International
News
ROUND
UP
Protest vs substandard ships
goes to Capitol Hill
MARITIME unions took the battle against substandard shipping
to the heart of the US government last month with a rally at Capitol Hill
in Washington, shown below.
They even formed the focal point of a North American
week of action organized by the International Transport Workers’ Federation
to raise public and political awareness of the terrible working conditions
endured by many of the world’s seafarers.
Dave Wheindel, secretary-treasurer of the seafarers’ International
Union, said many flags of convenience displayed ‘a reckless indifference’
to safety. ‘The people of the United States and other developed nations
must question how these vessels can offer the lowest costs anywhere in
the world.’
Meanwhile, NUMAST welcomed Maritime and Coastguard Agency
plans to “name and shame” the charterers of substandard ships. In a response
to a letter from the Union, the MCA said the UK is strongly supporting
a new European directive on port state control that will require the manning
of charterers of detained ships.
NUMAST national secretary Allan Graveson said he was pleased
the MCA had responded positively to the Union’s call for the ‘responsibility
chain’ to be widened. ‘Cargo owners and chatterers need to face up to their
duty to ensure the quality of vessels and the safety of the seafarers on
the ships they use,’ he added.
Increasing shortage of officers noted
THERE remains a shortage for officers and a considerable
supply of ratings.
In a comprehensive analysis of the worldwide supply and
demand for seafarers, an ISF and BIMCO study, called 2000 Manpower Update,
noted that the current global supply for officers is 404,000, four percent
short of the estimated global demand.
The study, which was the first and most comprehensive
so far undertaken and released recently, also draws important observations
about the future of seafaring. In spite of improved levels of training
during the 1990s, even a modest future increase in the number of ships
in the world fleet will result in additional demand for seafarers since
any further general reduction in manning levels is thought unlikely. This
increased demand, the Update suggests, can only be accommodated if recruitment
and training are increased — one cadet for every 7 officers employed
is recommended — the numbers which leave the industry are reduced, and
selection techniques and perceptions if the industry as careers are improved.
IMO, ILO steps into claims controversy
AN International Maritime Organization-International Labor
Organization Group of Experts are now looking into reports on the growing
number of seafarers and their families who fail to receive compensation
to which they are entitled in the unfortunate event of death or disability.
This prompted the International Shipping Federation and
the International Transport Federation to call a meeting with representatives
of the International Group of P&I Clubs to sort out ways of addressing
these claims. Early findings show that the number of complaints is small
in the context of the large number dealt with satisfactorily. Moreover,
it appears that failure to settle claims involves insurers outside the
International Group of P&I Clubs.
After the series of meetings and consultations between
ISF and ITF, on one hand, and representatives of P&I Clubs, on the
other, it was agreed that ISF will act as a “clearing house,” forwarding
any complaints received from ITF to insurers in cases of manifest unfairness.
$16B needed to scrap single-hull tankers
SCRAPPING and replacing all the world’s single-hull tankers
would require an outlay of at least $16 billion, a study put together for
the International Maritime Organization by various leading maritime bodies,
including Bimco, Intertanko and the International Chamber of Shipping.
Moreover, major shipyards would flounder as demand for tanker berths surges
due to the proposal submitted to IMO by France, Belgium and Germany.
However, shipbuilders are gleefully struggling under the
wave of new business with owners of older tonnage sobbing over their balance
sheets as the trading lives of fully 86 percent of both pre-Marpol and
post-Marpol single-hull tankers are cut short. Worst of all, 179
post-Marpol tankers would have their lives curtailed by between 12 and
16 years.
The study likewise made projections beyond weighing up
losses to the industry, highlighting replacement pinch-points in 2003 and
2010 and raising questions about the ability of the scrapping industry
to cope.
Although these three-country proposals slightly differ
from the European Community’s original proposal, both plans create the
same pinch-points. Concerns over losing environmental objectives
were raised by Denmark, Holland and the UK.
"IMO’s Maritime Environmental Protection Committee will
consider all such approaches. It is imperative that MEPC 45 produces a
pink-paper [of amendments to Marpol],” Christian Breinholt of the Danish
Maritime Authority said. “To achieve this, it is necessary to have a worldwide
understanding, which we are trying to establish. With only a few
weeks to go, we consider it timely to discuss the issue in a wider group
of IMO member states aiming at making more productive discussions at MPEC
itself,” he said.
Owners, officers of ill-fated ship charged
THE owners and officers of a Malaysian container ship
that ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef have been charged with causing
serious environmental harm.
The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency said the
crewmembers and owners have been ordered to appear in court in Cairns on
Feb. 6, 2001.
The Bunga Teratai Satu, Malaysian-registered ship, ran
aground Nov. 2 on the reef near Cairns 3,000 kilometers north of Sydney
and was freed 12 days later in an operation which involved blasting away
several sections of the reef.
Queensland state Environment Minister Rod Welford said
the environmental protection agency alleges the ship grounding because
of the gross negligence of its first officer.
ISF promotes ‘safety culture’
THE International Shipping Federation, with the assistance
of experts from different sectors of the industry, has produced a leaflet
on the practice of “safety culture.” This is in response to a growing need
among transport operators to improve the levels of maritime safety.
While everyone in the shipping industry agrees that the
need for “safety culture is paramount, there can be some confusion as to
what might be done to achieve broad results. ISF said that the leaflet
does not lend itself to prescriptive rules because it simply encourages
key people in shipping to consider what more might be done to improve safety
at sea.
Copies of the leaflet are available upon request. |
