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Mark Dickinson News

08 Jun 2018

EU Support for Seafarers to Obtain Schengen Visas

The European and International Social Partners in the Maritime Sector; the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) support the ongoing efforts to facilitate seafarers’ travel to and from the EU through amendments to the visa rules between Member States. “For the shipping industry to function efficiently and for the safeguarding of decent living and working conditions for seafarers, it is essential to facilitate their movement into the EU to join ships, to be repatriated and to take shore leave without undue hindrance”, said Tim Springett, ECSA spokesperson on the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Maritime Transport (SSDC).

03 Jan 2018

UK Shipping Minister Confirms CEC Review

Nautilus International has welcomed confirmation from shipping minister John Hayes that the government has agreed to the Union’s calls for a review of the UK’s system for issuing Certificates of Equivalent Competency (CECs). Nautilus is a trade union and professional organisation representing more than 22,000 maritime professionals in the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland. In a letter to the Union, the minister said he had asked Sir Alan Massey, head of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), to undertake a review of the way in which CECs are given to foreign officers seeking work on UK-flagged ships. Sir Alan has told Nautilus that the review will be treated as ‘a matter of priority’ and the MCA will work with the Union, other social partners and industry experts to progress it.

07 Dec 2017

European Council Agrees to Implement ECSA-ETF Agreement

European shipowners and European transport workers speak together to warmly welcome today’s adoption of a Council Directive improving seafarers’ working conditions. This change will implement an agreement between the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), which will bring European rules up-to-date with international best practice. The new rules oblige shipowners to provide financial security protecting seafarers against the consequences of abandonment in an overseas port. In addition, this agreement ensures the payment of contractual compensation in the event of the death or long-term disability of a seafarer resulting from an occupational injury, illness or hazard.

27 Jul 2017

EMSP Welcomes EC Directive on Seafarers

The European Maritime Social Partners (EMSP) warmly welcome the European Commission’s adoption of their proposal to update their Agreement on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC). The ILO MLC amendments entered into force on 18 January 2017 and require shipowners to provide financial security to ensure the repatriation of seafarers and the payment of contractual claims from seafarers or their dependants in respect of death in service or long-term disability. The MLC 2006 sets minimum requirements to improve seafarers’ working and living conditions including recruitment and placement practices…

24 Dec 2016

UK to Create Shipping Jobs through New SMarT+

The UK shipping industry will create thousands of jobs for young people if Government increases funding for seafarer training, the UK Chamber of Shipping has said. The industry trains around 800 new cadets each year, but this could increase to 1200 under a new industry proposal that would see shipowners commit to employing cadets after their training is completed. Major employers including Shell and Carnival have already committed to the scheme. The scheme, documented in a business case presented to the Department for Transport and developed by the UK Chamber of Shipping, Merchant Navy Training Board and Nautilus International, calls for the Government to double seafarer training funding from £15m to £30m.

12 Aug 2016

Oil Rig Rescue Highlights ETV Importance - Nautilus

Responding to reports that the government’s Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) Herakles was deployed to assist a tug experiencing trouble off the coast of Scotland, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said, ‘The incident highlights the vital work that the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) do in protecting life at sea. If the ETV had not been available then lives would have been at risk and the chances of environmental damage would have been greatly increased. ‘The government only agreed to retain the use of Herakles in Orkney last month and this highlights how important that decision was. I hope the government looks closely at this incident and reconsiders the risk for other coastal areas of the UK not served by government-funded ETVs.’

04 Apr 2014

UK Shipping Industry Broadly Welcomes Commons' Committee Report

Ensign: File photo CCL

The UK government’s new maritime strategy “poses the right questions” about the country's shipping industry but “does not yet provide compelling answers on a range of key points that will have a major impact on this valuable sector of our economy” according to Louise Ellman, chairman of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee. The report here is from shipping trade association 'Maritime London'. Ms Ellman’s remarks launched the publication of a review into the UK shipping industry which was undertaken after the government and industry entered into a ‘strategic partnership’ in 2013.

25 Oct 2013

Piracy Update: Nautilus Calls for Gulf of Guinea Action

Nautilus International has expressed concern about the seizure of a master and chief engineer officer from an offshore support vessel operating in the Gulf of Guinea. The two men — both reported to be U.S. citizens — were taken from the U.S.-owned platform supply vessel C-Retriever off the Nigerian coast in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The U.S.-flagged vessel, owned by Edison Chouest, was working off Brass, Nigeria. Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said the incident highlighted the urgent need for action to prevent west African piracy from deteriorating further. While piracy off Somalia has declined significantly over the past year…

21 Oct 2013

EU State Aid Guidelines Welcomed by Shipowners, Not by Union

The shipping industry has welcomed a decision by the European Commission to keep in place unchanged guidelines relating to state aid to maritime transport, which include tonnage tax regimes, but seafarers' union Nautilus sees it differently, according to the UK maritime industry's latest 'Maritime London Newsletter'. Commission vice-president Joaquín Almunia, responsible for competition policy, recently decided to continue the 2004 Guidelines on State Aid to Maritime Transport without revision. The UK maritime unions, however, have complained that an opportunity was missed to increase the number of EU seafarers on EU-flag ships. Sue Bill…

18 Feb 2013

UK Seafarer Numbers Down, More in Training

The union Nautilus International voices concern over new government statistics showing a fresh slump in the number of UK seafarers. The Department for Transport report reveals that the total number of UK officers and ratings dropped by 10% last year, with an estimated 24,100 British seafarers active at sea. The number of certificated UK officers has fallen by 19% since 2006, it notes, while the number of uncertificated officers dropped by 27% last year – a reduction that the DfT puts down as ‘primarily the result of a large company transferring their operations out of the UK’. On the positive side, the number of officer cadets in training last year was 2,160 – a 19% increase from 2011. A total of 903 new entrants started under the SMarT scheme last year.

11 Oct 1999

Shipowners Say Industry Is Being Choked By Legislation

International shipowners said the maritime industry is being choked by legislation and that they are unfairly targeted as the culprits for all ills in the sector. Addressing some 1,000 delegates from 35 countries who attended the bi-annual Maritime Cyprus Conference in the port town of Limassol, shipowners outlined the problems the industry faces entering the new millennium. There was a heated discussion on Flags of Convenience (FoC), under which approximately 50 percent of all global tonnage is registered. Mark Dickinson, Assistant General Secretary of The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) announced to delegates that within the next two years national flag states would also be assessed for operating substandard vessels. Criteria is due to be ready next month.