ITF News Update: 23 – 30 April 2021
Where does crew-change crisis leave the labour convention? | Lloyd’s List – 23rd April
Does the Maritime Labour Convention need a new structure or amendment to prevent a crew change crisis from happening in another pandemic?
PTC group chief executive Gerardo Borromeo: ‘When the Maritime Labour Convention was put together, I do not believe that the founding authors contemplated a global pandemic.’
Brazil introduces new guidelines to face COVID-19 in ports and on ships | BN Americas – 23rd April
Brazilian health oversight agency Anvisa and water transportation regulator Antaq introduced a series of measures to be adopted in ports and on ships to face the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ever Given crew cannot be ‘held to ransom’: What’s got the 26-member Indian crew of the ship stuck in limbo? | Times Now News – 23rd April
The crew now finds itself the unfortunate victims of a legal dispute between Egyptian authorities and the Ever Given’s owners and operators.
COVID outbreak on international vessel highlights need for urgent overhaul of biosecurity measures | Mirage – 23rd April
The maritime union is demanding the National Cabinet urgently implement improved testing and biosecurity measures for vessels arriving from international ports following a COVID outbreak onboard a gas tanker that recently berthed at Port Botany.
https://www.miragenews.com/covid-outbreak-on-international-vessel-548556/
How shipping firms ought to focus on crews’ wellbeing | Splash 247 – 26th April
The mental and physical wellbeing of crewmembers at sea and on dry land should be one of the key priorities for shipping companies amid the Coronavirus pandemic, according to Mark O’Neil, president of InterManager and CEO of Columbia Shipmanagement.
https://splash247.com/how-shipping-firms-ought-to-focus-on-crews-wellbeing/
Suez disruption to last through to end of May | Lloyd’s List – 26th April
Key ports in Europe and Asia are suffering congestion, pushing cargos to nearby terminals
Better data on ship arrivals at chokepoints would allow a more efficient process for clearing backlogs in future events. This could help ease downstream congestion at ports
Class societies join flag states to plot shipping’s green path | Lloyd’s List – 26th April
Japan, Norway and the UK are represented alongside Lloyd’s Register, ABS, DNV and ClassNK
A new forum of flag states and class societies has been launched to help the industry tackle technology challenges. It says it will publish frequent reports to help shipping keep up with progress on decarbonisation, automation and energy efficiency
Industry braced for more challenges with crew change | Seatrade Maritime News – 27th April
Ship and crew managers are bracing themselves continued, and possibly even bigger, challenges with crew change as new Covid-19 variants emerge, and infections spike in key seafaring nations.
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/regulation/industry-braced-more-challenges-crew-change
Fujairah bans crew change for ships arriving from India | Seatrade Maritime News – 27th April
Fujairah has banned crew change from vessels arriving from India as more countries raise barriers to travellers from the country which experiencing a huge surge in Covid-19 cases.
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ship-operations/fujairah-bans-crew-change-ships-arriving-india
‘A total own goal’: Shipowners’ wage cuts plan a slap in the face for pandemic heroes | ITF Seafarers – 28th April
The world’s seafarers yesterday took the extraordinary decision to shut down negotiations over the future of seafarers’ minimum wages with national shipowners represented by the International Chamber of Shipping. The seafarers’ unions said they would prefer to tackle the shipping companies ‘head-on’ to set wages unilaterally rather than risk decades of established ILO practices by agreeing to employers’ demands to ditch objective ILO minimum wage calculations.
https://www.itfseafarers.org/en/news/total-own-goal-shipowners-wage-cuts-plan-slap-face-pandemic-heroes
Talks at the ILO over seafarer minimum wage break down | Splash 247 – 28th April
After two days of talks at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), negotiations on setting a new minimum wage for seafarers over the coming three years have broken down between seafarer unions and shipowners. Shipowners’ offer representing a 3% pay rise for seafarers across the world was rejected.
https://splash247.com/talks-at-the-ilo-over-seafarer-minimum-wage-break-down/
‘Like a coffin’: Syrian sailor stuck on ship alone for years finally granted freedom | Independent – 28th April
A Syrian man who was stuck on an abandoned ship in the Suez Canal for four years – two of those on his own – has been allowed to leave the “floating prison” and return home. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-sailor-ghost-ship-freedom-b1838100.html
It’s time to end oppression and respect workers’ civil liberties | ITF Seafarers – 30th April
May Day is when workers of the world stop and reflect. We’re seeing so many human rights abuses — workers being denied their right to free association, free speech being suppressed. It is the responsibility of us all to defend our fundamental human rights.
https://www.itfseafarers.org/en/news/its-time-end-oppression-and-respect-workers-civil-liberties
Rebekah Attard | Maritime Assistant
Inspectorate Coordination
International Transport Workers’ Federation
ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London, SE1 1DR
Direct Line: 0207 940 9103
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