***‘Filthy’ galley and cockroach hazard on MLC-certified ship
Marshall Islands-registered ship with Maritime Labour Convention certification from Lloyd’s Register found in a “filthy” condition that put seafarers’ health at risk
UK health inspectors discovered cockroach infestation and a range of unsanitary conditions on a bulker with Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) certification issued by a leading flag state and classification society.
A prohibition order was put on the galley and stores of the 14,000-dwt George (built 1999) by port state control (PSC) officers after an additional health check was ordered while the ship was at Ellesmere Port last week.
Manchester-based health officers uncovered an infestation of German cockroaches in the ship along with rotten food, mould and dirt in the kitchen, fridge and stores, presenting what inspectors described as “an imminent risk of injury of health to the crew onboard due to the significant risk of food contamination posed”.
In a report seen by TradeWinds issued to the ship’s owner, Greece’s Lemar Shipping, the condition of the area was described as “filthy”.
The ship was not, however, detained despite ringing up 12 deficiencies. The prohibition order was lifted following cleaning and fumigation work, which satisfied officers the ship was fit to sail.
Yet the incident is the first suggestion of possible slip up in Maritime Labour Convention certification (MLC) since the convention, intended to improve seafarer’s welfare and working conditions, came into force in August.
The ship was registered under the Marshall Islands, a white-list flag-state and a proactive supporter of MLC as one of the first to ratify.
Although the ship’s hull certification was recently taken on by Japan’s ClassNK, its MLC certification came from Lloyd’s Register (LR), a leading classification society, which recently issued a shipboard handbook on how to prepare for MLC inspection.
In a statement to TradeWinds LR insisted hygiene on the ship is now satisfactory and it is working with the owner to improve things further.
“LR has now inspected the ship at her next port, Rouen, to confirm the effectiveness of measures taken, the improved status of onboard hygiene and also to follow up on findings related to International Safety Management (ISM) and International Ship and Port Security Code.”
“Further measures will be required now that an LR Surveyor has completed his ISM audit and International Labour Organisation [ILO] inspection and he is in the process of completing his report.
“The ship will need to complete repairs to the sanitary system [and cabins] prior to departure from Rouen. Completion will be verified by LR prior to departure.” LR points out that an earlier inspection at Volos in July had not detected the health hazards, suggesting the deterioration of the condition of the ship must have been rapid and after the initial MLC inspection.
Tony Field, of LR Piraeus — responsible for Global ILO MLC operations, said: “Given the extended periods between ISM or MLC surveys conditions can deteriorate quite quickly. Particularly when we are not seeing the ship annually for class surveys, PSC plays a key role in supporting the ILO MLC inspection and awareness process.”
However local International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) inspector Tommy Molloy questioned why the faults had not been picked up earlier.
“The deficiencies are so apparent,” he said. “There was also the problem with the contracts of employment, which should have been picked up by any basic check.”
***ITF ‘forced’ to act over Kouyou as crew owed thousands in backpay
International Transport Workers’ Federation acts as owners’ fears grow that Maritime Labour Convention will be used as lever to win wage deals onboard ships
Unions insist that they are not routinely reporting all wage disputes in the hope of securing detentions under the recently enforced Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, despite another recent example of it happening, this time involving the bulker Kouyou.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) says it alerted the authorities because of the amount of outstanding wages owed and the discovery that seafarers had paid to secure employment — a clear breach of international labour regulation.
Last week’s incident is also alarming because it uncovered poor employment terms on a virtually new vessel operated by one of Japan’s well-regarded and leading tonnage suppliers, Doun Shipping.
ITF Canada inspector Gerard Bradbury told TradeWinds: “Personally speaking, no, I do not inform Port State Control [PSC] on all wage claims. Wage claims are most times handled with the captain and company and paid on board.”
But in the case of the 58,595-dwt Kouyou (built 2013), he explains, there was a total of $51,000 in outstanding wages, while one crew member said he had paid $3,000 to a manning agent and worked for free at its office to win a job on the ship. Some of the Vietnamese crew onboard had two or three separate employment contracts.
Bradbury said: “So it was decided to contact PSC to inform them of the findings for two reasons. If the vessel sails and its next port of call was in China, the chances of the ITF getting the $51,000 back for the crew are slim to none. In all likelihood, the crew would have been sent home from there with no money and no hope. The other reason is that PSC could get onto the flag state, which they did, and require them to put some measures in place for this company so that this will not happen again. In this case, PSC would not lift the detention until it received that measure of guarantee from Panama.”
Doun had already committed the ship to a collective bargaining wage agreement with the All Japan Seamen’s Union since June and Bradbury says that reporting to the authorities was not an attempt to force a wage agreement.
Reason for detention
“The detention had nothing to do with placing an agreement aboard the vessel,” insisted Bradbury.
Yet there is increasing concern among owners that unions will inform PSC of potential MLC deficiencies to secure its own flag of convenience (FOC) wage agreements on ships and as a threat against shipowners to settle wage disputes. Sources inside the ITF say that inspectors are now frequently alerting PSC officials on MLC related matters including wage issues.
Canada earlier detained Transmed’s 84,000-dwt Lia M (built 2013) for MLC deficiencies related to wage agreements. In a similar example, the 180,000-dwt Polembros capesize Hydra Warrior (built 2011) was also detained in Canada for MLC failings. Both ships had existing collective bargaining agreements already in place.
It is highly likely that the Kouyou would not have been subject to a PSC inspection if the authorities had not been alerted by the union to the ongoing wage dispute.
The 2013-built vessel is rated as a “low priority” for inspection by the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), under which Canada operates, and as such is not required to be inspected more than once a year.
The same applies to the rest of Doun Shipping’s 26-strong high-quality, modern fleet, which was all built between 2010 and 2013.
The Kouyou was last inspected in June this year, prior to MLC becoming subject to PSC inspection, and passed with flying colours with no deficiencies.
Those factors mean it should not have been inspected for another six months at least.
Peter Lahay, ITF Canada coordinator, however, spoke up for the role PSC will play in improving working conditions at sea. “We are extremely pleased that Canada has seriously given life to the MLC,” he said.
“At our request, Transport Canada inspectors are enforcing a convention that has been agreed by the world’s shipping community and member states of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
“The ILO has concluded that the world’s seafarers are among the most isolated and marginalised workers in the world and are in need of special protection. That is what we are doing.”