The Sea, Sep/Oct 13

7/29/2019 The Sea, Sep/Oct 13

1/8

Issue 225 sep/oct 2013

Los

artculosen espaolaparecenen laspginas6 y 7

The Sea

Editor: Michael KeatingNews: David Hughes

The Seais distributedree to seaarers throughchaplains and seaarerscentres. You can alsoarrange to receive itregularly at a cost o 3.50or $5 per year (six issues).To fnd out more, contact:

Michael Keating, The Sea,The Mission to Seaarers,St Michael PaternosterRoyal, College Hill,London, UK EC4R 2RL

Tel: +44 20 7248 5202

Email: [email protected]

www.missiontoseaarers.org

Arcticvoyage orIMO chiepage 8

West Aricaattacks onthe risepage 2

. 6 7

New North

Sea trafclanes nowopen

New waveo projectsaimed atbeneftingseaarers

MLC: theindustryreactspage 3

Registered charity in England and Wales: 1123613

The Mission to Seaarers Scotland Limited,Registered charity: SC041938

THE trafc routingsystem in the Dutchpart o the North Seahas been changedsignifcantly.

A number o TrafcSeparation Schemes(TSS) have beenrevised and a new TSShas been introduced

or the approachesto Amsterdam. Newanchoring areas havebeen established and

others have changed.The Dutch authoritiessay the changes wereneeded to ensurethe uture saety oshipping, to improveaccess to Amsterdamand Rotterdam,Europes busiestcontainer port, andto allocate the marinespace efciently.

SEEN here at Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, the 18,270 teuMaersk Mc-Kinney Mllerentered service in July. She is thelead ship of Maersks Triple E class and has the largest cargo capacity in teu of any ship yet constructed. At 399metres theMaersk Mc-Kinney Mlleris said to be the longest ship in service worldwide (Photo:Maersk)

Founded in 1856, and

entirely unded by

voluntary donations,

todays Mission to

Seaarers oers emergency

assistance, practical

support, and a riendly

welcome to crews in 260

ports around the world.

Whether caring or victimso piracy or providing a

lieline to those stranded in

oreign ports, we are there

or the globes 1.3 million

merchant seaarers o all

ranks, nationalities and

belies.

The Mission toSeaarers

SHIP managementcompany associationInterManager, whosemembers managemore than 250,000 othe worlds seaarers,has announced severalprojects aimed atbenefting shipscrews.

These includetaking part in animportant researchproject into hours orest, co-ordinated byWarsash College andunded by the Nippon

Foundation, whichaims to establish bestpractices or fghtingatigue amongseaarers.

It is also involved inprojects on: industry-wide psychometricprofling to identiykey skills or onboardroles; cutting redtape; internet accesson board or crewmembers; and aplastic moneysolution or aster andsaer crew payments.

InterManager saysit is also working withindustry partners

to improve medicalhealth and training orseaarers, particularlyin the Philippines, andon projects that raiseawareness o the issuessurrounding lieboatdesign, manuactureand operation.

THE I n t e r n a t i o n a lLabour Organizations( I L O s ) M a r i t i m e

Labour Convention 2006(MLC 2006) entered into orceon August 20, establishingminimum working and livingstandards or crews on ships

covered by it and, in practice,going a long way to ensurethe same conditions or allseaarers.

MLC 2006 was designed tobe applicable globally, easy tounderstand, readily updatableand uniormly enorced andwill become the ourthpillar o the internationalregulatory regime or qualityshipping, complementingt h e k e y I n t e r n a t i o n a lMar i t ime Organiza t ion(IMO) Conventions dealingwith saety, security andenvironmental protection.

Countries that ratied theConvention beore August20, 2012 can now carry out

inspections to make sureships entering their ports areproviding their crews withacceptable living and working

standards. Countries thatratiied later than that canbegin to inspect vessels orMLC 2006 compliance oneyear ater ratiying.

When the Conventioncame into orce on August20, and eectively became

binding in internationallaw, it established minimumworking and living standardsor all seaarers on ships oratiying countries. On August20, ILO said 48 countries,had ratied the Convention,covering seaarers on morethan 75 per cent o the worldsfeet by gross tonnage.

The Mission to Seaarersdirector o justice and welare,the Revd Canon Ken Peters,said: An equal system ojustice or everyone romthe rst-time seaarer to theexperienced shipowner is inplace or the rst time, andcrews around the world knowthat the Mission is always

on hand to provide practicalsupport in their times o need.We now have a suite o

Conventions that provide or

training and education, saetyo lie at sea, environmentali s sues and wel a re andworking conditions.

For the irst time thecomprehensive Conventionsets out in one place seaarersrights to decent working and

living conditions including,among others: minimumage; employment agreements;hours o work or rest; wagepayment; annual leave;repatriation; medical care;recruitment and placementservices; accommodation;ood and catering; healthand saety and accidentprevention; and o seaarerscomplaint handling.

M L C 2 0 0 6 b r i n g stogether many existing butnot uniormly enorcedrequirements, establishingnew standards or crewwelare. All seaarers stand tobenet because ships fyingthe lags o countries that

have not ratied MLC 2006are now likely to be subject tothorough inspections to makesure they meet its standards.

Ships lying lags ocountries that have ratiedMLC 2006 should havetwo documents on boardto prove they comply withthe Convention, a MaritimeLabour Certiicate and aDeclaration o Maritime

Labour Compliance. Thisshould mean that port statecontrol oicers would notnormally need to carry outdetailed inspections, unlessthey suspect non-complianceor hazardous conditions,either o which could lead toa ship being detained.

In practice it will take timeor governments and shippingcompanies to get documentson ships and ILO has askedcountries not to demandthem or another year.

Countries which ratiedMLC 2006 less than a year agoand those who have not yetratied it can still intervenein cases o poor conditions on

ships under the provisions oILO Convention 147.Find out more in our

guide on pages our and fve.

Change on the horizon asMLC 2006 becomes law

Maritime Labour Convention sets standards ordecent working and living conditions or seaarers

www.missiontoseafarers.org

@FlyingAngelNews

themissiontoseafarers

www.missiontoseafarers.org @FlyingAngelNewswww.facebook.com/themissiontoseafarers

Philippines erry collision claims over 80 livesAT LEAST 81 people were killed when the Philippines inter-island erry St Thomas of Aquinas collided with the cargoship Sulpicio

Express 7near the port o Cebu on 16 August. Nearly 800 were rescued. For more news on this story, please turn to page our.


2/8

2 the sea sep/oct 13

Californiagets tough

Ofcerdistractedby ormerlover in errysinkingTHE ofcer convictedo criminal negligencecausing the deaths o

two passengers aboardthe Canadian Queen ofthe North in 2006 hasbeen sentenced to our

years in jail and bannedrom operating any vesselor ten years.

The prosecution said59-year-old Karl Lilgert

ailed in his duties asnavigating ofcer to keepthe ship on course as itmissed a scheduled turnand sailed towards GilIsland in Wright Sound.

The ship, which wascarrying 101 people, hitthe island and sank inbad weather. The bodieso the two passengers

who died were neverrecovered.

It was allegedthat Mr Lilgert wasdistracted by thepresence o his ormerlover on the bridge, thequartermaster, KarenBriker.

British ColumbiaSupreme Court judgeSunni Stromberg-Steinsaid it was clear thatthe navigating ofcersrelationship with Brikerwas a actor in thesinking. The judgeadded that Mr Lilgerthad been guilty o anextreme and catastrophic

dereliction o duty.

IMB chie warns o under-reporting o attacks

West Africa attacks rise

WO R L D W I D E ,there have been e w e r p i r a t e

attacks this year so ar, withthe number o attacks bySomali pirates dramaticallyreduced, according to thelatest inormation romanti-maritime crime agencyInternational Marit imeBureau (IMB).

The IMBs Piracy ReportingCentre (PRC) recorded 138piracy incidents in theirst six months o 2013,compared with 177 incidentsor the corresponding periodin 2012. Seven hijackingshave been recorded this yearcompared with 20 in the rsthal o 2012. The number oseaarers taken hostage alsoell dramatically, down to 127

this year rom 334 in the rstsix months o 2012. Somalipiracy has allen to its lowestlevels since 2006.

However, despite thispositive news, violent piracyand armed robbery o the coast o West Arica isincreasing, according to IMBsglobal piracy report or therst hal o this year.

Eight piracy incidents,including two hijackings,were recorded in the irstsix months o 2013, with 34seaarers taken hostage briefybeore being rescued by the

navies patrolling the area.Nevertheless, as o mid-

July, Somali pirates were still

holding 57 crew membersor ransom on three vessels.They were also holding 11kidnapped crew members onland in unknown conditionsand locations. Seven o thesecrew have been held sinceSeptember 2010 and oursince April 2010.

IMB says it attributesthe signiicant drop in therequency and range o attacksby Somali pirates to actionsby international navies andpreventive measures bymerchant vessels, includingthe deployment o privatelycontracted armed securitypersonnel.

IMB director Pottengal

Mukundan said: The naviescontinue to play a vital rolein ensuring this threat is keptunder control. The two vesselshijacked were recovered bynaval action beore the piratescould take them to Somalia.Only the navies can takesuch remedial action ater ahijack. Denying the piratesany success is essential toa sustained solution to thiscrime. Pirates are knownto be operating in thesewaters. Despite the temporaryprotection provided by thesouth west monsoon in some

parts o the Arabian Sea, thethreat remains and vesselsare advised to be vigilant and

comply with the industrysBest Management Practices asthey transit this area.

Meanwhile, in the Gulo Guinea, in addition toa rise in piracy and armedrobbery 31 incidents insix months, including ourhijackings IMB reportsa surge in kidnappings atsea and a wider range oship types being targeted. Itsays: This is a new cause orconcern in a region alreadyknown or attacks againstvessels in the oil industry andthet o gas oil rom tankers.

There has been a worryingtrend in the kidnapping ocrew rom vessels well outside

the territorial limits o coastalstates in the Gul o Guinea,said Mr Mukundan.

He noted that: In April2013, nine crew memberswere kidnapped rom twocontainer vessels, one owhich was 130 nm romthe coast. Pirates have usedmother ships, some o whichwere smaller o-shore supplyvessels hijacked by pirates, toconduct the attacks. Therecontinues to be signiicantunder-reporting o attacks a phenomenon highlightedby the IMB year ater year.

This prevents meaningulresponse by the authoritiesand endangers other vessels

sailing into the area unawareo the precise nature o thethreat.

Armed pirates in the Gulo Guinea took 56 seaarershostage and were responsibleor all 30 crew kidnappingsreported worldwide in theirst hal o the year. Oneperson was reported killedand at least another iveinjured. Attacks o Nigeriaaccounted or 22 o theregions 31 incidents and 28o the crew kidnappings.

Mr Mukundan applaudedthe signing o the Codeof Conduct Concerning the

Repress ion of Pir acy, ArmedRob ber y Aga ins t Shi ps, and

Illicit Maritime Activity in Westand Central Africa in June2013 by the heads o the Westand Central Arican countries.

He stressed, however, thatthis should lead quickly toaction on the water. Hewarned: I these attacksare let unchecked, theywill become more requent,bolder and more violent.Co-operation and capacitybuilding among the coastalstates in this region is the wayorward and urgently neededto make these waters sae orseaarers and vessels.

THE Caliornia AirResources Board(ARB) has fned threeshipping companies,Hegh AutolinersShipping, NCNCorporation and TwinPhoenix Shipping, acombined US$440,250or ailing to switchrom what it describesas dirty bunker uelto cleaner, low-sulphurmarine distillate uel

on entering the USstates regulatedwaters.

Caliornia says itconducts over 500ship inspections each

year, checking orproper uel usage,record-keeping andother compliancerequirements, andtakes marine gas oilor marine diesel oilsamples or submissionto the ARB laboratoryto ensure they meetCaliornia standardsor sulphur.

ARB enorcementchie Jim Ryden said:

Ships en route toCaliornia ports emitthousands o tons odiesel exhaust each

year. Our regulationrequiring ocean-going vessels toswitch to cleaner uelwithin 24 nm o our

These statistics go some way to illustrate the problem but under-reporting persists, according to IMB

Oil spillsearchesSOME 700 vessels weremonitored by fve aircrat

rom Algeria, France,Italy, Morocco andSpain recently as parto a Co-ordinated AerialSurveillance Operation

or illegal ship pollutiondischarges in the WesternMediterranean.

The main objective oOSCAR-MED 2013 wasto enhance co-operationin the region in orderto combat illegal shippollution.

The operation was co-ordinated by the SpanishMaritime Saety Agency(SASEMAR) through itsMaritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre inPalma de Mallorca.

shoreline protects allCaliornia residents,especially those in portcommunities, rom thisair pollution.

THE UK Government issued the highest possible security alertto shipping companies operating o the coast o Yemen inAugust, as Western Governments took additional anti-terrormeasures throughout the Middle East. The moves were inresponse to intelligence o a heightened risk o a terrorist attackrom an Al-Qaeda oshoot in the region.

The UKs Department or Transport issued an InternationalShip and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code level three warningabout Yemen, which warns o a probable or imminent risko a security incident.

Maritime security company Gul o Aden Group Transits(GoAGT) said such an alert was unprecedented since theintroduction o the ISPS code in 2004. GoAGTs chieoperating ocer, Gerry Northwood, warned that oil platorms,cargoships and even cruise ships could be at risk o attack byterrorists o Yemen based on threats coming rom Yemen,Egypt and Somalia.

He said: The resurgence o Al-Qaeda and ailiateorganisations is occurring alongside some o the worlds most

strategically vulnerable and crowded waterways. The largelyunoreseen consequence o the Arab Spring is that it has giventerrorist groups a new lease o lie and the means to do realharm to maritime activity in the Mediterranean, the SuezCanal and at other key strategic choke points.

The anti-maritime crime agency International MaritimeBureau told The Sea it still believed that piracy and terrorism inand around the Indian Ocean were quite separate things andthat piracy was motivated by money and not political aims.

Shipping terror threat

Iron orewarningTHE marine liabilityinsurers body, theInternational Group oP&I Clubs, has warnedmembers that cargoeso iron ore concentrateor fnes presented orloading at the porto Yuzhny, Ukraine,have been rejectedbecause o moisturecontents exceeding theTransportable MoistureLimit (TML), as defned

in the InternationalMaritime Solid BulkCargoes (IMSBC) Code.

These cargoes areGroup A cargoes underthe IMSBC Code andare thereore liable toliquey i the moisturecontent exceeds theTML and endanger theship.

New turbineengineCANADIAN-BASEDcompany GrnSpidersays it has designed anew engine, the Saizew

Turbine, which is morethan 50 per cent energyefcient, putting it on apar with low-speed dieselengines.

The new enginehas been designed overthe last 20 years byGrnSpiders president,Udo Saizew. It is claimedthat the Saizew Turbinecosts hal as much andis only hal the size ocomparable turbines, andcould be used to powervessels.

According to thecompany, comparedto todays engines oequal power, the Saizew

Turbine will run at a thirdo the speed but havethree times the torqueand it will also halve: uelconsumption; carbon

ootprint; engine size;weight; number o parts;and the cost o buildingand maintenance.

THREE Somali men have been sentenced to lie imprisonmentin the US or their part in the February 2011 murder o ourAmericans on board the sailing vessel Quest. Ahmed MuseSalad, 25, Abukar Osman Beyle, 20, and Shani Nurani ShiekhAbrar, 29, were each ound guilty o 26 counts including:piracy; conspiracy to commit kidnapping; hostage-takingresulting in death; kidnapping resulting in death; and multiplerearms oences.

Salad, Beyle, Abrar and others, armed with rearms anda rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), boarded the Questwhilethe our Americans slept on 18 February, 2011. They gainedcontrol o the vessel and took the our American citizens ashostages, intending to take them to Somalia and demand aransom or their release.

The United States Navy intercepted the Questand the Navyand the FBI began negotiating with the pirates to secure thesae release o the hostages. On 21 February, 2011 two co-conspirators representing the pirates on board the Quest, weretranserred to the warship USS Sterettto negotiate.

The negotiations reached an impasse when the pirates weretold they were not going to be allowed to take the hostagesashore in Somalia. The pirates were detained ater they reusedto release the hostages and threatened to kill them i they werenot allowed to return to Somalia.

The next day an RPG was red at the Sterettand duringan exchange o gunre the pirates deliberately killed theirhostages.

The pirates were then captured by US Special Forces.

Pirates get lie sentences

Questions? Comments? Post on our Facebook page or send us a Tweet!

@FlyingAngelNewsthemissiontoseafarers

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3/8

sep/oct 13 the sea 3

SeaDiamondsinkingcase resultsin jailsentences

The new standards created by the Maritime LabourConvention took eect on August 20

Shipping industry reactsto new labour laws

Conictingevidence inPrestigetrial

THE imminent entry into orce o the Maritime LabourConvention 2006 (MLC 2006) was the cause o a lot oactivity in the shipping industry in the months running

up to its entry into orce on August 20.While MLC 2006 is intended to bring together existing

requirements rather than create new ones, seaarers welareis likely to be given a much higher prole and issues rarelyconsidered until now are likely to emerge.

As a result, many companies, regulatory groups andindustry authorities have been busy creating materials andinitiatives to help raise awareness o the changes it has caused.

The International Chamber o Shipping has issuedguidelines on what ships should do to show port state controloicers that they comply with MLC 2006. These can beaccessed at www.ics-shipping.org/ilo-mlc.htm

The UK P&I Club and Lloyds Register have also releasedan MLC 2006 checklist or masters, ocers and managers tohelp them prepare or ship inspections under the new rules.

The two organisations have also released a smartphone app.In response to the changes, the Liberian Registry the rstfag state to ratiy MLC 2006 has launched an online MaritimeLabour Complaint Resolution Form or seaarers.

In a statement the fag administration says that seaarersare encouraged to use the ships onboard complaint proceduresto resolve matters at the earliest possible opportunity, inaccordance with MLC 2006. However, in the event that acomplaint is unable to be resolved on board, Liberia saysit has provided the online orm to help seaarers resolve all

genuine and valid complaints. It adds that it will take allnecessary steps to investigate complaints and ensure thatappropriate measures are taken to rectiy any decienciesand that inormation given by seaarers in complaints will betreated as strictly condential.

The Liberian Registrys Maritime Labour ComplaintResolution Form can be accessed at www.liscr.com

In one launch designed to tackle a more specic area oMLC 2006, one company has created potable water testing kits,designed to meet the regulations on drinking water whichcome into orce with MLC 2006.

Martek Marine said that guidelines on the provisiono drinking water at sea had been provided by numerousbodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), theInternational Labour Organization and various national healthorganisations and maritime bodies.

The company comments: Though well-intentioned, thecurrent guidelines [those existing beore August 20] are largely

ineective because they vary so widely and are thereoredicult to implement and enorce. We dont understandwhy its being made to seem so dicult to get your vesselscompliant. The introduction o overarching regulation setout in the MLC 2006 and by the World Health Organizationgoverning seaarers rights is expected to address this.

As the dust settles and the industry begins to examine theimpact o MLC 2006, it is certain that more innovations andproducts will appear on the market in response to seaarerschanging needs.

VERDICTS are awaitedthe trial o the mastero the tankerPrestige,which sank o the Span-ish coast in 2002. Thecourt heard conictingaccounts o who knew

what about the condi-tion o the ship and whowas responsible or theresulting oil pollutiondisaster.

The ships chie engi-neer and the then heado the Spanish maritimeadministration are alsoon trial. The prosecutionhas called or up to 12

years in jail or all three.Captain Apostolos

Mangouras, now 78,blamed the Spanishauthorities or reusingto allow the ship to takeshelter ater sueringhull damage in badweather.

THE master o theLouis Hellenic Cruisescruise ship Sea Dia-mond, which hit a reeand sank near the is-land o Santorini in theAegean Sea in 2007,has been sentenced to12 years in prison orserial involuntary man-slaughter and causinga shipwreck.

Six other crewmembers and anemployee o classi-cation society DNValso received jail terms

o varying lengthsor their parts in theincident, in which twopassengers died.

According to pressreports it is unlikelythat anybody willactually serve time inprison and all the de-endants are appealingthe decision. It couldbe two years beorethe appeals are heard.

MOL bunkerto the rescueON July 4 in the PacifcOcean about 70 nmNorth West o the ChuukIslands, the Mitsui O.S.K.Lines-owned and oper-ated bulk carrierMyokenrescued our Microne-sians aboard a smallboat that was adrit with

engine trouble.The Myoken was

bound or Japan atersailing rom Brisbane,

Australia, when itreceived an emergencysignal rom the disabledboat. It immediatelychanged course to res-cue the stranded crew.

HK bulkerdetainedbecause ofre danger

THE International SeaarersWelare Assistance Network(ISWAN) is now acceptingnominations or the 2014International Seaarers Welare Awards. The awardswere created to recogniseexcellence in the provisiono welare services to crews,and seaarers can nominate

their Shipping Company othe Year, Port o the Year, andSeaarer Centre o the Year.

Seaarers, organisationsand individuals can alsonominate candidates or theWelare Personality o the Yearaward, which was shared lastyear by Fr Giacomo Martino(Apostleship o the Sea,

Italy) and the Revd DennisClaughton (The Mission toSeaarers, Australia).

This year, ISWAN hasmade the process easier andseaarers can vote online atwww.iswan.org. Voting isopen now.

Roger Harris, executivedirector o ISWAN, said: You

can help promote seaarerswel a re and encourageothers to provide new andimproved services by makinga nomination. These awardsonly work with your support.

Th e a wa r ds w i l l beheld on April 7 2014 atthe International LabourOrganization (ILO) in Geneva.

THE US Coast Guarddetained the 27,172dwt Hong Kong-fagbulk carrier GreatSuccesson August 2 atLongview, Washing-ton state in the US,or numerous saetyviolations.

The action ollowedroutine inspections o

the Sinotrans-managedvessel at Longview andat Kalama, which isalso in Washington.

Most o the shipssaety ailures relatedto re danger andincluded excessive oiland oily water mixturein the bilges, exces-sive oil in the engineroom, and oil-saturat-ed lagging insulationthroughout the engineroom.

Inspectors oundthat the emergencyre pump was leakingwater and fooding theemergency re pump

room.The condition o

the incinerator posed asignicant re haz-ard and could not betested saely due tooil-saturated lagginginsulation on the in-cinerator and poolingo oil in the immediatevicinity.

All three generatorsand the boiler burnerhad active lube oilleaks, causing poolingo lube oil beneath theequipment.

A re door withinthe purier fat couldnot be opened rom

inside the space, whichmeant that potentially,crew members couldbe trapped inside.

The 1998-builtvessel had loaded andwas scheduled to sailor Japan prior to herdetention.

New legal services charter launched to help seaarersSEAFARERS Rights International (SRI)has launched a Charter o Good Practiceor the Provision o Legal Services toSeaarers. The independent centre,which is dedicated to advancing therights o seaarers, will keep a list o

lawyers who subscribe to the charter.The new charter is a set oproessional ethics that takes intoaccount the particular concerns oseaarers and binds lawyers to treatingseaarer clients in a consistent way.

For seaarers, seeking the adviceo a lawyer can be one o the moststressul events o their career, saidDeirdre Fitzpatrick, executive directoro SRI.

Not only are they dealing with

the eects o the incident that has ledthem to that point, but they are alsopursuing a course o action which toooten seems raught with conusion,diculties and worries about expense.

The rst hurdle oten is to nd a

reputable lawyer who is knowledgeableabout seaarers rights issues, and whois willing and able to represent theseaarer at a reasonable cost.

We hope it can assist seaarers tohave access to a list o lawyers who

have signed up to and accepted thatthey are bound by the principles inthe charter.

More inormation on thenew charter can be ound atwww.seafarersrights.org

The Revd Dennis Claughton and Fr Giacomo Martino withIMO secretary-general Koji Sekimizu at the 2012 welareawards ceremony in London (Photo: Chris Sowe)

Seaarers welare award voting now open to crews

The quality o lie o seaarers may improve thanks to MLC 2006s new requirements (Photo:Jamie Smith)

FatiguedangersFATIGUE poses a risk tothe saety o shipping

and to the health oseaarers, maritime unionNautilus has warned.

At a discussion aboutProject Horizon, a studyo how seaarers work isaected by watchkeep-ing patterns, the unionssenior national secretary,

Allan Graveson, saidexcessive working hourswere leading to pre-ventable accidents andput seaarers at risk ohigher rates o heart dis-ease, diabetes and highblood pressure.

Clyde & Co part-ner Paul Newdick said:Ships would be saer i

seaarers had more rest,but you need more peo-ple on board, and thatwill cost money.

This is about polit-ical will and it is aboutcash and until the twocoincide, not a lot willchange.

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4/8


NEWS MICHAEL GREY

MICHAEL KEATING

MLC 2006: wh

Actions spMLC 2006 entered into force on

seriously shipowners and ship in

THE Maritime Labour Convention(MLC 2006) is an international seto rules designed to create a decentstandard o living or the worldsseaarers and to improve air com-petition or quality shipowners.

MLC 2006 has been ratied by46 countries representing over 75per cent o the worlds gross ton-nage o ships.

On August 20, MLC 2006 be-came law or the countries that hadratied it beore August 20, 2012.Countries that have ratied sincethen have one year rom their dateo ratication to bring their locallaws and standards in line but willin the meantime be subject to in-spections in other countries.

What does it mean?By combining over 68 earlier

conventions, it gathers seaarersbasic rights in one place and cre-ates on board and on shore com-plaints procedures i they thinkanything is wrong.

MLC 2006 gives governmentsand inspectors more power to en-orce rules i they eel a shipowner

is mistreating its crew or i a ship isnot up to standard. Inspectors areobliged to examine seaarers work-ing and living conditions on boardships i they enter a port in a coun-try that has ratied MLC 2006.Ships fying the fag o a countrythat has not ratied MLC 2006 willstill be subject to inspection.

Who does it help?MLC 2006 covers anyone work-

ing on board a ship operating oncommercial activities on interna-tional voyages. This means that allsta working on cruise ships arecovered, as are cadets.

Seaarers on shing vessels, war-ships or naval auxiliaries, ships otraditional build (such as dhows)

and those which navigate exclu-sively in inland waters (such aslakes, rivers or canals) are not cov-ered. The ILO is now attempting topass a convention or shers.

What does it do?Specically, MLC 2006 covers

ve titles:

1. minimum requirements or sea-arers to work on a ship;2. conditions o employment;3. accommodation, recreationalacilities, ood and catering;4. health protection, medical care,welare and social security projec-tion; and5. compliance and enorcement.

But what do these mean orseaarers? Weve explained some othe most important aspects below.

These are intended as a roughguide. Beore taking any actionplease check this guide against theConventions text which is onlineat www.ilo.org/mlc

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MLC 2006 has been making waves in t

It seems to have been longenough coming, but atlast the Maritime Labour

Convention (MLC 2006) hascome into orce, recognised byall as the ourth pillar o mari-time regulation and by some asthe seaarers bill o rights. Itis being introduced with highhopes, the Convention beingcentred on the provision odecent work, which in thecase o seaarers who live onthe job, means decent livingconditions as well.

It has been produced by theInternational Labour Organi-

zation (ILO) with the enthusi-astic support o governments,seaarers organisations andshipowners, so it might bethought to have arrived withwidespread goodwill. Givensuch consensus, it is clear thatthere is nothing even remotelyunreasonable in this importantconvention. But will it work?Will it do what it says on thetin?

Like SOLAS, MARPOL andthe STCW Conventions beoreit, MLC 2006 will achieve itsaims just as long as sincerityand proessionalism are exhib-

ited by everyone involved. It isglobal in scope and ambition,designed to provide a levelplaying eld in which all partso the shipping industry, andthat includes its workers, areable to operate and fourish.

It has also been designedor uniormity o enorcement,so that the globe-girdlingmerchant ship will not acedierent standards as it movesrom port to port and countryto country. And that is wherethe sincerity and proessional-ism enter the equation, as theinspection regime gets to grips

with both the certication pro-cesses and the establishment ocompliance through port stateinspection.

Inspectors, whether theyrepresent authorities issuingthe all-important paperwork(the Maritime Labour Certi-icate and the Declaration oMaritime Labour Compliance),or they are port-state controlinspectors boarding visitingships, have quite specicresponsibilities. It is clear thatwell organised companies,which have engaged with theprocess early on, have little to

ear, as have thwho work or t

But as any psurveyor will sunot need a rigoto indicate a prSimple cleanlingood conditionway a large cocrying around tvolumes. Simileral demeanouralso be a useulto whether thisully compliantthing which reinvestigation.

The conditiwill indicate thshipping compgence o shipmtendents and mthe motivationmembers, who,their own resporespect o theirmentation.

What are thnew ConventioSome revolve ability o corrupttries where thiswith certicatesby corrupt or in

Engineer slips up over oily water lies

A CHIEF engineer who lied tothe US Coast Guard (USCG)about oily waste dischargesand told his sta to do thesame has been ned US$10,000and sentenced to three years

probation.He admitted that he tried to

infuence a USCG inspectionby telling the crew to lie inorder to prevent inspectorsdetecting that hoses and apump had been used to carryout illegal discharges.

Inigo Albina, a 57-year-oldPhilippines citizen, was thechie engineer o the tankerStolt Facto rom October 2012until January 30 this year. Hemade and signed all the entriesin the Oil Record Book whichstated that the bilge water onthe vessel had passed through

the Oil Water Separator (OWS)prior to being dischargedoverboard.

However, the contentso the bilge wells and bilgeholding tank were actually

pumped into the sewageholding tank with hoses thatstretched upward on to theuppermost deck o the engineroom and around the fooro the engine control room,bypassing the OWS. From thesewage holding tank, the bilgewater was discharged into theocean.

In January the USCGinspectors boarded the vesselwhile she was anchored in theMississippi River, near NewOrleans and ound the hosesand pump used to bypass theOWS. When the Coast Guard

inspectors questioned theengine room crew about thepurpose o the equipment andthe operation o the OWS, allexcept one engineer deniedthat they bypassed the OWS,

despite some o them havingbeen ordered to assist with theconnection o the hoses andpumps.

Ater the inspectors initialinterviews with the enginecrew, Mr Albina asked eachone what he had said. He thenheld an all-hands meetingwith the engineer ocers andratings. Although the illegalityo the operation was discussed,Mr Albina told everyone in themeeting to deny knowledge othe hoses going to the sewageholding tank and bypassingthe OWS.

AT LEAST 81 people died whenthe 40-year-old Philippinesinter-island passenger erry StThomas of Aquinas sank withinminutes ater a collision withthe cargoship Sulpicio Express 7in the approaches to the centralPhilippine port o Cebu.

As the The Sea went to print

more than 50 others were stillunaccounted or. Over 730had been rescued. Coastguardand military vessels took partin a search operation that washampered by rough seas.

The BBCs South East Asiacor respondent , JonathanHead, reported that the ocial

investigation was likely to ocuson whether the narrow lanesapproaching Cebu harbourwere used incorrectly.

However, this latest disasteris likely to once again putthe spotlight on Philippineerry saety and the use oold ships with poor stability

ch a r a c t e r i s t i c s t h a t a r evulnerable to capsizing i thecar decks are fooded.

The general secretary oAnglo Dutch seaarers unionNautilus, Mark Dickinson,said the incident highlightedthe global variation in saetystandards or erries.

Mr Dickinson said: Thiserry would not be allowed tooperate in northern Europe, andit is scandalous that the worldseems ready to tolerate second-class rules or dierent regions.

Mr Dick inson sa id a l lerries which did not meetthe International Maritime

Organizations Safety of Life atSea Convention 1990 and theStockholm standards, whichwere adopted in response totheHerald of Free Enterprise and

Estonia disasters, ought to bewithdrawn and all newbuildvessels should be constructed toreduce the risk o capsize.

A USCG team inspect a ships holding tanks on a routine investigation (Photo: USCG)

Philippines ferry disaster claims over 80

lives: rescue operation saves hundreds





The cargoship Sulpico Express 7after its collision with St Thomas of Aquinas(Photo: Reuters)


5/8


t does it all mean for crews?

eak louder than wordsugust 20 but will it make a difference? That all depends on how

ectors take it, suggests Michael Grey

nt contracts (SEAs)s employment agree-) will need to includen on the employer andwill also need to includeor the termination o

ct, repatriation rightsand social security pro-

nets details.s must be allowed to

cts beore signing themen a copy in their ownnd in English should dis-

s will have to be paid no more than month-so that they can plan

ces especially impor-ose supporting ami-e. Payment schedulesn line with a seaarers

oyers should allow sea-anser part or all o theirmatically.

work and rests should not be askedmore than 14 hours in

ur period, and no moreurs in any 7-day peri-es such as training orlls can be included ins.nimum hours o reste ewer than 10 hours inur period and 77 hoursy period.

HolidaySeaarers are entitled to paid

holiday time, which works out to2.5 days or each month o em-ployment.

Shore-based welfare facilitiesSeaarers should have access

to shore-based welare acilitiesin order to help maintain their

physical and mental health andwellbeing. Flag states must ensurethat shore-based welare acilitiesin their ports are easily accessibleto all seaarers regardless o wherethey or their ship comes rom.

Medical careSeaarers have the right to

access on board health care, includ-ing dental care and to visit medicalpersonnel while in port. Medicalrecords and certicates, issued bya qualied medical proessional,should be kept on board.

AccommodationOn board accommodation must

be in a sae area on board and mustbe well ventilated and insulated.

Individual sleeping rooms shouldbe provided and crews should alsohave personal storage space.

FoodFood and water must be avail-

able on board to seaarers ree ocharge. It must be prepared inclean, specially designated areas.

Health and safetySeaarers work environments

must have regular risk assessmentsand there should be an on boardsystem or reporting accidents.Seaarers should know which crewmembers are responsible or theirprotection in the event o certainincidents, and they should knowthe locations o on board personal

protective equipment.

Manning levelsThe MLC requires ships to bemanned by a crew that is adequatein terms o size and training stand-ards in accordance with a shipssae manning document.

Minimum ageThe minimum to work at sea

is 16. Seaarers working overnightmust be 18 or over unless engagedin a recognised training pro-gramme.

Recruitment and placementShipowners are not required

to use recruitment and placementservices and can directly employ

seaarers. I however they do usea service it must conorm to MLC2006 standards.

Recruiters cannot charge sea-arers or placing them, but canclaim costs or medical certicates,passports or a national seaarersbook. Visa costs must be paid byshipowners.

TrainingSeaarers should be trained

and qualied to perorm on boardduties. They must also be givenpersonal saety training.

RepatriationFlag states must now ensure

that seaarers can be repatriated.Seaarers may be repatriated by

their employer, but in the case thatdoes not happen, responsibilityeventually alls to the fag state.

Seaarers should be repatriatedby fag states i their SEA expireswhile they are abroad; i a SEA isterminated or a justied reason; ithey are no longer able to carry outtheir duties through illness or inju-ry; or in the event o shipwreck.

Injuries or accidentsSeaarers are entitled to com-

pensation resulting rom injuries,nancial loss or unemploymentarising rom a ships loss or ound-ering. They are also entitled tonancial support i they suer aninjury or disability carrying outtheir duties. Medical care must also

be covered i necessary.

Enforcement and inspectionsShips fying the fag o a coun-

try that has ratied MLC 2006should have a Maritime LabourCerticate and a Declaration oMaritime Labour Compliance onboard at all times. I an inspector

nds that a seaarers living andworking conditions are breached,they can withdraw a ships Mari-time Labour Certicate. This canlead to the ship in question beingarrested until MLC 2006s mini-mum standards are reached. Tominimise the risk o this happen-ing the ship master should notiyauthorities o issues beore they

arrive in ports.

What do you do if somethingswrong?

Ships are required to have anon board complaints procedure incase anything goes wrong. Seaar-ers should be given a copy o thiswhen arriving on board, so thatthey know who to speak to shouldan issue arise. MLC 2006 aims tohave all complaints resolved atthe lowest level, but seaarers areallowed to appeal directly to shipsmaster or external organisationsashore such as unions or welareorganisations such as The Missionto Seaarers. Seaarers should alsobe given the right to be representedand should be able to receive im-

partial advice should they need it.

More informationThis is a rough guide to MLC

2006. I you eel that you need totake any action, please check thisguide against the ull text o theConvention, which is available atwww.ilo.org/mlc, beore doing so.

shipping industry, but what does it mean for seafarers? Michael Keating explains

aarers

ionalyou will

nspection ship.dicates a

he sameh scur-k speakshe gen-crew willator asood andor some-urther

the shipude othe dili- superin-

ers, evene crewurse haveities innal docu-

ries, as thees eect?the possi-

n coun-demic,g issuedetent fag

state authorities, or inspectionregimes treating MLC 2006 asjust another source o incomerom visiting ships, as theirinspectors discover documen-tary discrepancies, or otherproblems with which to harassthe master. Others are con-cerned with administrations

gold-plating the Conventionrequirements to make it moreonerous or ships fying theirfag. Some issues o interpreta-tion may arise, aboard specialships, or involving peoplewhose status as seaarers mightbe considered ambiguous.

All sides o industry are

hoping that MLC 2006 reallywill make a dierence, orcingthe bad practitioners eitherto leave the business o shipoperation, or to drasticallyraise their game to acceptablestandards.

It would be good to thinkthat the clear recommen-

dations o the Conventionregarding shore leave andaccess to shore acilities whenin port will make a dierence,especially in those parts o theworld which reuse shore leaveor put ridiculous barriers inseaarers way. It would be agreat advance i the guidelinesor the provision o welareacilities in port were enthu-siastically adhered to, ratherthan grudgingly provided, orignored.

It is worth noting that theauthors o the Conventionhave made provision or the

ILO to monitor its workings,with governments requiredannually to report progress inrespect o its compliance. Flagstates have real responsibilitieshere. And i a fag state is ex-periencing problems, perhapsbecause o its lack o resources,the ILO has a mechanism toprovide technical assistance tobring it up to scratch.

There may be problemswhich will initially arisebecause there are still a lot ocountries which have yet toratiy the Convention, butwhose ships will be inspected

regardless on the importantprinciple o uniormity o en-orcement. This hopeully willencourage countries to speedup their ratication processes.

It has been suggested thatMLC 2006 will be treatednot unlike other regulatoryelements, enthusiasticallyimplemented by the best ship-ping companies, which alwaysdo everything as well as theycan, stolidly complied with bythe average operation, whichwill try and stay legal, and thesubject o evasive eorts by thesub-standard minority which

cause everyone such trouble.Looking on the bright side,

it will enable the best to beeven better, with their qual-ity serving as a magnet orthe best employees and theirevident prosperity encouragingmigration rom the averageoperators.

Decent work and livingconditions will go a long wayto assist the seaaring popu-lation in the enjoyment oesteem and respect, whichmight be thought another veryimportant aim o this timelyConvention.

The MLCs effectiveness depends on everyone getting on board (Photo: Simon Dharmaraj)

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6/8


JUSTICE MATTERS BY DOUGLAS STEVENSON

Abandonment and the Maritime Labour ConventionTHE worlds economies depend on merchant shipping, andmerchant shipping depends on seaarers. Seaaring can providevery attractive and satisying careers or skilled and responsiblemen and women. The rewards o sea-going careers are many,but there are occupational risks as well. Seaarers have longendured lonely separations rom amily and riends, and theyhave aced the perils o nature, wars and pirates. But, the perilo being abandoned with their shipmates on their ship in aar away port is particularly disheartening. Being abandonedand having to rely on charity or their basic needs can be ademoralising experience or proud hard-working seaarers.

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006),which came into orce or many nations on August 20, 2013,attempts to protect seaarers rom being abandoned in severalways.Regulation 2.2 and Standard A2.2 require shipowners topay seaarers their wages and other entitlements at least oncea month.Regulation 3.1 and Standard A3.1 require shipownersto provide with decent accommodation and recreationalacilities on their vessels or seaarers.Regulation 3.2 andStandard A3.2 require shipowners to provide seaarers decentood and water that is appropriate in quality, nutritional value,quantity, and variety, taking into account seaarers cultural andreligious backgrounds.Regulation 4.2 and Standard A4.2 require

shipowners to provide medical care to seaarers or any illnessor injury incurred while they are employed.Regulation 2.5 andStandard A2.5 require shipowners to maintain nancial securityor repatriating their crews and to repatriate them when theircontracts are completed. I shipowners ail to repatriate theircrews, the ships fag state must arrange to repatriate them, andit may recover their expenses rom the shipowner. I the fagstate ails to repatriate crews rom ships fying their fag, thenthe port state or the seaarers home country may repatriatethem and recover their costs rom the fag state.

While MLC 2006 goes a long way to protect seaarersrom abandonment, its measures depend on a shipownerbeing present and ullling their legal obligations. MLC 2006places an obligation on the fag state to step in or an absentshipowner to repatriate an abandoned crew, but it doesntprovide a mechanism or lodging, eeding, providing medicalcare or, or paying wages to seaarers who have been abandonedby their ships owner. Furthermore, seaarers are extremelyreluctant to leave their vessel without being paid their earnedwages, believing that their vessel provides security or theirunpaid wages.

In 2008, the International Labour Organization (ILO)and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) assigned

a joint IMO/ILO working group to agree on principles ordrating a mandatory instrument to protect seaarers rombeing abandoned. In March 2009, the working group proposedthat MLC 2006 be amended as soon as possible ater cominginto orce. The proposed amendments would prevent, or easethe eects o, abandonment by creating a rapid and eectivenancial security system to help abandoned seaarers. Featureso the nancial system would include: Abandoned seaarers would have direct access tothe nancial system to pay or adequate ood, clothing,accommodation, necessary medical expenses, and up to ourmonths wages. Abandonment would be dened as the shipowner ailingto pay or repatriation, leaving a seaarer without necessarymaintenance and support, cutting ties with the seaarer, orailing to pay wages or two months. The ships fag state would require the shipowner to providedocumentary evidence o nancial security that would bereadily available to seaarers and port state control.

The MLC created a Special Tripartite Committee to keepthe Convention under continuous review. It is to be hoped theabandonment amendments to MLC 2006 will be consideredwhen the committee meets early in 2014.

La fgura del abandono y el MLCLAS economas de pases del mundoentero dependen de la marina mercante,y la marina mercante depende de la

gente de mar. La marina mercanteorece oportunidades laborales muyatractivas y satisactorias para hombresy mujeres capaces y con sentido de laresponsabilidad. Las recompensas deuna carrera proesional en el mar sonnumerosas, pero tambin hay riesgos.Desde tiempo inmemorial, la gente demar se ha enrentado a largos periodoslejos de sus amiliares y migos y ha tenidoque surir la uria de los elementos,confictos blicos e incursiones piratas.Pero de todos los peligros que acechana la gente de mar, uno de los msdesoladores es quedar abandonado con elbuque y toda su tripulacin en un puertolejano. Ser abandonado y tener querecurrir a la benecencia para sobrevivires una experiencia proundamentetraumtica para personas tan orgullosas ytrabajadoras como la gente de mar.

El Convenio del Trabajo Martimode 2006 (MLC), que entr en vigor enmuchos pases el 20 de agosto de 2013,introduce diversos mecanismos paraproteger a la gente del mar rente alabandono. La Regla 2.2 y la NormativaA2.2 exigen que el armador abone lossalarios y otros derechos de la gentede mar con una periodicidad mensualcomo mnimo. La Regla 3.1 y la NormaA3.1 exigen que el armador proporcionea la gente de mar alojamiento digno einstalaciones de esparcimiento a bordo.La Regla 3.2 y la Norma A3.2 exigenque el armador orezca a la gente demar agua potable y alimentos de buenacalidad, nutritivos, en cantidad suciente,variados y atendiendo a la diversidadcultural y religiosa de la tripulacin. La

Regla 4.2 y la Norma A4.2 exigen que elarmador proporcione asistencia mdicaa la gente de mar en caso de enermedad

o lesin acaecida durante su perodo decontratacin. La Regla 2.5 y la NormaA2.5 exigen que el armador garantice losondos necesarios para repatriar a la gentede mar cuando nalicen sus contratos.Si el armador no lo hace, el estado debandera debe organizar la repatriacinde la gente de mar y podr recuperar sucosto del armador. Si, a su vez, el estadode bandera no repatra a las tripulacionesde los buques que enarbolen su pabelln,los estados portuarios o los estadosnacionales de la gente de mar podrnencargarse de ello, y recuperar despus sucosto del estado cuyo pabelln enarboleel buque.

Si bien el MLC contribuye en granmedida a la proteccin de la gente demar rente al abandono, las medidas queestablece se basan en que el armadorest presente y satisaga sus obligacioneslegales. Es cierto que el MLC estipulaque el estado de bandera del buque debeactuar en caso de que el armador no lohaga, y se encargue de repatriar a lastripulaciones abandonadas, pero lo queno hace es instaurar un mecanismo paraalojar, alimentar y proporcionar asistenciamdica a la gente de mar abandonada porsu armador. A esto hay que aadir quela gente de mar por lo general son muyremisos a abandonar el buque sin habercobrado los salarios que se les adeudan,ya que consideran que su presencia en elbuque supone un cierto nivel de garantade pago.

En 2008, la OrganizacinInternacional del Trabajo (OIT) y laOrganizacin Martima Internacional(OMI) crearon un grupo de trabajo

conjunto OIT/IMO con el n de acordarlos principios para elaborar el borradorde un instrumento obligatorio de

proteccin de la gente de mar rente alabandono. En marzo de 2009, el grupode trabajo propuso enmendar el MLCen este sentido lo antes posible despusde su entrada en vigor. Las enmiendasque el grupo de trabajo proponecontribuiran a evitar el abandono,o a limitar su impacto, mediante lacreacin de una garanta nancierapara ayudar de orma rpida y ecaz ala gente de mar abandonada. Algunasde las caractersticas de dicha garantananciera seran las siguientes: La gente de mar abandonada tendraacceso directo a la garanta nancierapara gastos razonables de vestimenta,alimentacin, alojamiento, asistenciamdica y hasta un mximo de cuatromeses de salario. Se consideraran situaciones deabandono las siguientes: que el armadorno costee la repatriacin y deje a la gentede mar sin medios de subsistencia; queel armador rompa los lazos con la gentede mar; y que el armador no pague lossalarios de la gente de mar dos mesesconsecutivos. El estado cuyo pabelln enarbole elbuque exigira pruebas documentalesde la garanta nanciera, que estarana disposicin de la gente de mar y delos mecanismos de control del estadoportuario.

El MLC cre un Comit EspecialTripartito encargado de la evaluacinconstante del Convenio. Se esperaque este comit estudie las posiblesenmiendas del MLC en materia deabandono cuando se rena a principiosde 2014.

, . . , . , , . . , .

2006 (Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 20 2013, . 2.2 A2.2 . 3.1 A3.1 . 3.2

A3.2 , , , . 4.2 A4.2 , . 2.5 A2.5 . , , , , , . , , , .

, , .

, , , . , , , .

2008 (International Labour Organization ILO) (International Maritime Organization IMO) IMO/ILO . 2009 , . . :

, , , . , , , , .

, , .

. , 2006, , 2014 .






7/8

If you have any questions about your rights as a seafarer, or if you want

more information or help, you can contact:

Douglas B Stevenson, Center for Seafarers Rights, 241 Water Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. Tel: +1212 349 9090

Fax: +1212 349 8342 Email: [email protected] or Canon Ken Peters, The Mission to Seafarers, St Michael Paternoster Royal,

College Hill, London EC4R 2RL, UK. Tel: +44 20 7248 5202 Fax: +44 20 7248 4761 Email: [email protected]


FOCUS ON FAITH BY JOHN ATTENBOROUGH

The times, they are a-changin:on board, on shore and in therulebooks

Los tiempos estn cambiando,en barcos, en tierra y en loslibros de reglas

HOW good are we at adapt-ing to change? In my ownlife I have had to adapt tochange many times. I havelived in places with differentcultures, which have beenunlike anything that I wasused to. Part of that wasdriving on different sides ofthe road interesting but itwas a change that was veryimportant to make and tounderstand.

The biggest changes inmy own life were when I gotmarried, the birth of my son,two of the best things thathave ever happened to meand two very positive chang-es. Change is important inlife. Change helps us to growand mature. I personally feelthat if everything stayed the

same life would get boring.Change affects all aspects

of life and the shippingindustry is no different. Asmany of you know thereare big changes coming intoeffect through the MaritimeLabour Convention, chang-es that some people in ourindustry are very excitedabout.

It is hoped these changeswill improve life on boardships for all seafarers. Somegroups in the shippingindustry are more hesitant inaccepting these changes, butwe should not be afraid ofchange, especially when thechange is, we hope, going tomake life better.

As Christians in thismodern world we are all

called by Jesus to be a partof a big strong family whichcarries a message of GoodNews to all corners of theworld.

One of the most im-portant things God teachesus is to love one another.Jesus took this messageeverywhere he went and heencouraged people to lookafter one another, to be fairto each other, to forgive oneanother and to stand up andsupport one another.

This message is for all ofus whether we are a juniorrating, a captain or evenif were shore-based. It isespecially important duringtimes of change when therules may have changed orthe landscape seems unfa-

miliar. It is in times like thisthat we can look for helpand support from our familyand the people close to us,with the reverse effect of thisbeing that our neighbourmay be looking for help andsupport from us.

One thing that does notchange over time is what St.Paul mentioned in his letterto the Hebrews. He wrotethat Jesus Christ is the sameyesterday and today andforever.

How wonderful are thesewords in times of change,of uncertainty, of the un-known, and how wonderfulit is that we can be sure ofone thing after all of this:that Jesus love for us willnever change.

NOS adaptamos bien a los cambios?En lo que a mi concierne, yo he tenidoque adaptarme a cambios en muchasocasiones. He vivido en distintos pases,con culturas diferentes y ajenas a la mahabitual. Una diferencia interesante hasido siempre tener que conducir por laderecha (en Gran Bretaa conducimospor la izquierda), un factor esencial quees necesario comprender e integrar.

Pero los dos cambios verdadera-mente esenciales en mi vida fueron mimatrimonio y el nacimiento de mi hijo:dos de las mejores cosas que podansucederme, y ambas extraordinaria-mente positivas. El cambio es un aspec-to importante de la vida. Nos ayuda acrecer y madurar. Yo, personalmente,creo que la vida sera muy aburrida sitodo fuera siempre igual.

El cambio afecta a todas las facetasde la vida y la actividad humana, y elsector del transporte martimo no es

una excepcin. Como muchos de ust-edes saben, el Convenio sobre el Traba-jo Martimo va a introducir importantesnovedades en el sector, cuya llegadamuchos esperan con sumo inters. Es-peramos que estos cambios mejoren lavida a bordo para toda la gente de mar.Algunos grupos del sector tienen susdudas, pero no hay que temer al cam-bio, especialmente cuando su intencines mejorar nuestras vidas.

Hoy, Jess sigue llamando a to-dos los cristianos a formar parte deuna gran familia unida que difundala buena nueva en todos los rinconesdel mundo. Una de las lecciones msimportantes del Seor es amaos losunos a los otros. Jess predic estemensaje por doquier e inst a la gente apreocuparse de los dems, a ser justos,a perdonar y a defender y apoyar a suprjimo.

Este mensaje es vlido para todos

nosotros, desde el grumete hasta elcapitn, e incluso el personal de tierra.En tiempos de cambios, es importantetener presente que las reglas de jue-go pueden ser diferentes y que nosmovemos en un entorno con el que noestamos familiarizados. En situacionesas, es lgico que busquemos el apoyode nuestra familia y nuestros allegados,pero no debemos olvidar que ellos, a suvez, pueden necesitar el nuestro.

Sin embargo, una cosa que no cam-bia con el tiempo es lo que San Pabloexplica en su epstola a los hebreos, yes que Jesucristo es inmutable, siem-pre igual: ayer, hoy y para siempre. Enpoca de cambios, de incertidumbrey de desconocimiento, estas palabrasson un blsamo maravilloso, porquees maravilloso saber que, pase lo quepase, hay algo de lo que podemos estarseguros: que el amor que el Seor sientepor nosotros no desfallece y es eterno.

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8/8


Seaarersseek newchallengesashore

THE rst our new gates orthe Panama Canals third seto locks arrived in Panama inlate August.

The locks are one othe biggest milestoneso the Canals expansionprogramme, which is now62 per cent complete. When

nished, the project willhave doubled the waterwayscapacity by building a newtrac lane along the Canalwhich will pass through a newset o locks, allowing largerships to pass through withlarger loads o cargo.

The new gates weigh anaverage o 3,100 tons each

and were constructed in Italyby subcontractor Cimolai.They were unloaded on theAtlantic side o the Canaland rolled o the ship on to aspecial reception dock.

The Canal recentlyreceived three o its new feeto 14 tugboats, which will

assist post-panamax vesselsin the Canals new waterway.New Atlantic and Pacicaccess channels have alsobeen prepared.

The expansion project iscurrently six months behindschedule and it is estimatedthat it will be ready by mid-2015.

New Panama Canal gates shipped from Italyas project edges towards completion

OVER 700 serving sea-arers gave the need ora new challenge as themost important reasonwhy they would look

or a new career ashore,according to the initial

fndings o a recentsurvey.

The research intoseaarers opinions,which is being conduct-ed as part o the CareerMapping Update pro-ject, is supported by theEuropean CommunityShipowners Associa-tion and the EuropeanTransport WorkersFederation.

The survey oundthat wanting a newchallenge was also themajor reason given bythe majority o ex-sea-

arers to explain whythey decided to look ora job ashore.

The study also oundthat the main reasonspeople applied or mar-itime training were thatthey saw a maritime ca-reer as being interestingand challenging, theyliked travel and meetingpeople and they wereinterested in ships.

Most serving seaar-ers expected to remainat sea or 10-15 yearsand most ex-seaarersconfrmed this to be theperiod ater which theytranserred ashore.

A NEW report from theAsian DevelopmentBank (ADB)recommends boostingmaritime training.

The report, TheProject on HumanResource Development(HRD) in the MaritimeSector in Asia and thePacifc, focuses on

technical assistanceprogrammes tomaritime safetyauthorities, developinga regional HRDstrategy for seafaringand various projects tosupport sea trainingcolleges.

Seafarers!We want to hear rom you!

Get involved by flling out a survey inour centres, by scanning the code

below or on our website.

Take our survey and help shape theuture o the Missions work.

missiontoseafarers.org/survey

ADBocuseson seatraining

SingaporescholarshipsTWO Singapore schol-arship schemes haveawarded a total o S$1.7million (US$1.3 million)to talented individuals

or local and overseas

maritime-related stud-ies.

The 43 Maritime-ONE scholarships arevalued at more thanS$1.1 million. They sup-port 22 maritime-relat-ed degree and diplomaprogrammes and are

provided by 20 mari-time industry sponsors.

The TripartiteMaritime ScholarshipScheme scholarshipswent to students en-rolled in the NauticalStudies and MarineEngineering diplomaprogrammes at Singa-pore Polytechnic.

Seaarerjumps ship,caughtwithin 24hoursTHE US Customs andBorder Protection(CBP) tracked andcaught a seafarer whoallegedly jumped shipafter arriving in Seattlewithin 24 hours.

The seafarer, anunnamed Croatian,had been working on acruise ship. He was re-ported missing to theCBP after he missedthe ships departurefrom the port.

He was arrested byborder patrol agentsin Havre, Montana,some 700 miles away,after taking a trainfrom Seattle.

A CBP statementsaid that the seafarerhad illegally enteredthe country and wasnow being processedfor removal.

Firefghting

ailuresA US Coast Guardinvestigation into theNovember 2010 fre onboard the cruise shipCarnival Splendorhashighlighted ailures inthe frefghting responseto the emergency.

The vessel suered amajor mechanical ailurein a diesel generator,resulting in the fre. Theships Hi-Fog system orlocal fre protection wasnot activated until 15minutes ater the initial

fre started because abridge watchkeeperreset the fre alarm onthe bridge.

The report saysresetting the alarm wasa critical error which al-lowed the fre to spreadto overhead cables,causing the power loss.

There were no inju-ries or atalities and thevessel arrived saely atthe port o San Diego.

The ships owner,Carnival Cruise Lines,has taken steps to eval-uate fre saety systems,

frefghting doctrine andtraining, and proce-dures or the inspectionand testing o installedsaety systems.

Carnival has re-moved the time delay

rom the activationsequence or Hi-Fogand has implementedshort- and long-termsolutions to rectiy theprocedures CO

2system

problems.

IMO chie breaks the iceon act-fnding mission

Koji Sekimizu heads north amid industry interest in new

transportation routes and commercial opportunities

As part o a act-inding tripI n t e r n a t i o n a l M a r i t i m eOrganization (IMO) secretary-

general Koji Sekimizu undertook a 1,680nm voyage on the nuclear-poweredicebreaker 50 Let Pobedy in late August,using the Northern Sea Route that linksEurope and northern Russia.

The icebreaker sailed rom Dikson, inthe Kara Sea, to Pevek, in the East SiberianSea. During the voyage, the vessel wentpast the Taymyr peninsula, through the

Shokalsky Strait, the Severnaya Zemlya

archipelago, the Laptev Sea, the SannikovStrait and past the Novosibirskie Islands.

The IMO head was accompanied onthe voyage by high level ocials rom boththe Russian Government and the shippingindustry. His trip came as interest increasedwithin the global shipping community inusing the Northern Sea Route and othernorthern passages, as Arctic sea ice recedesand the navigation season becomes longer.

The saety o ships operating in theharsh, remote and vulnerable polar

areas and the protection o the pristine

environments around the two poleshave always been a matter o concern orIMO and many relevant requirements,provisions and recommendations havebeen developed over the years.

This mission marks the continuationo a growing rst-hand involvement inthe issues surrounding increased maritimeactivity in polar waters or IMO.

In December 2012, Mr Sekimizu visitedAntarctica as a guest o the Governmento Chile, and earlier in 2013 he spent time

on board a Finnish icebreaker.

Koji Sekimizu on board a transer boat with Russias deputy transport minister Victor Olersky (Photo: IMO)

The gates being transported rom Italy (Photo: ACP)

www missiontoseafarers org @FlyingAngelNewswww.facebook.com/themissiontoseafarers

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