Unions slam 'sea of shame'

News Release International Transport Federation (ITF) June 22, 2012

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Trade unions from Bulgaria, Georgia,
Russia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, workingwith the ITF (International
Transport Workers’ Federation), are releasing a report today, Monday
25th June, that they hope will help shame governments into action
over the shocking condition of shipping on the Black Sea.
 
The report Black Sea of Shame –
which can be seen at <A
href="redir.aspx?C=935ca2b57ae34eb38994da5d9454f318&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.itfglobal.org%2finfocentre%2fpubs.cfm%2fdetail%2f34854"
target=_blank>www.itfglobal.org/infocentre/pubs.cfm/detail/34854</A> – is intended to help unions raise
the issue with their national governments. Starting today, June 25th
the Day of the Seafarer, they plan to sound the alarm over the dire state of
affairs in the area, alleging that ancient shipping, rock bottom and unpaid
wages, assaults, sinkings and corruption are widespread.
 
ITF maritime coordinator Steve
Cotton commented: “This is a true catalogue of shame. Our inspectors and our
member unions are dealing with the human costs of unsafe and ageing shipping,
and managements who consider crews a dispensable luxury, to be paid at whim and
undeserving of basic protections, including insurance against death and
injury.”
 
“This is the beginning of a long
haul, that we know will take years, to reform this scandalous state of affairs.
We start by going to governments to persuade them that they can no longer permit
these awful conditions – especially with the Maritime Labour Convention soon to
provide the kind of model framework to which they should all
aspire.”
 
According to the ITF,
Black Sea shipping, which totals around 2,400 active vessels, is
dominated by vessels over 20 years of age – with 800 of them actually over 30
years old. The use of aged, smaller vessels, working well beyond their economic
life and moving low value goods, is reflected in serious accidents and repeated
abuse of seafarers.
The report, which is the
starting point for joint union research into the problem, illustrates this with
a number of recent case studies in which ITF inspectors have been involved.These
include multiple cases of stranded and abandoned crews, as well as those of the
1977-built, Cambodian-flagged Vera, which sank in February 2012, killing eight.
As with the 1971-built, Panama-flagged Ogan Bey, which sank in December 2009
with the loss of four lives, it was registered to a one ship company, with no
P&I cover, leaving the dead men’s families with no chance of
compensation.
The report concludes
that:
‘There would appear to be
a high frequency of accidents, groundings and sinking ofvessels in the Black
Sea. In addition to poor weather conditions and geographical features, this is
likely to be due to the proliferation of older vessels operating with
substandard conditions. There would appear to be a lack of investment and poor
maintenance due to a flawed economic model that does not sustain minimum safety
measures.
When accidents do occur
there is a recurrent theme of a lack of P&I cover. This combined with
ownership structures limited to single vessels registered under brass plate
companies in such countries as the Cayman Islands or St. Vincent &
Grenadines, to name but two, results in the impossibility of
pursuingcompensation for loss of life. Thereby the tragedy is multiplied as
familiesare left destitute in the wake of such casualties. 
The practice of
non-payment or delayed payment ofwages is an entrenched feature of the Black Sea
maritime industry. Once again the economic model fails to sustain decent living
and working conditions. It seems acceptable behaviour of the part of shipowners
to manage shortfalls in cash flow by neglecting to pay wages. This shows a total
disrespect for basic human rights. In such circumstances the employment
relationship is utterly dysfunctional and results in seafarers being forced to
go on strike enter into legal claims or in some cases take more extreme measure
such as hunger strikes. 
The severe impact of a
substandard industry on seafarers and their families cannot be underestimated.
The intentional non-payment of wages amounts to a situation of bonded labour or
slavery and should be unthinkable in the 21st Century. The subsequent insecurity
for family life is contradictory to international human rights conventions. On
an individual level, such working conditions are deleterious to the physical and
mental well-being of seafarers. As the entry into force of the Maritime Labour
Convention, 2006 comes ever closer, the situation in the ‘Black Sea of Shame’
can no longer be tolerated.’</DIV></BODY></HTML>