ITF News Update – 22nd – 31st October
Video: Cargo Ship Catches Fire at Port in Croatia | Maritime Executive – 22nd October
Firefighters were summoned to the port of Ploce in southern Croatia on October 19 to assist in fighting a fire burning aboard a cargo ship docked in the port. Five fire engines along with two tugboats responded around 8:30 p.m. local time.
https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/video-cargo-ship-catches-fire-at-port-in-croatia
Seamen plead for relief on sympathetic grounds | Herald Goa – 22nd October
A section of seafarers in Goa has complained of facing difficulties in getting the requisite clearances from the Directorate General of Shipping, which would help in getting their jobs back or seek new employment opportunities in the shipping industry.
https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/Seamen-plead-for-relief-on-sympathetic-grounds-/181599
A robot tugboat just made a successful 1000-mile journey overseas | Boing Boing – 22nd October
The “Nellie Bly” is an automated tugboat from the Boston-based company Sea Machines, and it just finished its first trial run of 1000 miles — navigated purely on software. The 16-day nautical journey took it around the coast of Denmark, through the Kiel Canal in Germany, around the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea, and along the Jutland peninsula, before docking in Hamburg.
ZIM Kingston Cargo Fire Stabilized, Canadian Coast Guard Says | G Captain – 23rd October
The fire on board the containership ZIM Kingston is reported to be stabilized and the ship secured, the Canadian Coast Guard said Sunday afternoon. The ship remains at anchor at Constance Bank off of Victoria, British Columbia.
https://gcaptain.com/zim-kingston-cargo-fire-stabilized-canadian-coast-guard/
Gulf of Guinea: UK warship arrives in Lagos, set to tackle pirates| Punch NG – 24th October
Royal Navy warship, HMS Trent, has berthed in Lagos preparatory to a clampdown on pirates terrorising ships and seafarers in the Gulf of Guinea.
https://punchng.com/gulf-of-guinea-uk-warship-arrives-in-lagos-set-to-tackle-pirates/
The Supply Chain Crisis Has a Silver Lining | Maritime Executive – 24th October
Container ships should be decarbonised faster
https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/the-supply-chain-crisis-has-a-silver-lining
Incredible videos show the Canadian Coast Guard using tugboats to drench an 853-foot cargo ship that caught on fire | Yahoo News – 25th October
Canadian officials on Sunday said the fire aboard the cargo ship had been “stabilized,” adding that a crew of hazardous materials firefighters planned to board the ship on Monday to “fight any remaining fires” if the weather permitted.
https://news.yahoo.com/incredible-videos-show-canadian-coast-154813933.html
Seafarer Happiness Increases To Pre-Pandemic Levels, But Highlights The Risks Of An Exodus From The Industry | G Captain – 27th October
The latest Seafarers Happiness Index report from The Mission to Seafarers has been published for the third quarter of 2021. The report highlights happiness levels have increased overall to 6.59/10, from 5.99 in the previous reporting period, returning to the same levels seen pre-COVID in Q3 2019.
RMT criticising the Chancellor for failing British seafarers in Budget | All About Shipping – 27th October
“Tonnage Tax was already a bad deal for British Ratings but the Brexit vote gives the government the chance to amend state aid schemes like Tonnage Tax to directly benefit Ratings and maritime communities, reversing the long term decline we have seen in seafarer jobs in the UK and across the EU. Instead, the Chancellor is choosing to compete with flags of convenience like Cyprus, Malta and Singapore which operate tonnage tax schemes that openly drive down seafarer pay and conditions to levels that UK seafarers cannot be expected to compete with.
India’s Adani Ports scraps Myanmar container terminal plans | Reuters – 27th October
India’s Adani Ports (APSE.NS) said on Wednesday it was abandoning plans to build a container terminal in Myanmar, weeks after applying for a U.S. licence for the project, saying it believed it did not violate sanctions.
LNG Croatia Seafarers Required Vaccination to Work from November 1 | Total Croatia News – 27th October
Index.hr reports that LNG Croatia seafarers on board the floating unit for liquefied natural gas (FSRU) at the LNG terminal in Omišalj will have to be vaccinated if they want to continue working at the terminal, announced the Norwegian company Golar, which employs the seafarers at the LNG terminal.
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/business/57256-lng-croatia-seafarers
Somalia: Mogadishu port authority must act to save the lives of abandoned crew | ITF Seafarers – 28th October
Eleven seafarers trapped aboard the Haj Abdulla (IMO 7702114) are at extreme risk, with the ship taking on water off Mogadishu, Somalia.
Maritime revered offers support to crew stuck on cargo ships due to shipping delays | NPR – 28th October
NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with Samson Shekhar Chauhan of the Lutheran Maritime Ministries about his work assisting crew members unable to leave ships because of COVID restrictions and shipping delays.
Maritime union urges members to take COVID-19 vaccine | Sun Nigeria – 28th October
Organised labour in the maritime sector, yesterday, urged workers in the industry to take the COVID-19 vaccine, assuring it was safe and effective.
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/maritime-union-urges-members-to-take-covid-19-vaccine/
Seafarers call for shipping to set ambitious climate targets now if its future is to be sustainable | ITF Seafarers – 29th October
The shipping industry needs to set ambitious targets to help prevent global climate catastrophe, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) cautions in a new position paper launched today.
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA CALLS ON McGOWAN GOVT TO ADD SEAFARERS TO THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS LIST | AAP – 29th October
The Maritime Union of Australia is again urging the WA Government to intervene in the desperate situation that has Australia’s Maritime and Oil and Gas industries on the verge of shutdowns if West Australia’s hard border to Eastern States remains in place.
https://www.aap.com.au/releases/?rkey=20211028medianet_pr_961074&filter=14156
Misadventures of container ship MV ZIM Kingston highlight the risks of marine traffic off B.C.’s ecologically fragile coast | The Globe and Mail – 29th October
The MV Zim Kingston, bound for the Port of Vancouver, arrived last Thursday just outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca after crossing the Pacific laden with goods picked up in China and South Korea.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bad-luck-and-trouble-the-misadventures-of-the-mv-zim-kingston/
Israel’s designation of Palestinian human rights groups as terrorists is outrageous | ITF Seafarers – 31st October
The ITUC and Global Union Federations condemn the designation by Israel of six Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations.