***TRAUMA AND COST OF PIRACY REVEALED
Sea piracy is costing billions of pounds and ruining lives, with captors increasingly turning to torture and death threats, seafaring charities have said.
Sea piracy is costing billions of pounds and ruining lives, with captors increasingly turning to torture and death threats, seafaring charities have said.
There are around 300 ships' crew members being held hostage by Somali pirates, the charities added.
Over the last eight years, an estimated 4,000 seafarers have been attacked by pirates or been victims of armed robbers while at work abroad.
The figures came as a new programme was set up in London to help seafarers and families cope with the physical and mental trauma caused by torture and abuse at the hands of pirates.
The new Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) is intended to help those seafarers and their families cope with the resulting pain and anguish.
It is being funded by the International Transport Workers' Federation's Seafarers' Trust charity and philanthropic group the TK Foundation.
The establishment of the programme comes as investigations continue into the kidnapping in Kenya of British woman Judith Tebbutt, 56, in an incident in which her husband, David, 58, was killed.
The two charities also released testimony from piracy victims. This included a ship's captain held for 71 days by 12 hijackers who was "threatened with a gun to my head" by pirates who were "constantly using drugs", and a ship's engineer who was hijacked for about six months by a pirate group who "sometimes used to torture us".
Another engineer had plastic cables tied to his genitals after being attacked by Somali pirates who also stripped naked and tied up the ship's master and chief engineer and put them in the low-temperature meat-storage room.
MPHRP manager Roy Paul said: "Most people still don't understand that the face of piracy today is very different to the romance of the Pirates Of The Caribbean. Today seafarers are meeting pirates who are really sea terrorists: hard, desperate and violent criminals."
FROM RADIO NEW ZEALAND:
Support organisation for piracy victims
Updated at 9:10 pm today
Campaigners against piracy have launched an international support organisation in London to help the growing number of victims and their families cope with the trauma of their ordeal.
The organisers of the programme - known as the Martime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme - say that more than 300 sailors are being held to ransom in Somalia alone and that kidnappers are increasingly resorting to mental and physical abuse, including torture.
Its chairman, Peter Swift, says the treatment meted out to victims now frequently crosses the line from "savagery into torture".
According to the BBC, 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.
Copyright © 2011, Radio New Zealand
FROM THE STANDARD (KENYA):
***Cargo builds up at Mombasa port as dispute over hired hands rages
Updated 14 hr(s) 44 min(s) ago
By Patrick Beja and Willis Okech
The port of Mombasa is experiencing a major crisis in cargo handling operations following a standoff between port management and the workers' union.
The dispute has led to a backlog at the conventional cargo area where ships carrying bulk cargo are handled.
The giant Dock Workers Union (DWU) has opposed plans by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) management to hire private gangs (outsourced labour) to deal with the operational crisis and staff shortage.
The Parliamentary Committee on Transport , Housing and Public Works led by chairman David Were on Thursday met KPA MD Gachiri Ndua at the port over the cargo handling hiccups.
Ndua admitted there was a huge backlog of ships to be berthed but said things had improved following "hard work" by port workers.
"We have doubled our efforts and that is why the turnaround of ships has now improved because those waiting are not many.
"I must admit that I have many container ships waiting but this is because the port is experiencing increased business, which is good for the country," said Ndua.
Standoff
But clearing and forwarding agents who clear goods on behalf of importers have protested against the delays in off-loading ships and the continued standoff between KPA management and the union on the hiring of private staff.
The long running dispute between DWU and the Government over the shortage of workers and the crisis at the port has been blamed on mistrust.
The Government has in the past demanded that docking services be privatised but the DWU has rejected the controversial programme.
The DWU, whose membership stands at 6,000 members, has since thwarted plans to hire private gangs after threatening to call a workers’ strike.
The DWU General Secretary Simon Sang maintained they would stop any private gangs taking up dockers’ jobs.
Sang said the union, the International Transport Workers Federation, International Labour Organisation and Central Organisation of Trade Unions Kenya were opposed to the practice as it degrades their occupational standards.
He maintained KPA must be self-sustaining in terms of labour and must stop operating on "borrowed dockers."
"It is actually worse than casual employment. Due to the kind of interest they have in use of private gangs, the union is convinced that these are interested parties pushing for privatisation of stevedoring services for the purpose of expanding their business interests and to be able to maximise their profits through cheap labour," Sang argued.
Casual employment
Two months ago, dockworkers staged a strike at the port opposing the causal employment and hiring of labour from the private sector.
Changamwe MP Ramadhan Kajembe and his Likoni counterpart Masoud Mwahima also participated in the demonstration in support of the workers.
The KPA management then agreed to employ 500 casuals on permanent and pensionable terms and announced that the privatisation programme had been stopped after the day-long strike.
On Thursday sources said KPA has put on hold plans to hire the private gangs as directed by Trade Minister Amos Kimunya when he visited the port a fortnight ago.
During his visit, Kimunya had ordered management to hire police officer for the protection of outsourced labour from possible harassment by union members.
The Government wanted the hired hands to address a labour shortage particularly at the conventional cargo area, but the union maintained the move was akin to outsourcing of labour.
The KPA management downplayed the crisis saying the port does not require many hired hands to help in handling bulk cargo from ships docked at the port.
"The demand for privately hired gangs has gone down because seasonal ships with fertiliser requiring a big gang have sailed away after being off-loaded," said Ndua.
Ndua said the port was experiencing booming business because the number of port users had gone up after South Sudan attained Independence.
Traditional customers had also doubled their business.
Ndua reiterated that since bulk cargo which required a lot of labour had reduced, the issue of implementing Kimunya’s directive to hire gangs under police protection was not necessary.
But Kenya International Freighter Warehousing Association (Kifwa) National Chairman Awiti Bolo insisted doing business at the port was becoming expensive.
He claimed that the hired gangs were more efficient than KPA workers and that was why most clearing agents wanted such labour to hasten the off-loading of ships.
Mr Bolo complained that when ships took too long at the port, it was the importers who suffered most.
"We incur loses after a grace period of 14 days elapses because we have to pay storage charges to KPA, Kenya Revenue Authority and Container Freight Stations (CFS)," said Bolo.
Bolo claimed DWU was sabotaging the Government by contributing to the delay of the ships at the port.
Bolo said Kifwa and Container Freight Stations (CFSs) were ready to mobilise private gangs to address delays at the port so as to save them losses incurred through payment of demurrage charges.
He said the charges that were paid in dollars ate up their profit margins owing to the weak shilling.
"Who will meet the expenses of the goods which are still on waiting ships because others ships have not off-loaded ?" asked Bolo.
Sang also argued that the private labour provided by ship agents opened a window for the exploitation of labour and it was a reason why the union would not allow it.
FROM REUTERS:
Campaign launched to address maritime piracy trauma
29 September 2011
LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Maritime organisations launched a humanitarian programme on Thursday to address the human cost of what they said was increasingly savage attacks by pirates.
The Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP), a pan-industry alliance, aims to provide psychological support and advice for seafarers and their families coping with the violence of modern day piracy.
"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," said Peter Swift, chairman of MPHRP.
"The treatment meted out to the victims now frequently crosses the line from savagery into torture."
The cost of maritime piracy last year was estimated at $12 billion, and with pirates cruising waters from Somalia to the South China Sea, piracy poses a global problem for the shipping industry, the MPHRP said.
However, the campaigners are said the human cost of the attacks affected not only seafarers, but also their relatives.
"Every single day of the year 100,000 seafarers experience anxiety and fear while sailing in, or towards, piracy infested waters. Their families at home share in these apprehensions, anxieties and fears, and face the daily considerations of 'what ifs'," Swift said.
During capture pirates often abuse hostages physically and psychologically and apply pressure to their families and employers to meet ransom demands, the MPHRP said.
"They tied me up and beat me for hours and hours," Second Engineer Chirag Bahri, who was held hostage by pirates for eight months, told reporters.
"The living conditions were so difficult and every day I went through mental and physical tortures. If I remember what happened, I shiver," Bahri said.
"We are not supermen, we are seamen, and we're just doing our normal jobs out there," he said.
The programme will offer 'good practice' guidelines, training as well as a 24 hour helpline to shipping companies, manning agents and welfare associations, enabling them to support seafarers and their families before, during and after any attacks.
(Reporting by Alice Baghdjian)
FROM TRANSPORT WEEKLY (ESTONIA), MARITIME REPORTER, MARINELINK (USA):
***Help for piracy victims launches today
29.09.2011
A programme 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 Programme (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 programme 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.”
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.”
He concluded: “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.”
Peter Swift and Roy Paul will be speaking at the event alongside Dr Marion Gibson, psychosocial consultant to the MPHRP (their speeches appear in full below, along with testimonies of those affected by piracy). Other guests include: Second Engineer Chirag Bahri, who was held hostage by pirates for eight months and was subjected to torture; Bishop Kalathiparambil, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People; Rear Admiral Ort, chief of staff of NATO’s HQ in Northwood; Capt Andy Winbow, assistant secretary general, IMO; leaders of international shipping organisations and other programme partners.
The MPHRP partner organisations are: BIMCO, ICMA, ICSW, IFSMA, IGP&I, IMB, IMEC, IMHA, Intercargo, InterManager, INTERTANKO, IPTA, ISAN, ISF, ITF, IUMI, OCIMF and SIGTTO.
The MPHRP observers are the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the NATO Shipping Centre.
The MPHRP funders are the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and The TK Foundation.
FROM THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH, IRISH INDEPENDENT, THE HERALD, ALSO CORKMAN (IRELAND), THE KERRYMAN, BRAY PEOPLE, THE WICKLOW PEOPLE, WEXFORD PEOPLE, FINGAL INDEPENDENT, GOREY GUARDIAN, NEW ROSS STANDAR, DROGHEDA INDEPENDENT, ENNISCORTHY GUARDIAN, AND DUNDALK ARGUS:
***Trauma and cost of piracy revealed
Sea piracy is costing billions of pounds and ruining lives, with captors increasingly turning to torture and death threats, seafaring charities have said.
There are around 300 ships' crew members being held hostage by Somali pirates, the charities added.
Over the last eight years, an estimated 4,000 seafarers have been attacked by pirates or been victims of armed robbers while at work abroad.
The figures came as a new programme was set up in London to help seafarers and families cope with the physical and mental trauma caused by torture and abuse at the hands of pirates.
The new Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) is intended to help those seafarers and their families cope with the resulting pain and anguish.
It is being funded by the International Transport Workers' Federation's Seafarers' Trust charity and philanthropic group the TK Foundation.
The establishment of the programme comes as investigations continue into the kidnapping in Kenya of British woman Judith Tebbutt, 56, in an incident in which her husband, David, 58, was killed.
The two charities also released testimony from piracy victims. This included a ship's captain held for 71 days by 12 hijackers who was "threatened with a gun to my head" by pirates who were "constantly using drugs", and a ship's engineer who was hijacked for about six months by a pirate group who "sometimes used to torture us".
Another engineer had plastic cables tied to his genitals after being attacked by Somali pirates who also stripped naked and tied up the ship's master and chief engineer and put them in the low-temperature meat-storage room.
MPHRP manager Roy Paul said: "Most people still don't understand that the face of piracy today is very different to the romance of the Pirates Of The Caribbean. Today seafarers are meeting pirates who are really sea terrorists: hard, desperate and violent criminals."
-
FROM GREATER CHINA TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS, ALSO SILOBREAKER.COM:
***A programme launched to help piracy victims
2011-09-30 01:52:00
LONDON, Sep 30 (GCTL) - TheInternational Transport Workers' Federation - ITF's Seafarers’ Trust charity and The TK Foundation has launched a programme on Sep 29 in London, which they are funding, to help seafarers and families cope with the physical and mental trauma caused by torture and abuse at the hands of pirates.
Pirates are routinely using extreme brutality and the threat of death against seafarers and their relatives. The new Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) is intended to help those seafarers and their families cope with the resulting pain and anguish.
The programme is chaired by Peter Swift, formerly MD of industry body INTERTANKO and 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.
FROM INTERAKSYON.COM (PHILIPPINES):
New initiative supports traumatized piracy victims
30-Sep-11, 1:45 AM | Agence France-Presse
LONDON - A program to help sailors and their families cope with the trauma caused by the growing phenomenon of hijackings by pirates was launched on Thursday.
The Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Program is billed as the first combined global effort to fight "one of the foremost threats facing the international shipping community today".
The organisers said crews were facing increasing levels of violence from predominantly Somali pirates, describing them as "sea terrorists".
Industry groups including shipowner organizations and trade unions have joined with intergovernmental bodies to create the program, which aims to support the 100,000 seafarers who sail in or towards pirate waters each week.
According to monitoring group Ecoterra, Somali pirates are currently holding at least 49 vessels and more than 500 people hostage.
Dr. Peter Swift, chairman of the program, said pirate attacks on civilian sailors were still being largely ignored in the West.
"Piracy is still very low-profile worldwide because it’s not an issue for most of the Western world. Most of the seafarers that have been held are from the developing world, principally countries like the Philippines, India and Ukraine."
Acts of piracy hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2011 according to data from the International Maritime Bureau.
Program manager Paul Roy said: "Today, seafarers are meeting pirates who are really sea terrorists: hard, desperate and violent criminals."
Chirag Bahri, who was held hostage by pirates for eight months on a chemical tanker, described being badly beaten and subjected to mental torture, in an emotional appearance at the launch.
Bahri has not yet been able to return to his job.
Dr. Marion Gibson, a medical consultant for the program, said it would provide a "continuum of care" for victims like Bahri.
"Much is being done to 'harden' ships against attacks so that there will be less physical damage to the vessels... This program is about doing the same for the human beings involved."
FROM SUNA TIMES (SOMALI NEWS):
***Help for piracy victims launches today
Published On: Thursday, September, 29 2011 - 12:26:30
The programme has been built around:
A programme 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 Programme (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 programme 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.”
MF
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.”
He concluded: “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.”
Peter Swift and Roy Paul will be speaking at the event alongside Dr Marion Gibson, psychosocial consultant to the MPHRP (their speeches appear in full below, along with testimonies of those affected by piracy). Other guests include: Second Engineer Chirag Bahri, who was held hostage by pirates for eight months and was subjected to torture; Bishop Kalathiparambil, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People; Rear Admiral Ort, chief of staff of NATO’s HQ in Northwood; Capt Andy Winbow, assistant secretary general, IMO; leaders of international shipping organisations and other programme partners*.
The MPHRP partner organisations** are: BIMCO, ICMA, ICSW, IFSMA, IGP&I, IMB, IMEC, IMHA, Intercargo, InterManager, INTERTANKO, IPTA, ISAN, ISF, ITF, IUMI, OCIMF and SIGTTO.
The MPHRP observers are the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the NATO Shipping Centre.
The MPHRP funders are the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and The TK Foundation.
ENDS
For more details please contact
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; programme chair Peter Swift on telephone 01344 627430, email
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; or programme manager Roy Paul on telephone 020 7940 9251, email
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You will be sent photos of the launch event later today.
*Full guest list below
**Organisation names in full appear below
MF
Press Pack
Piracy intro 3
Launch speeches 5
Seafarers’ and families’ testimonies 12
List of guests attending the launch 20
MPHRP partner organisations, names in full 22
(THEN PRESS PACK IN FULL)
FROM GCAPTAIN:
Piracy is so rampant right now that it can be easy to lose sight of the human element. Sometimes you must remind yourself that in each headline announcing a hijack, each ship being reported chased and fired upon, or even every vessel that sails through high-risk areas, there are twenty-something crew on board and a web of countless family members and friends impacted.
Well today, a program has been launched in London to help seafarers and families cope with the physical and mental trauma caused by those who have been or may be subject to a piracy attack. The program, called the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP), is funded by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) Seafarers’ Trust charity and The TK Foundation, and speaks for an alliance of shipowners, trade unions, managers, manning agents, insurers and welfare associations representing the entire shipping industry, from crews to owners.
Brutality against hostages is now part of the game says MPHRP. Somali-based pirates now regularly use extreme violence against hostages in order to put pressure on their families and/or employers to expedite 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 and former MD of INTERTANKO, explains, “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.”
Roy Paul, a representative 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.”
There are currently 15 vessels with 277 crew being held hostage, and an additional 19 being held prisoner on land, according to figures by the International Maritime Bureau. Over the last eight years it is believed that some 4000 seafarers have been attacked by pirates or been victims of armed robbers while at work onboard.
FROM MARITIME EXECUTIVE:
***Help for Piracy Victims Launches
Thursday, September 29, 2011
A programme 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 Programme (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 programme 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.”
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.”
He concluded: “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.”
Peter Swift and Roy Paul will be speaking at the event alongside Dr Marion Gibson, psychosocial consultant to the MPHRP (their speeches appear in full below, along with testimonies of those affected by piracy). Other guests include: Second Engineer Chirag Bahri, who was held hostage by pirates for eight months and was subjected to torture; Bishop Kalathiparambil, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People; Rear Admiral Ort, chief of staff of NATO’s HQ in Northwood; Capt Andy Winbow, assistant secretary general, IMO; leaders of international shipping organisations and other programme partners*.
The MPHRP partner organisations** are: BIMCO, ICMA, ICSW, IFSMA, IGP&I, IMB, IMEC, IMHA,Intercargo, InterManager, INTERTANKO, IPTA, ISAN, ISF, ITF, IUMI, OCIMF and SIGTTO.
The MPHRP observers are the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the NATO Shipping Centre.
The MPHRP funders are the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and The TK Foundation.
See www.mphrp.org for more details.
FROM INSURANCE DAILY:
Piracy focus for World Maritime Day
Story link: Piracy focus for World Maritime Day
by Gill Montia
World Maritime Day, celebrated today, chose “Piracy: orchestrating the response” as its focus, the theme having been proposed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to highlight the challenges of modern-day piracy.
According to IMO secretary general, Efthimios E Mitropoulos, the United Nations, governments, military forces, shipping companies, ship operators and ships’ crews, all have a crucial part to play in ridding the world of piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Shipping companies need to vigorously apply IMO guidance and best management practices to mitigate risk, but the secretary general admitted that no ship is invulnerable to piracy, in particular vessels with relatively low freeboards and slow steaming speeds.
Governments, on the other hand, need to back their “oft-stated concerns” over piracy by deploying military and other resources that can match the scale of the problem in both numbers and technology.
Concluding his message, Mr Mitropoulos said: “More needs to be done, including the capture, prosecution and punishment of all those involved in piracy; the tracing of ransom money; and the confiscation of proceeds of crime derived from hijacked ships, if the ultimate goal of consigning piracy to the realms of history is to be achieved.”
This week has also seen the launch of a worldwide charity aimed at supporting the victims of piracy.
So far this year there have been more than 186 attacks by Somali pirates and Maritime Piracy: a Humanitarian Response is a cross-industry programme offering support to those left traumatised by such events.
Pirate violence towards seafarers is increasing and insurance broker, Willis, recently observed that past successes have attracted a new, more aggressive, generation of practitioners who are now using commercial vessels as floating bases to launch attack skiffs, to resupply pirate attack groups, and carry out hijackings.
FROM TRADEWINDS:
***Samho crews in process of agreeing settlements
Adam Corbett London
29 July 2011
Payments have been slowly making their way to a number of crews caught out by the collapse of South Korea's Samho Shipping. The International Transport Worker's Federation (ITF) reports that it is closely involved in negotiating deals with the crews of nine of the financially troubled company's fleet of 16 vessels.
Currently under negotiation by the ITF and its affiliate, the Federation of Korean Seafarers Union (FKSU), is back pay for crew on three domestic chemical tankers, the 3,400-dwt Samho Onyx (built 2007), 5,650-dwt Samho Topaz (built 2008) and 5,650-dwt Samho Amber (built 2001), all of which are in Korea.
Back pay for those on the 17,500-dwt Samho Freedom (built 2010) has also yet to be resolved. The chemical tanker is lying off Egypt and although a deal with cargo interests was negotiated, the crew declined the offer and the ship remains at anchor.
The Samho-operated, 77,000-dwt bulker S Nicole (built 2007) is also just off Visakhapatnam, India, with negotiations underway.
Among the settlements achieved so far, $92,000 has been paid to the crew of the 17,568-dwt chemical tanker Samho Emerald (built 2008), which was held off Mumbai.
As earlier reported by Trade-Winds, the crew of the 319,000-dwt VLCC Samho Dream (built 2002), which was hijacked last year, have reached an agreement on outstanding wages. The crew of the 300,000-dwt Samho Crown (built 1996) are also said to have agreed a settlement.
An ITF spokesperson said: "We have spoken to the company and they have confirmed their present financial situation but they have informed us they are working to resolve the matter over a set time." One of the more time-sensitive cases is that of the 17,600-dwt Samho Jasper (built 2009), which is anchored off Dubai. The crew is said to be running low on food and water as they await the settlement of their claim.
Meanwhile, there are ongoing concerns over the wellbeing of the Samho Dream crew, who found themselves trapped on the ship without pay just a few weeks after being released from a six-month ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates.
Industry pundits are concerned that because of Samho's financial problems, the crew may not have had the right specialist care following their release and might be in need of treatment for post-traumatic-stress disorder.
The ITF says it is looking for ways to help the crew cope with their ordeal through the Maritime Piracy: Humanitarian Response Programme, which was set up to help victims of piracy.
FROM LLOYD'S LIST:
***ITF urges Brussels to inspect Filipino crews at EU ports
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Filipino crews should face targeted inspections and controls, says ETF.
Union is concerned by Emsa reports on poor quality of training in the Philippines
FILIPINO crews should be subjected to targeted inspections and unspecified control when calling in EU ports, according to the European wing of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
The demands are contained in a letter by Philippe Alfonso, a political secretary at the European Transport Workers’ Federation, addressed to Matthias Ruete, director-general responsible for transport and energy at the European Commission.
Mr Alfonso states that he is concerned by reports that the quality of training at some maritime academies in the Philippines has been questioned in two reports compiled by the European Maritime Safety Agency.
Earlier this year, there were suggestions that the commission may decide to derecognise Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping documentation from Filipino schools if they fail to raise their game.
Mr Alfonso points out that concerns include the functioning of the maritime administration, insufficient quality procedures, insufficient monitoring of schools, inaccurate approval and review of courses, the level and quality of training, the poor quality of inspection of maritime training institutes and the allegedly insufficient qualifications of instructors and assessors.
“I am aware that in no way we should generalise, as in the Filipino seafarers’ ranks there are thousands of workers with good qualifications and skills. This should however not justify a complacent attitude from the EU when it comes to assess the compliance with internationally agreed standards,” he argues.
The ETF believes that every seafarer in the world should comply with the same requirements and that it would be wrong for European seafarers effectively to be subjected to stricter training and regulation than third-country nationals.
“While the solution cannot be to relax on the required standards, the ETF urges the commission and the members states to adopt the necessary measures to remedy the breach. These measures could include targeted inspections and controls for Filipino crews calling at EU ports until such moment when Emsa receives satisfactory reports of improvement of the present situation.”
UNION/LABOUR RELATED MEDIA
FROM AAWL:
Workers at Philippine Airlines have taken dramatic action in their struggle against outsourcing. On Tuesday morning at 7am workers at Manila Airport including check-in, baggage handling, towing and catering, occupied their work stations and refused to leave. All Philippine Airlines flights were cancelled.
Police and security had ejected the workers by Wednesday, but many hundreds continue their protest on airport grounds and are planning a mass protest for Friday 30 September, the day of their official termination. Watch a video of an airport protest here.
Philippine Airlines has resumed some flights from a different terminal. The workers’ union PALEA has called for industrial and financial support. Download the leaflet here.
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September has become a busy month as workers from different sectors in the industry press the case for better wages and conditions. Ground staff belonging to the CPSU will hold stoppages over two days, while members of the TWU are facing being locked our by management. In the meantime, the issue of out sourcing for Qantas pilots is still unresolved.
Mainstream media outlets are reporting that a 46% Qantas owned Fijian airline is suspected of having funded the drafting of Fiji's new anti-union laws. International capitalist co-operation must be opposed by workers' international solidarity. Read our leaflet about international airline struggles here.
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