“Year of the Seafarer” Does anyone care ? Peter M. Swift Managing Director, INTERTANKO 12 May 2010

Does anyone care ? Criminalisation & Fair Treatment Easing the burden Life at sea Ensuring welfare onboard Piracy and more Are we doing enough ?

Criminalisation - and unfair treatment Criminalisation - “Find the guilty” culture rather than a thorough investigation to “Find the cause”. Failure to adhere to IMO/ILO guidelines on “Fair Treatment of Seafarers” – in particular after a marine accident.

Criminalisation - and unfair treatment Actions by industry: Actively lobbying governments to adopt and implement the IMO/ILO Guidelines Challenging legislation that is not consistent with international treaty obligations (such as MARPOL, UNCLOS) and/or introduces criminalisation for accidents and simple negligence Speaking out in cases of unjustified detentions and criminal proceedings

Criminalisation of Seafarers – continuing cases EU Ship Source Pollution Directive “Hebei Spirit” officers Captain Mangouras – ECHR case “Prestige Three” “Full City”

Fair Treatment - goes beyond unjustified criminalisation Crews treated as second class citizens - examples Shore leave denied Crew changes prohibited Access to medical treatment restricted Excessive charges for terminal transits

Easing the burden - Too many inspections ! Adding unnecessarily to fatigue and stress - obvious redundancies in the monitoring and verification programmes - failure to share information frequently results in inspections overlapping - improper targeting; frequently hitting the soft option and - non-uniformity in interpretations creates its own problems … and not to forget having to deal with the expectation of facilitation payments !|

Easing the burden - the external pressures The Tsunami of Paperwork Senior officers report spending up to half of their time filling in forms, answering s and requests for information Pressure on Masters from Charterers, Terminal Operators and Owners Improving the dialogue with other stakeholders Regulation without recognition of the impact on seafarers Greater consideration of the ramifications of new regulations and legislation at IMO and elsewhere – ballast water, multi-fuels, emission abatement technologies, etc. Somebody has to make it work - or carry the can if it doesn’t !

Easing the burden - Manuals that are incomprehensible Language issues Installation rather than instruction manuals Incomplete in content Inconsistent in functional scope But also sometimes simply unavailable

Easing the burden - Equipment & systems NOT Fit For Purpose Design and functioning of equipment, such as: –Waste management systems –Oily water separators/oil discharge measurement equipment –Incinerators –Loading calculators –Cranes and Inadequate shoreside reception facilities

LIFE at sea - quality of accommodation Accommodation standards Owners too readily accept the “norms” of shipyards. WG developing industry-wide guide on best-practice (including MLC Title 3) Personal communications WG developing “Best Practice guide for crew's access to (cost-effective) internet and private communication” Improved shipboard training facilities All of the above also discussed at industry meetings with Builders Guidelines on implementing MLC on “work and rest hours ”

Ensuring welfare on board A few examples: Ensuring the availability of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for cargoes and bunkers (new examples regularly) Lifeboats – design, operation and testing Industry-wide lifeboat user group Controlling “inadvertent” cargo vapour emissions Carriage of “antidotes” for toxic/other cargoes Competency and safety training

Piracy / Armed Robbery Malacca Straits / South China sea Nigeria / Gulf of Guinea South America Somalia – Gulf of Aden / W Indian Ocean

Best Mangement Practices Practical Measures to Avoid, Deter or Delay Piracy Attacks “Our paramount concern is the safety of our seafarers”

PIRACY – Guidance for the Gulf of Aden / Somali Basin Guidance for Gulf of Aden / Somalia Pre-transit: Assess Risk Plan self-protection/defensive measures Register Company and Ship with MSCHOA IF appropriate, join Group Transit During transit: Stay alert Report regularly to UKMTO, Dubai (or to MARLO) Follow “best management practices”

PIRACY: Current activities UN Contact Group/SHADE/IMO-MSC Urging: continuing Naval support more robust actions review of strategies for western Indian Ocean Best Management Practices – Version 3 Guidance to companies, masters & crews on: “Capture to Release” welfare of seafarers & families who are hijacked Encouraging prosecutions – but need evidence & witnesses US “Ban” on Ransom Payments Arming of Ships + Gulf of Guinea / Malacca Straits

“Year of the Seafarer” Does anyone care ? YES WE do !

Thank you For more information, please visit: London, Oslo. Washington, Singapore and Brussels

MLC Title 3 Accommodation General Berthing Food services Sanitary spaces Recreational facilities Laundry Ambient Environment Vibration Noise Indoor climate Lighting 19