Mariners News

Ukrainian seafarers are experiencing increased levels of loneliness and depression amid fears of conscription if they return home as the war enters its third year, seafarer charity Stella Maris warns.Stella Maris regional port chaplains for Southampton and Southern ports, Charles Stuart and Gregory Hogan, who make multiple daily ship visits report Ukrainian seafarers are under increasing strain.“The initial stresses have been replaced by something else,” Hogan says. “At first…

The U.S. Coast Guard announced a new merchant mariner credential (MMC) set to launch on March 1, 2024, marking the first comprehensive revision of the mariner credential in nearly a decade.The Coast Guard is the exclusive source of U.S. MMCs, which are required for U.S. mariners who serve on commercially operated vessels such as passenger boats, tug and barges, offshore supply vessels, and deep draft ocean going cargo vessels throughout the nation and internationally.The Coast…

The crew of Moran Towing's tug Lynne Moran has been honored for its courageous response and rescue of two stranded boaters near the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on the evening of October 25, 2023.The crew has received the U.S. Coast Guard Public Service Commendation, presented by Captain O’Connell, as well as the American Waterways Operators (AWO) Honor and Excellence in Rescue Operations (HERO) Award, presented by Brian Vahey, AWO’s Vice President, Atlantic Region.In collaboration with the U.S.

Odfjell announced it has promoted its first female captain in the history of the 109-year-old company. The Norwegian chemical tanker company said Lise Henriksen has been named captain of the Bow Sky."On behalf of Odfjell, I congratulate Lise on her well-deserved promotion and thank her for paving the way for women in the maritime industry,” said Odfjell  CEO Harald Fotland. "Her expertise and leadership abilities have led her to this prestigious role – a historic appointment at Odfjell and in an international maritime field currently dominated by men.

Officer supply shortfall has reached a record high and is not expected to improve, leading to manning cost inflation, according to the latest Manning Annual Review and Forecast report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.The 2023 officer availability gap has widened to a deficit equating to about 9% of the global pool, which represents a marked rise from last year’s 5% shortfall and the highest level since Drewry first started analysing the seafarer market 17 years ago.

While people in all generations measured themselves against eternal factors—fellow employees, family, their industry, etc.—Generation Z is fixated on measuring themselves against the world as seen through social media. Coaching them will help them begin to turn inward and measure success against their own goals. One of the keys to retaining your Gen Z workers will be in positively coaching them.Coaching should provide positive feedback about employee contributions. At the same time…

We have a national and economic security crisis on our hands. It is time for Washington policymakers to stop dancing around the facts and looking for small fixes. The U.S. mariner shortage is real and it poses an unescapable threat not only to our ability to establish lines of communication to the U.S. warfighter, but also to our nation’s ability to project power through international trade.Two Congressional hearings held on March 28 illustrate the challenge. First, General Van Ovost…

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) is taking action to help address an industry need and a national imperative to recruit, retain and develop the next generation of maritime employees.As much as the tugboat, towboat and barge industry contributes to our nation’s prosperity and security today, we are an industry with an incredibly bright future that has even more to offer in the years to come. Our industry is uniquely positioned to be part of the solution as shipper-customers…

An ailing tanker captain was medevaced from his vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, 218 miles offshore Alabama, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Mobile received a call at 12:17 p.m. on Wednesday via VHF-FM channel 16 from the crew aboard the U.S.-flagged Overseas Anacortes stating the vessel's 69-year-old master was experiencing heart attack-like symptoms.Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon who recommended the captain receive…

An ailing towboat captain was medevaced from a U.S. flagged vessel near Port Aransas, Texas, Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Corpus Christi received a medevac request at 10:49 p.m. Saturday from the Corpus Christi Harbor Master's Office stating the 59-year-old captain of the towing vessel Endurance was experiencing abdominal pain and nausea. Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac.Watchstanders…

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) said it has recovered more than $15.7 million in wage payments owed to seafarers who sail on Panamanian-flagged vessels.Under its current administration, through the General Directorate of Seafarers (DGGM), the AMP said it has recovered $15,763,052.24 for vessel crewmembers, including $5,315,909.99 in 2022.The AMP said that during this span 1,248 maritime labor complaints were processed (including 451 in 2022) and that 1,864 crew members of various nationalities have been repatriated through the intervention of the AMP the shipowners…

Around 82 ships with 418 seafarers remain stuck around Ukrainian ports despite the opening of a U.N.-backed sea corridor to ship grains with efforts to get the mariners sailing still stuck, shipping industry officials said on Thursday.The agreement reached in July, creating a protected sea transit corridor, was designed to alleviate global food shortages, with Ukraine's customers including some of the world's poorest countries.However, the initiative only involved dry bulk ships…

The first crew member from one of the two Greek tankers seized by Iranian authorities in May arrived safely in Athens on Tuesday, Greek officials said.Iran has agreed to release the crews of the MT Prudent Warrior and Delta Poseidon, which it seized in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker in Greece."The second captain of Delta Poseidon has arrived home, in Athens," a shipping ministry official told Reuters.The crew member is the first to return home from the total of about 48 seafarers - Greeks, Filipinos and a Cypriot - who are expected to be gradually released and replaced in the coming days, a second Greek official told Reuters.The months-long diplomatic impasse has strained relations between Athens and Tehran as tensions grow be

Seafarer happiness levels are trending upward after reaching a record low last quarter, according to the latest Seafarers Happiness Index report published by The Mission to Seafarers.The survey, undertaken with the support of the Standard Club and Idwal, reports on Q2 2022 and shows that the influx of industry solutions to tackle seafarer wellbeing has finally begun to lift morale and the mindset onboard. With more vaccinations, more frequent crew changes, wage rises and new amendments to the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC), there has been a knock-on effect for seafarer optimism.

Deck cadet Burak Kinayer, 19, is waiting to hear when he will set sail home to Turkey after five months of being stranded by the war in the Ukraine now a grain export deal has been signed.As clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces echoed off the coast of Odesa last weekend, he became concerned, but Kinayer said his nervousness gave way to excitement as the Kaptan Cevdet gets ready to leave, potentially in the coming days."The way back does not scare me," the trainee navigational deck officer told Reuters via videolink from aboard the ship."We can say that our excitement and hopes have been through the roof in the recent days," he said.Kinayer's ship is one of dozens preparing to depart from three Black Sea ports blockaded by Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Finding enough seafarers willing to sail ships stuck inside Ukraine's ports is set to pose a major challenge to the proposed grains corridor designed to ease an international food crisis.Russia and Ukraine last week signed a deal to restart grain and fertilizer exports that have been blocked in the Black Sea and on Wednesday Turkey unveiled a center to coordinate the resumption of shipments.But some 80 ships remain blocked in Ukraine and the evacuation of most of their crew members means more mariners are needed in the region to get the cargoes moving.Henrik Jensen…

Australia's maritime safety agency has banned a Liberian-flagged oil tanker for six months for the underpayment of seafarers and onboard welfare issues.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it inspected the AG Neptune in the Port of Gladstone, in central Queensland, on June 17 ,2022 after receiving a complaint about multiple breaches of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC).During the inspection, AMSA found evidence the employment agreement with 21 seafarers on board the ship had not been met and the crew members were collectively owed approximately AUD $123,000. Inspectors also found evidence the food and drinking water were not of appropriate quality, quantity and nutritional value for seafarers.

Ship inspection business Idwal said it has added 12 key crew welfare questions to its inspection process in an attempt to help raise awareness of some of the issues facing seafarers globally.With its international surveyor network, Idwal has several representatives on all types of vessels every day. Having traditionally just covered data points around ship condition and management, the company, which comprises several former seafarers, said it is passionate about improving awareness of crew welfare issues and has long wanted to enhance their inspection reports with this vital…

Food and medical supplies onboard over 100 foreign flagged ships stuck in Ukraine due to the conflict are running low, with little progress on creating a maritime corridor to allow them to sail away, industry officials said on Wednesday.London's marine insurance market has widened the area of waters it considers high risk in the region as the conflict intensifies and perils to merchant shipping grow.The UN's shipping agency said this month it would work to create a safe maritime…

Bangladeshi seafarer Asiful Islam recalls the moment when a missile struck his cargo ship last week off the Ukrainian port of Olvia, killing his crew mate."I was just 15 feet away when it hit our ship. Our third engineer, Hadisur Rahman, who was killed, was standing just two feet away," Islam told Reuters from Romania after the remaining crew members were evacuated over the weekend."All we could do was pray out loud. It was the worst night of my life. I had never been to war zone in my life."Many shipping firms have suspended sailings to affected Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine.

International maritime network Stella Maris has teamed up with tech start-up FrontM to develop a new crew collaboration and wellbeing platform and super-app designed to give seafarers and fishers across the world quick access to Stella Maris's global chaplaincy directory, media content and faith resources.Stella Maris, formerly known as Apostleship of the Sea, is a ship-visiting network with more than 1,000 chaplains and volunteers in 330 ports across 60 countries. Its team makes 70…

Four more defendants have been sentenced for their roles in a test score-fixing scheme at a U.S. Coast Guard exam center, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced.On December 8, Alonzo Williams, who plead guilty to being an intermediary in the scheme, was sentenced by the Honorable Barry W. Ashe to 40 months incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release.Quang Tran, Harry Johson and James Carr, who each plead guilty to unlawfully receiving an officer-level mariner license…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council, meeting from November 8-12, established an International Day for Women in Maritime, to be observed on May 18 every year.Once adopted by the IMO Assembly in December 2021, the observance will celebrate women in the industry, promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO's commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said…