International Transport Federation News

A Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier has been detained and is temporarily prohibited from entering Australian ports after it was discovered the crew onboard was being underpaid.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it banned the Costanza for three months after it found evidence that crew were owed about AUD$108,000 in wages, and that the majority of the crew seafarer employment agreements had a salary amount less than the collective agreement for the vessel.AMSA made the discoveries during a routine port state control (PSC) inspection November 9, during which it investigated a complaint from the International Transport Federation…

The International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs (IGP&I) has set out its Sustainability report and updated Correspondents Guidelines to the global network of Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Correspondents listed by its constituent Clubs during its 2022 Correspondents Conference in London, United Kingdom. Both frameworks seek to leverage the collective strength of the IGP&I’s 13-member Clubs and the 65,000 ship owners they represent to further enhance sustainability, safety and best practice across the marine industry.As a forum for its member clubs…

The Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry (SDM) has issued a circular outlining  plans to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to all seafarers on Cyprus-flagged and Cyprus-managed vessels as the island nation also explores the potential to become a vaccination hub for all visiting seafarers.Vaccines will be administered by qualified medical staff to all seafarers working on board Cyprus-flagged ships, irrespective of the location of the vessel, and certificates provided, as stipulated in the circular issued Friday, on International Day of the Seafarer.

The Baltic Exchange has added quarterly assessments of the cost of operating crude oil carrying Aframax tankers and clean product carrying Medium Range (MR) tankers to its growing suite of shipping investor tools.The new service is based on assessments made by independent third-party ship management companies Anglo Eastern, Fleet Management and V-Ships. Using the full suite of independent Baltic Exchange indices, investors are now able to benchmark daily vessel earnings, running costs, sale & purchase and recycling prices.

The offshore supply ship, MV Malaviya Seven detained, at the Port of Aberdeen, UK, by the International Transport Federation [ITF] with the support of the Port State Control, MCA – was operating under what the shipping union, RMT, has described as a ‘blatant example of modern day slavery’. The Malaviya Seven will stay at port until the workers are paid, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The RMT union claimed that 15 Indian crew members in the Mumbai-registered vessel have not been paid for nearly two months, with some having been without pay for longer. The Malaviya Seven was contracted by oil giant BP between June 1 and June 15.

German Seamen’s Mission takes over new showcase facility. The German Seamen’s Mission (Deutsche Seemannsmission e.V.) has moved into its new showcase Seafarers’ Lounge at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal in Kiel. The facility is for the use of ship crews and is designed to improve communication and offer advice. At an official opening ceremony and on behalf of the Port of kiel, which was responsible for building the facility, Dr. Ulf Kämpfer, Lord Mayor of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital Kiel…

The International Transport Federation (ITF) informs that 11 seafarers held hostage by Somali pirates for over three and a half years have finally been released, with the prospect of seeing their families once more after what is described as a 'terrible ordeal'. The seven Bangladeshi, two Sri Lankan, one Indian and one Iranian hostage were among the 23 crew on the Malaysian-owned and flagged containership Albedo when it was hijacked by Somali pirates on 26 November 2010 while 900 nautical miles off Somalia. One Indian seafarer died in captivity, and seven Pakistani crew members were released in July 2012. With the remaining hostages still on board and held captive in Somali waters, the Albedo became increasingly unseaworthy and sank in a heavy storm in July 2013.

The International Transport Federation (ITF) informs that its multinational week of action with maritime unions in ports around the Black Sea has brought results, and the Federation has challenged conditions for seafarers working on what it has called the "Sea of Shame". The ITF says the Black Sea remains one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a seafarer. The action by inspectors and union members in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine came as the ITF published an updated version of its 2012 report, Black Sea of Shame. The new report found continuing poor standards of living and working conditions, low wages…

The International Transport Federation says it has reported a Taiwanese and an Indonesian crewing agent to Interpol for suspected human trafficking after 74 Indonesian fishers working on board seven Taiwanese vessels were abandoned in September, 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is alleged that the agents withheld the fishers’ wages, in some cases for over a year; produced counterfeit documents relating to crew members’ employment; and charged the fishers [fees] before they boarded the vessel. ITF/IUF fisheries programme leader, Liz Blackshaw, said: “The fishing industry has a very serious human trafficking problem. Whenever we come across a suspected case like this one, we report it to Interpol. “In this case, it appears the men were captives on their vessels for months without wages.

ITF says affiliated international unions will support colleagues in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in a rapidly escalating multi-port labor disagreement. Published International Transport Federation (ITF) reports allege that grain companies have hired replacement non-union workers to take over work currently being done by ILWU members in case of a lockout in the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. At issue are the terms of a collective bargaining agreement between the union and employers. According to the ITF, negotiations began in late August 2012 and ended without a contract in mid-December. Acting ITF general secretary Steve Cotton said in a prepared statement, “ITF unions are on standby to help their colleagues in the US.