopter landing space to
find jotter (7)
2. Skilful at downsizing a
department (5)
3. In which to prepare wine of
France at a certain pace (8)
1.
4. Prepared from bread yeast
extract (5)
5. Leave eggs and reverse car (9)
6. Plant secretion in the
sheltered part (6)
7. Customers caught short with
28 to have TV (9)
8. Slight old Bob, creditor (7)
14. Note fish dish is actually offal (9)
15. Notice adding little weight to
main beam (9)
17. Spruce up but I ate it, TV
broken (8)
18. Used by Cutty Sark barber
perhaps (7)
20. Promising as a creation, not
applicable to perfume (7)
21. Pay no heed to disturbed
reign, nothing in it (6)
23. Principle number X and in
Latin (5)
24. ‘if he --- us there, Enforce him
with his envy to the people’
(Coriolanus) (5)
J Crossword answers
are on page 42.
10/12/2014 17:12
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 33
MARITIME BOOKS
Classy Cunard chronology
seeks to tell whole story
The Story of Cunard’s 175 Years
By Eric Flounders and Michael Gallagher
Ferry Publications, £24.50
ISBN 978 19066 08859
fwww.ferrypubs.co.uk
book, Eric Flounders and Michael Gallagher
K
reﬂect on a problem which affects many who seek
In their introduction to this splendid new
to tell the history of British shipping companies
— the ‘peculiarly cavalier attitude’ to their own
heritage, compounded by decades of downsizing,
ﬂagging out and restructuring.
However, with more than 50 years of combined
experience as Cunard PR ofﬁcers, the pair were
well placed to access archives and plunder the
remaining resources for this lavishly produced
history of the company. And what riches
they unearthed — not least some stunning
photography, which is presented to good effect in
this quality book.
Whilst the loss of historical material may have
presented a challenge, the authors admit that there
are plenty of other books that have tackled Cunard
history and a fair number of autobiographies
by former Cunard captains and commodores.
However, they contend, few books have sought to
tell the story in full.
So, they took on an ambitious task, and they
concede that their work concentrates on Cunard’s
passengerships rather than its cargo and tanker
operations, and also omits much of the complex
commercial history of the company.
The book is written with style and it boasts a
wealth of tremendous illustrations, all of which
help to underpin one of the core themes — of how
Cunard’s history has been so closely intertwined
with wider social, political and economic history.
In particular, it offers some fascinating
reﬂections on past government support for the
shipping industry and some interesting insights
into wider technical developments affecting ship
design and operation.
Conﬂict is also a recurring theme — from
attack which led to so many ships and
aircraft being sunk. This provides a
good background for the latter pages
and also makes the book interesting
for those who like WWII history —
especially given the site’s relatively
recent re-discovery.
The second section looks in
detail at each wreck. There is
information on each vessel’s use
before its untimely demise, essential
information about the wreck site
and photographs, paintings and
recreations of the site today.
This is an interesting read, with
strong attention to detail and use of
imagery, ideal for history buffs and
divers alike — especially those unlikely
to be heading to this remote corner of
the Pacific Ocean any time soon.
Diving guide
deserves wide Well-handled
K
readership
facts and
figures from
the golden
age of sail
Dive Truk Lagoon: The Japanese
WWII Pacific Shipwrecks
By Rod Macdonald
Whittles Publishing, £30
ISBN 978 18499 51319
fwww.whittlespublishing.com
eighth book on the world’s
K
great shipwreck dive locations, and
This is author Rod Macdonald’s
he describes Truk Lagoon as ‘quite
simply the greatest wreck diving
location in the world’ — so readers
of his previous books will know they
are in for a treat.
Shipwreck enthusiasts may be
more familiar with wreck sites such
as Scapa Flow, and could be forgiven
for forgetting that there were more
wrecks in the Second World War than
just those around the British coast.
Truk Lagoon is especially unknown, as
the area had been largely forgotten
until 1969, when an expedition by
intrepid explorer Jacques Cousteau
located and filmed it for a TV
documentary.
Truk was the main forward
anchorage for the Japanese Imperial
Navy and merchant fleet during the
early days of WWII, and there are
38 wreck sites featured in the book.
Being located in a 140-mile coral
barrier reef, each wreck has become
an artificial reef teeming with life, so
divers can enjoy both wreck and fish
dives.
The book is split into two, with
the first section being a well-crafted
history of the area and the American
33_books_SR edit.indd 33
Tropic Suns: Seadogs Aboard an
English Galleon
By James Seay Dean
The History Press, £20
ISBN 978 07524 50971
fwww.thehistorypress.co.uk
This is not one of your
information-lite picture history
books; Tropic Suns is a scholarly
work that shows off its academic
credentials proudly. Essentially,
James Seay Dean does the research
so you don’t have to, analysing
hundreds of documents and
producing an easily readable digest
of 16th and 17th century maritime
history.
The book’s stated aim is to
‘convey the realities of everyday life
service in the Boer War and Crimea to the
Falklands — and most notably in the two
world wars. The sinking of the liner Lusitania
is covered well (particularly in its account of
the way in which the ship’s master, Captain
William Turner, narrowly escaped being
scapegoated for the loss) but the book also
notes the signiﬁcance of the loss of the
Laconia in February 1917 and touches upon
the horriﬁc casualty rate on the Lancastria
when it was bombed in 1940.
The fraught construction process for the QE22
is told in great detail, along with later tribulations
such as its grounding off the US (thanks to
outdated charts), the hubris of its detention in the
US in 1994 and the ‘freak wave’ incident of 1995.
The story is brought up to date with accounts of
the commissioning of the Queen Mary 2, Queen
Elizabeth and Queen Victoria — although the
decision to switch their ﬂag to Bermuda gets only a
brief mention.
There are appendices detailing individual ships,
aboard the galleons sailing between
England and the West Indies’. Each
chapter looks at a different aspect
of the seafarer’s experience —
comparing the performance of the
various ship-types, for example, or
looking at the food available to the
crews (spoiler alert: it wasn’t very
nice).
There are also sections on
the navigation techniques of the
period, the health of seafarers, the
weather conditions encountered,
the weaponry used and the booty
seized. All the chapters are enhanced
by accounts of particular voyages
and well-chosen quotes from
contemporary figures; and as you
might expect, there is a thorough
index and formidable bibliography.
It seems strange to be saying this
about a history book, but in some
ways Tropic Suns could actually do
with being a bit less academic. The
central chapters of the work are so
interesting and engagingly written
that it would have been good to
get stuck into them right at the
beginning, but instead you have to
wade through a preface, ‘notices to
mariners’, acknowledgements and an
introduction before you can really get
started. Next time, cut to the chase,
Professor Dean — your material is
worth it.
war service,
service links with
the royal family and even a useful bibliography
for further reading. Another appendix gives
information about the seven Cunard commodores
who received knighthoods, and you get the sense
that each of these could have merited a book in
itself. Indeed, if there is one criticism of what is
generally a shining example of how to produce a
good shipping history book, it is the shortage of
accounts from those who operated the ships that
made Cunard such a success.
Poignant tale
of success
and decline
on the Clyde
100 Years of Shipping
on the River Clyde
By George O’Hara
Witherby Publishing, £9.99
ISBN 978 09930 79306
the centenary of the Scottish
K
Shipping Benevolent Association
Published to commemorate
(SSBA), this substantial book comes
at the bargain price of just under a
tenner — and you can buy it with
the satisfaction of knowing that all
proceeds go towards the seafarer
welfare work the Association
undertakes.
With just over 190 pages and more
than 220 pictures, the book leaves
few stones unturned in tracing the
significance of the Clyde — not just for
Glasgow and Scotland, but for the wider
UK maritime sector — and explaining
the reasons for its remarkable
expansion during the late 19th century
and the similarly rapid decline towards
the end of the 20th century.
Classic nautical works are as good as ever
f Adlard Coles Maritime Classics:
South
By Sir Ernest Shackleton
20,00 Leagues Under the Sea
By Jules Verne
Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty
By Captain William Bligh
The Sea Wolf
By Jack London
Bloomsbury Publishing, £8.99 each
K
Maritime publisher Adlard
Coles has launched a new
collection of maritime classics, each
with a brand new foreword from a
modern-day hero.
The books in this collection need
no introduction and remain as good
today as they have ever been. The
style of printing reflects the age of
the books, and the smell alone will
be enough to drive the most loyal
e-reader users back to the printed
word.
The forewords make
make a nice
ma
addition to the books, highlighting
how relevant and loved they remain.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is
credited as the novel that launched
the science fiction genre, and in
her foreword, television presenter
Miranda Krestovnikoff (famous for
natural history programmes and ice
diving) says it continues to inspire
generations of people. ‘[Jules
Verne] had a profound influence on
engineers, inventors and designers,
especially as submarine technology
infancy,’’ sh
writes.
w in its infancy
was
she writes
The publishers have used the
original, and often criticised, first
translation into English of Verne’s
book, as this is the version that
popularised the novel in the English
language.
If Verne is credited with science
fiction, then the story of the Mutiny
on Board HMS Bounty can certainly
claim credit for the centuries of
adventure novels which have
followed. This book is surprisingly
small by today’s standards and
brings Bligh’s account of the mutiny
together with the contradictory
testimonies from Bounty’s crew.
Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes
fittingly provides the introduction
for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s South,
the true story of his 1915 Imperial
trans-Antarctic expedition. And
adventurer Bear Grylls draws on his
own experience of dealing with a
crisis at sea in his foreword for Jack
London’s The Sea Wolf — the story
of Wolf Larsen, the terrifying captain
of a seal schooner who rescues a
man lost overboard following a ferry
collision.
Adlard Coles intends to add more
novels to its new classic maritime
collection in the future, but this is
a great start. Whether these books
help you re-live your childhood, or
you are coming across some of them
for the first time, you will not be
disappointed.
The book describes how the port
and its ancillary services developed
— with their impressive scale
highlighted by a superb overhead
shot of the docks, taken in 1965.
There are potted histories of the key
shipping companies, also supported
with some fine shots showing the
wide range of tonnage that they
owned or managed.
It’s hard not to feel sad when
seeing other pictures showing the
extent of the shipbuilding facilities on
the Clyde during the peak years and
the many examples of the fine ships
they produced. The author notes
later the shocking pace at which such
a strategic industry declined within
the UK.
Other sections look at the
influence of the RN and RFA, yacht
building and ferries, and there is
a fascinating piece dealing with
maritime education and training
along the river. A closing chapter
offers a thoughtful, though
somewhat depressing, analysis of the
wider social, political and economic
policies which have helped to shape
the mixed fortunes of Clyde shipping
over the period.
BOOK SAVINGS
Telegraph readers can buy the
books reviewed on these pages at a
whopping 25% discount on publisher’s
price through the Marine Society’s
online shop.
g To qualify for this offer, readers
need to make their purchase at www.
marinesocietyshop.org. Click on the
‘Books of the month’ button with
the Nautilus logo to see the books
featured in the Telegraph, and use
the promotional code Nautilus when
buying your book.
10/12/2014 18:23
34 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
NL NEWS
Nautilus
versterkt de
gelederen met
nieuwe
bestuurder
Carl Kraijenoord
is een
vakbondsman
in hart en nieren
werkervaring bij onder meer
C
CNV Hout en Bouw en FNV Bouw,
Met een jarenlange
haalt Nautilus International met
Carl Kraijenoord een ervaren
vakbondsman in huis. Kraijenoord
zal in zijn functie als bestuurder
de belangen van de leden met
verve behartigen nationaal en
internationaal.
De nieuwe bestuurder is goed
bekend met het vakbondsgebeuren.
In 1999 verhuisde hij van Katwijk
aan Zee naar Drachten om bij CNV
Hout en Bouw als bestuurder aan
de slag te gaan. Vervolgens haalde
Kraijenoord zijn bachelor in HRM
en werkte hij bij FNV Bouw. Tot
voor kort, want sinds 1 december
zet hij zich in voor de leden van
Nautilus International. ‘Ik heb er
ontzettend veel zin in en ik denk dat
mijn werkervaring en gevoel voor
rechtvaardigheid goed aansluiten
bij de vakbond,’ aldus Kraijenoord.
‘Bovendien heb ik een grote passie
voor alles wat op het water gebeurt,
wat natuurlijk een extra dimensie
geeft aan het werk.’
Internationaal karakter
De dynamiek en het internationale
aspect van Nautilus wordt door
de kersverse bestuurder als
een groot voordeel gezien.
‘Nautilus is een relatief kleine
organisatie met korte lijnen waar
alle disciplines in teamverband
opgepakt kunnen worden’,
zegt Kraijenoord. ‘Daarbij wordt
het steeds belangrijker om
internationaal te opereren.
En zeker in de scheepvaart
speelt het internationale aspect
een grote rol; alles wat vaart
gaat immers ook over ’s lands
grenzen heen. Dat betekent
tegelijkertijd dat bonden ook
onderling (meer) afspraken met
elkaar moeten maken. Nautilus
beseft zich dat terdege. Ik hoop
in mijn functie als bestuurder een
wezenlijke bijdrage te kunnen
leveren en Nautilus goed voor
het voetlicht te brengen, waarbij
de belangen van de leden
zowel individueel als zeker
collectief goed behartigd (blijven)
worden!’
Wij hebben Facebook.
Volg ons ook!
Bezoek www.nautilusint.org
Volg ons op Twitter
Geef uw mening
Vorige maand vroegen wij: Vindt u dat Europa
voor het bemannen van schepen die opereren
in EU wateren een US-achtige ‘Jones Act’ moet
invoeren?
Leden stemmen in met aanpassing
pensioenregeling BPF Koopvaardij
A
Nautilus heeft eind november ledenvergaderingen georganiseerd in
Rotterdam, Amersfoort en Haren om
de aanpassingen van de pensioenregeling
koopvaardij per 1 januari 2 015 te bespreken.
De ledenvergaderingen werden goed bezocht.
In totaal bezochten bijna 100 leden één van de
vergaderingen.
De pensioenregeling moest aangepast
worden doordat de overheid de spelregels voor
het pensioen met ingang van 2015 drastisch
wijzigt. Werkgevers en Nautilus hebben naar
aanleiding hiervan intensief overleg gehad
over aanpassing van de regeling en hebben
hierover begin november een akkoord bereikt.
De adviserend actuaris van het fonds de
heer Bas van Boesschoten gaf aan de hand van
een presentatie een toelichting op alle
veranderingen. De leden werden in de
gelegenheid gesteld hun vragen en
opmerkingen naar voren te brengen.
De belangrijkste afspraken op hoofdlijnen
zijn:
- De pensioenrichtleeftijd stijgt van 65 naar 67
jaar. - Het opbouwpercentage daalt van 2,15%
naar 1,875% per jaar bij leeftijd 67. Dit is het
maximum percentage dat belasting vrij mag
worden opgebouwd. - De franchise daalt van
€ 13.104,- naar € 12.642,-. De franchise is het
onderste deel van het inkomen waarover geen
pensioen wordt opgebouwd en is gekoppeld
aan de hoogte van de AOW. -De deﬁnitie van
het pensioengevend loon wordt aangepast.
-De netto prepensioenregeling komt met
Nederlandse Maritieme Strategie
Tweede Kamer toegezegd te
F
komen met een rijksbrede Maritieme
De Minister van I&M heeft de
Strategie, een handelingskader voor
het maritieme beleid. Doel van deze
strategie is om Nederland als sterke
maritieme natie blijvend op de kaart te
zetten.
Door de ministeries van
Infrastructuur en Milieu, Economische
Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Veiligheid
en Justitie, Defensie, Sociale Zaken
en Werkgelegenheid, Onderwijs,
Cultuur en Wetenschap en Financiën
is in de afgelopen maanden samen
gewerkt aan een rijksbrede Maritieme
Strategie. Daarbij zijn vele partijen
De poll van deze maand is: Vindt u het
juist dat de zeescheepvaartsector wordt
geconfronteerd met stringente nieuwe regels
voor zwaveluitstoot? Geef ons uw mening
online, op www.nautilusint.org/nl
34-35_nl_final.indd 34
andere partijen dan de overheid.
In algemene zin bestaat er binnen
Nautilus waardering voor het initiatief
Maritieme Strategie en de mogelijkheid
die voor de maritieme sectoren is
ingeruimd voor het leveren van input.
Er gaat een zeker elan en ambitieniveau
van uit dat onontbeerlijk is voor de
gezonde toekomst van de maritieme
cluster en daarmee een gezonde basis
voor de werkgelegenheid en onder
gezonde loon-en arbeidsvoorwaarden.
Wel zou het ambitieniveau naar de
mening van Nautilus nog wel een
tandje hoger mogen uiteraard zonder
daarbij het realistische gehalte van de
voornemens aan te tasten. Bij realisme
doelt Nautilus dan met name op de
keten beleid, uitvoering en inspectie.
Het is algemeen bekend dat door
de bezuinigingen van de overheid
de nodige druk is ontstaan op deze
diensten waardoor voornemens
steeds moeizamer en steeds vaker met
veel vertraging tot stand komen. Ook
waardeert Nautilus de rol die in de
rijksbrede beleidsagenda is ingeruimd
voor de bonden. Nautilus heeft
inmiddels toegezegd dat zij een concrete
bijdrage zal leveren aan deze uit de
strategie voortkomende beleidsagenda
alsmede de onderliggende sectorale
werkprogramma’s (vooralsnog zeevaart
en binnenvaart).
MAR L moet bijdragen aan vermindering
regeldruk logistieke bedrijfsleven
In het Regeerakkoord Rutte
Ja
73%
uit de maritieme cluster, waaronder
Nautilus, geraadpleegd vanwege hun
kennis en kunde. Doel van de strategie
is om Nederland als sterke maritieme
natie blijvend op de kaart te zetten en
een handelingskader te bieden voor
het maritieme beleid in den brede.
Belangrijk uitgangspunt is dat de
maritieme strategie gedragen wordt
door sectorpartijen. Een toppositie van
de maritieme cluster vereist immers
een actieve rol van overheid én sector.
De basis voor maritiem handelen ligt
bij sectorpartijen en de overheid werkt
vooral voorwaardenscheppend. De
maritieme strategie bevat daarom ook
acties en verantwoordelijkheden van
Samenwerking biedt perspectief:
II is ingezet op vermindering
D
van regeldruk. Gestreefd wordt naar
Nee
27%
ingang van 1 januari 2015 te vervallen. De
reden hiervoor is dat deze regeling niet meer
verplicht mag worden voorgeschreven .
Opgebouwde netto aanspraken blijven
behouden en komen tot uitkering bij
pensionering.- Alle bestaande rechten aan
tijdelijk en levenslang ouderdomspensioen
worden omgezet naar rechten op 67 jaar.
Uitgangspunt is dat de waarde van de
geconverteerde rechten gelijk blijft. Door
middel van uitruil bestaat de mogelijkheid om
eerder dan 67 jaar met pensioen te gaan. – Het
premiebudget blijft gelijk aan het budget 2014
inclusief de premie voor het prepensioendeel.
– De toeslag ambitie voor deelnemers,
gepensioneerden en slapers is 100% van de
prijsindex. De ﬁnanciering van de toeslag
vindt uitsluitend plaatst vanuit het behaalde
rendement van het fonds. Naast de wijzigingen werd door de actuaris uitvoerig ingegaan
op het feit dat ondanks dat de opbouw daalt er
geen ruimte is voor een verlaging van de
pensioenpremie. Redenen hiervoor zijn de
spelregels onder het nieuw ﬁnancieel
toetsingskader in combinatie met de lage
rentestand. Deze zorgen ervoor dat sparen
voor het pensioen duurder wordt.
Aan het eind van de presentatie werd aan
leden gevraagd of de leden kunnen instemmen met de aanpassingen, met inachtneming
van het gegeven dat de regeling het maximale
is dat binnen de nieuwe ( ﬁscale) regels mag
worden opgebouwd. Deze vraag werd door
leden met een ja beantwoord. Ook de werkgevers hebben inmiddels met de wijzigingen
ingestemd. Er zijn nog een aantal punten die
door sociale partners de komende tijd nog
nader uitgewerkt of onderzocht moeten
worden waaronder premievrijstelling bij
arbeidsongeschiktheid en de mogelijkheid
van deeltijdpensioen.
De presentatie van de adviserend actuaris
van het fonds is terug te vinden op de website
van Nautilus. Ook het Pensioenfonds voor de
Koopvaardij zal de komende tijd de nodige
aandacht besteden aan alle veranderingen in
zijn communicatie naar de deelnemers, exdeelnemers en gepensioneerden.
een structurele verlaging per 2017
met 2,5 miljard euro ten opzichte
van 2012. Ook in het logistieke
bedrijfsleven kunnen veel kosten
bespaard worden op de regeldruk.
Met de zogeheten Maatwerkaanpak
Regeldruk Logistiek (MAR L) kan
dit op termijn zelfs een jaarlijkse
kostenbesparing opleveren van
ongeveer 250 miljoen euro.
In tenminste vijftien regeldichte
sectoren wordt geprobeerd via
de MAR L de minder meetbare,
maar zeer merkbare regeldruk, te
verminderen. Kenmerkend voor de
maatwerkaanpak is onder meer
dat gezichtspunten en belevingen
van de doelgroepen bepalend zijn
en dat overheid en bedrijfsleven in
het gehele traject samenwerken.
In het logistieke bedrijfsleven
wordt veel regeldruk ervaren en de
maatwerkaanpak wordt ook hier
toegepast.
wijzigingen
Sinds maart 2014 geeft de Stuurgroep
MAR L leiding aan het proces dat
moet leiden tot een Actieplan
vermindering regeldruk logistiek.
De verwachting is dat het actieplan
in december 2014 door de minister
van Infrastructuur en Milieu, mede
namens de minister van Economische
Zaken, aan de Tweede Kamer is
aangeboden. De Stuurgroep is
publiek-privaat samengesteld.
Hierin zijn het Topteam/Strategisch Platform Logistiek, de
ministeries van Infrastructuur en
Milieu en Economische Zaken, de
brancheorganisaties en het logistieke
bedrijfsleven vertegenwoordigd.
wijzigingen
Het samenwerkingsverband
heeft in totaal 70 knelpunten
geïdentificeerd waar een verlichting
van de regeldruk bewerkstelligd
kan worden. Na een eerste selectie
bleven er 50 knelpunten over. De
partijen verwachten binnen twee jaar
op minimaal 23 van de benoemde
knelpunten een merkbare verlichting
van de regeldruk te realiseren. Van
de 50 knelpunten zijn 17 knelpunten
elders belegd.
wijzigingen
Van tien knelpunten, waaronder het
verwijderen van asbest aan boord van
zeeschepen, wordt echter voorzien dat
deze niet binnen een termijn van twee
jaar opgelost kunnen worden. Tijdens
een startbijeenkomst bij de EVO bleek
dat er op het eerste gezicht zowel aan
werkgevers- als werknemerskant
bereidheid is te werken aan een
gezamenlijk gedragen toekomstbeeld
over de wijze waarop omgegaan
moet worden met de verplichte
verwijdering van asbesthoudende
producten op thans varende
zeeschepen. Dit betreft met name
de schepen die gebouwd zijn tussen
2002 en 2011.
wijzigingen
Inmiddels is er een eerste bijeenkomst
van Nautilus International en
de KVNR geweest om tot een
gezamenlijk standpunt ter zake te
komen. Beide partijen gaan nu helder
inventariseren welke artikelen zij in de
ILT instructie aangepast zouden willen
zien. Dit zal teruggekoppeld worden
naar de EVO waarna een overzicht kan
worden gemaakt van het probleem,
de doelstelling, het tijdspad én de te
nemen acties.
10/12/2014 18:54
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 35
NL NEWS
Aanwijzingen
gevarengebieden
verlengd
Liberia, Sierra Leone en
Guinee
De aanwijzing is ingegaan op 25
september jl. en had een looptijd tot
25 november 2014.
Op 24 november 2014 is
overeenstemming bereikt over een
verlenging tot 25 januari 2015.
Libië en Syrie
Ook van deze landen waren alle
havens aangewezen als gevaarlijk
bestemmingsgebied voor de
periode 25 september tot 25
november 2014. Op 24 november
2014 werd ook hiervoor een
verlenging overeengekomen tot
25 januari 2015.Mocht er tegen het
eind van die periode aanleiding toe
zijn, dan zullen partijen wederom
bijeenkomen om te bezien wat voor
stappen genomen moeten worden.
FNV Loon- en arbeidsvoorwaardenbeleid 2015: Meer
koopkracht door echte banen
A
De FNV (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging)
is een vereniging van
vakbonden, waarbij ook
Nautilus International is
aangesloten. Elk jaar wordt
door de FNV een concept loonen arbeidsvoorwaardenbeleid
opgesteld en ter goedkeuring
aan de aangesloten bonden
rondgestuurd.
Bij zowel Nautilus International
als bij FNV Waterbouw gebeurt
de beoordeling in de Raad
van Advies . Voor 2015 streeft
de FNV in haar Loon- en
Arbeidsvoorwaardenbeleid naar
meer koopkracht door echte
banen én (pro) centen voor een
gelijkwaardige samenleving.
Hieronder een aantal punten
uit dit concept beleid:
Voor 2015 zet de FNV in op
een maximale looneis van 3%
die de koopkracht zoveel
mogelijk in stand houdt.
Daarnaast is er veel aandacht
voor vakmanschap, onzeker werk
en naleving van afspraken, zoals
gelijk loon voor gelijk werk.
Gezien het al jaren oplopende
koopkrachtverlies is 3% een
verantwoorde maximale
looneis. De FNV en haar aangesloten bonden kunnen ook
de mogelijkheid benutten de
maximale looneis gelijkwaardiger in te zetten; zij kiezen dan
voor centen in plaats van
procenten. Als iedereen er ‘ín
centen’ evenveel bijkrijgt, is de
loonsverhoging voor mensen
met weinig loon percentueel
hoger.
Kwaliteit van werk
De kwaliteit van het werk staat in
veel sectoren onder druk door
aanbestedingen, voortdurende
reorganisaties en kostenverlagingen. Daarbij hebben veel
mensen het gevoel dat ze hun
werk niet meer goed kunnen
doen, doordat ze met steeds meer
regels geconfronteerd worden.
Bovendien stellen werkgevers
kosten centraal en dat gaat weer
ten koste van de kwaliteit, de
vaktrots en de zeggenschap van
werknemers over het eigen werk.
De FNV wil meer aandacht voor
vakmanschap, een betere
doorstroming naar normale
vaste banen en schijnconstructies tegengaan.
Werkgelegenheid
Werkgelegenheid is van groot
belang. De FNV wil dat iedereen
kan werken, ook mensen die
aangewezen zijn op beschermd
werk. Wie werkloos dreigt te
worden, moet geholpen worden
naar ander werk; dit moet dan wel
gewoon goed werk zijn met
normale arbeidscontracten.
De FNV investeert in werkgelegenheid door het afspreken
van sectorplannen. Daarin wil de
Federatie bijvoorbeeld afspraken
maken over ouderen die (deels)
plaatsmaken voor jongeren.
Gezond de eindstreep halen
Werknemers zullen in Nederland
langer moeten werken dan tot 65
jaar. Maar wellicht nog belang-
rijker is dat werknemers tijdens
hun loopbaan gezond blijven,
zodat ze met plezier hun werk
kunnen blijven doen en niet door
ziekte of ongeval eerder moeten
uitstappen.
Binnen de zeevaartsector is
tussen Nautilus International, de
Vereniging van Werkgevers in de
Handelsvaart (VWH) en het
Sociaal Maritiem Werkgeversverbond (SMW) een overeenkomst
getekend om aanbevelingen in
het kader van levensfasebewust
personeelsbeleid verder uit te
werken. Hiervoor is een werkgroep ingesteld die de opdracht
heeft na te gaan welke maatregelen en oplossingen (best
practices) er (al) zijn om rederijen
en werknemers inzicht te geven
in de mogelijkheden om
onbalans te voorkomen.
g Na overleg hebben zowel de
Raad van Advies van Nautilus
International als FNV Waterbouw
ingestemd met het concept Loonen arbeidsvoorwaardenbeleid
2015.
Een JA voor 1 sterke FNV!
stemde een overgrote meerderF
heid op het fusiecongres van FNV
Op woensdag 26 november
Huidige CAO Maersk blijft
ongewijzigd
Persoonlijk beloningssysteem
voorlopig van de baan
De leden in dienst van
Maersk Ship Management
Tijdens de eerdere CAOD
BV gaan niet akkoord met het
onderhandelingen is met de
Bondgenoten alsnog voor de fusie
van FNV. De opluchting onder
de FNV bonden is groot: zeker
in deze moeilijke economische
tijden is een sterke vakbond van
groot belang. FNV bonden FNV
Bouw, FNV Sport en Abvakabo FNV
hadden in oktober al voor de fusie
gestemd. Op 8 oktober was de
teleurstelling echter groot toen het
Congres van FNV Bondgenoten geen
vereiste tweederde meerderheid
verkreeg voor de fusie. In het FNV
Ledenparlement enkele dagen later
riepen de afgevaardigden van de
diverse FNV bonden, waaronder
ook afgevaardigden van FNV
bondgenoten, hun medeleden
op, soms geëmotioneerd, om
alsnog voor de fusie te stemmen.
Ook kaderleden zetten zich in om
handtekeningen te verzamelen en in
gesprek te gaan met de neestemmers. En bij het hoofdbestuur is
de weken daarna hard gewerkt aan
het goed inhoudelijk informeren
over de fusie, omdat er blijkbaar bij
enkele FNV Bondgenoten leden nog
onduidelijkheid bestond over met
name financiële consequenties van
de fusie. Op grond hiervan heeft FNV
Bondgenoten besloten om een tweede
congres uit te roepen. Dat er tijdens
dit tweede congres wel vertrouwen
en duidelijkheid over de fusie bestond
blijkt uit het feit dat 91% van de
aanwezigen instemde met de fusie.
Gelijkloop Engeland
voorstel van de werkgever om
de jaarlijkse verhoging voor de
kapiteins en HWTK’s te vervangen
door een prestatieafhankelijke
beloning. Dat betekent dat de CAO
niet opengebroken zal worden
en de thans gemaakte afspraken
ongewijzigd blijven.
Eind september was er een
bijeenkomst tussen Nautilus en de
rederij op het hoofdkantoor van
Maersk in Kopenhagen waar de
werkgever een voorstel deed over
de beloning van de top 2 (kapitein
en hoofdwerktuigkundige)
voor Nederlandse en Britse
zeevarenden. In plaats van
de jaarlijkse verhoging wil de
werkgever naar een systeem
van persoonlijke beloning per
1 april 2015. Op welke wijze dit
precies plaats moet vinden is nog
onduidelijk. Wel is helder dat
de onlangs afgesloten CAO, die
doorloopt tot 2017, opengebroken
zou moet worden als het
beloningssysteem verandert.
Nautilus heeft vervolgens een
enquête uitgestuurd naar de
desbetreffende leden met de vraag
of zij een prestatieafhankelijk
beloningssysteem willen. De
uitslag hiervan is binnen: een
ruime meerderheid is tegen het
voorstel van de werkgever.
Voorlopig blijft de jaarlijkse
verhoging dan ook intact. De
werkgever wordt nu geïnformeerd
over de uitkomst.
34-35_nl_final.indd 35
werkgever afgesproken dat de
gageverhogingen gelijk lopen
met Engeland gedurende de
looptijd van de CAO. Als de gages
voor de Engelse zeevarenden
tijdens de looptijd van CAO extra
worden verhoogd bovenop
wat is afgesproken binnen de
huidige CAO, dan geldt deze extra
verhoging ook voor de Nederlandse
leden. In juni hebben de Engelse
leden het bereikte resultaat echter
afgewezen. Hierin zijn dezelfde
gageverhogingen vastgelegd
als voor de Nederlandse leden.
Onlangs is in Engeland opnieuw
overleg geweest, maar dat heeft
niet geleid tot aanpassing van het
resultaat. Hoewel de Engelse leden
niet instemmen met het eindbod, is
er onvoldoende draagvlak voor het
voeren van actie om tot een beter
resultaat te komen. Het eindbod
zal daarom gewoon worden
doorgevoerd.
Voor de Nederlandse zijde
betekent dit dat de afgesproken
gageverhogingen over een periode
van drie jaar en drie maanden
onveranderd blijven, namelijk:
1,6% per 1 januari 2014, 0,4% per 1
januari 2015, 1,7% per 1 april 2015
en 1,8% per 1 april 2016.
Mocht er tussentijds tóch
overeenstemming worden bereikt
over een extra gageverhoging
aan Engelse zijde, dan worden de
gages met hetzelfde percentage in
Nederland verhoogd.
Uit de dienstgang
je vaak via de werkgever een
F
werknemerspensioen opbouwen. Een
een gelijkwaardige regeling had
getroffen.
pensioenregeling die de werkgever
aan zijn werk-nemers toezegt,
maakt deel uit van de collectieve of
individuele arbeidsvoorwaarden.
Bij de meeste regelingen maakt de
werkgever maandelijks een bedrag
over aan de pensioenuitvoerder voor
de opbouw van jouw pensioen. Dat
had ook het geval moeten zijn bij
een van onze leden in onderstaand
voorbeeld.
De praktijk wees echter anders uit…
Door de werkgever van ons lid
was een pensioentoezegging gedaan
conform de geldende Collectieve
Arbeids overeenkomst (CAO). In het
reglement stond dat de rederij voor
de werknemers, die dienstdoen op
schepen onder buitenlandse vlag ,
zal bevorderen dat de deelname aan
het Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de
Koopvaardij vrijwillig voortgezet wordt.
Indien dit niet mogelijk is, zal door
de rederij elders een gelijkwaardige
verzekering worden afgesloten.
Ons lid had twijfels over de juiste
uitvoering van de pensioenafspraken
en meldde zich bij Nautilus. Uit
nader onderzoek bleek al snel
dat de werkgever voor hem geen
pensioenpremie voor een vrijwillige
voortzetting had afgedragen, noch
Gaten in pensioenopbouw
Als je in loondienst werkt, kun
Nautilus vroeg zich toen vervolgens
af of het voor de andere werknemers
wel geregeld was, aangezien de
afspraak collectief was gemaakt. Om
dit voor de betreffende werknemers
en leden in kaart te brengen, heeft
Nautilus International een oproep
gedaan. Leden die het vermoeden
hadden dat bovengenoemde
situatie op hen van toepassing was,
konden zich bij ons melden met alle
(originele) arbeidsovereenkomsten,
alle monsterboekjes, alle beschikbare
gageafrekeningen en alle informatie
over hun pensioenopbouw tot dan toe.
Hierbij moet u denken aan overzichten
met deelnemersdagen, Uniform
Pensioen Overzichten (UPO) en
overige informatie met betrekking tot
het pensioen.
Pensioenfonds
Aan de hand van de ontvangen
gegevens is Nautilus International
voor de leden nagegaan of er gaten in
de opbouw van de pensioenen zaten.
Dat bleek voor enkelen inderdaad
het geval te zijn. Vervolgens hebben
wij in overleg met en na goedkeuring
van de desbetreffende leden contact
opgenomen met de werkgever om
dit pensioengat met terugwerkende
kracht te laten repareren.
Zo ook voor ons lid die als eerste
bij ons aan de bel had getrokken.
Nadat wij hadden geconstateerd dat
er onterecht een pensioengat was
ontstaan, hebben we een berekening
gemaakt van de nog af te dragen
pensioenpremie gebaseerd op het
aantal deelnemersdagen en de
bijbehorende gages. Op basis van onze
opgave werd door het pensioenfonds
de ontstane rente berekend. Deze
bedragen bij elkaar leverde het totaal
van de nog af te dragen pensioenpremie op. Hierna werd door ons,
namens het lid, met de rederij de
reparatie van het pensioengat
afgesproken en na uitvoering
gecontroleerd op juistheid.
Advies en begeleiding
Het voorgaande geeft maar weer
aan dat het belangrijk is en blijft de
gegevens in uw Uniform Pensioen
Overzicht over uw pensioenopbouw te
controleren. Bij twijfel over de juistheid
hiervan is het altijd verstandig om
contact met ons op te nemen. Nautilus
International kan u hierin adviseren
en begeleiden. Wij helpen u graag
verder. Onze contactgegevens en meer
informatie over een lidmaatschap
kunt u vinden op onze website:
www.nautilusint.org/nl
WILT U EEN
BREDER PUBLIEK
BEREIKEN?
PLAATS DAN EEN
ADVERTENTIE IN
DE TELEGRAPH.
NEEM CONTACT
OP MET:
Jude Rosset at
Redactive Media
Sales
T: +44 (0)20 7880 6217
F: +44 (0)20 7880 7691
E: jude.rosset@
redactive.co.uk
10/12/2014 18:36
36 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
PHOTO COMPETITION
Out of sight,
out of mind?
Not this year!
Share your images of life at sea and win up to £1,000…
A
Seafarers and shipping
rarely seem toget the
attention they deserve.
So here’s your chance to put
yourself and the sector in which
you work into the spotlight —
and win up to £1,000 in the
process!
Nautilus is once again running
its popular ‘life at sea’ photographic competition, and has
teamed up with the satellite
communications company
Inmarsat to launch the 2015
contest. The aim is to ﬁnd the best
photographs showing the very
varied aspects of life at sea today
— both the good and the bad.
The 2011 competition proved
to be the most successful ever
staged — attracting a record
number of entries, with
thousands of images ranging
from stunning sunsets to
dramatic rescues, from tropical
storms to Antarctic waters.
So the search is once again on
for the best pictures focussing on
the theme of ‘life at sea’ — an area
that is much neglected by
professional photographers, but
one that you can interpret as you
see ﬁt. We have kept the rules as
simple as can be. Judges will be
looking for images that not only
display photographic merit but
also capture the reality of life and
work at sea — any aspect of
modern seafaring that you like.
You can submit your shots
in colour or black and white,
and as prints or e-mailed
high-resolution JPEG electronic
images (300dpi is preferred).
The competition’s closing date
is Monday 1 August 2015 and the
prizes will be presented at the
Nautilus International General
Meeting in October, where an
exhibition of the best entries will
be on show.
First prize is £1,000, second
prize is £750 and there is £400 for
the third-placed entry.
All you have to do to enter is
complete the form on this page
and send your pictures to:
Nautilus/Inmarsat Photo
Competition, The Telegraph, 1&2
The Shrubberies, George Lane,
South Woodford, London E18 1BD
or email them to telegraph@
nautilusint.org.
If emailing, please supply your
contact information in the same
way as on the printed entry form,
and do not send ﬁles totalling
more than 10MB at a time, as this
will exceed the server limit.
If posting hard copies, please
don’t forget to state whether you
want us to return your
photographs. There is no limit to
the number of entries that you
can submit — so get clicking!
Photo competition
2015
Name:
...................................................................................................
Address:
.................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
Home tel:
Email:
...............................................................................................
....................................................................................................
Mem no.:
...............................................................................................
Photos to be returned: YES / NO
A selection of entries from the 2011 competition
36_photo 14-42-05.indd Sec2:36
10/12/2014 18:48
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 37
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Would you like to enjoy a one for one work/leave ratio?
Do you hold a UK CertiÀcate of Competence or Equivalent?
Sentinel Marine PTE Limited are recruiting seafarers who can answer yes to the above questions and who
would like to be part of the increasing ¸eet operated by Sentinel Marine Ltd.
With 8 new build Multi Role Offshore Support vessels and new build Platform Support Vessels delivering
into the ¸eet in the coming months, interested applicants are requested to send their CV to the
Human Resource department by either emailing [email protected] or applying online
via our website http://sentinelmarine.com/
www.farnhammarineagency.co.uk
SHORE-BASED
Marine Superintendent
Aberdeen - £50K + Car + Package
OFFSHORE
PASSENGER/WORKBOAT
Master - PSV - £64K
Chief Engineer
Cruise - $10K/mth
Master - ERRV - £40K
Staff Chief Engineer
Cruise - $8.2K/mth
Chief Officer - PSV - £300/day
Technical Superintendent
Aberdeen - £60K + Car + Package
Technical Superintendent
Glasgow - £55-65K + Benefits
Technical Superintendent
Cyprus - €65-70K + Benefits
Marine Operations Manager LPG
London - £70K
Vessel Manager LNG
London - £65K
Technical Superintendent
London - £45-60K
Project Manager
Germany - Attractive Pkg + Benefits
Offshore Vessel Manager
Croatia - €60K + Benefits
Marine Superintendent
Surrey - £65K + Package
Shore-based: +44 (0)23 8020 8840
[email protected]
Seagoing: +44 (0)23 8020 8820
[email protected]
37-41_rec.indd 37
Chief Officer DPO - AHTS - £43K
2nd Engineer
Cruise - $48K
2nd Officer DPO - PSV - £34K
Master - Jack-Up Dumb Barge - $1050/day
Crane Op/AB - DSV - £400/day
Hotel Engineer
Cruise - €55K
YACHT
Refrigeration Engineer
Cruise - $5.5K/mth
Second Engineer Unlimited
50m+ Shadow Yacht - $6K/mth
Master
Workboat - £250/day
2nd Officer
70m Yacht - €6K/mth
Chief Engineer
Workboat - £250/day
Y2 Chief Engineer
60m+ Sailing Yacht - $15K/mth
Chief Engineer
Dredger - £52K
Y3/Y2 Sole Engineer
40m High Speed Motor Yacht - €7K/mth
2nd Engineer
Dredger - £45K
Chief Officer w Masters
100m+ Yacht - €neg
Chief Officer
Ferry - £54K
Y3 Second Engineer
60m+ Motor Yacht - $neg
OOW
Ferry - £177/day
Carpenter/Lead Deckhand B1/B2
100m Yacht - $3.5K/mth
Master
Workboat - £255/day
Y3 3rd Engineer
60m+ Sailing Yacht - €6.5K/mth
Engine OOW
Workboat - £190/day
Search for ‘Faststream Seafarers’
@faststreamsea
www.faststream.com
10/12/2014 17:43
38 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
APPOINTMENTS
MARINE PILOT
CV Professionals
Maritime
& oσshore
specialists
www.cvprofessionals.co.uk
NOTICE TO
READERS
Nautilus
International
advises members
that some crewing
agencies may not
be advertising
specific positions,
but instead may be
seeking to develop
their databases of
job hunters.
ANGLIAN
MARINE
RECRUITMENT LTD
Marine Placement Agency
Ongoing vacancies for
all ofﬁcers and ratings
deep sea, coastal, st.by,
supply, ahts, etc.
To register send cv and copies of all
certiﬁcates to:
6 Birch Court, Sprowston,
Norwich NR7 8LJ
Tel/Fax: 01603 478938
Email: [email protected]
www.anglianmarine.co.uk
37-41_rec.indd 38
Applications are invited from experienced, motivated and
knowledgeable crew to work on coastal oil tankers operated by
John H. Whitaker (Tankers) Limited
At present we have vacancies for the following:
Minimum Requirements
Chief Engineers - CoC less than 3000kW (Motor), with Oil DCE
2nd Engineer - CoC less than 3000kW (Motor), with Oil DCE
Contract Type - Permanent/Temporary
Leave/Work - 4 Weeks on/4 Weeks Off
Salaries - will be discussed at Interview stage
Please forward all applications to:
Mrs Elaine Wilson, Personnel Ofﬁcer, Crown Crewing (UK) Ltd,
Payroll Bureau for Crown Crewing (Jersey) Ltd, Crown Dry Dock,
Tower Street, HULL HU9 1TY Email: [email protected]
ABP Humber Estuary Services (HES) are seeking to recruit additional Marine Pilots.
Associated British Ports is the UK’s largest port group operating 21 ports across the
UK including various locations upon the Humber. The Humber is the UK’s busiest
commercial waterway with a diverse range of shipping from coasters to VLCC’s. ABP
currently employs in excess of 110 Pilots on the Humber.
Following planned changes in working arrangements pilots will be generally
clear of duty.
competency, have the right to work in the UK and an enthusiastic and motivated
approach to learning a large and complex district.
Applications will also be considered from candidates currently holding an RN
relevant experience.
C P Marine UK Ltd are specialists in worldwide ship
and shore based marine recruitment.
We provide a professional, dedicated and quality personal service
in connecting seafarers to shipping companies and also placements
to shore based marine positions.
Temporary and permanent vacancies are available worldwide for:
• Captains
• Chief Engineers
• Deck Officers
• Driving Mates
• DPO’s
• Engineering Officers
• ETO’s
• Crane Operators
• Deck and Engine Room Ratings
• Cooks
• Offshore Personnel
• Shore based Personnel
comprehensive training programme, excellent salary, structured career progression,
private medical insurance and competitive pension.
If you feel you have you have the energy and commitment to meet the
challenge then write including your CV to the Assistant Personnel Manager,
Associated British Ports, PO Box 1, Port House, Northern Gateway, Hull, HU9 5PQ or
visit our web site www.abports.co.uk/careers to download an application form.
Should you wish to discuss opportunities in Pilotage on the Humber further, please
contact the Pilotage Operations Manager on (01482) 617200.
To register with us for all marine sectors, please send CV to:
C P Marine UK Ltd, PO Box 314, Hull HU10 7WG United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0) 1482 650279 Fax: +44 (0) 1482 671341
[email protected]
www.cpmarineuk.com
www.humber.com
www.abports.co.uk
10/12/2014 17:43
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 39
APPOINTMENTS
www.windstarcruises.com
BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS
Join us in welcoming our newest stars to the ﬂeet, having commenced
with the Star Pride in 2014 and the two additional vessels in 2015.
Soon to be cruising alongside our current
luxury sail assisted yachts, our ﬂeet will
travel worldwide taking our passengers
to some of the most unique and exotic
ports there are to be found.
With the ﬂeet doubling in size, Windstar
Cruises are currently looking for suitable
candidates for the following positions:
· Captains and other Deck Ofﬁcers
· Engineering Ofﬁcers of all ranks
Beneﬁts package includes
· Competitive wages paid in GBP and USD
· One for One Rotation for Staff Ofﬁcers
· Contributory Medical / Dental Insurance
· Retirement Savings Plan / Pensions
(subject to eligibility)
· Annual & Return Bonuses (dependent on rank)
· Company Sponsored Study Leave Programme
· Ofﬁcer Cadet Training
· Excellent Spouse Policy
· Electricians, ETO’s & IT Ofﬁcers
· Hotel Ofﬁcers, Guest & Destination
Service Professionals
Prospective candidates need to
complete our online candidate database
via our website or email us at
[email protected]
quoting reference WSC 01/15
Viking House, Beechwood Business Park,
Menzies Road, Dover, Kent, CT16 2FG
T: +44 (0) 300 303 8191
vikingrecruitment.com
37-41_rec.indd 39
ISO 9001
10/12/2014 17:43
40 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
APPOINTMENTS
MERCHANT NAVY OFFICER TRAINING COURSES
Based in Glasgow city centre, the college has a long standing
reputation as one of the UK’s leading providers of nautical courses.
STCW, MCA & SPECIALISED MARINE SHORT COURSES
ECDIS: 02/02/15, 23/2/15, 9/3/15/, 23/3/15,
25/5/15, 1/6/15, 22/6/15, 29/6/15
HELM Management: 26/1/15, 2/2/15, 9/2/15,
23/2/15, 9/3/15, 30/3/15, 6/4/15, 27/4/15. 4/5/15,
18/5/15, 1/6/15, 15/5/15
Specialised Oil Tanker: 12/01/15, 23/02/15,
6/4/15, 18/5/15
Shipboard Security Ofﬁcer: 16/02/15, 25/5/15
Safety Ofﬁcer: 02/03/15, 1/6/15
Designated Security Duties: 26/01/15,
23/2/15, 23/3/15, 11/5/13
Proﬁciency in Security Awareness:
27/01/15, 24/2/15, 24/3/15, 12/5/15
CPSCRB: 15/6/15, 22/6/15
EDH: 23/02/15, 11/5/15
TThe
he world’s
world’s best Navy needs
the world’s best traine
trainers
Babcock
b
k Flagship
l
h has
h a wellll deserved
d
d reputation ffor maritime training excellence and is
looking for experienced professionals to drive the organisation towards greater success.
Contact: Alison Bryce 0141 565 2700 - [email protected]
Navigation Instructor for Astro/Celestial Navigation and Tidal Calculations
Other courses: BTMT, GMDSS, NAEST, BRM, PST, PSSR, LICOS, Advanced Ship Handling, Tanker Fam, Specialised
Gas, Specialised Chemical, Freefall Lifeboat. For further Marine enquiries please contact Alison Bryce (as above).
Teaching Astro/Celestial Navigation and Tidal theory and practice to a wide variety of
RN and international students. Additional duties require setting command examinations
and contributing to wider navigation instruction.
DECK COURSES
START DATES
Bridge Simulator Controller
Class 1 Orals Preparation Course
Chief Mate Full Reg II/1
Chief Mate Post HND
OOW Post HND
4/5/15 & August 2015
Booking for September 2015
19/01/15 & September 2015
30/03/15 & September 2015
Controlling and supporting the full range of training conducted in the world class
CONSORT bridge simulator and preparing simulator training scenarios and
supporting materials.
Contact: [email protected]
You’ll be part of a team supporting the Royal Navy’s Navigation Training Unit in the
Maritime Warfare School, HMS COLLINGWOOD at Fareham, near Portsmouth.
ENGINEERING COURSES
You will hold a STCW II/1 or II/2 qualiﬁcation or an RN Specialist Navigation qualiﬁcation
(or equivalent) and have learned your trade at sea.
START DATES
Chief and Second Engineer (III/2)
Motor EK Prep Course:
12/01/15, 05/05/15
Contact: [email protected]
You should share our motivation, professionalism and commitment to excellence.
A competitive salary and a range of additional extra beneﬁts are all on offer to
the right candidates. For further information or to send your CV please email
[email protected] before 30 January 2015.
EOOW (III/1) & IAMI Prep Course:
09/02/15
Contact: [email protected]
For other Engineering enquiries please contact:
Caroline Alderdice 0141 271 6545/6548
[email protected]
A i r p o r t s | A u to m o t i ve | C o m m u n i c a t i o n s | D e fe n c e | E d u c a t i o n | E m e rg e n c y S e r v i c e s | M a r i n e
Mining | Nuclear | Oil & Gas | Power | Rail | Renewables babcockinternational.com
www.cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk
City of Glasgow College SC036198
FLEETWOOD NAUTICAL CAMPUS CAREERS DAY
SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2015, 10AM - 4PM
Fleetwood Nautical Campus | Broadwater | Fleetwood | FY7 8JZ
Fleetwood - a top UK Nautical College with a long established reputation
for being a leading provider of training to the Maritime industry.
OFFSHORE
BOSIET (3 days) - Every Mon and Wed from W/C 1 Dec | MIST (2 days) - Every Mon and Thurs from W/C 1 Dec |
FOET (1 day) - Every Tues from W/C 1 Dec | EURO (3 days) - Every other week starting W/C 8 Dec | EURO REFRESHER
(1 day) - W/C 12 Jan, 9 Feb (2015) | TEMPSC COXSWAIN (3.5 days) - Mon W/C 8 Dec 19 Jan | TEMPSC COXSWAIN
REFRESHER (1.5 days) - Every other Thurs W/C 5, 19 Jan (2015) | GWO BASIC SAFETY(7 days) - W/C 8 Dec, 12 Jan (2015) |
MST (Renewable UK) (2 days) - W/C 8 Dec, 12 Jan (2015) | RUK/GWO Working at Height (2days) – Fortnightly from Sept
(see web) | NEBOSH Oil and Gas - W/C 9 Feb, 11 May (2015) | NEBOSH General - W/C 7 Jan, 7April (2015) | IOSH Managing
Safely - on request | IOSH Working Safely - on request
For more information
E [email protected] T 01253 779 123 W blackpool.ac.uk/offshore
Facebook/FleetwoodNauticalCampusOffshoreOperations
MARITIME
Ship Bridge Simulator Courses NAEST Management - W/C12 Jan, 16, 23, 30 Mar, 20 April (2015) | NEAST Operational
- W/C 05 Jan, 27 Apr (2015) | Ship Security Officer - W/C 30 Mar, 27 July (2015) | Advanced Training for Oil Tanker Cargo
Operations - W/C 13 Apr (2015) additional dates on request | Advanced Training for Liquefied Gas Tanker Cargo Operations - W/C
15 Dec, 13 Apr (2015) | HELM Management - W/C 16, 23, 30 Mar, 13 Apr, 13, 20, 27 Jul (2015) | ECDIS - W/C 16 Mar, 13 Jul (2015)
| VTS Refresher - W/C 7 Apr, 21 Jul (2015) | VTS Induction – 23 Mar, 29 Jun (2015) | VTS Operator Simulator – 30 Mar, 6 Jul (2015)
| Masters Orals – W/C 12 Jan, 2 Mar, 27 Apr, 29 Jun | FD Chief Mates - W/C 05 Jan, 2 Mar, 13 Apr, 29 Jun (excluding short courses)
For more information
E [email protected] T 01253 779 123 W blackpool.ac.uk/nautical
If you are interested in working at Fleetwood Nautical Campus, call T 01253 50(4760)
to register your interest or for information on current vacancies.
WWW.
BLACKPOOL.
AC.UK
37-41_rec.indd 40
10/12/2014 17:43
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 41
APPOINTMENTS
Marine Ofﬁcer/
Operations
Coordinator
Contact Paul Wade on
020 7880 6212
or email
paul.wade@
redactive.co.uk
WHO ARE WE?
to find out how
the Telegraph
can work for you
North Tugz Limited provides the towage and pilotage services to the New Zealand Reﬁning Company and Northport Limited at
Marsden Point.
THE ROLE:
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join North Tugz Limited to ﬁll a combined role of a Marine Ofﬁcer and allocations duties,
shipping coordination and undertaking general ofﬁce management. This is a varied role which will be involved in training on various
craft including ASD tugs, as well as fulﬁlling other operational and allocations duties.
RYAN OFFSHORE LTD
RYAN SHIP MANAGEMENT LTD
DESIRED CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate must have an ILM or a MEC6 engineering qualiﬁcation and current/valid Class 1 Master Foreign Going
Certiﬁcate as well as a current STCW Medical Certiﬁcate. They will ultimately also undertake pilot training and pilotage duties. A
Graduate Management qualiﬁcation would also be advantageous to this role.
Preference will be given to those with experience in both small boat and ship handling along with BRM training and experience with
DUKC programs and navigational software.
To be considered for this role, the applicant will need to be able to re-locate and live within a 20km radius of Northport Limited, at
Marsden Point on the southern side of the Whangarei Harbour.
The ideal candidate will need:
• Strong communication skills
• Customer focus
• Think laterally and provide tailored solutions
• Positive attitude
• Strong technical skills
• Commitment to quality and safety management.
15 January 2015 is the
closing date for
February 2015.
You can still advertise
online at anytime.
SHIPPING
CONNECTIONS
FOR - DP3/ DP2- DSV/ DP- AHTS/ DP- PSV/ DP3 PIPELAYER/DP2 CLV
REQUIRE MASTER-DPOs, CHOFF-SDPOs, 1ST OFF-DPO, 2ND OFFDPOs, CHENGs, 2ND ENGs, 3RD ENG, ETOs, CRANE OPTRs - STG 2 / 3
FOR - 4-PT MOORING DSV / AHTS/ PSV/ MRV/ ERRV
REQUIRE MASTERs, CHOFF, 2ND OFF, CHENG, 2ND ENG, 3RD ENG,
DP ENG, ETO
FOR - SHORE BASED FOR OFFSHORE FLEET
REQUIRE OPERATION MANAGER, ENGINEERING, MANAGER, TECH
MANAGER, MARINE, SUPT, TECH SUPT, PORT CAPTAIN, PORT ENG,
HSE MANAGER, QHSE, COMPETENCE ASSESSOR/TRAINER
To apply for this role please send a covering letter advising how you
meet the requirements outlined and a CV to [email protected].
Happy New Year from all of the Nautilus team
CONTACT DETAILS
T E L: +44 (0) 1 9 1 5 4 8 8 8 5 9 FAX: +44 (0) 1 9 1 5 4 88 425
EMAIL: [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]
WEBSITE: www.ryan-shipmanagement.co.uk, www.shipping-connections.com,
www.ryanoffshore.net
RYANSHIP, P.O.BOX–1282, SUNDERLAND, SR5 9HX, UNITED KINGDOM
Who we are?
CEMEX UK Marine is a leading supplier of marine aggregates to the British and European construction industry
and is part of CEMEX a global building materials solutions provider.
Dedicated to building a better future, we believe in balancing ﬁnancial achievement with a ﬁrm commitment to
sustainable development. We currently operate a ﬂeet of ﬁve UK ﬂagged vessels ranging from 1251gt/1080kW to
6534gt/4920kW delivering to customers in the UK and near continent. We believe in realising individual potential
and encouraging personal progression. If you are looking for an opportunity to develop your skills and move
forward within a leading organisation in its ﬁeld, then please contact [email protected]
CEMEX Marine (Guernsey) are currently seeking for employment on CEMEX UK Marine Ltd vessels enthusiastic
individuals who are committed to working safely to join our ﬂeet in the following ranks:
Masters Competitive salary and beneﬁts package including Pilotage payments where applicable
• A key leadership position, you will have already sailed in command and be a competent ship handler. CEMEX are seeking candidates able to
demonstrate exemplary management and leadership skills to act as a critical link between the Company Management ashore and seagoing
operational staff.
• You will be expected to function in a hands on role in addition to safely implementing Company systems and procedures whilst motivating and
engaging those under your command.
Chief Ofﬁcers
• We are looking for experienced Chief Ofﬁcers. Candidates should hold Chief Ofﬁcers unlimited UK CoC/CeC. Experience of dredging would be
an advantage.
Chief Engineers (Unlimited)
• A pivotal role, we are looking for people with a ‘can do’ and ‘hands on’ approach to the job with effective leadership skills. Candidates should hold
Chief Engineer unlimited UK CoC/CeC. Whether you’ve sailed in rank or looking for your ﬁrst Chief’s position, we would like to hear from you.
Chief Engineers (Domestic Trade)
• Candidates should hold minimum Chief Engineer 1500kW domestic trade UK CoC/CeC.
• -his is a speciﬁc position on a smaller two watch vessel working within a limited trading area.
2nd Engineers
• We are looking for both experienced and recently qualiﬁed 2nd Engineer Unlimited candidates with a UK CoC/CeC who wish to progress their
careers further to Chief Engineer. Both of the above positions offer the possibility of paid study leave for higher certiﬁcates to selected
candidates following a qualifying period of sea service.
In addition to salary we offer:
• three week on/off work leave rotation;
• company Pension Scheme/MNOPF for existing active members;
• company performance related bonus scheme.
Interested candidates should enquire in the ﬁrst instance to Susie Taylor at [email protected]
37-41_rec.indd 41
10/12/2014 17:43
42 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
SHIP TO SHORE
M-Notices
M-Notices, Marine Information
Notes and Marine Guidance
Notes issued by the Maritime
& Coastguard Agency recently
include:
MGN 470 (M) — Maritime Labour
Convention, 2006: list of Merchant
Shipping Notices and Marine
Guidance Notes
This note lists all the Merchant
Shipping Notices and Marine
Guidance Notes relating to the UK
implementation of the Maritime
Labour Convention, 2006. The list of
notices is divided into three sections
— those relevant to:
z shipowners and operators
z seafarers
z manning agents or agencies
The annex to MGN 470 summarises
the implementing legislation and
related notices.
MGN 490 (M) Amendment 1 —
Maritime Labour Convention:
application to small vessels of less
than 200GT that are ordinarily
engaged in commercial activities
MGN 491 (M) Amendment 1 —
Maritime Labour Convention:
application to workboats of 200gt to
less than 500gt
These amendments update and
replace the information contained in
MGN 490 (M) and 491 (M), previously
published in August 2013. Between
them, the two amended notes
provide detailed guidance on the
following:
z which vessels the MLC applies to
and how it applies
z the substantially equivalent
accommodation standards agreed
by the UK Tripartite Working Group
for UK vessels under 200gt, and
UK workboats of 200gt to less than
500gt
z the procedures for having vessels
inspected and certified
z the sections of the MCA to contact
with particular queries
MGN 519 (M) — Life saving
appliances: controlled means of
descent at embarkation stations;
replacement for embarkation
ladders; and access to remotely
located liferafts
This note reports that the MCA has
received enquiries about the use of
various types of equipment intended
to provide a controlled means of
descent (CMD) down ships’ sides to
reach survival craft.
The types of proposed equipment
differ greatly in design but include
both passive and active systems, such
as ladders and mechanical descent
devices. The principal objective of
CMDs is the safe access to survival
craft after launching, but they also
serve a role in abandonment when
the launch of survival craft is limited
or inhibited by, for example, the
angle of heel of the ship.
There is no internationally
specified design standard, nor
an internationally agreed testing
procedure for such equipment, but
there is a UK policy. It applies to CMDs
when used either as a replacement
for embarkation ladders, or as the
means to access remotely located
or ‘throw-over’ liferafts. MGN 519
explains this policy and sets out the
procedure for gaining approval of
CMD equipment.
MGN 524 (M) — Life saving
appliances; Category C medical
kits; wholesale distribution
authorisation; wholesale dealers
licence
This note provides guidance to
all marine companies procuring,
storing, distributing or supplying
Category C medical kits (either as
stand-alone kits or contained within
packed survival craft). It explains
the requirements and process for
obtaining a wholesale distribution
authorisation in accordance with the
Human Medicines Regulations 2012
(SI 2012 No. 1916) (as amended).
MGN 524 also gives details of
the organisations to which the
regulations apply and the process of
obtaining the required authorisation.
MIN 482 (M) — Human Element,
Leadership and Management
training
The 2010 Manila Amendments to
STCW introduced a requirement that
ship’s officers must be proficient in
Human Element, Leadership and
Management (HELM). There has been
previous information about this from
the MCA, but MIN 482 is the most
up-to-date guidance for UK seafarers,
and replaces MIN 455. The main
points are as follows:
Holders of a Certificate of
Competence (CoC). If you are
revalidating your CoC using sea
service or time spent in an acceptable
occupation, you will not be required
to undertake additional HELM
training. You are considered to
have gained sufficient knowledge,
understanding and proficiency in
HELM and bridge/engine room
resource management. This will
not alter after 31 December 2016.
However, if you are revalidating your
CoC through the alternative route
as per MIN 443, your knowledge of
leadership and management skills,
and resource management, will be
assessed during your revalidation
oral examination. To revalidate
through the alternative route after 31
December 2016, you will be required
to undertake the relevant HELM
training programme.
Member meetings and seminars
Nautilus International organises regular meetings, forums and seminars for members to discuss pensions, technical
matters, maritime policies and legal issues. Coming up in the next few months are:
Applying for a new CoC. If you
are following an MNTB approved
officer training scheme leading to
the issue of an Officer of the Watch,
Engineer Officer of the Watch or
Electro-Technical Officer CoC, then
no additional training for HELM is
required because it is included in
your curriculum. If you are following
any other route to obtain a UK CoC
(e.g. engineer graduate entry, Royal
Navy transfer or approved overseas
collaborative programme), you may
need to provide a certificate of HELM
training with your CoC application.
Further details are given in MIN 482.
Applying for a new CoC at the
management level. For most higherlevel CoCs (e.g. Master unlimited,
Chief Engineer unrestricted), including
those in the yacht sector, you must
include a certificate of completion of
an approved HELM (M) course with
your application. MIN 482 gives a full
list of the CoCs to which this applies.
Applying for a new CoC at
operational level. To apply for
restricted CoCs allowing you to work
on tugs and near-coastal waters, or
on small yachts, you must include
a certificate of completion of an
approved HELM operational level
course. MIN 482 gives a full list of the
CoCs to which this applies.
Providing HELM training. The full
criteria for the provision of education
and training for the HELM programmes
are available from the Merchant
Navy Training Board. Training centres
seeking approval for operational and
management level HELM programmes
should seek approval through their
local Marine Office.
MIN 494 (M) — Revalidating a
certificate of competency: new
requirements for masters and
officers
The regulations for the revalidation
of an STCW Certificate of Competency
are about to go out to consultation.
This note extends the validity of
the information from MIN 423,
with some minor amendments and
updates to references.
z M-Notices are available as
electronic documents or as a set
of bound volumes.
z A consolidated set of M-Notices
is published by The Stationery
Office. This contains all M-Notices
current on 31 July 2009 (ISBN
9780115530555) and costs £210 —
www.tsoshop.co.uk
z Individual copies can be
electronically subscribed
to by emailing a request to
[email protected] or
downloaded from the MCA website.
Go to www.gov.uk/mca and
click on Find marine (M) notices.
g Professional & Technical Forum
Tuesday 3 February 2015
at 1300hrs for 1330hrs
Novotel, Southampton
1 West Quay Road
Southampton SO15 1RA
The Forum deals with a wide range of
technical, safety, welfare and other
professional topics of relevance to
all members, including training and
certification. The meeting is open to all
members (UK, NL & CH).
Contact Sue Willis:
+44 (0)20 8989 6677
[email protected]
Contact Nautilus International
Nautilus International welcomes contact from members at any time. Please send
a message to one of our department email addresses (see page 17) or get in touch
with us at one of our offices around the world.
For urgent matters, we can also arrange to visit your ship in a UK port.
Please give us your vessel’s ETA and as much information as possible about the
issue that needs addressing.
SINGAPORE
Nautilus International
10a Braddell Hill #05-03
Singapore, 579720
Tel: +65 (0)625 61933
Mobile: +65 (0)973 10154
[email protected]
Northern office
Nautilus International
Nautilus House, Mariners’ Park
Wallasey CH45 7PH
Tel: +44 (0)151 639 8454
Fax: +44 (0)151 346 8801
[email protected]
Offshore sector contact point
Members working for companies based
in the east of Scotland or UK offshore oil
and gas sector can call:
+44 (0)1224 638882
THE NETHERLANDS Postal Address
Nautilus International
Postbus 8575
3009 An Rotterdam
Physical Address
Nautilus International
Schorpioenstraat 266
3067 KW Rotterdam
Tel: +31 (0)10 477 1188
Fax: +31 (0)10 477 3846
[email protected]
FRANCE
Yacht sector office in partnership with
D&B Services
3 Bd. d’Aguillon
06600 Antibes, France
Tel: +33 (0)962 616 140
[email protected]
www.dandbservices.com
SPAIN
Yacht sector office in partnership with
dovaston
C/Joan de Saridakis 2, Edificion Goya
Local 1A, Marivent
07015 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Tel: +34 971 677 375
[email protected]
www.dovaston.com
College contacts
Induction visits
See www.nautilusint.org event
section for dates of upcoming
college visits by the Nautilus
recruitment team (scroll down to
‘latest events’).
For further information, email
[email protected]
or call Garry Elliott on
+44 (0)151 639 8454.
Industrial support for cadets
An industrial official is appointed to
each of the main nautical colleges.
In addition the industrial department is responsible for representing
trainee officers in line with all
members that we represent;
please contact the Union on
+44 (0)20 8989 6677. Your enquiry
will then be directed to the relevant
industrial organiser for your
employer/sponsoring company.
The union also facilitates a Young
Maritime Professionals’ Forum to
provide an opportunity for young
members to engage in discussions
on the specific challenges facing
young workers in the maritime
profession.
For further information members/
trainee officers should contact Paul
Schroder at [email protected].
g Young Maritime Professionals
Forum
Saturday 7 March 2015
1000 to 1300hrs
Jury’s Inn, Southampton
The Forum provides guidance to
Nautilus Council on the challenges
facing young people in the shipping
industry and on the issues that matter
to them.
Open to all young members
(UK, NL & CH).
Contact Paul Schroder:
+44 (0)20 8989 6677
[email protected]
Quiz and crossword
answersACDB
Quiz answers
1. The top five shipowning nations are
China, Germany, Greece, Japan and the
Republic of Korea.
2. The top five shipowning nations own
58.5% of the world fleet.
3. Singapore’s shipowners have the
largest number of ships on order — a
total of 641, according to IHS Fairplay.
4. The Marshall Islands is the flag with
the largest share of the world orderbook
— a total of 682 ships, according to IHS
Fairplay.
5. There are presently just over 530
heavylift vessels in the world fleet.
6. The 23 superyachts built in Dutch yards
last year were worth a total of €807m.
Crossword answers
Quick Answers
Across: 1. Monarchical; 7. Zip;
9. Flagstaff; 10. Swipe; 11. Observe;
12. Trigger; 13. Indicators; 16. Pill;
18. Mass; 19. Scrap metal; 22. Lampoon;
23. Digging; 25. Train; 26. Queen Mary;
27. Ark; 28. Blessedness.
Down: 1. Mafiosi; 2. Noah’s; 3. Restrict;
4. Heave; 5. Cafeteria; 6. Lassie;
7. Zeitgeist; 8. Pleural; 14. Disembark;
15. Technique; 17. Imagined; 18. Militia;
20. Leg byes; 21. Hobnob; 23. Dress;
24. Irate.
This month’s cryptic crossword is a
prize competition, and the answers
will appear in next month’s Telegraph.
Congratulations to Nautilus member
Peter Coull, who has won the prize draw
for the December cryptic crossword.
Cryptic answers from December
Across: 7. Roughage; 9. August;
10. Trend; 11. Antiphon;
12. Reconnaissance; 15. Scenic;
16. Rasher; 18. Window dressing;
20. Saboteur; 22. Rates; 24. Fennel;
25. Lemonade.
Down: 1. Fortress; 2. Ague; 3. Nepali;
4. Kant; 5. Agapanthus; 6. Ashore;
8. Andantino; 13. Oceangoing;
14. Snare drum; 17. Ringside;
18. Weaver; 19. Darkly; 21. Eels;
23. Tyne.
To suggest an organisation which could appear here, email [email protected]
Maritime & Coastguard Agency
+44 (0)23 8032 9100
www.gov.uk/mca
Implements the UK government’s
maritime safety policy and works to
prevent the loss of life on the coast and
at sea.
International Transport Workers’
Federation
+44 (0)20 7403 2733
www.itfglobal.org
A federation of over 700 unions
representing over 4.5 million transport
workers from 150 countries.
Merchant Navy Welfare Board
www.mnwb.org
Umbrella body for the UK maritime
charity sector, promoting cooperation
between organisations that provide
welfare services to merchant seafarers
and their dependants within the UK.
Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport
+ 31 88 489 00 00
www.ilent.nl
Dutch maritime authority (separate
from Dutch coastguard).
Merchant Navy Training Board
www.mntb.org.uk
UK organisation promoting
maritime education and training,
and providing careers guidance.
Administers the Careers at Sea
Ambassadors scheme, under
which serving seafarers can
volunteer to give careers talks in
UK schools.
Seafarers UK (formerly the King
George’s Fund for Sailors)
+44 (0)20 7932 0000
www.seafarers-uk.org
Supports and promotes UK charities
helping seafarers from the Merchant
Navy, Royal Navy and fishing fleets.
Often organises places for maritime
fundraisers to enter marathons and
other charity challenges.
42-43_info+join.indd 42
SWITZERLAND
Gewerkschaftshaus, Rebgasse 1
4005 Basel, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)61 262 24 24
Fax: +41 (0)61 262 24 25
[email protected]
UK Head office
Nautilus International
1&2 The Shrubberies, George Lane
South Woodford, London E18 1BD
Tel: +44 (0)20 8989 6677
Fax: +44 (0)20 8530 1015
[email protected]
Useful organisations
Swiss Maritime Navigation Office
+41 (0)61 270 91 20
www.smno.ch
Swiss maritime authority.
g Women’s Forum
Saturday 7 March 2015
1000hrs to 1300hrs
Jury’s Inn Hotel
Charlotte Place
Southampton SO14 0TB
The Forum provides guidance to
Nautilus Council on the challenges
facing women in the industry and
encourages female participation in
Union activity.
Open to all female members.
Contact Lisa Carr:
+44 (0)20 8989 6677
[email protected]
International Seafarers’ Welfare
and Assistance Network
+44 (0)300 012 4279
www.seafarerswelfare.org
Global organisation providing a
24 hour, year-round multi-lingual
helpline for all seafarers’ welfare
and support needs, as well as an
emergency welfare fund.
SAIL (Seafarers’ Information and
Advice Line)
08457 413 318
+44 (0)20 8269 0921
www.sailine.org.uk
UK-based citizens’ advice service
helping seafarers and their families
with issues such as debt, benefit
entitlements, housing, pensions
and relationships.
Seamen’s Hospital Society
+44 (0)20 8858 3696
www.seahospital.org.uk
UK charity dedicated to the
health and welfare of seafarers.
Includes the Dreadnought health
service.
Seafarers’ Link
+44 (0)20 7643 1385
www.csv-rsvp.org
Telephone friendship project
connecting retired UK seafarers at
home through a fortnightly
telephone conference service.
Seatax Ltd
+44 (0)1302 364673
www.seatax.ltd.uk
Company providing specialist tax
advice for merchant seafarers.
Marine Society
+44 (0)20 7654 7050
www.marine-society.org
UK charity dedicated to the
learning and professional
development of seafarers.
Offers 120,000 books to ships
through its library service, plus
distance-learning programmes
and scholarship schemes including
the Nautilus-administered Slater
Fund.
10/12/2014 18:24
January 2015 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 43
JOIN NAUTILUS
The face of Nautilus
Ronnie Cunningham, senior national organiser
g
Senior national organiser Ronnie
Cunningham has just chalked up his
20th anniversary of starting work with the
Union — and he remains as enthusiastic
about his job as when he began.
‘It’s actually a few months until I pass
the milestone of this being my longest
time in a job, but it’s hard to believe that it
has gone so quickly — they say that time
flies when you are having fun and I have
thoroughly enjoyed these past 20 years; I
am still very happy here,’ he says.
Ronnie joined NUMAST after 20 years
with the Communication Workers’ Union
— 16 of them spent as a representative on
full-time secondment release. ‘I had been
living in London from Monday to Friday for
14 years, so it was great to get a job working
in Wallasey,’ he adds.
As senior national organiser, Ronnie
heads up the Nautilus industrial organising
department, which covers such areas as pay
and conditions negotiations, recruitment
and representation of members.
He has, of course, witnessed a lot of
change over the past two decades. ‘One of
the biggest changes since I started is the
way in which we communicate,’ he notes.
‘As industrial organisers, we used to
have to stop on the way up to Aberdeen
to put 10p in the phone box so the office
could call us back to let us know if there was
anything we should be aware of — now
everything is instant.’
However, he points out, technology
has also resulted in a big increase in cases
where members have got themselves into
trouble through the mis-use of social media.
‘There’s been a huge change in the
way we work for members, with less
collective negotiations and meaning that
we now spend the vast majority of our time
on individual casework. We are a small
professional union, so officials need to be a
jack of all trades — and master of them all
as well.
‘There are also a lot of companies who
used to employ British seafarers that now
have non-domiciled crews, and we’ve
also seen a big increase in cases involving
territorial jurisdiction,’ he adds.
Ronnie says his experience of taking
part in employment tribunal cases as part of
the ‘industrial jury’ panel gives him a deep
insight into some of the big issues that affect
workers. In his spare time, he continues to
be closely involved with his local amateur
boxing club and keeping fit on dog walks.
So, what keeps him enjoying the
job? ‘The best thing is that you are doing
something different every day and that
you are helping people and making a
difference,’ he says. ‘If that doesn’t give you
job satisfaction, I don’t know what would.’
Wherev
er you are
, so are we
CALL NOW TO JOIN NAUTILUS ON:
UK: +44 (0)151 639 8454 NL: +31 (0)10 477 11 88 CH: +41 (0)61 262 24 24
Join today so we can be there for you too!
Pay and conditions
Nautilus International is the
ﬁrst truly trans-boundary trade
union for maritime professionals,
reﬂecting the global nature of
the industry. We negotiate with
employers on issues including pay,
working conditions, working hours
and pensions to secure agreements
which recognise members’ skills
and experience, and the need for
safety for the maritime sector.
Legal services
Nautilus Legal offers members
a range of legal services free of
charge. There are specialist lawyers
to support members in work
related issues and a number of
non-work related issues. The Union
also has a network of lawyers in
54 countries to provide support
where members need it most.
Workplace support
Nautilus International ofﬁcials
provide expert advice on
work-related problems such as
contracts, redundancy, bullying or
discrimination, non-payment of
wages, and pensions.
Certificate protection
Members are entitled to free
ﬁnancial protection, worth up
to £116,900, against the loss
42-43_info+join.indd 43
of income if their certiﬁcate
of competency is cancelled,
suspended or downgraded
following a formal inquiry.
training. The Union is afﬁliated
to the TUC in the UK, FNV in the
Netherlands and SGB/USS in
Switzerland.
Extra savings
Members can take advantage
of many additional discounts
and beneﬁts organised at a
local level. These include tax
advice, insurance discounts and
advice on pension matters. In
the Netherlands, discounts are
organised through FNV, and trade
union contributions are mostly
tax-friendly, entitling members to
receive a signiﬁcant part of their
contributions back.
In touch
As a Nautilus International
member, help is never far away
— wherever in the world you are.
Ofﬁcials regularly see members
onboard their ships and visit
cadets at college. Further support
and advice is available at regular
‘surgeries’ and conferences. The
Union has ofﬁces in London,
Wallasey, Rotterdam and Basel.
There are also representatives
based in France, Spain and
Singapore.
International
representation
Nautilus International represents
members’ views on a wide range
of national and international
bodies including the European
Transport Workers’ Federation
(ETF), the International Transport
Workers’ Federation (ITF) and
the International Federation of
Shipmasters’ Associations (IFSMA).
We work at the International
Maritime Organisation (IMO)
and the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) on key global
regulations covering working
conditions, health and safety and
Join us today…
Call +44 (0)151 639 8454
Visit www.nautilusint.org
Email [email protected]
g For the full range of member benefits visit www.nautilusint.org
OR
g Speak with our membership department on +44 (0)151 639 8454
Your union, your voice
The Union represents the voice
of more than 22,000 maritime
professionals working in all sectors
of the industry at sea and ashore
— including inland navigation,
large yachts, deepsea and offshore.
For members, by members
Nautilus International is a
dynamic and democratic trade
union offering members many
opportunities to become actively
involved and have your say — at
a local, national and international
level.
10/12/2014 17:12
44 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2015
NEWS
Medallion men praised
for services to shipping
Serving and retired seafarers, maritime college staff, and welfare organisation workers receive 2014 MN Medal
P
Nautilus International
Council member Captain Norman Martin
was one of the 19 recipients of
the 2014 Merchant Navy Medals,
which were presented by former
First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West
of Spithead during a ceremony at
Trinity House last month.
Capt Martin, presently serving
as master of the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry Hebridean Isles, was
presented with the award for services to Western Isles ferries and
to the Nautilus Council, on which
he has served for 17 years.
Other recipients of the medal
this year include:
z Captain Kevin Oprey, master
of Cunard’s Queen Mary 2,
received the award for services
to the prestige and growth of
the cruise industry. He has spent
some 40 years in shipping –
starting with the Paciﬁc Steam
Navigation Company, before
going on to serve with companies
including Mobil and Geest Line,
and onboard ferries.
Capt Oprey worked ashore for
several years after an accident
onboard a sail training ship, but
after recovering from his injuries
he moved into the cruise sector
—working for Royal Caribbean
for 10 years before switching to
Carnival UK.
He took command of Queen
Mary 2 four years ago and said:
‘It is a terriﬁc job — I still have to
pinch myself every day to remind
me that I am in command of the
ship. When I ﬁrst started in the
Merchant Navy, I was very proud
to be in the shipping industry —
and I still am today. We are at the
hub of the nation and I ﬁnd it
quite sad that it is not as appreciated as it should be.’
z John Grant, a chief ofﬁcer
serving with James Fisher Ship
Services, for services to the
Merchant Navy and especially to
seafarer training. Mr Grant ﬁrst
went to sea at the age of 13, on the
training ship Mercury, and served
with Blue Funnel before joining
James Fisher.
He has served as training
ofﬁcer with the company since
1979 and during his career he
has supervised the loading and
discharge of almost 2,000 car-
The 2014 Merchant Navy Medal winners pictured at Trinity House with former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West of Spithead following last month’s awards ceremony
goes totalling around 6m tonnes,
without incident. With more than
50 years of seagoing experience,
Mr Grant said he still enjoys working at sea — but never wanted to
become a master ‘because of the
paperwork’.
Bartnett,
chief
z James
electrical engineer onboard
Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth,
for services to the cruise sector
and especially in his work on the
construction and commissioning
of the company’s three Queens.
Mr Bartnett joined Cunard in
1978 and has served on almost
all the Cunard vessels since then,
including work on the re-engining of QE2 in 1986 — the biggest
and most complex project of its
kind ever undertaken.
z John Davies, senior ﬁrst hotel
ofﬁcer onboard Queen Victoria,
for services to the prestige of
the cruise sector. Mr Davies has
worked for Cunard for 43 years,
including time on Queen Mary,
the original Queen Elizabeth and
on the QE2 during the Falklands
conﬂict. ‘I’ve had a truly enjoyable
career at sea, meeting celebrities
and royalty, and all sorts of
different people,’ he said.
z David Dearsley, marine
consultant, for services to
the
International
Maritime
Employers’ Committee and
services to industrial relations in
the shipping industry. In a 45-year
career which began as a cadet
with British & Commonwealth,
Mr Dearsley was also extensively
involved in the development of
the Maritime Labour Convention
and in a wide range of work for the
welfare of seafarers.
z Captain Len Clarke, for
services to lighterage on the
Mersey and to historic vessels in
the area. He retired in 2013 at the
age of 73, following a career which
started in 1956 with John Harker.
He spent 23 years as a master
with Viaduct Shipping and his
time in command of Mersey
lighterage vessels is described as
‘unparalleled’.
z Commodore Bill Walworth,
the former head of the Royal
Fleet Auxiliary, for services to
the Chamber of Shipping and to
the Marine Society & Sea Cadets.
Cmdre Walworth joined the RFA in
1978 and retired in 2013 at the end
of a seagoing career which began
as a BP Tanker Company cadet in
1961.
z Captain Christopher Wells,
master of the Cunard liner Queen
Elizabeth, for services to the
prestige and growth of the cruise
line sector. Capt Wells has spent
39 years at sea, joining Cunard
in 1992 after serving with Shell
Tankers.
He became ﬁrst staff captain
onboard Queen Mary 2 in December 2003 and was made master of
the Oriana in 2006. He has subsequently commanded Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and Queen
Mary 2.
z Philip Davies, principal lecturer at Liverpool John Moores
University, for services to the
Merchant Navy Training Board
and to Lairdside Maritime
Centre — including work for the
Association of Marine Electronic
& Radio Colleges and training in
GMDSS.
z Gary Hindmarch, principal of
South Shields Marine School, for
progressing ETO certiﬁcation.
Mr Powell served at sea with
companies including BP Tankers,
Common Brothers and Kent Line
before joining the MCA in 1999.
z Lt Cdr Chris Trelawny,
senior deputy director with
the International Maritime
Organisation’s maritime safety
division, for services to counterpiracy strategy and to RN-MN
liaison.
z Alexander Campbell, chief
executive of the Queen Victoria
Seamen’s Rest, for services to
the care and welfare of retired
seafarers.
z Graham Hall, for services to
the Mission to Seafarers Falmouth
Centre — and especially for his
‘outstanding contribution’ to
seafarer welfare, creating and
maintaining the seafarers’ garden
and a Second World War memorial.
z Graham Yarr, grants manager
with the Shipwrecked Mariners’
Society, for services to the welfare
of serving and retired merchant
seafarers and ﬁshing vessel crew
and their families.
g Norman Martin — page 19.
services to marine engineering
and seafarer training. Mr
Hindmarch started his career
as a cadet with Canadian Paciﬁc
in 1975, and has worked at South
Tyneside College since 1993.
z Dr Chris May, former vicechairman of the Merchant Navy
Training Board, for services to
ofﬁcer cadet training, marine
safety and marine engineering.
Dr May worked for more than 30
years at South Tyneside College
and was also the founding
secretary of the International
Association of Marine Institutions.
z Captain Keith Millar, senior
lecturer at Liverpool John
Moores University, for services
to maritime training, especially
in the study of ship stability.
Following a 35-year seagoing
career, he has worked in maritime
education since 1996.
z Burnie Powell, former Maritime & Coastguard Agency
surveyor, for services to the
Merchant Navy — especially in the
provision of international marine
engineering qualiﬁcations and
Training courses for the maritime and offshore industries
Merchant Navy Operations (Deck)
Certiﬁcate of Competency
Ofﬁcer of the Watch (Unlimited) Jan, May & Sept intakes
Chief Mate/Masters (Unlimited) May
Jan &&Sep
Septintakes
intakes
Master Mariner (Unlimited) Orals Prep Mar & Oct intakes Shipboard Safety Ofﬁcer
Master Mariner (200Gt) Orals Prep (2 weeks)
Shipboard Security Ofﬁcer
STCW
Safety
5 day STCW Basic Safety Training
Personal Survival Techniques
Personal Safety & Social Responsibilities
Elementary First Aid
Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting
Advanced Fire Fighting
Efﬁcient Deck Hand
Man Over Board / Rib Capsize Drills
IMDG awareness
44_news.indd 44
Navigation
NAEST (O) & (M)
ECDIS generic and type speciﬁc
Medical and First Aid
Bridge Team Management
Medical First Aid Onboard Ship
Pre ARPA and ARPA
Medical Care Onboard Ship (and Refresher) SVNR
HSE Offshore First Aid (and Refresher)
Tanker
HSE First Aid at Work (and Refresher)
Tanker Familiarisation
HSE Emergency First Aid at Work
Specialist Tanker Training (Oil)
Radio
Dynamic Positioning
GMDSS GOC/ROC/LRC/CAA
DP Induction
VHF Short Range Certiﬁcate
DP Simulator
DP Introduction
Offshore Oil & Gas
OIM Management of Major Emergencies
CRO Controlling Emergencies
Command & Control for ERRVs Masters & Mates
Oil Spill Crisis Management (OPRC)
COMPEX EX01 to EX04
Offshore Wind
5 day Wind Energy Safety Training
Working at Height & Rescue (RUK)
Advanced Rescue
Climbing Awareness
Marine Transfer
Conﬁned Space Entry & Rescue
Facilities for Hire
Environmental Pool (wave, wind,
rain)
Marine Transfer Ladder
Full Mission Ship’s Bridge Simulator
Dynamic Positioning Simulator
Offshore Control Room Simulator
Lowestoft College, St Peters Street, Lowestoft,
Suffolk NR32 2NB United Kingdom
Tel:
00 44 1502 525025
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.lowestoft.ac.uk/maritime.asp
Accredited by
10/12/2014 18:35