When working in hot temperatures, seafarers need to be aware of the dangers of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat stroke, also called sun stroke, is a type of severe heat illness that results in great body temperature. In such occasions, the body loses its ability to keep a balance between the heat entering the body and the heat leaving the body.
In its latest ‘Training onboard’ newsletter providing health tips for seafarers, ISWAN shared two reasons why going for a short walk around the ship or out on deck after eating a heavy meal could be beneficial to crew members onboard.
Australian authorities detained the Liberian-registered bulk carrier ‘Anna-Elisabeth’ after crew onboard the vessel complained of insufficient food, bullying aboard the vessel and denial of shore leave. ITF received the complaints from onboard the ship berthed at the Port Kembla Coal Terminal on 25 March.
Cargo ship or a large cruise liner are very different places to work on, but looking at these 2 places from a perspective of a crew member health and safety actually we can see some common features. The risks for the wellbeing and health, the reasons of signing off board the ship and the need to get good quality treatment in a home country, in many cases, is very similar.
The Mission to Seafarers, International seafarer welfare charity, addressed that reports of obesity, mental health problems and gender discrimination are rapidly increasing, while wellness at sea keeps on falling. Ben Bailey, Director of Advocacy and Regional Engagement, will present the latest findings from Seafarers Happiness Index at CMA Shipping Conference in April.
Sophia Bullard, Crew Health Programme Director at UK P&I Club, provides her comments on how to address bullying and harassment on board ships. Ms. Bullard says that companies and management should be receptive to change and adopt a zero tolerance approach to deal with bullying and harassment at sea. In fact, during the last ten years, there is an increase on the focus regarding harassment in maritime.
The ETF which represents fishers will collaborate with the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions on a joint project. EFFAT represents workers in the aquaculture and fish processing sectors. The key goal of this project is to establish a joint vision of how to boost and defend workers’ occupational interests all along the fishery supply chain.
Analysis of AMSA’s Port State Control data indicated that there were 896 maintenance-related deficiencies issued in 2017 and 708 in 2018. This amount represents 13% of the overall deficiencies during 2017-18. A recent study which included 1026 seafarers, identified that over 20% of seafarers reported working more than 69 hours per week with unpredictable working hours.
As automation is becoming an integral part of everyday life, the shipping industry makes no exception. Mr. Dimitrios Lyrakos, Chief Executive Officer, ASCOT Consulting LTD, describes how automation will affect the maritime sector, saying that the number of seafarers will decline, but these changes will create new job opportunities as well.
Under the NYK Mirai Project, NYK and Mainichi Media Café sponsored an opportunity for parents and children to learn about the seafaring life together. Fourteen parent-child pairs were selected to take part in a variety of programs regarding seafaring careers on March 2 at Japan Marine Science, in Kanagawa, Japan. The NYK Mirai Project was initiated at the end of 2014.
