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ITF to organize conference on piracy, illegal fishing

Asia-Pacific regional conference The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and its affiliated trade unions will hold the Asia-Pacific regional conference here next week to discuss sea crime in the region.Chairman of the ITF's Asia-Pacific Region Hanafi Rustandi said the conference that would last four days on Monday through Thursday was so important for Indonesia that relevant authorities, including the Indonesian Military and the police were also invited to attract the government's attention to sea crimes which have caused losses to the government and affect the livelihood of seafarers."Armed robberies have been on the rise in Indonesia's ports while piracy has been increasing on the Malacca straits, the South China Sea and Somalian waters in the past few years. Several Indonesian cargo and fishing vessels, including their crew members, have been hijacked and released after paying ransoms," he said.Indonesia would also raise issues on illegal fishing and infringement of the cabotage principle, which has exploited Indonesian seafarers, he said."The inter-island trade, or cabotage, is an extremely sensitive issue for most Asia-Pacific countries, there have been far too many incidents involving seafarers and ships because of relaxed legislation. The time has come to look at the issue to invigorate the role of ...

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Asia-Pacific seafarers say further action on piracy and national regulation crucial

Piracy will be high on the agenda Piracy will be high on the high on the agenda of the ITF's (International Transport Workers' Federation) 2012 Asia Pacific Seafarers and Fisheries committee).Seafarer trade unionists from across the Asia-Pacific region will meet in Jakarta from 11-14 June to discuss plans on piracy, cabotage, and improving standards for fisheries workers.ITF Seafarers and Fisheries Section Secretary Jon Whitlow commented: The ITF continues to work well with government and the maritime industry to eradicate dangers for seafarers.Although piracy in the Indian Ocean remains a problem, with many seafarers being help captive for months one end, the joint Naval Forces and Maritime Industry Committee has resulted in a better co-ordination and exchange of information. Despite limited resources, it has improved the safety of seafarers.The global economic crisis makes the event particularly important this year, with unionists concerned over how market conditions in maritime sector is affecting safety and job security. This highlights the importance of cabotage, a national regulatory framework with clear and enforceable rules.Hanafi Rustandi, President of Kesatung Pelaut Indonesia (KPI) commented: Cabotage is an extremely sensitive issue in the Asia Pacific region. There have been far too many safety incidents due to lax legislation. ...

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Safety in the dock

ITF shares docks death concerns The ITF has applauded an investigation by Hazards magazine that points to serious flaws in how the UK counts docker deaths.Hazards, a campaigning health and safety publication, is challenging the British authorities' classification of the ports industry as low risk, pointing to a death rate five or more times the national occupational average. Despite this, it reports, docks are being classed as 'lower risk areas where proactive inspection will no longer take place'.Frank Leys, ITF dockers' section secretary, said: "Hazards has a long and honourable record of defending the right of workers to safe workplaces, and this report upholds that tradition. It has revealed a grave loophole in the way casualties are recorded that the regulatory authorities must now address."Hazards editor Rory O'Neill explained: "The official figures are 'losing' dead dockers, allowing the government to conclude the industry is low risk and not in need of official safety inspections. In reality, our research shows, these workplaces have been at least five times and possibly over 20 times more deadly than UK industry overall."Unite's executive member for docks, Andy Green, commented: "This government's ludicrous plans for dock safety regulation is nothing short of a recipe for ...

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Seafarers Trust celebrates 30 years

The ITF Seafarers Trust marked 30 years of work for seafarers The ITF Seafarers' Trust marked 30 years of work for seafarers' welfare with an international seminar in London, England on 22 March.The seminar had two main themes - the importance of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 (the seafarers' "bill of rights"), and the provision of welfare services that meet the needs of seafarers in ports and onboard ship in the 21st century.The seminar attracted almost 100 participants from organisations across the shipping industry, with speakers from the UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Germany and Italy representing union, employers, industry, faith, health and welfare bodies.Tom Holmer, from the Seafarers' Trust, reported that the trust had spent over US$200 million in its 30 years on provision for seafarers' welfare, particularly buildings.There was detailed discussion of what the MLC could mean for future provision of welfare facilities once it comes into effect. It needs to be ratified by at least 30 International Labour Organisation member states to then be translated into national law. It was reported that Togo had become the 25th state to back the MLC, and the Convention looked likely to take effect in 2013. However, the ...

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ITF : Women Seafarers

Women make up only an estimated 2% of the world's maritime workforce It's still rare to find women workers at sea but, largely thanks to trade unions, more women are confronting prejudice and becoming valuable members of ships' crew.Why are low numbers of women at sea a problem?Women make up only an estimated 2% of the world's maritime workforce. Women seafarers work mainly in the cruise and ferries sector, often for Flags of Convenience (FOC) vessels. These are among the worst paid and least protected of jobs at sea. Women also tend to be younger, and fewer are officers than their male crew mates.Their low number means that women can be subject to discrimination and harassment. The maritime unions are alert to these dangers and strive to protect the interests of women members - who now number about 23,000 worldwide.What sorts of discrimination do women seafarers face?Women can face discrimination even getting into seafaring work. In some countries, for example, maritime education and training institutions are not allowed to recruit women to nautical courses. Women tend to enrol on navigation rather than engineering courses. Even once trained, they may have to face prejudice from ship owners who won't employ women.Once ...

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ITF launches fishers convention guide

The ITF will launch a free guide for fishers The ITF will launch a free guide for fishers' trade unions to the ILO Work in Fishing Convention tomorrow. Available in Arabic, English, French, Indonesian, Spanish and Tamil, the new guide is designed to explain how the convention can help fishers worldwide, and why it is so important that unions help persuade more governments to ratify it.Jon Whitlow, ITF fisheries section secretary, said: "Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous and unregulated types of work there is. The ILO Work in Fishing Convention 2007 aims to ensure that fishers worldwide have access to decent working and living conditions."He continued: "Convention 188 was a landmark - but it needs to be backed and understood. This guide sets out to explain it from a user's perspective, and also why it needs support. Although adopted, it needs to be ratified by 10 ILO (International Labour Organization) member states, eight of which must be coastal ones. That target hasn't been reached yet. We believe that it is essential that more countries ratify, and that fishers' unions have an important role to play in persuading them to do so."He concluded: "This publication is intended to ...

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ITF Statement on Costa Concordia sinking

This is a human tragedy that came close to being even worse than it was ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated: "This is a human tragedy that came close to being even worse than it was. We understand that six people are currently known to be dead and 10 missing, six of them seafarers. The wellbeing of their families and of the passengers and crew who went through this harrowing experience is at the forefront of everyone's thoughts today.""There is some comfort in the fact that the ship is owned by a reputable company and, importantly, is Italian flagged, so a full investigation is certain. We trust that this will cover all aspects of the accident and issues surrounding the subsequent evacuation."He continued: "We wish to salute the individual acts of heroism and selflessness that are emerging, including from crew, rescue services and the people of Giglio who have thrown open their homes to the survivors.""The ITF is ready to offer any help it can to its colleagues in Italy, where the trade unions are playing an important support role in helping those affected."Source: ITF

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‘Concern’ for family on tanker in Belfast Lough

Plenty of The Irish inspector for the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) said he is concerned that the operating company of a damaged oil tanker has not moved a two-year-old girl onboard to safety.The Genmar Companion has been waiting in Belfast Lough after developing a crack on its deck on 16 December.High winds hampered plans to transfer 54,000 tonnes of oil from the boat.Ken Fleming said the safety of the 23-strong crew was also a concern.They are mainly from India and the Philippines.Mr Fleming said he was "alarmed" to hear that a two-year-old was on the ship and that he would be requesting permission to visit those onboard as soon as possible to assess their welfare.He said that while the ITF was not making an issue with the fact that a family may be onboard, he said he was concerned that they had not been moved ashore.Maritime and Coastguard Agency officers met on Thursday evening to discuss plans to move the oil.The ship remains inside a one-mile exclusion zone. It is a criminal offence to enter the area.It is anchored off the Copeland Islands. The oil transfer, which could take between 24 and 36 hours, had been due to take ...

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Action against piracy pays off

IMO has expressed cautious optimism As 2011 ends with fewer reports of pirate attacks than at the start of the year, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has expressed "cautious optimism" that action against piracy appears to be paying off in reduced hijackings and kidnaps.Reflecting on the 2011 World Maritime Day theme of "Piracy: orchestrating the response", the IMO says it: "can look back on 12 months of relatively good progress that have laid the foundations for cautious optimism about the future."Recent statistics show that the number of ships and seafarers held captive by Somali pirates have reduced from a peak of 33 and 733 in February to 13 and 265 respectively at the beginning of December. The number of reported attacks has also declined from a high of 45 per month in January 2011 to 14 for the month of November 2011; and the proportion of successful attacks has been cut from 20 per cent in January 2011 to just 7 per cent in November 2011."The IMO points to the spread of best management practice guidance and increased awareness by crews of how to access naval protection and implement the recommended evasive and defensive measures, as well as the use ...

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ITF raises concern over Swanland loss

The ship perished in adverse weather conditions in the Irish Sea - six seafarers lost their lives The ITF has highlighted the need for the Shipping Industry to urgently learn the lessons following the tragic loss of life on the Swanland ship and expressed our deepest sympathy to the seafarers' families involved.The ship perished in adverse weather conditions in the Irish Sea on Sunday 27th November 2011 with six seafarers losing their lives. At the current time we know that the ships registered owner is in the UK, the ship manager is Torbulk UK and that the vessel was last surveyed by Lloyds Register. It was flagged in the Cook Islands but was trading around the UK Coastline.The ITF is concerned as to how the ship came to break up in the Irish Sea and we urgently wish to establish all the facts surrounding the incident. We note that the MAIB are investigating.The ITF places on record its deepest sympathy for the families of the bereaved seafarers. The ITF's Russian affiliate, the Seafarers Union of Russia, is providing moral and financial support to the families and also communicating with the company.Given the background of UK Government cuts to the Coastguard, ...

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