ON BFBS TV:

 

http://www.bfbs.com/news/media/video/52045/14555

 

 

 

ON BBC RADIO FIVE LIVE, MORNING REPORTS

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0150gzm/Morning_Reports_29_09_2011/

 

From 17min 50 secs

 

 

ON BBC RADIO FIVE LIVE, LIVE BREAKFAST

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0150h0s/5_live_Breakfast_29_09_2011/

 

 

At 31 mins

 

 

ON RADIO FOUR, TODAY PROGRAMME

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0151q7g/Today_29_09_2011/

 

 

From 2hr 9 mins

 

 

 

 

 

 

FROM THE HANDY SHIPPING GUIDE (UK):

 

 

 

 

FROM TRADEWINDS:

 

 

 

***Welfare unites foes

 

 

Employers and unions appear to have found common ground on a range of seafarer issues.

Employers’ usually strained relations with unions appear to be improving as the old adversaries discover they at least share some common ground when it comes to seafarer’s welfare.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has traditionally clashed with managers over wages and the flag-of-convenience (FOC) campaign but more recently they have united on diverse issues such as seafarer welfare, criminalisation, piracy and abandonment.

A more conciliatory stance seemed to be put forward by general secretary David Cockroft when he told a meeting of shipowners in London earlier this month: “We are interested in working with anyone and everyone interested in helping seafarers.”

He even admitted that old rivals had recently turned into working partners on recent welfare initiatives. “We have found some allies in strange places,” he said.

Steve Cotton, head of the ITF’s seafarers’ department and tipped as a potential candidate to one day succeed Cockroft, seems to have a similar strategy.

For example, he is determined to continue to work through a collective negotiation process at the International Bargaining Forum (IBF), even though the most recent round brought a low percentage rise and tied ITF unions to the agreement for three years.

Looking at the positives, he said: “Through the IBF we ended up with a new methodology intended to bring the model ship closer to [reflecting] the disparity [seen in the market] between supply and demand for officers and ratings.”

But he concedes the result reflects the uncertainties of the ongoing shipping recession.

“It was a few percentage points below what we would have liked and it was a three-year agreement but there is a lot of uncertainty over the next few years and our view was to go for the best we could, for security, and then see where we are,” he said.

Cotton sees another advantage of the IBF in that through negotiating with employers it has brought the ITF closer to organisations it had previously distanced itself from. Collective bargaining, he points out, is very much part of the ITF strategy agreed at Mexico City last year.

The recent co-operation with the industry now looks like it will be extended to banks and managers. Cotton expects financiers shortly to start to call in the loans and foreclose on ships and he wants to make sure seafarers get their entitlement — what they are owed and a ticket home plus two months’ severance pay.

Cotton says it is the banks who are the key figures in paying the wages on repossessed ships and also the repatriation costs, which can in some cases run up to $200,000.

“We’ve shown, through the IBF, how responsible we are about wages but banks are heavily exposed and it looks to us like they are pushing to take control of vessels,” he said.

“In that case we need to open a dialogue with banks and managers as soon as possible. We feel our relationship with third-party managers is good. The good ones all have agreements with us and they know what to do in this type of situation. It’s in the managers’ interest to help the process. If they don’t commit to crew it creates a feeling of instability and insecurity among crew.”

But generally it is not top managers that the ITF ends up fighting for wages. Of the $30m in unpaid wages the ITF successfully recovered last year, 70% came from vessels without an ITF wage agreement in place.

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 is another area where the ITF worked closely with employers to come up with a bill of rights for seafarers. It is approaching entry into force possibly in 2012. Cotton describes it as a “game changer”, not simply because it is the first International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention to be internationally enforced but because it will require that all ships should have a recognised wage agreement.

The ITF FOC wage agreement currently covers 10,000 ships and the MLC 2006 could see that grow significantly. The MLC 2006 will be policed by port-state control (PSC) but Cotton says there is still a role for ITF inspectors in monitoring standards on ships and representing seafarers.

And while relations with employers have improved, despite the recession, Cotton adds that the ITF will certainly not give up on the FOC campaign. If anything it will be expanded.

“The FOC campaign is still valid today,” he said. “The numbers under ITF wage agreements continue to grow but the problem is that we still have not eliminated the FOC system. We still believe that the national-flag system is the better of the two and from an ideological position I can’t see us moving from that.”

Cotton also claims that the ITF is widening the focus of its campaign, focussing not just on ships without ITF wage agreements but also further down the logistics chain to mirror the way shipping companies have also broadened their horizons.

“We have done this in recognition of the growing supply chains of global corporations. We have widened the campaign to dockers and ports of convenience but we are also moving to freight forward and logistics as part of the just-in-time system,” he said.

One example is that the ITF now deals with the whole of the Maersk corporation.

“Maersk has a global network and we engage with them on that level. It’s not a matter of just targeting one ship like in the old days,” said Cotton.

 

 

 

 

***Backing for using armed protection

 

 

Managers seem to be all for the use of armed guards with the decision to do so often prompted by seafarers. But opinion is split among flag states and charterers.

Piracy has been the biggest safety issue over the past three years for shipmanagers and they are increasingly turning to armed guards to protect seafarers.

Despite several months with reduced pirate activity off Somalia, more than 300 seafarers are still being held hostage.

Navies operating in the area have been critical of the preventative measures adopted by shipping companies but all the managers polled by TradeWinds insist they are following the industry-recommended, best-management practices with most also taking on added security. The decision to use armed guards is also often at the request of seafarers.

Singapore’s Thome Shipmanagement has so far managed to avoid a hijacking, even though it has put 160 vessels through the danger zone in the past 18 months. Company chairman Olav Eek Thorstensen tells TradeWinds that he uses armed guards when required. “I strongly believe piracy is totally avoidable if crew and officers are properly trained,” he said.

After Anglo-Eastern Ship Management (AESM) saw one of its managed vessels, the 25,400-dwt Fairchem Bogey (built 2010), hijacked recently, chief executive Peter Cremers believes there is “no substitute for armed guards” when it comes to protecting ships. But even he concedes there is little that can be done if a ship is at the “wrong place at the wrong moment”.

The increasing use of armed guards by managers was highlighted recently by industry association InterManager when it called for flag states and charterers to give shipmanagers the freedom to use armed guards.

As has previously been reported by TradeWinds, there is a wide divergence on policies between flag states on whether to allow armed guards.

InterManager said: “Any decision taken to provide armed guards should be based on a robust risk assessment of each vessel and its transit and should be in accordance with the guidance set out in Best Management Practices 4 [BMP4] — the recently produced IMO guidelines on the employment of armed guards. Such decisions should be unhindered by restrictive flag-state legislation or charter-party agreements.”

Association chairman Alastair Evitt said: “InterManager believes the shipmanagement sector has to utilise all tools available to it to stop ships being hijacked. Statistics to date demonstrate that no ship carrying armed guards has been captured.”

Some managers, like Wilhelmsen Ship Management’s Carl Schou, still have some reservations over whether the expanded use of armed guards will result in escalation or even if there will be a successful hijacking of a ship protected by a military-type security company.

Even the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), despite early reservations, is fully behind the use of armed guards. Head of the seafarers section Steve Cotton has said the ITF would like to see it made mandatory in certain high-risk situations.

The union is even keeping the possibility of a boycott of the region open if it believes the level of risk is too high for its members. Such a move has already been hinted at by the Philippines government, which has said its seafarers need more protection.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft recently said, however, that he would only take such action if he had the support of shipowners.

 

 

 

***Quality beating quantity

 

 

Shipmanagers have shifted their focus from the ‘biggest is best’ ideal at a time of pressing issues needing attention, from questions over seafarer training to escalating costs and piracy. Correspondents Adam Corbett and Geoff Garfield take the pulse of a sector at the sharp end.

The sale of shipmanagement giant V Ships to Canadian pensions provider Omers for just over $500m turned out to be the biggest deal in the shipmanagement business over the past year (see story, page 29).

But the huge buyout of the industry’s largest shipmanager was hardly representative of the business as a whole with very little change among the ownership of the major players.

The size of the deal did, however, grab a lot of attention. One manager confided to TradeWinds: “We looked at the V Ships deal and thought that must be the way forward — build the company up as big as you can, then sell for half-a-billion dollars.”

Yet the biggest-is-best philosophy no longer seems to be the mantra of shipmanagers. The likes of Kuala Lumpur-based Wilhelmsen Ship Management (see story, page 30) prefer to limit growth to a level where they can maintain quality while also trying to develop specialisations in technically demanding ships that will earn them a premium.

Even V Ships boss Clive Richardson says the group has been looking for quality rather than quantity in its client base while seeking out higher-yield markets.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are also not such a tempting option when the expansion of the world fleet, which has added around 100 million dwt over the past two years, is offering managers plenty of opportunity to grow organically.

It is also difficult to expand too far at a time of such uncertainty in the labour market and with the cost of crewing possibly set to increase dramatically. While figures show that the labour shortage among skilled officers has eased (see story, page 33), the situation could quickly change with further growth in the world fleet.

Training will hold the key to securing the right skills for the future and managers like Anglo-Eastern (see story, page 31) have been investing in new facilities to make sure they have the manpower to meet their growth targets.

But there are others who are questioning whether the shipping industry has got it right when it comes to how its seafarers are trained and employed. Meridian Marine’s Alastair Evitt (see story, page 34) argues that regulation has seen responsibility for safety management taken from the ship. That, he believes, could be having a damaging effect on the morale of seafarers and cadets.

Discussion continues over the merits of shipowners choosing between in-house or third-party shipmanagement. Teekay, with an approximately 150-strong tanker fleet, relies on its own marine-management operation, arguing that its safety and commercial record speaks for itself (see story, page 28). Third-party managers, of course, find themselves under pressure as they have to pass on rising costs to owners.

Meanwhile, piracy, is emerging as the major threat to seafarer safety and many managers are now actively using armed guards on ships to protect crews (see story, page 36). But it is the psychological well-being of those caught up in piracy that managers increasingly have to address and for that they may have found an unlikely ally in the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) (see story, page 37).

 

 

 

 

 

***Support for victims

 

 

An industry-backed humanitarian group is filling in the gaps to help seafarers and their families through a piracy situation.

A lack of care for the victims of piracy and their families by some owners and managers is being tackled by a new industry humanitarian group backed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and TK Foundation.

Marine Piracy a Humanitarian Response (MPHR) was started by the ITF 18 months ago to address what it saw as a huge gap in the industry response to piracy.

Funded through the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, it soon won additional financial backing from TK Foundation, headed by Kimberly Karlshoej. Peter Swift, the former Intertanko head, is now chairman of the MPHR steering committee and has helped the project win the support of all the main shipping organisations.

Programme manager Roy Paul says so far there has been a huge divergence among shipmanagers and owners in helping seafarers and their families through a piracy situation.

But he points out there is a growing need for support as the number of seafarers affected both in the short and long term keeps increasing year on year.

“Figures show that out of 100 seafarers, 17% will be affected in some way and 3% will have a serious long-term effect. So based on that, there will be around 100 seafarers that will be seriously affected right now,” he said.

Paul said of the care given so far by owners and managers: “The response had been piecemeal. There are some managers having very good programmes, while others were doing absolutely nothing.”

Taking up the cause last year, a meeting in Hong Kong studied how attacks and hostage situations had affected people by speaking to victims and with the help of experts came up with a plan to meet their needs.

“We saw it [MPHR] as similar to aid going on during a flood or famine, as a purely humanitarian response, and we did not care about the politics of it,” Paul said.

Fast forward to today and already there are support lines in place to help seafarers. A 24-hour help line might well be the starting point for a seafarer coming out of a hijack situation. But there is also a network of so-called first responders at ports who have training specifically aimed at hijack victims. They are mostly made up of local seafarer-support and charity workers at port as well as ITF affiliates.

But if the industry has underestimated the effect that piracy may be having on seafarers, perhaps more worryingly it is the seafarers themselves who do not appreciate the potential long-term mental and physical health problems.

Previous experiences of such incidents have shown that the true damage may not be felt until years later.

“Many seafarers themselves underestimate the impact,” Paul said. “There is a natural bravado among many but the ability to stop and think and talk to someone can do a lot of good in the future.”

Swift argues that there is also a need for training and preparation of seafarers to cope with piracy, something that might help them be better prepared for an attack or hijacking and also to survive the post-trauma effects.

Part of the MPHR package is a series of guidelines on best practice for supporting seafarers and their families. And there are also training modules included.

Swift says seafarers often come under stress just entering the danger area whether there is an attack or not.

As Paul points out, the industry has still not woken up to piracy as it has to other safety issues and the regulation has not caught up yet. “We wondered why crews are not prepared. We have fire drills and lifeboat drills but nothing to prepare and respond to piracy,” he said.

The most important concern about piracy should be the welfare of the crew, he adds.

Paul says improved care for victims will benefit the industry in the long run. “With the right care these seafarers will be going back to sea,” he added.

 

 

FROM SALEM NEWS.COM (USA):

 

 

Pirate violence targeted by worldwide campaign

 

By Frank Gardner (BBC)

Campaign organisers say piracy is reaching an all-time high A worldwide campaign to help the victims of piracy at sea has been launched in London's Docklands.

The organisers of the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) say the campaign is in reaction to rising levels of violence and cruelty committed by Somali pirates against captured sailors.

Chairman Peter Swift said piracy was reaching "an all-time high".

The campaign launch also coincides with World Maritime Day. Mr Swift said piracy was increasing "in the number of incidents, in the vast ransoms demanded and, most of all, in the extreme violence used.

"The treatment meted out to victims now frequently crosses the line from savagery into torture."

Somali pirates, frustrated when their ransom demands are not met fast enough, can inflict punishments on ordinary seafarers which include being locked in a ship's freezer, dragged below the hull, or tied up on deck with a gun to their heads and subjected to mock executions, sometimes during a forced phone call to their families.

'Save yourselves'

The MPHRP campaign is focusing on helping the victims of maritime piracy and their families, many of whom suffer lifelong trauma.

It aims to support seafarers through what is termed the three phases of a piracy incident - pre-departure, during the crisis and post-release.

Organisers say the level of aftercare given by employers varies enormously, from being flown home and given counselling to being told: "We can't pay you for the last few months while you were hijacked because you weren't doing any work."

Attending the campaign launch is Chirag Bahri, a 29-year-old engineer from India who was held for eight months last year and subjected to torture by his pirate captors.

"We were taken up to the bridge deck and we were tied up with plastic bags, ropes, nylon ropes for four hours, and even the genitals were tied up," he said.

"They start beating up us, shouting: 'Save yourselves, save yourselves otherwise we'll kill you, tell us where the satellite phone connection is.' So that's how they used to torture us for everything."

More than 300 sailors and 18 vessels are currently being held to ransom in Somali territory.

About 20 sailors from three different vessels are also being held on land, a new tactic by the pirates, who sometimes hold onto crew members after releasing the ship. A British tourist, Judith Tebbutt, who was abducted from a beach resort in Kenya on 11 September, is also believed to be being held by pirates on the Somali mainland.

 

 

 

***Piracy Victims Receive Help System

(Press Release)

 

A program to help seafarers and families cope with the physical and mental trauma caused by torture and abuse at the hands of pirates launches today in London, England.

Pirates are routinely using extreme brutality and the threat of death against seafarers and their relatives. The new Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Program (MPHRP) is intended to help those seafarers and their families cope with the resulting pain and anguish.

Funded by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) Seafarers’ Trust charity and The TK Foundation, and chaired by Peter Swift, formerly MD of industry body INTERTANKO, the new program speaks for an alliance of shipowners, trade unions, managers, manning agents, insurers and welfare associations representing the entire shipping industry, from crews to owners.

Its mission is to aid seafarers who have been or may be subject to pirate attack. Somali-based pirates now regularly treat hostage seafarers with extreme violence in order to put pressure on their families and/or employers to expedite their ransom demands. This includes phoning family members and making the seafarer plead for his life while he is abused and threatened with death, and filming this and posting it online for relatives to see.

Peter Swift, MPHRP chair, explained: “Piracy is reaching an all-time high: in the number of incidents, in the vast ransoms demanded and, most of all, in the extreme violence used. The treatment meted out to the victims now frequently crosses the line from savagery into torture.”

“The effects are potentially horrendous,” he continued.

“For those, say, who successfully resisted capture but were nearly burnt alive in the room in which they barricaded themselves; for the brutalised hostages; and for those who daily put to sea in fear that it may at any time happen to them. And that’s not to forget the families, who are now firmly on the pirates’ target list.”

 

 

FROM FAIRPLAY MAGAZINE:

 

 

***Champion of seafarer rights

After 15 years helping seafarers fight for basic human rights, former ITF senior lawyer Deirdre Fitzpatrick set up legal research centre Seafarers’ Rights International. Girija Shettar hears why this is critical for shipping

There is a developing network for seafarer welfare, but legal issues are different. To date, there are very few maritime labour lawyers like Deirdre Fitzpatrick, and they are often reduced to what she calls “firefighting”.

In her previous job as senior lawyer at the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) “I would often have frustrations over how the law wasn’t able to assist seafarers in the way I was hoping,” she told Fairplay. “Over the years, I saw gaps in the law, deficiencies and confusions about what the law was and how it was framed – and how it was actually assisting seafarers. I hope that through Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) we can contribute to putting this imbalance right.”

The complexity of workers’ rights in the maritime industry is unique, she believes.

“The employment situation as it stands for seafarers would never be allowed to happen in the civil aviation industry, probably because planes carry passengers, but truck drivers don’t face such complexities. In no other industry have I seen such layers of complexity and confusion evident for seafarers,” she says.

If welfare centres are like band-aids, which treat and contain the symptoms of the disease of irresponsibility towards seafarers, SRI aims to both stem the disease and contribute to its eradication.

When she set out, Belfast-born Fitzpatrick had no idea how she would make her idea a reality and had no model to follow, but the industry’s need for the initiative was clear in the support she received. She immediately won backing from international industry leaders, who would form her advisory board, and won £3M ($4.6M) start-up capital from UK charity ITF Seafarers’ Trust. SRI was launched on 23 September 2010 at the IMO under the auspices of secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos and ITF general-secretary David Cockroft.

SRI’s first year has been about “building something from nothing” and focusing on three research projects: criminalisation, abandonment and flag state responsibilities. The model developed by SRI is that the centre’s core team liaises with outsourced university-based research groups that are tasked with specific projects. The liaison is so that one project knows what the other is doing, Fitzpatrick explained.

Fitzpatrick chooses the projects in consultation with her 14-member advisory board and when the research findings come in, the centre makes them its own. “We apply house style and centralise it, so we have a brand and to ensure that the projects are produced at the same level and with some commonality,” she said.

The timeline for each project is between one and two years, no longer. “For the seafarers it’s not about one problem, it’s about a matrix that they face every day – working hours, harassment etc,” she said. That means doing a variety of work at a pace that allows time for research to do more than just state the position and actually develop a particular position. Using this approach, she hopes a number of projects can be rolled out in the next three to five years.

Challenges include money – she reckons it would be possible to spend as much as could be found on any one project – and the fast-changing legal ground. “As soon as you explain the laws, changes can happen, so you have to make sure that you remain up to date,” she said.

If the principal aim of SRI is to advance seafarers’ rights, the first step is to clarify them. “Seafarers’ rights need to be accessible – where do seafarers find them, how do they identify them? If the rights aren’t known, you can’t get beyond stage one. The Maritime Labour Convention will assist this, but that’s just one perspective on seafarers’ rights. Seafarers’ contracts, manning agents’ contracts, labour supply contracts – all these determine what seafarers’ rights are,” said Fitzpatrick.

She outlined how contractual complexity leaves seafarers vulnerable to exploitation. “Take a seafarer who has a problem with a ship that is registered in Panama, but the beneficial owner is not registered in Panama and it may not be certain who the beneficial owner is. The employment contract may be with a manning agency, not the registered or beneficial owner. But that manning agency in turn has a contract with a manager, who in turn has a contract with the shipowner, who may not be visible on the register of the ship.” Even if the manager is tracked down and held responsible, they often have no assets by which to sustain a judgment.

If this initial hurdle is overcome, enforcement is another matter. This, together with simplifiying enforcement procedures, is another of SRI’s priorities. “This won’t come about with one universal convention. It simply won’t happen. So it’s a question of working at national and regional levels,” Fitzpatrick explained. The legal position of seafarers is more akin to a lottery than any kind of law – a jurisdictional lottery.

“You can have two seafarers with the same problems but the results or the outcomes will be totally different according to their ship, which port they’re in and which company they’re working for. What seafarers get is a lottery. It’s challenging. Once I had two deaths that received completely different levels of compensation because of these issues. But for me they were two lives.”

Much of SRI’s first year has been taken up with setting up its operation and initial projects. Its second year will see these projects rolled-out. This will include the publication of practical guidelines on SRI’s legal database for access by seafarers and their representatives.

Although SRI is a legal research centre, Fitzpatrick admits that better statistics would help. “I know from my work with seafarers that these problems exist and are substantial, but to have statistics showing the extent of the problems would help. Look at how widely the IMB’s piracy statistics are used and cited.”

But statistics are not easy to come by and reportedly neither P&I clubs nor shipowners share the statistics they may have publicly.

The ultimate aim of SRI, said Fitzpatrick, is to get to the point where the most innovative thinking can be applied to advance seafarers’ rights and make the seafarer profession attractive to new recruits.

SRI seems to have the backing of industry, and at a critical time.

Potential seafarers are wary of criminalisation, abandonment and piracy, and shipowners are concerned about shipping’s profile.

“There are many good and obvious reasons for everyone with a stake in shipping to be actively engaged in improving and protecting seafarers’ rights,” said Fitzpatrick. “The main asset of any business, after all, is its people.” 

 

 

 

FROM LLOYD'S LIST:

 

 

 

 

 

 

FROM THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE:

 

 

 

 

 

FROM FACE OF SHIPPING.COM:

 

 

 

 

 

UNION/LABOUR RELATED MEDIA

 

 

 

FROM UNION MAGAZINE (UK):

 

 

***Union's key role in new anti-piracy campaign

Friday, 30 September 2011 18:54

MARITIME

A programme to help seafarers and families cope with the physical and mental trauma caused by torture and abuse at the hands of pirates has been launched in London.

The new Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) has been funded by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) Seafarers’ Trust charity and The TK Foundation.

It aims to help those seafarers and their families cope with the resulting pain and anguish of being captured by pirates.

Those involved in piracy are routinely using extreme brutality and the threat of death against seafarers and their relatives, the ITF said.

Somali-based pirates now regularly treat hostage seafarers with extreme violence in order to put pressure on their families and/or employers to expedite their ransom demands.

Family members gave been called by pirates who have told the captured seafarers to plead for their lives while being abused and threatened with death.

Pirates have also filmed the abuse of seafarers and posted footage online for relatives to see.

It has been estimated that some 4,000 seafarers have been attacked by pirates or been victims of armed robbers while at work onboard over the last eight years.

Peter Swift, MPHRP chairman, said: “Piracy is reaching an all-time high: in the number of incidents, in the vast ransoms demanded and, most of all, in the extreme violence used. The treatment meted out to the victims now frequently crosses the line from savagery into torture.”

He added: “The effects are potentially horrendous. For those, say, who successfully resisted capture but were nearly burnt alive in the room in which they barricaded themselves; for the brutalised hostages; and for those who daily put to sea in fear that it may at any time happen to them. And that’s not to forget the families, who are now firmly on the pirates’ target list.”

Roy Paul, of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, and MPHRP programme manager, added: “Until now, there has been little coordinated help for those who are suffering. Now that will change. With the help of those in the industry who want to do their best for those involved, we intend to build up a network of first responders and get psychosocial help for affected crews.

“We have already been listening to seafarers and recording their experiences. Those will lay the foundation for new guides for seafarers, families and employers, for training in their use, and for building the networks of human and medical help that are now desperately needed.”

For more information visit www.mphrp.org

Photo: MPHRP/Rob Murray

 

 

 

 

FROM THE SUR:

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRANSLATION:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASES

 

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKER´S FEDERATION

FEDERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LOS TRABAJADORES DEL TRANSPORTE

 

ITF INSPECTION GALICIA AND ASTURIAS (SPAIN)

C/ García Barbón, 67, 3º 36201 Vigo (Pontevedra)

Phone:+34 986221177 Fax: +34 986 22 11 77

Mobile: +34 660 68 21 64 E-mail Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

 

 

PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA

 

 

MATTHEOS I.- PIRATERÍA

 

 

 

28-09 2011  ITF España quiere informarles de que:

 

1.-Desde los primeros días del cautiverio por los piratas en la zona del Golfo de Guinea, la ITF ha estado en contacto con la compañía operadora del buque CONSULTORES DE NAVEGACIÓN, así como con  la agencia de embarque: IBERNOR, ofreciendo nuestra colaboración en lo que se considerase oportuno.

Desde la liberación del buque, hemos instado a dichas compañías españolas a que apliquen el convenio laboral de ITF vigente a bordo, y compensen a los tripulantes como está previsto en el mismo. Sentimos comunicar que, habiéndose iniciado ya la repatriación de algunos de los marinos desde el puerto de Tema, todavía no hemos conseguido la confirmación del pago de las compensaciones.

 

2.- Queremos destacar que la zona del Golfo de Guinea es también una zona de riesgo de piratería y, si se repitiesen estos hechos, así debería considerarse desde el punto de vista internacional y nacional, teniendo en cuenta que muchos barcos, algunos  con intereses españoles, navegan y faenan por esa zona.

 

 

 

 

Para cualquier consulta:

Luz Baz.- 660 68 21 64 / José Manuel Ortega : 699436503

 

 

 

 

 TRANSLATION:

 

 

MATTHEOS I. - PIRACY



28-09 2011 ITF Spain wishes to inform you that:

1.-From the first days of captivity by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, the ITF has been in contact with the ship's operating company NAVIGATION CONSULTANTS, as well as shipping agency: IBERNOR, offering our cooperation in what is considered appropriate.
Since the release of the ship, we have urged those Spanish companies to implement the existing labor agreement ITF on board, and compensate the crew as provided herein. We regret that, having begun the repatriation of some of the sailors from the port of Tema, still have not gotten confirmation of payment of compensation.

2 .- We note that the Gulf of Guinea is also an area of ​​risk of piracy and, if repeated these facts, and should be considered from the standpoint of international and national levels, taking into account that many ships, some with interest Spanish, sailing and fishing in that area.

 

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKER´S FEDERATION

FEDERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LOS TRABAJADORES DEL TRANSPORTE

 

ITF INSPECTION GALICIA AND ASTURIAS (SPAIN)

C/ García Barbón, 67, 3º 36201 Vigo (Pontevedra)

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PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA

 

 

MATTHEOS I.- PIRATERÍA

 

30-09 2011  ITF España, continuando con su comunicado del día 28 de Septiembre, siente informarles de que:

 

1.- Las negociaciones con la compañía operadora del buque CONSULTORES DE NAVEGACIÓN, así como con  la agencia de embarque: IBERNOR están en punto muerto toda vez que ambas empresas españolas declinan ejercer su responsabilidad para con los tripulantes del buque del asunto al no aplicar las cláusulas de compensación recogidas en el Convenio laboral de ITF vigente a bordo.

 

2.- Las compensaciones aludidas suponen una compensación para los tripulantes por haber perdido su puesto de trabajo por causas ajenas a su voluntad o actuación y el estrés vivido a bordo.

 

3.-La repatriación de los marinos ha concluido sin que tengan garantizado, por la vía ordinaria, el cobro de las compensaciones comentadas. Una nueva tripulación está a bordo, exponiéndose a los mismos riesgos y padeciendo la misma falta de garantías, lo que demuestra una vez más la irresponsabilidad de algunas compañías que abanderan sus barcos con banderas de conveniencia. Esta vez, lamentablemente, tenemos un ejemplo de cómo las empresas españolas que han abandonado el registro español de buques pese a estar domiciliadas en España, se nutren de tripulantes de países terceros y los someten a unos riesgos y ausencia de garantías indignos para cualquier trabajador.

 

4.- La OMI dedica este año a LA PIRATERÍA,  ayer, 29 de Septiembre se celebró el día internacional del mar y se lanzó paralelamente el MPHRP ( MARITIME PIRACY HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PROGRAM)  programa de respuesta humanitaria ante casos de piratería marítima, lo que demuestra el impacto que tiene la piratería en el mundo actual y la preocupación de la comunidad marítima. Desgraciadamente, el MATTHEOS I lejos de ser un buen ejemplo de protección de los marinos que navegan en zonas de riesgo, es una muestra más de la falta de garantías para los marinos que se ven obligados en navegar a bordo de “barcos de conveniencia”

 

 

 

Para cualquier consulta:

Luz Baz.- 660 68 21 64 /

Inspectora de ITF en Galicia y Asturias/ ITF ESPAÑA

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For Favour of Publication / New Delhi, 30 September 2011

 

Week long Union campaign in South India & Sri Lanka ports reaps benefits for seafarers and dockers

In a strong display of solidarity between the dockers and seafarers unions, the first in a series of staggered ITF Flags of Convenience (FOC) action weeks this year, across South Indian and Sri Lankan port of Colombo against FOC shipping concluded today evening. The week witnessed intense action over the last five days in the ports of Tuticorin, Chennai, Cochin and Colombo. A total of 28 FOC ships were inspected by the ITF Inspectors and Union teams. An ITF acceptable agreement signed in Colombo on board Marshall Island flagged Elsin Rani will now ensure a minimum monthly wage of US$1675 onwards for an able bodied seaman (Ab) and regulated wages and working conditions for the other crew on board. Negotiations for a fleet agreement for 15 ships owned by a company in Abu Dhabi were also revived earnestly following action by the ITF Inspector in Cochin. Also a German ITF Union has promised to sign up agreements for the crew on board at least two German company owned ships, as a result of action in Chennai port.  

 

 “I know I being exploited, but I run the risk of not getting a job again by the manning agency, if I complain and seek the help of ITF “, said a Filipino crew on board an FOC vessel in Tuticorin while adding that he knew about the ITF campaign. A total of 8 vessels were inspected here. Negotiation process to conclude an ITF agreement for two of the ships inspected have been taken up by unions in the beneficial ownership country. On board Liberia flagged Tiger Sky, ITF welfare fund amounting to US$1768 was collected.  

 

In Chennai, The ITF Inspector and his team comprising of activists of seafarers and dockers union inspected 6 ships.  Action on board Liberian flagged Sagittarius has led the Greek ship owner to assure ITF that they will renew a collective agreement for crew which they had terminated some two years back.

 

In Colombo apart from the success on m.v. Elsin Rani, other vessels inspected like the Singapore flagged Sima Sahba owned in Dubai was found paying as low as US$ 600 to an Ab on board, which is much lower than even the ILO stipulated minimum wage. This vessel will by targeted again during its future voyages. A total of 9 ships were inspected in this port.

 

In Cochin, the seafarers and dockers unions together inspected 4 ships. On the last day the Cochin Port Staff Association along with activists of seafarers unions NUSI and FSUI took out an impressive rally to highlight the menace of Flags of Convenience Shipping. The rally was addressed by port officials and Union leaders.

 

This week of action also served as an opportunity to highlight and raise awareness among dockers and transport workers employed particularly in the private ports run by leading multinational operators like DPW (Cochin & Chennai) and PSA (Tuticorin).  The FOC inspection teams interacted with these private sector workers highlighting the traditional solidarity between dockers and seafarers and the need for these workers to build and strengthen unions in the private ports so that their work and wage standards are raised.

 

A similar week of action was also undertaken this week by ITF Unions in the ports of Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Russia against ships flying flags of convenience (FOC).     

 

For more information contact Sangam Tripathy or Jasvinder Singh at ITF Delhi Office : Tel: +91-11- 23354408/23357423

 

 

 

 

 

From RMT press office

October 3 2011

Only two out of nine officials advising on Bombardier/Thameslink betrayal had engineering background

On the first day of the Tory Party conference rail union RMT revealed that more accountants than engineers were involved in the ConDem betrayal of UK train building over the Thameslink contract.

In a written Lords answer it is revealed that of the nine officials who evaluated the Thameslink tenders only two people had an engineering background.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"The news that there were more accountants than engineers involved in assessing the Thameslink contract is yet more evidence as to how the betrayal of Bombardier was allowed to happen.

"This shameful episode has been dominated by accountants and management consultants on £20 million worth of fat fees while the engineering excellence of Bombardier at Derby has been totally ignored.

"No wonder nobody spotted the fact that Siemens don't even have the crucial bogie in production while Bombardier's wheel and chassis unit is rated as the best in the world. That's what happens when you put bean counters and politicians in charge of key engineering decisions that have the power to destroy train making in the nation that gave the railways to the world."