Peter Morris News

Tens of thousands of sailors on commercial ships are being treated like slaves and live in fear of being thrown overboard if they complain about exploitation and mistreatment, according a report by an independent industry body. The report “Ships, Slaves and Competition” found that on 10 to 15 percent of vessels, sailors from developing countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia were being subjected to poor safety conditions, excessive hours, unpaid wages, starvation diets, rapes and beatings. The report said crews told stories of sailors disappearing after complaining to officers and of being blacklisted if they sought union help to collect unpaid wages.

A former Australian transport minister challenged oil tanker owners, who were meeting in Sydney on Tuesday, to join him in the fight against "slave-ships", which still thrive in the world's shipping trades. At the end of a vigorous debate on corrosion in tankers, Peter Morris challenged the industry to take more interest in its human resources. "You've all been worrying about the rates of corrosion of metal, but what about the corrosion of lives?" he asked. "I think you and I are going to be working very closely in the future," he told Intertanko chairman Westye Hoegh. Morris, transport minister from 1983 to 1987 in Bob Hawke's Labor government…