NAUTILUS P01 NOVEMBER 2009.qxd - Nautilus International

Insurance alarm 

Marine insurers 

voice concern at 

shipping losses 

19 

Seafaring nation 

A tiny island state 

where one in six 

works at sea 

28 

Pensions heading group 

00 How Nautilus is 

giving a voice to 

MN pensioners 

36 

Volume 42 | Number 11 | November 2009 | £2.85 €3.00 

Maersk cuts 

threaten UK 

fleet revival 

Union launches major lobbying campaign in response to jobs ‘bombshell’ 

Above left: Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson meets shipping minister Paul Clark to discuss the shock 

news from Maersk. Above right: the campaign postcard that the Union is urging members to send to their MPs 

PNautilus has launched a 

major new campaign 

following the shock 

news that Maersk Line is seeking 

to cut its UK officer workforce by 

more than 100 and to flag-out 

more than 30 ships from the red 

ensign. 

The Union is warning MPs that 

the revival of the UK shipping 

industry is at serious risk of going 

into reverse following nine years 

of growth since the tonnage tax 

scheme was introduced in 2000. 

Maersk’s UK cutbacks form 

part of a fleet-wide programme 

to cut costs in response to the economic 

downturn. It is also seeking 

to replace 170 of its Danish seafarers 

with cheaper crews from 

the Far East. 

Nautilus general secretary 

Mark Dickinson described the 

decision as a ‘bombshell’ and said 

it raised serious questions about 

the government’s maritime policies. 

The Union met shipping minister 

Paul Clark immediately after 

the announcement, and told him 

that the Maersk move highlighted 

the desperate need for the government 

to act on the employment 

and training proposals first 

submitted by owners and unions 

some two and half years ago. 

‘Maersk was one of the architects 

of this package, and we 

believe this announcement is in 

part a reflection of the political 

inertia which has surrounded the 

maritime jobs and training plans,’ 

Mr Dickinson said. 

‘Maersk’s decision sends a very 

worrying message that the UK’s 

maritime policies are not delivering 

and that there could be worse 

to come unless the government 

acts,’ he warned. 

Announcing the cuts, Maersk 

commented: ‘This has been a difficult 

decision to make and has 

been made in the light of the layups 

of Maersk Line’s UK vessels 

and the fact that the fleet has 

been carrying surplus officers for 

many months in the hope of an 

early economic upturn within the 

container business industry, 

which has unfortunately not been 

forthcoming.’ 

The company chalked up a loss 

of nearly $1bn in the first half of 

this year and warns that this is 

likely to double by the end of 

2009. Eleven UK-flagged Maersk 

Line vessels have been put into 

lay-up, and the company says that 

as many as 25 ships from across 

the fleet could join them by the 

end of the year. 

As part of the UK cuts, the 

Maersk Company has also 

announced that it will also no 

longer automatically employ 

cadets graduating from training 

with the company — although 

this decision is open to review as 

market conditions improve. 

Nautilus has begun consulting 

members before entering into 

discussions with the company 

over the company’s plans and the 

redundancy package. ‘Our priority 

right now is protecting members’ 

interests and seeking to mitigate 

the job losses — including 

seeking guarantees about re-hiring 

British officers when the 

upturn comes,’ Mr Dickinson 

adds. 

Nautilus has also sought assurances 

from management that the 

re-flagging of the 33 UK and Isle of 

Man ships will not have a detrimental 

impact on members’ 

terms and conditions. The company 

told the Union it has no 

plans to alter the terms under 

which members are employed. 

Mr Dickinson said there was 

evidence of a change of strategy 

by Maersk towards the use of 

British, Dutch and other European 

seafarers. 

As well as lobbying MPs from 

all the main political parties, Nautilus 

is urging members to send a 

special postcard to their MPs — a 

copy is enclosed with this Telegraph 

— calling for them to press 

the government for urgent action 

on the maritime employment and 

Teaser 

training package. 

g Maersk negotiations — page 5 

James flies the flag after 

winning Nautilus award 

Pictured above carrying the 

FMerchant Navy standard at 

the annual service for seafarers at St 

Paul’s Cathedral in London last 

month is James Burrell, an officer 

trainee at the National Maritime 

College of Ireland, who is this year’s 

winner of the annual Nautilus 

International Bevis Minter Award for 

the most worthy cadet. 

James — who is training with 

Inside 

Clyde Marine, sponsored by Chevron 

— is the youngest ever winner of the 

award, and was selected on the 

basis of his determination and 

positive attitude. 

Presenting the award, general 

secretary Mark Dickinson said James 

displayed the finest traditions of 

merchant seafaring. 

g Full report, page 2 

Picture: Andrew Wiard 

F Water works 

Special reports look at the different ways 

in which the Netherlands and the UK make 

use of inland waterways — pages 23-25 

F Emissions impossible? 

Shipping shapes up on its greenhouse gas 

emissions ahead of a crucial international 

meeting on climate change — page 26

02 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | November 2009 

NAUTILUS AT WORK 

£2bn: the 

value of 

UK marine 

services 

ANautilus has welcomed a 

new report showing that 

the UK’s maritime services 

— such as shipbroking, marine 

insurance, classification and law — 

chalked up record overseas earnings 

of more than £2bn last year. 

And the Union has warned the 

government that continued success 

depends upon a steady flow of skilled 

and experienced seafarers who are 

essential for many of the posts within 

the sector. 

It says worrying signs of a decline 

in the number of UK officer trainees 

being taken on this year suggests 

owners are not taking note of the 

calls from their own leaders not to cut 

training in response to the downturn. 

‘This report demonstrates just 

how valuable the maritime sector is 

to the UK economy,’ said Nautilus 

general secretary Mark Dickinson. 

‘However, there are many other 

countries after this business, and if we 

are to continue to lead the world we 

must have sufficient skilled and 

experienced seafarers to provide the 

knowledge and expertise needed by 

many of these businesses. It is 

therefore very disturbing that we are 

looking at a 20% decline in UK cadet 

numbers this year.’ 

The report, published by 

International Financial Services 

London (IFSL), said UK maritime 

services exports were valued at £2.1bn 

in 2008 — up by 40% from the level 

of 2006, and confirming ‘London’s 

position as a leading centre 

worldwide in the supply of business 

services to the international maritime 

community’. 

But it warned that UK shipping 

and maritime services are now facing 

‘a major challenge from the steep 

downturn in the global economy’ — 

which will mean this year’s results are 

likely to be well down on 2008. 

IFSL said London’s 400 

shipbroking firms generated net 

exports of £948m in 2008, 23% up 

on £769m in the previous year. And, 

in the face of increasingly tough 

competition from Japan, the US and 

Germany, UK-based marine insurers 

had managed to maintain their 

global dominance — with British P&I 

clubs accounting for almost two-thirds 

of the world’s market. 

London-based banks provided 

more than 13% of international ship 

finance in 2008, whilst Lloyd’s 

Register was ranked as the world’s 

second largest classification society, 

accounting for 18% of the global fleet. 

IFSL estimates that 15,600 people 

were employed in UK maritime 

services last year — the majority in 

shipbroking, insurance, legal services 

and classification. 

Duncan McKenzie, IFSL’s director of 

economics, commented: ‘The global 

economic downturn has contributed 

to an expected 10% drop in seaborne 

trade in 2009. The knock-on impact 

on maritime services means that UK 

overseas earnings in 2008 represent 

a high point unlikely to be exceeded 

for a few years.’ 

ITF’s summer scholars 

Bevis Minter winner James Burnell is pictured with training officer Bob Brooke and Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson Picture: Vivion Gough 

Top cadet prize for James 

James Burnell says he is ‘absolutely loving’ 

Fhis time training to become a deck officer on 

Chevron tankers. 

And his positive approach to his chosen 

profession paid off last month when he became, at 

the age of 19, the youngest ever winner of the 

Nautilus Bevis Minter Award. 

James, from Wicklow in Ireland, is the only 

student in his class at the National Maritime 

College of Ireland who did not have some kind of 

seafaring background. 

‘I got interested in seafaring because when I 

was going out diving I used to have more fun 

driving the boat than doing the diving,’ he told the 

Telegraph. ‘I loved being in the boat and thought 

it would be great to do it as a job.’ 

He visited the college, and being impressed by 

its facilities, decided to start a cadetship. His 

training provider is Clyde Marine and he is 

sponsored by Chevron Shipping. 

James said he particularly enjoyed his first sea 

time — a three-month trip on the Chevron 

training vessel Capricorn Voyager. ‘It was real 

hands-on experience,’ he added. ‘We did 

absolutely everything — from chipping and 

painting to holding a watch on the bridge. I even 

got to steer the ship under the Golden Gate 

Bridge.’ 

James — who is studying for a degree in 

nautical science as well as his first certificate — 

said he was shocked, but delighted to win the 

Nautilus award. ‘I’ve got no doubts that this is the 

right career for me, and once I decided I was going 

to sea I was aiming for the top,’ he added. 

Presenting the award, general secretary Mark 

Dickinson commented: ‘Even at such a relatively 

short time into his career, James is displaying the 

qualities that we always seek in the Minter Award 

winner. Enthusiastic, positive and determined, he 

has made his mark with employers and lecturers 

alike. 

The qualities of self-belief and determination 

displayed by James are in the very best traditions 

of merchant seafaring,’ he added. ‘The shipping 

industry has changed dramatically in recent 

decades, but I continue to be impressed by the 

remarkable aptitude and attitude of today’s officer 

trainees. Anyone who argues that academic 

standards have declined in recent times would do 

well to see the achievements of those in maritime 

training at present.’ 

Unions call for end 

to wages ‘shame’ 

MPs are urged to put a stop to legalised pay discrimination on UK ships 

Nautilus national secretary 

gRonnie Cunningham is 

pictured with cadet member Joe 

Mattock at the International 

Transport Workers’ Federation 

summer school for trade unionists. 

Joe told the Telegraph the twoday 

event was ‘an absolute success’ 

— bringing together 

representatives from shipping, 

aviation and rail — and was 

thoroughly recommended to other 

Nautilus members. 

‘The focus was on training trade 

unionists in the skills of organising, 

and working to bring about change 

in the labour movement,’ he 

explained. ‘The school carried out 

group exercises, tasks, and lectures 

in areas which focussed and broke 

down organising into steps.’ 

During the course, Joe made a 

short informal presentation about 

the youth work in the ITF. ‘It’s fair to 

say that the gathering of a variety 

of workers of different nationalities, 

and sectors in one place brought 

great variety and richness to group 

discussions,’ he added. 

‘I am certain everyone who 

attended the conference took 

something away with them to use 

in their union and workplace. There 

is great value in the summer 

school, as it shares ideas, thoughts 

and best ways to campaign.’ 

PNautilus International 

and the RMT have written 

to all UK MPs urging 

them to end legalised discrimination 

against seafarers by signing 

up to an amendment to the 

Equality Bill. 

Under existing UK employment 

legislation, it is acceptable 

to pay foreign seafarers less than 

the National Minimum Wage 

(NMW) — even if those seafarers 

work on vessels operating solely 

between UK ports or in the UK 

offshore sector. 

The legislation allowed, for 

example, that seafaring ratings 

working on ships operated by 

Streamline between Aberdeen 

and Lerwick have received basic 

monthly rates of pay of between 

£314 and £367 instead of the NMW 

equivalent of £996 a month 

(based on 40 hours a week). 

And ratings working for the 

Varun Shipping Company on offshore 

vessels working out of 

Aberdeen and Peterhead are 

receiving basic hourly rates of 

between £1.72 and £2.07. 

‘These disgraceful rates of pay 

shame our industry and undermine 

the employment of British 

seafarers,’ said Nautilus general 

secretary Mark Dickinson. ‘It is 

time to close legal loopholes that 

allow the exploitation of foreign 

seafarers in UK waters.’ 

The maritime unions would 

like to see the legal changes taken 

even further, arguing that the 

NMW should be enforced on 

intra-EU ferries trading to and 

from the UK. However, last year in 

the Employment Bill debate, the 

government advised that this 

would not be possible, as foreign 

flag ships trading to other countries’ 

ports could claim the right 

of innocent and free passage 

under the United Nations Convention 

on the Law of the Sea 

(UNCLOS). 

The proposed amendment to 

the Equality Bill — tabled by 

Dover MP Gwyn Prosser — has 

therefore been limited to vessels 

operating between UK ports and 

in the UK offshore sector. But 

these vessels would not have to 

be UK-flagged; the unions have 

received legal advice that the 

amendment would allow the 

NMW to be enforced on foreignflagged 

ships if they were operating 

in the defined waters. 

The NMW amendment to the 

Equality Bill was due to be considered 

at report stage by the 

House of Commons as the Telegraph 

went to press. Ongoing 

efforts are also being made by Mr 

Prosser, the maritime unions and 

the TUC to close discriminatory 

loopholes in the Employment Bill 

and the Race Relations Act (1976).

November 2009 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 03 


Council upholds 

gun-free policy 

Arming merchant seafarers is not the answer to piracy, members rule 

UMerchant 

seafarers conference — Nautilus policy had 

should continue to sail been developed to focus on five 

without weapons on key elements: 

their ships — despite the dramatic 

increase in violent attacks security measures 

z more investment in adequate 

by pirates off Somalia, Nigeria z higher crew levels 

and other parts of the world, Nautilus 

International Council mem- 

naval forces 

z support for the deployment of 

bers have decided. 

z political action at national, 

Last month’s meeting in Amsterdam 

discussed a detailed posi- 

z preventing members from 

European and international level 

tion paper, presented by assistant being forced to serve in high-risk 

general secretary Paul Moloney, areas 

which questioned whether the ‘This is a health and safety 

Union should revise its policies issue,’ Mr Moloney stressed. ‘We 

in response to changes in the would not want members to go 

style of attacks. 

into enclosed spaces or enginerooms 

if they were not safe, and 

‘The nature of piracy has 

changed significantly in recent the same should be the case with 

years,’ Mr Moloney told the meeting. 

‘In the post-9/11 world, we see Wilco van Hoboken said Nau- 

areas that are prone to piracy.’ 

it as a form of terrorism in which tilus surveys had shown a change 

heavily armed pirates no longer of attitude towards the carriage 

steal from the ship, but instead of weapons onboard, and he suggested 

this was probably the 

steal the ship and hold it and its 

seafarers for ransom.’ 

result of the increasing violence 

Tactics have also changed significantly, 

he added, with the use But general secretary Mark 

being used against seafarers. 

of mother ships extending the Dickinson said he believed the 

range of the pirates by a massive Union should retain its opposition 

to the use of weapons. ‘Arm- 

extent. 

Following debates at successive 

BGMs over the past two he said, ‘and indeed it may actuing 

seafarers is not the answer,’ 

decades — including this year’s ally increase the dangers they face 

Members 

in Atlantic 

rescue of 

solo sailor 

Nautilus members serving on 

Athe oceanographic research 

vessel James Cook conducted a mid- 

Atlantic rescue after the ‘Help for 

Heroes’ campaigner and former SAS 

Commando Peter Bray ran into 

problems in the path of a hurricane. 

Pictured with Mr Bray after the 

vessel arrived safely in Falmouth in 

September are Nautilus members 

chief engineer officer George 

Parkinson, chief officer Matthew 

Turner, Captain Peter Sarjeant, third 

officer Vanessa Laidlow, and second 

officer Malcolm Graves. 

At the time of the rescue, the 

RRS James Cook had a team of 30 

international scientists onboard, 

studying and comparing the diverse 

species of sea creatures at two 

locations on either side of the Mid- 

Atlantic Ridge. 

The vessel had just left the SE 

work site when it received a Mayday 

from Mr Bray’s ocean rowing boat, 

Black Knight, relayed by Falmouth 

Coastguard. The ship responded to 

the message and sailed some 

110nm towards the scene. 

Crew members spotted the Black 

Knight riding to a sea anchor, 

amidst a 4-5m swell and in near 

gale force conditions. 

On-scene options for recovery 

were carefully assessed and 

ultimately the decision made to 

leave the deep-leading sea anchor 

intact with the ‘Cook’ making an 

approach with the wind and swell 

fine on the port bow for attempted 

boarding amidships, on the 

starboard side. 

Contingency ‘man overboard’ 

measures were in place. 

by escalating the levels of violence.’ 

Owners should be looking at 

the increasingly sophisticated 

technology available to protect 

their ships, Mr Dickinson argued. 

They should also note the evidence 

showing that higher crew 

levels are one of the most effective 

ways of reducing the risk of 

attack, by increasing the chances 

of early detection and prompt 

evasive action. 

Trustee Rodger MacDonald 

said the International Maritime 

Organisation had upheld the 

principle of keeping seafarers 

unarmed. So far, there have been 

relatively few fatalities among 

crew members, he added, but that 

could change if seafarers started 

shooting back. 

He also questioned how serious 

shipowners are about protecting 

their crews. ‘At the recent 

Portsmouth forum on piracy, a lot 

of companies were displaying 

what they could provide to ships 

but the general discussion with 

those selling their wares was that 

the owners are just not buying it,’ 

he added. 

Capt MacDonald suggested 

Nautilus policy should address 

At the starboard waist, a 

heaving line was used to swiftly 

transfer personal effects from Black 

Knight. Then, at an expertly timed 

moment, Peter Bray stepped onto 

the ship’s pilot ladder and climbed 

effortlessly aboard. 

Mr Bray was remarkably calm 

and well after 43 days at sea — 

roughly halfway into his 1,940 mile 

rowing challenge from St John’s, 

Newfoundland to the Isles of Scilly. 

He had hoped to beat the current 

64-day world record for rowing solo 

across the Atlantic and, in the 

the issue of counselling for those 

affected by the attacks, Support 

should be available not just for 

seafarers but also for their families, 

he argued. 

Jim Stone said the Union 

should also seek to ensure that 

pirates are brought to justice. 

‘There must be a deterrent to 

piracy by ensuring that those that 

are caught are properly punished,’ 

he stressed. ‘It is ludicrous 

that warships capture these people 

and then let them go.’ 

Assistant general secretary 

Marcel van den Broek warned that 

defence experts had told Nautilus 

the threat shows no sign of 

decreasing. ‘In Somalia there are 

thousands of young men wanting 

to become pirates and willing 

to take the risk of death or capture 

in the hope of becoming rich 

beyond their wildest dreams,’ he 

pointed out. 

Lee McDowell also urged the 

Union to focus on security in 

ports and harbours — especially 

small and remote facilities — and 

Roger Stuart said Nautilus should 

work with local unions in Nigeria 

to put pressure on their government 

for action to reduce the 

attacks there. 

process, raise cash for Help for 

Heroes. Naturally he had mixed 

feelings about the decision to 

abandon both his boat and the 

challenge. However, his project 

team had made the decision on the 

basis of Hurricane Bill weather 

projections and rescue options. 

After the rescue, Mr Bray 

integrated well with the ship’s 

company — putting in many a day’s 

work stencilling fire flap and 

ventilation signs to statutory safety 

certification requirements, until 

arrival at Falmouth. 

shortreports 

CRIMINALISATION MEETING: members are 

invited to a special Nautilus seminar on criminalisation 

of the maritime profession. The event is taking place in 

the Hambledon Room at Warsash Maritime Academy 

on Friday 6 November, starting at 1400hrs. Speakers 

will include leading maritime lawyers, who will cover 

subjects including the role of accident investigators and 

the rights and responsibilities of seafarers following 

incidents. To book your place, contact Sharon Suckling 

at Nautilus head office on +44 (0)20 8530 1656 or 

email legal@nautilusint.org 

CONDITIONS SLATED: the Maritime & 

Coastguard Agency voiced concern last month at 

conditions onboard a Vietnamese-flagged tanker 

detained after discharging its cargo at the Fawley oil 

terminal. Inspectors found that the 50,530dwt 

Vinalines Glory had unsatisfactory maintenance and 

record-keeping, some crew lacked a satisfactory 

command of English and a satisfactory abandon ship 

drill could not be demonstrated ‘which would make the 

ship dangerously unsafe’. 

RETIREMENT BLOW: the TUC has expressed 

disappointment at a High Court ruling rejecting a 

challenge against the UK’s default retirement age of 65. 

General secretary Brendan Barber said the decision was 

‘a blow to working people who need, or want, to work 

on beyond 65’ and would allow employers to weed out 

staff on the grounds of an arbitrary retirement age. 

FASTNET SERVICE: a cooperative venture 

seeking to relaunch services between Swansea and Cork 

says it has finally secured a ferry to run on the route. The 

West Cork Tourism Cooperative says it has purchased 

the 1,860-passenger vessel Julia, which has been laidup 

in Finland since last summer. The new service is set 

to begin in March next year. 

PIRACY SOARS: pirate attacks in the first nine 

months of the year have already outstripped the total 

for the whole of 2008, according a new report from the 

International Maritime Bureau. The IMB study said the 

use of guns had more than doubled this year, with 176 

cases between January and the end of September — 

full report, see page 38. 

WAGE RISE: the TUC has welcomed increases in the 

UK National Minimum Wage which came into effect last 

month. The 1.2% rise sees the NMW move from £5.73 to 

£5.80 an hour. ‘The raise is a modest one, but it will put 

extra cash into the pockets of some of the UK’s most 

low-paid workers,’ said TUC general secretary Brendan 

Barber. 

BOX RECOVERY: the container shipping slump 

has ‘bottomed out’ and an upturn in global volumes is 

expected to be seen very shortly, according to a new 

report from Drewry Shipping Consultants. It predicts 

that trade flows should rise by around 2.4% next year, 

with east-west rates rising by some 18%. 

SHORTSEA SUPPORT: the European 

Commission has called for member states to adopt 

high-tech electronic data management systems to cut 

red tape in shortsea shipping and to improve the 

sector’s ability to compete with road and rail. 

FREIGHT FALL: UK ports handled 562m tonnes of 

freight traffic last year — down 3% from the previous 

year, according to new Department for Transport 

figures. Grimsby & Immingham remained the country’s 

busiest port, handling 65m tonnes. 

ROTTERDAM DROP: Rotterdam — Europe’s 

largest port — recorded a fall of almost 12% in traffic in 

the first nine months of this year. Port authority officials 

described the figures as ‘a hefty decrease’ — but said 

signs of a recovery have been seen. 

BOXES LOST: printers, toys and sweets were 

strewn on a Dutch beach after nine containers were 

swept off the Liberian-flagged Navi Baltic in rough 

weather some 11km north of Terschelling last month.



shortreports 

ST HELENA RISE: following a ship visit and 

feedback from members serving on RMS St Helena, 

Nautilus has submitted a claim for an across-the-board 

4% pay rise. The Union has also called for a significant 

increase in the uniform allowance and talks on sick pay, 

increments and partnership at work. Industrial officer 

Jonathan Havard said the claim reflected the settlement 

for public sector workers in St Helena and talks are set to 

take place this month. 

ORKNEY MEETING: Nautilus is taking part in 

further discussions in a bid to resolve outstand pay 

issues from last year, and resolve reorganisation as 

company moves forwards. Industrial officer Steve Doran 

said liaison officers Capt Alan Smith and Ray Heddle had 

done ‘a sterling job’ in representing members’ interests 

at local working party meetings. 

CRUISES CALL: members serving with Fleet 

Marine Services, Cunard Celtic and with Marine 

Manpower Services on Holland America Line vessels 

have all been asked to submit their views on what 

should be included in the forthcoming pay and 

conditions claims. Talks are set to begin later this 

month. 

INTRADA WAIT: Nautilus has submitted a 

‘modest’ claim for a 2% pay increase on behalf of 

members serving with Intrada Shipping. Industrial 

officer Jonathan Havard said a response was awaited 

late last month. 

GLOBAL TALKS: Nautilus was last month 

awaiting a formal response from Global Marine Services 

following a partnership committee meeting to discuss 

this year’s pay and conditions claim. 

SAFMARINE SUBMISSION: Nautilus has 

submitted a claim for an above-inflation pay rise and 

increased annual leave for members serving with 

Maersk Safmarine. 

WYNDHAMS REQUEST: Nautilus has asked for 

the views of members serving with Wyndhams 

Management Services on the forthcoming pay and 

conditions claim. 

BW REVIEW: Nautilus is seeking talks with BW 

Fleet Management on a claim for a substantial aboveinflation 

pay increase. 

Officers safe as Red 

Funnel seeks cuts 

AThe cross-Solent ferry operator 

Red Funnel has begun 

a 30-day consultation on 

proposed job losses in sections of its 

marine and shore-side operations. 

Up to 50 jobs may be lost from 

the firm’s 412 permanent staff, but 

the company says officer grades will 

not be affected. Volunteers are being 

sought. 

Red Funnel CEO James Fulford 

said the move was being made to 

‘align staffing levels more closely to 

the seasonal nature of our business’ 

— with just one-quarter of traffic 

carried in the winter months, but 

90% of personnel retained yearround. 

But the RMT union described the 

move as ‘a savage body blow to the 

Solent economy’ and said loyal 

workers were taking the hit. 

Pay talks ‘are set to be 

the toughest for years’ 

PNautilus International 

has signed a new agreement 

covering the 

terms and conditions of Filipino 

seafarers serving on Dutchflagged 

vessels. 

Nautilus International senior 

policy advisor Hylke Hylkema is 

pictured right signing the deal 

with Guido Hollaar, director of 

the Royal Dutch Shipowners’ 

Association; Georges Kaas, HRM 

Flinter Shipping; Erwin Meijnders, 

HRM Spliethoff Group and 

head of the owners’ delegation; 

and Capt Greg Oca, president of 

the Philippines maritime union 

Amosup. 

Effective from 1 January 2010, 

the agreement will increase ABs’ 

benchmark wages from $545 to 

$560 — or around $26 a month 

including overtime and leave pay. 

The rates of the other ratings’ 

grades will be increased according 

to an agreed differential scale. 

‘With this increase we have 

looked after the most-needing 

group within the Industry,’ said 

Mr Hylkema. ‘Shipowners and 

Nautilus International consider 

Stena Line is this month adding 

Fa third ship to its Stranraer- 

Belfast service. 

The 15,093gt Stena Navigator, 

pictured left, will cater for both the 

freight and passenger markets, with 

a capacity of up to 1,500 passengers 

and up to 50 lorries or 280 cars. 

The company said the 1984-built 

vessel — formerly the SeaFrance 

Manet — would be substantially 

PThis year’s pay and conditions 

negotiations are 

set to be the most difficult 

for many years, Nautilus 

Council members were warned 

last month. 

With CPI inflation in the 

Netherlands standing at 0.2% and 

UK RPI in a ‘minus’ state for the 

past few months, prospects of significant 

increases are pretty bleak, 

said assistant general secretary 

Paul Moloney. 

The vast majority of Nautilus 

UK settlements are due to be 

reviewed with effect from 1 January, 

and the UK committee last 

month reviewed the negotiating 

priorities, whilst the Netherlands 

national committee is meeting to 

determine policy in talks with 

Dutch owners. 

‘It is clear that the economic 

indicators in both countries will 

make it a difficult set of negotiations 

for us all in the coming 

months,’ said Mr Moloney. 

The independent Labour 

Research Department (LRD) has 

warned of ‘another year of hard 

bargaining’ ahead. Its comprehensive 

annual pay round analysis 

shows a decline in the number 

of new long-term deals — 

pointing out that settlements 

covering more than a year have 

prevented a total ‘wipe-out’ of pay 

rises in the past 12 months. ‘These 

deals have provided an element 

of pay stability across the economy 

and in many cases have 

delivered higher than average 

rises,’ it added. 

However, LRD said, many of 

these deals terminate this year, 

and are not being renewed. Only 

15% of all settlements next year 

will be the result of existing long 

the increased basic wages for the 

AB as the new ILO minimum and 

follow the increase also in other 

non-domiciled CBAs, such as for 

Indonesians.’ 

He said the owners would not 

agree to a proposal to increase 

upgraded before coming into service 

to offer the ‘cruiseferry’ concept in 

the northern corridor. 

Stena said the new ship will 

enable improved timetables, 

additional space at peak times, and 

two more crossings a day on the 

route. 

Freight commercial manager 

Frank Nieuwenhuys commented: 

‘’While trading conditions remain 

Celtic service 

Celtic Link Ferries has launched 

Fits new passenger/vehicle 

service between Portsmouth and 

Cherbourg, using the LD Lines’ vessel 

Norman Voyager, left. 

The 26,500gt vessel is also running 

a weekend round-trip between 

Cherbourg and Rosslare. 

In response to LD Lines’ proposals to 

reorganise its operations in Dover and 

Portsmouth — which will impact 

members serving onboard Norman 

Arrow and Norman Spirit — Nautilus 

has been involved in talks with 

management on issues such as 

manning levels and salaries. 

Picture: Gary Davies 

Nautilus Council warned of ‘difficult’ negotiations ahead in UK and NL 

term deals, in comparison with 

more than one-quarter this year. 

‘Added to possible public sector 

pay freezes, depending on the 

outcome of next year’s election, 

this could paint a grim picture for 

average pay settlements, and thus 

one element of economic stability, 

for the year to come,’ it added. 

From August 2008 to July 

2009, 30% of workers covered by 

the LRD survey received less than 

a 2% rise — including cuts and 

freezes. However, a significant 

22% of deals were for 4% or more, 

covering 13% of the workforce. 

Dutch Filipino ratings deal 

the officers’ scale by the same 

percentage. ‘The rates for the officers 

are more or less on the IBF 

level and as a freeze was agreed in 

that group for 2010, there was no 

way I could persuade them to 

increase the rates for officers too.’ 

Ferries crossing the North Sea 

are excluded from the CBA and it 

is left to the relevant companies, 

Nautilus International and the 

RMT to resume the talks about 

wages and job security within 

these operations. 

The year-long agreement also 

covers the employers’ training 

programme and death in service 

payments. 

Mr Hylkema welcomed the 

contribution made by Captain 

Greg Oca of AMOSUP and his 

team in the negotiations as one 

of ‘international unity and solidarity’. 

Former SeaFrance ship boosts capacity on Stena Line service 

challenging, Stena Line is confident 

about the future and is putting the 

necessary investment in place to 

ensure that it can better service its 

customers as the improvement in 

economic circumstances develops.’ 

Members serving with Stena Line 

were meeting as the Telegraph went 

to press to discuss the contents of this 

year’s pay and conditions claim in 

response to officers’ views.



Union battles for 

Maersk future 

Intensive negotiations begin in bid to protect members’ best interests 

PNautilus International is 

fighting to protect members’ 

jobs and conditions 

following Maersk’s shock 

announcement last month of job 

cuts and flagging out in response 

to the economic downturn. 

As well as launching a major 

political lobbying campaign in 

response to the move, the Union 

has begun intensive negotiations 

with management to ensure that 

members’ interests are fully protected. 

Maersk blamed the losses it 

has encountered as a result of the 

slump in trade for the move to 

seek 113 voluntary UK officer 

redundancies. Maersk Offshore 

director Tom Graves told the 

Union that management could 

also no longer automatically 

employ cadets graduating from 

training with the company. 

An urgent meeting of the partnership 

at work committee was 

held soon after the announcement 

— with the Union pressing 

for measures to reduce the number 

of job losses and measures to 

enhance the severance package. 

Concerned that the moves 

may be a ‘kneejerk reaction’ to the 

economic slowdown, the Union 

has asked for detailed documentary 

evidence and independent 

analysis of the company’s financial 

arguments. 

Nautilus has also urged management 

to provide clarification 

Maersk partnership at work committee members meet at head office to discuss the cutbacks 

on the link between proposed job 

losses and ships in lay-up, and 

called for assurances that UK 

positions will increase again once 

trade picks up, as well as a details 

of the company’s long-term plans. 

The Union also argued that the 

company should seek to reduce 

redundancies by using promotions, 

and to give cadets the 

opportunity of employment. 

Contacts have been made with 

other unions representing Maersk 

seafarers in the hope of coordinating 

information and the overall 

response to the company’s plans. 

Management has given the 

Union assurances that the re-flagging 

will not have any impact on 

members’ terms and conditions. 

Senior national secretary Paul 

Moloney commented: ‘We are 

working hard to protect the interests 

of our members and ensure 

that no UK officers are forced out 

if they wish to continue working 

for the company. 

‘We are in urgent dialogue 

with the International Transport 

Workers’ Federation and have also 

sought assurances that these are 

temporary measures, so that UK 

and Dutch positions will be fully 

protected when the economy 

recovers and Maersk returns to 

profitability,’ he added. 

z Management has proposed 

suspending pay talks for members 

on its containerships while 

the talks continue on the job 

losses. Pay talks have opened for 

members serving with Maersk 

Tankers. The Union has presented 

a claim for an above-inflation pay 

rise, increased contribution to a 

recognised pension scheme, and 

improved seniority pay. 

shortreports 

P&O POISED: following consultations with 

members serving with P&O Ferries, Nautilus has 

drafted a pay and conditions claim for all four UK ports. 

The Union is aiming to begin negotiations this month 

after discussing the strategy with liaison officers. P&O 

Ferries is increasing capacity on its Tilbury-Zeebrugge 

route, bringing in the 145-unit capacity freight vessel, 

Norqueen to replace the smaller Norcape on the route. 

CONFERENCE CALLS: the Nautilus 

International 2011 Biennial General Meeting is set to 

take place between 4-6 October that year, Council 

members decided last month. A number of venues are 

being examined, and it is likely that the conference will 

be held in Amsterdam. The next UK branch conference 

is scheduled for 22 June 2010, and is expected to be 

held in London. 

BENEFITS REVIEW: Nautilus International has 

launched a radical review of the benefits and services it 

offers members, Council heard last month. Assistant 

general secretary Paul Moloney said the initiative had 

been taken to ensure that the range of benefits remains 

relevant to members and can generate potential 

savings of at least 50% of subscription costs. 

WIGHTLINK CONSULT: members serving with 

Wightlink Ferries are being consulted by the Union on 

management proposals to address hours of work issues. 

Industrial officer Jonathan Havard said Nautilus is 

continuing to seek assurances on aspects of masters’ 

meal breaks. 

NORFOLKLINE CLAIM: following consultations 

with members serving on Norfolkline’s Irish Sea and 

Dover routes, Nautilus has lodged a claim for an aboveinflation 

pay rise, increased contribution to a recognised 

pension scheme, and increased annual leave. 

OSG TALKS: Nautilus has presented OSG Ship 

Management (UK) with a claim for a substantial above- 

RPI pay rise, improved onboard facilities, an increased 

relief bonus and business class travel for long-haul 

flights to join vessels. 

IOM VIEWS: Nautilus is seeking the views of 

members serving with Manx Sea Transport (Guernsey) 

on IoM Steam Packet ships ahead of this year’s pay and 

conditions negotiations. 

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Mersey Docks members 

consulted on 2% offer 

Nautilus industrial officer 

FSteve Doran is pictured with 

VTS members Jerry Barker, Russ 

Wilson, Mick Flemming, J. Wissett, 

Bill Hughes and John Whitley serving 

with the Mersey Docks & Harbour 

Company at the Port of Liverpool 

following a meeting last month to 

discuss the current pay offer and 

review of work following recent 

attendance pattern changes. 

The Union has received a formal 

pay offer for both VTS and floating 

plant members — a 2% across-theboard 

rise, effective from 1 January. 

Management said it would have 

been easy to propose a freeze in the 

current ‘challenging’ conditions, but 

it wanted to have negotiated 

settlements based on a range of 

factors and not just RPI. 

The company has also agreed to 

examine the issue of holiday 

alignment across the group as part 

of a wider review of harmonisation. 

Members are being consulted on 

the offer, and the results should be 

known early this month. 

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OFFSHORE NEWS 

shortreports 

SAIPEM SETTLEMENT: Nautilus has agreed a 

two-year pay deal for members serving with Saipem UK, 

giving 4% backdated to 1 January this year and a further 

4% next year. Industrial officer Jonathan Havard said the 

agreement – which also comes with a commitment to 

reduce the requirement for working over tours of duty — 

had been held up until the Union secured positive 

assurances on cashing-in leave, provided a 30-day 

balance is retained. 

SUBSEA CONSULTATION: Nautilus is extending 

consultations on a two-year pay offer for members 

serving with Subsea 7. Industrial officer Steve Doran said 

the company has offered 1.5% this year and a further 1.5% 

next year. The deadline for responses has been extended 

by three weeks. ‘We really do want a majority of members 

to participate in the consultation exercise, otherwise it is 

difficult to know what members are thinking,’ he pointed 

out. 

VROON VIEWS: Nautilus is seeking the views of 

members serving with BUE Cyprus on Vroon Offshore 

vessels about the contents of the forthcoming pay and 

conditions claim. The Union is also urging members to 

come forward for nominations as liaison officers. ‘It will 

be great personal development for them and will really 

help to improve the level of representation that the Union 

provides,’ said national secretary Steve Doran. 

MAERSK DEAL: Nautilus has accepted a 3% pay 

offer for officers serving with Maersk Offshore (Guernsey) 

after a ballot of members failed to produce the numbers 

needed for a vote on industrial action. Although 78% of 

those voting wanted to be balloted on action, only 49% of 

eligible members took part in the vote. 

CMA DEAL: following further talks with Bernhard 

Schulte management, Nautilus has secured agreement 

that members serving with CMA Ships (UK) on Fugro 

vessels and the Geo Prospector can have the option to be 

paid in euros or sterling. 

TECHNIP TALKS: Nautilus was due to meet 

Meridian Shipping Services late last month to discuss this 

year’s pay and conditions claim, as well as the possibility 

of fourth engineer redundancies from Wellservicer and 

Deep Constructor. 

DSV CLAIM: Nautilus has presented Bibby Ship 

Management with a claim for a substantial 

above-inflation pay rise, as well as talks on pensions, 

standby and leave and shift rotations. 

Pictured right is the Normand 

FSubsea, Subsea 7’s new 

remotely operated vehicle support 

vessel (ROVSV). Owned and built by 

Solstad and chartered by Subsea 7, 

the 6,300dwt vessel is designed for 

offshore inspection, repair and 

maintenance work and forms part of a 

four-year $1bn investment 

programme by Subsea 7. 

One of the largest of its kind, the 

113m-long Isle of Man-flagged vessel 

has accommodation for 90 crew 

members. Its hull has five moonpools, 

and there is a working deck area of 

600 sq m. Six thrusters give the 

Normand Subsea its dynamic 

positioning capability and a service 

speed of 12 knots. 

Union welcomes more 

realistic ERRV training 

Health & Safety Executive ‘delighted’ with response to new standards 

PThe 

Emergency 

Response and Rescue 

Vessel Association 

(ERRVA) has reported that recent 

‘more realistic’ training exercises 

in the UK offshore sector have 

been a great success. 

For the last 18 months, ERRVA 

members have been carrying out 

rescue/recovery trials under new, 

more stringent guidelines from 

the Health & Safety Executive 

(HSE) requiring each offshore vessel 

to carry out such trials in bad 

weather conditions at least 10 

times a year. 

‘Previously, it was acceptable 

to carry out all the trials in benign 

Collision probe 

The Health & Safety Executive 

Ahas launched an investigation 

into the causes of a collision between 

the Loch Rannoch shuttle tanker and 

the 152,630 dwt BP FPSO floating 

production storage and offloading 

vessel Schiehallion last month. 

Production had to be halted after 

the 128,700dwt tanker struck the 

Schiehallion’s flexible hose and reel 

while trying to load crude in the 

Schiehallion oil field, west of 

Shetland. No one was injured, and 

neither vessel was badly damaged. 

weather and extrapolate the 

results onto bad weather,’ ERRVA 

chairman David Kenwright told 

the Telegraph. ‘So you could be 

doing the trial in a sea of only 1- 

1.5m and project your findings 

onto conditions of 5-6m. 

‘The HSE weren’t happy with 

this, so we held a meeting with 

owners and crews in November 

2007 to work out a way to do 

more realistic trials.’ 

The revised HSE standard 

allows for an extrapolation of 

only 50%, meaning that trials in 

seas of 4m are needed in order to 

apply the results to seas of 6m. 

This is not just about the figures, 

said Mr Kenwright. ‘Firefighters 

train with real fires, so 

seafarers should train with real 

sea conditions. 

‘People shouldn’t have to do 

something in an emergency that 

they haven’t practised beforehand.’ 

The bad-weather trials had 

been preceded by a careful riskassessment 

process, he stressed, 

so there had been no harm to personnel 

or damage to equipment 

during the training exercises. 

‘We are very pleased with the 

results, and the HSE is delighted. 

The main thing is that we now 

have better evidence of what our 

crews can do under pressure, and 

we know there’s a good chance 

that they would effect successful 

rescues.’ 

The new regime is set to continue, 

he added, and is particularly 

important when a vessel 

moves to a new location. 

Nautilus International has welcomed 

the higher-spec training 

exercises — and not only because 

they meet HSE requirements. 

‘These vessels are increasing in 

capability,’ pointed out senior 

national secretary Allan Graveson, 

‘so constant training is 

needed to develop and maintain 

additional skills.’ 

Stena Drilling has just placed its 

Ffifth vessel under the red 

ensign. The 58,294gt newbuild 

Stena Forth, pictured left, has 

followed Stena Drillmax and Stena 

Carron on to the UK ship register. All 

three vessels are owned by Stena 

Drilling and are classed by Det Norske 

Veritas. 

Stena Forth is 228m long, with full 

level three dynamic positioning, and 

is capable of drilling in water depths 

of 3,000m. It has 46MW installed 

power, 35MW propulsive power from 

six thrusters, and an operating crew 

of up to 180. 

Supply ship misses platform 

— by more than 100 miles 

AAn offshore supply vessel recently 

found itself arriving at a phantom 

platform, according to a Marine 

Safety Forum ‘safety flash’ issued last month. 

Heads were scratched in puzzlement when 

the PSV crew arrived at the FPSO location 

listed on their data card — only to find open 

sea. 

The second officer then contacted Marine 

Control in Aberdeen to ask what had happened 

to the platform, and it turned out to be 

over 100 miles away. 

The PSV eventually arrived at the correct 

FPSO location some 10 hours later than 

expected, and was sent to standby to await 

further instructions. 

On investigation, it transpired that there 

had been two data cards in existence for the 

FPSO, and a combination of poor record-keeping 

and inadequate checks had led to the mixup. 

A particular point of confusion arose when 

the PSV’s chief officer asked Marine Control if 

the FPSO was in its ‘usual’ position, and the 

two sides each understood something different 

by this. 

Unfortunately, it seemed that no lessons 

learnt from a previous similar incident had 

been available to the PSV personnel. From now 

on, says the Marine Safety Forum: 

zredundant information must be removed 

from the system when data cards are updated 

zthere should be more formal communications 

between Marine Control and vessels, 

with informal communications to be avoided 

zvessel personnel should be encouraged to 

challenge information more readily and to 

avoid making assumptions based on limited 

information 

zall incidents must be adequately investigated 

and any lessons passed on to other 

crews 

zMarine Control should intervene if they 

observe that a vessel is not making progress 

towards the intended location 

zthe requirement for a ‘suitable and sufficient’ 

handover during crew changes should 

be enforced


NEWS 

EU to act on training? 

Nautilus International has 

Awelcomed reports that the 

European Commission is set to take 

new measures to safeguard maritime 

skills in the region. 

Action to stem the decline of EU 

seafarer numbers is to be one of the 

priority points in the forthcoming 

maritime policy package, transport 

commission official Mattia Pellegrini 

told a meeting in Brussels. 

Speaking in the European 

Parliament, Mr Pellegrini said that 

the Commission’s maritime policy 

white paper will set out measures to 

address the fierce competitive 

pressures in the seafarer labour 

market. He said the policy package 

will also address training and social 

issues, and help seafarers to make the 

transition from seagoing to shorebased 

work. 

General secretary Mark Dickinson 

welcomed the comments. ‘Nautilus 

has worked hard to ensure the 

maritime policy package addresses 

the need to protect the EU maritime 

skills base, and it is good news that 

the Commission can see the case for 

action. We hope the white paper will 

set out practical and positive 

proposals for tackling the problems.’ 

The former Royal Fleet 

FAuxiliary tanker Grey Rover, 

right, finally left Portsmouth last 

month after a case of ‘we need a 

bigger tug’. 

A previous attempt to tow the 39- 

year-old decommissioned vessel to 

Liverpool using the Svitzer tug Ayton 

Cross was abandoned as a result of 

poor weather in the Irish Sea. 

The tow subsequently went 

ahead using the much larger 

Portuguese-flagged tug Braveheart. 

Another RFA — the 41-year-old 

landing ship Sir Percivale, presently 

in lay-up at Marchwood — is 

expected to join the Grey Rover 

shortly for scrapping. 

Report & Picture: Gary Davies 

Key ruling on seafarer rights 

Court of Appeal upholds tribunal entitlements for UK-based crew members serving on foreign flagged ships 

PNautilus has welcomed an 

important court ruling which 

upholds the employment rights 

of British seafarers serving on foreign 

flag ships. 

London’s Court of Appeal last month 

dismissed an appeal by Guernsey-based 

Condor Ferries against an earlier judgement 

that an employment tribunal had 

the right to hear an unfair dismissal 

claim brought by a British officer serving 

onboard a Bahamas-flagged ferry. 

The appeal court ruled that a 

Southampton tribunal did have jurisdiction 

to hear chief officer Peter Diggins’ 

unfair dismissal claim — despite the fact 

that the ship on which he served was 

flagged in the Bahamas and his employers, 

Condor Marine Crewing Services, 

were located in the Channel Islands. 

The court held that the key question 

was not where the employer was based, 

but where the employee was based and 

‘where his duty begins and ends’. 

Lord Justice Elias, sitting with Mr Justice 

Coleridge, dismissed Condor’s appeal 

against a 2008 ruling by Judge Burke QC 

in the Employment Appeal Tribunal 

handed down in February this year— 

with Lord Justice Elias describing Judge 

Burke’s judgment as being of ‘conspicuous 

quality’. 

Mr Diggins’ unfair dismissal case originally 

failed on the basis that he could 

not bring himself within section 199(7) of 

the Employment Rights Act 1996. 

He successfully appealed the judgment 

in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, 

where Judge Burke found that he did 

not have to bring himself within the 

scope of 199(7) to establish jurisdiction 

but, as a peripatetic employee, could rely 

on the appropriate test outlined in the 

House of Lords decision in Lawson v 

Serco. 

The Court of Appeal agreed with the 

appeal tribunal’s finding that Mr Diggins 

was a peripatetic employee and dismissed 

a suggestion by Condor’s counsel 

that he might be considered an expatriate 

as ‘wholly unrealistic’. 

In a statement issued after the hearing 

Condor said: ‘Regarding our seafarers, 

Condor policy has for sometime been 

that our employment policies provide 

staff with rights at least consistent with 

the jurisdiction they originate from. 

‘The dispute over access to a UK tribunal 

with Mr Diggins would not therefore 

arise today. There are wider implications 

of yesterday’s judgment which 

Condor must now consider, as must the 

UK shipping industry in general.’ 

Dutch ship launches UK service 

The Dutch-flagged 

Fcontainership Northsea Trader, 

pictured, has launched a new weekly 

service linking the UK ports of Tyne 

and Southampton — offering what 

Port of Tyne officials describe as an 

attractive waterborne alternative to 

‘battling through the congested 

south-east and adding thousands of 

unnecessary road miles to the mix’. 

The 4,984gt vessel is being used 

by the firm Feederlink to operate a 

service that targets deepsea import 

and export traffic — adding to its 

existing routes that interlink 

strategically important ‘out-ports’ on 

the UK east coast with ‘main line’ 

hub-ports on the continent and the 

UK. Feederlink — a subsidiary of 

Irish Continental Group — now has a 

route network that provides more 

than 26 calls each week at UK ports. 

g Shortsea shipping — page 23 

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Nautilus director of legal services 

Charles Boyle commented: ‘This is a good 

result for the maritime industry as it 

means that seafarers who work on foreign 

flagged vessels, but who are based in 

Great Britain, have the right not to be 

unfairly dismissed and can have access to 

the employment tribunals if they believe 

they have been unfairly dismissed. 

‘In this case, Mr Diggins embarked and 

disembarked his vessel at Portsmouth 

and lived in Lowestoft. The vessel sailed 

between Portsmouth and the Channel 

Islands,’ he pointed out. 

‘The Court of Appeal had no doubt in 

reaching the conclusion that the Employment 

Appeal Tribunal, which had ruled 

in Mr Diggins’ favour in June 2008, was 

correct.’ 

Tim Springett, head of labour affairs 

at the UK Chamber of Shipping, said the 

judgement answered some questions but 

posed several new ones. ‘The clarity with 

regard to seafarers’ resident outside Great 

Britain is welcome,’ he added. 

‘However, what is not clear is whether 

a seafarer joining and leaving a ship in 

Great Britain would be entitled to claim if 

that ship proceeded on a worldwide voyage 

before returning to Great Britain. 

‘Similarly, what happens when a seafarer 

joins a ship in Great Britain but disembarks 

in another country to be repatriated 

by air — would his employment 

base be in Great Britain in these circumstances? 

‘Uncertainty over such matters is 

unhelpful to all parties.’ 

The judge refused Condor leave to 

appeal to the Supreme Court, saying the 

court had ‘reached a pretty clear view on 

this’. 

Tankers given 

duty-free ban 

Nautilus has raised concerns 

Hover a series of UK Border 

Agency raids on tankers in lay-up off 

the south coast. 

Border Force officers have 

conducted a series of boardings on 

ships anchored off Torbay to stop their 

crews from buying duty-free cigarettes 

and alcohol. 

The tankers, each carrying up to 

250,000 tonnes of crude, have been 

anchored off Torbay since March 

awaiting a rise in the price of oil. 

More than 200 crew members are 

believed to be affected by the raids. 

In a statement issued after the 

raids, the Agency said it had acted on 

an ‘intelligence-led’ basis and had 

sealed the bonded stores on the 

ships, leaving the crews to pay full 

prices from the mainland. 

‘The Agency has a responsibility to 

protect public finances and a ship’s 

crew can only take advantage of dutyfree 

arrangements within the limits of 

a port when they are unloading cargo 

and not for a longer period of time,’ it 

stated. 

Officials said that when a vessel is 

at anchor in UK territorial waters each 

crew member is entitled to 25 

cigarettes per day, 0.185 litres of 

spirits and 1.5 litres of wine. ‘This the 

master of the ship may issue duty-free 

for up to eight days — so the crews 

can have alcohol from a bond, but the 

amounts are limited.’ 

g Readers’ letters — page 16.


LARGE YACHT NEWS 

Nautilus partnership is 

part of our drive to 

professionalise crews 

Increase in applications for MN seafarers is changing the yacht sector 

Nautilus takes a 

stand at the 

Monaco show 

Nautilus International 

Dindustrial officer Steve Doran 

is pictured with Derek Smith, 

operations director for Large Yacht 

Solutions Ltd (left of picture), 

during the Monaco Yacht Show at 

the end of September. 

Surrey-based Large Yacht 

Solutions — which specialises in 

management, construction, 

purchase, and refit of luxury yachts 

— is just one one the various 

compananies in the sector with 

which Nautilus has been 

developing a relationship. 

As part of its programme to 

increase its involvement in the 

sector, Nautilus has been attending 

a variety of yacht forums and 

shows, with the stand at Monaco 

complementing the Union’s 

presence in Antibes in April 2009 

and 2010. 

Nautilus was one of around 500 

exhibitors at the three-day show 

which attracted more than 100 

superyachts and almost 30,000 

visitors. 

Despite reports of a 40% 

increase in repossessions and 

orders down by as much as 70%, 

the show featured a series of new 

model launches and a superyacht 

finance forum in which there was a 

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general consensus that the market 

is set for recovery. 

‘This was the first yacht show 

since the formation of a number of 

strategic alliances/partnerships 

with leading yacht agencies in the 

sector,’ said Garry Elliott, national 

secretary for recruitment and 

organising, ‘and this was publicised 

at the show with a number of new 

interested parties approaching 

Nautilus to develop similar 

arrangements. 

‘Nautilus also publicised the 

workshops that we have conducted 

with captains, officers and crew in 

the past few months in an attempt 

to explain our involvement in the 

seafarers’ bill of rights (MLC 2006) 

and what impact this will have on 

their sector,’ he added. 

‘Nautilus International 

continues to develop new 

strategies in the sector with the 

intention to protect our members in 

their employment and we continue 

to do this with our partners the 

PYA. 

‘Next year will see Nautilus 

again been present at a number of 

boat shows, starting with Antibes 

in April, and we would hope to see 

as many members as possible,’ he 

added. 

To 

advertise 

in the 

Telegraph 

call 

Century One 

Publishing: 

01727 739 184 

by Phil Edwards, MD, dovaston Crew 

PThere was a lot of discussion 

at Monaco last 

month regarding my 

decision to form a strategic partnership 

between dovaston and 

Nautilus. 

Some people felt that a crew 

agent encouraging union membership 

was a case of gamekeeper 

turned poacher — but nothing 

could be further from the truth. 

At dovaston we are committed to 

providing a top-class service, both 

to our boats and to our crew in an 

ever-changing environment. 

The private yachting sector has 

changed dramatically since I 

joined over 25 years ago. Boats are 

getting bigger; when I started, 40 

or 50m yachts were considered 

by Michael Howorth 

The UK yacht industry is defying 

Athe worst effects of the 

economic downturn, according to 

figures released at the Monaco yacht 

show. 

The industry association 

Superyacht UK — which represents 

more than 160 companies involved in 

the sector — reported a 15.3% 

increase in industry turnover to 

£410m over the past year, a 5% 

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large, yet now 80m and 100m 

boats seem normal. This increase 

in size has led to more boats being 

subject to stringent IMO and ILO 

regulations. 

Contrary to the idea that I am 

encouraging trouble-makers to be 

employed, I am actually trying to 

increase the professionalism of 

crew aboard. 

Nautilus is much more than a 

union; it is a professional body 

for mariners. It encourages its 

members to participate in professional 

development, and it 

publishes a monthly magazine 

that ensures that members are 

aware of any changes to the international 

maritime laws and regulations. 

As an organisation Nautilus 

works not just for crew but the 

increase in people employed and a 

healthy level of optimism about the 

future. 

Superyacht UK — whose 

members are involved with the 

design, build, supply chain and 

service provision of yachts over 24m 

load line length — said the UK 

superyacht industry is now worth in 

excess of £350m, representing an 

increase of 14.8% on 2007. 

There are now around 3,500 

people working in the sector, and 

Say ‘superyacht’ in a word- 

game, and it aassociation 

conjures up images of wealth and 

luxury. The word ‘green’ is probably 

not what comes to most people’s 

minds. But the classification society 

RINA is now recognising that 

modern yacht ownership is not just 

about flashing the cash — it’s 

possible to enjoy high performance 

and also care for the environment. 

RINA’s new environmental 

notation Green Plus has been 

granted to three Italian-built 

‘megayachts’ this year: Candyscape 

II, RoMA, pictured above, and 

Ocean Emerald. A further vessel, 

under construction in China, is 

being built to an even higher set of 

environmentally-friendly 

specifications, the Green Plus 

platinum standards. 

industry as a whole. It has representation 

with the ILO and IMO 

statutory bodies and is actively 

engaged with the agendas of the 

major regulatory agencies. 

Nautilus is committed to a 

partnership approach and 

ensures that regulations which 

are set are reasonable and achievable, 

and do not impose impossible 

burdens on the ships’ owners. 

At dovaston I am trying to 

ensure that any crew we place are 

professionally prepared and are 

best placed to fit seamlessly into 

life onboard. 

The Nautilus partnership is 

just one of the concepts we are 

trying to promote. We want the 

crew we place to be assets to the 

yacht, self-reliant and self-prepared. 

96% of businesses surveyed reported 

a similar or increased number of 

employees when compared with 

2007. 

Most revenue growth was down to 

newbuild orders, with 76% involved in 

such projects over the past year. And 

the member survey showed 56% of 

companies rated next year’s prospects 

‘good or excellent’ and 39% ‘OK’ and 

only 1% rating prospects as ‘poor’ or 

‘very poor’. 

Tom Chant, of the British Marine 

The Green Plus notation is 

granted to new vessels whose 

design, onboard equipment and 

operational procedures help to 

deliver an environmental 

performance beyond the minimum 

levels required by international 

legislation. The standards cover all 

aspects of a vessel’s impact on the 

environment, including carbon 

emissions. 

‘Yacht owners seek the ultimate 

We are encouraging them to 

take out personal insurance for 

any medical or third party liability 

expenses and helping them 

arrange their personal finances 

and training so that the captains 

or management companies can 

concentrate on the business of 

running the boat. 

Crew agencies have traditionally 

treated the crew on their 

books as commodities, but at 

dovaston we aim for a more holistic 

approach. 

We are seeing more applicants 

from senior merchant crew who 

are interested in moving to the 

private sector, bringing with 

them the rigour of the commercial 

sector which we feel will lead 

to an increased professionalism 

and safety aboard. 

UK superyacht industry stays 

buoyant despite downturn 

Falmouth plan 

H 

The Cornish port of Falmouth 

could become the UK centre for 

building multi-million pound 

superyachts, according to local press 

reports which suggest that the 

Pendennis Shipyard, together with 

A&P Falmouth, operators of the city’s 

docks and ship repair yard, have been 

in talks about large yacht projects. 

Federation, said: ‘Despite the 

challenging economic climate felt in 

2008, the UK superyacht industry is 

showing a great level of resilience and 

indeed success. It is particularly 

encouraging to see such an optimistic 

outlook for the year ahead. 

‘British companies are involved in 

some of the most high profile and 

exciting international superyacht 

projects and I am confident their 

expertise and professionalism will 

continue to reap rewards.’ 

Green class notation for 

three new Italian yachts 

in performance using the most 

modern materials and technological 

innovations, and they are prepared 

to invest in the most innovative 

green technologies to ensure their 

yachts achieve the highest levels of 

efficiency and the lowest possible 

environmental impact,’ commented 

Ugo Salerno of RINA. ‘This will 

encourage the introduction of new 

technologies, which RINA will 

evaluate on a case-by-case basis.’


NEWS 

On the road to recovery? 

Shipping industry survey shows growing signs of confidence that rates will rise in key sectors over the next year 

PSigns that the shipping industry 

is on the road to recovery 

have been unveiled in a new survey 

of confidence levels among owners, 

managers, charterers and brokers. 

The survey — carried out by the 

accountancy firm Moore Stephens — 

found that overall confidence levels have 

risen for the third successive quarter, 

with all four sectors expressing increased 

optimism for the shipping markets in 

which they operate. 

The average confidence level 

expressed by respondents — on a scale of 

1 to 10 — was 5.7, compared with 5.5 in the 

previous survey in May 2009. 

Moore Stephens noted that a number 

CThe UK has emerged as 

one of just four flags 

winning top marks in a 

performance ‘league table’ put 

together by international 

shipowners. 

Together with Denmark, Germany 

and Hong Kong, the red 

ensign notched up the highest 

scores under a formula that 

examines 19 factors such as port 

state control results, fleet age and 

compliance with international 

conventions. 

The annual rankings — produced 

by the ‘Round Table’ of 

shipping associations, including 

Intertanko, Intercargo, the International 

Chamber of Shipping, 

the International Shipping Federation 

and Bimco — also reveal 

continuing problems with a hard 

core of substandard registers, 

with 15 flag states recording 12 or 

more negative performance indicators. 

of participants in the survey had referred 

to the start of a recovery being under way 

— with the opportunity to buy vessels at 

historically low prices. 

‘The shipping market has started to 

pick up this year after the effect of the 

global economic crises,’ one respondent 

said. And another commented: ‘The 

recovery of the global economy will 

result in strong demand for tonnage as 

delayed projects get up and running 

again.’ 

However, there were also marked concerns 

that freight rates will continue to be 

depressed by an oversupply of tonnage. 

‘Because two newbuildings are being 

delivered for every vessel scrapped, the 

Top marks for 

UK in ‘league 

table’ of flags 

Flags at the bottom end of the 

scale include Albania, Bolivia, 

Cambodia, Costa Rica, Georgia, 

Honduras, Lebanon, St Kitts & 

Nevis, and Sierra Leone. The 

Round Table said ‘shipowners 

should think very carefully’ about 

before using such registers. 

Maritime & Coastguard 

Agency chief executive Peter 

Cardy said he was ‘delighted’ at 

the UK ship register’s status at the 

top of the table. 

‘This is another step in the 

right direction in demonstrating 

that we are a quality register, with 

high standards and a commitment 

to providing a high level of 

service to our customers,’ he 

added. 

‘We hope that this excellent 

news encourages shipowners to 

look at the UK flag as a viable 

alternative, particularly in these 

difficult times of financial uncertainty.’ 

RFA trains at Fleetwood 

shipping market will not be able to pick 

up over the next three to four years,’ one 

respondent warned. 

Concerns were also voiced about 

China’s growing dominance of the market. 

One respondent told Moore 

Stephens: ‘China is now the producer, the 

consumer, the trader, and the transporter. 

It has got the cheapest and the 

most plentiful supply of labour, and it is 

possibly the richest country in the world. 

None of these things can be good for the 

international shipping industry.’ 

Another remarked: ‘China’s influence 

in the shipping markets is a risk which 

has not yet been fully factored in. China 

will control a lot of cheap new tonnage, 

with the result that a number of independent 

shipowners will not have the 

opportunity to compete.’ 

For the third survey in succession, 

respondents identified demand trends as 

the single most important factor likely 

to affect their business performance over 

the coming year, followed by competition 

and the cost and availability of 

finance. 

In the containership sector, 35% of 

respondents overall expected rates to rise 

over the coming year, whilst 41% of 

respondents expected bulker rates to 

climb over the next 12 months, and 45% 

expected tanker rates to increase in the 

same period. 

Moore Stephens shipping partner 

Richard Greiner commented: ‘Although 

the overall confidence level of 5.7 revealed 

in the survey is low compared to the 6.8 

posted at the time of the first survey in 

May 2008, it still represents an increase 

for the third successive quarter. 

‘Confidence will return to shipping 

more slowly than it disappeared,’ he 

added. 

‘The situation is not helped by the 

continuing depression in the freight markets, 

but it should be remembered that 

today’s rates are often compared to the 

record highs which the market was enjoying 

less than two years ago, and this tends 

to distort the picture.’ 

First ETO FD course launched 

Pictured right are the first 

Ftrainee electro-technical 

officers studying on a new 

foundation degree being run by 

South Tyneside Marine College and 

Northumbria University. 

Nautilus has welcomed the 

launch of the course, which is the 

only one of its kind in the UK 

offering the pilot Foundation Degree 

for ETOs qualification. Senior 

national secretary Allan Graveson 

said the Union had worked 

extensively at the Merchant Navy 

Training Board to develop the course 

and hopes more companies will 

support it. 

The course covers a range of 

electronic and electrical topics, 

including marine management, 

health and safety and work-based 

learning. Companies including BP, 

Chiltern Maritime, Bibby Line, 

Adnatco, Acergy, and Global Marine 

Systems are among the first to 

sponsor students on the course. 

Felix Brooks, from Gloucestershire, 

is being sponsored by Chiltern 

Maritime, and has high hopes for 

the future. ‘I have just finished a 

BENG in fire explosion engineering 

at Leeds University and I was looking 

for a career where I could use my 

degree combining my love for sailing 

and ambition to travel the world,’ he 

said. ‘This career path and course 

was perfect for me.’ 

Andrew George, aged 27, worked 

as a manufacturing engineer for 10 

years before choosing the course. 

‘I was ready for a career change and 

I wanted to see the world,’ he said. 

‘The opportunities working as an 

ETO match my life ambition whilst 

learning a new trade. I’m looking 

forward to expanding my knowledge 

and learning new skills.’ 

James McGregor, from North 

Shields, and Stephen Gallagher, from 

Luton, are both aiming for the top, to 

become superintendents. Stephen 

comments: ‘There are so many 

opportunities in the marine industry. 

Eventually I would like an onshore 

role, but I’m very happy at the 

moment and looking forward to 

stretching my sea legs.’ 

All four students will start their 

first four and a half months of 

seatime in March 2010. They will 

then return to the college to 

continue learning theory, before 

returning to sea in March 2011. 

Once the students have 

completed the foundation degree 

they have the option of ‘topping up’ 

their qualification through further 

study to achieve a full degree. 

A 

Pictured above are the first Royal Fleet Auxiliary officer cadets to 

begin training at Fleetwood Nautical College. The five officer trainees 

— aged between 20 and 37 — have just embarked on a three-year 

foundation degree course and are being trained alongside students 

sponsored by shipping companies from the private sector.


NEWS 

Union warns on 

crews’ welfare 

Steam Packet crews 

support TT charity 

A fundraising effort by Isle of 

CMan Steam Packet Co 

passengers and crew has this year 

netted £14,000 to support an 

important local event: the TT bike 

races. 

The money will go towards 

medical and rescue equipment used 

around the TT course — without 

which the famous motorsport event 

would not be able to take place, 

stressed Steam Packet chief 

executive Mark Woodward. 

The annual charity effort takes 

place during the Isle of Man’s twoweek 

TT season in May and June. 

Coordinated by Nautilus member 

Captain Allan Albiston, it involves 

whip-rounds with collection buckets 

by ferry crews. 

Old ships’ logbooks dating 

Hback to the 1760s are being 

used to help ground-breaking 

research into climate change. 

The UK Met Office is part of a 

project that is examining almost 300 

digitised historic logbooks — 

including the famous voyages of 

Charles Darwin’s ship, the Beagle, 

Captain Cook’s Discovery and 

William Parry’s polar expedition in 

HMS Hecla — to use the accurate 

weather information they contain to 

reconstruct past climate conditions. 

Research team leader Dr Dennis 

Wheeler, of the University of 

Sunderland, commented: ‘The 

observations from the logbooks on 

wind force and weather are 

As in previous years, the money 

raised this summer will be donated 

to a local charity, the Rob Vine Fund. 

The fund is well known among 

bikers visiting the TT races, as 

collection boxes and buckets can be 

found in pubs and shops around the 

island. But the annual Steam Packet 

collection is the single biggest 

contributor to the fund, which helps 

injured riders and spectators. 

Some £140,000 has been raised 

since Capt Albiston started the 

onboard collections in 1997. 

David Stevens, medical director 

of Isle of Man Motorsport Medical 

Services, is pictured, far left, with 

Capt Albiston and members of the 

crew of the IoMSP fast ferry 

Snaefell. 

Old logbooks offer help 

to climate change study 

astonishingly good and often better 

than modern logbooks. 

‘Of course, the sailors had to be 

conscientious — the thought that 

you could hit a reef was a great 

incentive to get your observations 

absolutely right! 

‘What happens in the oceans 

controls what happens in the 

atmosphere — so we absolutely 

need to comprehend the oceans to 

understand future weather patterns,’ 

he added. 

f Images of the logbooks can be 

seen on the website: 

badc.nerc.ac.uk/data/corral and a 

fully searchable version will be 

available on The National Archives 

website in 2010. 

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T +44 (0)23 8033 3771 E sales@miller-rayner.co.uk W www.miller-rayner.co.uk 

Nautilus tells maritime medical conference of need for holistic approach 

PSeafarer welfare remains low down the system,’ he added. itime Health Association but with welfare is inadequate, he 

‘woefully low’ on the Many believe that seafarers fail would assist with quality standards.’ 

the European Union countries, 

added. ‘I found it astonishing that 

agenda, Nautilus International 

warned a top level marpanies 

are seeking to reduce the Seafarers face a complex range led by the UK, and also other non- 

standards more often when comitime 

health conference last number of employees, he said, of health and welfare issues, EU states threatened not to 

month. 

and the UK had seen a large number 

including considerable levels of approve the MLC if it contained 

A radical change of approach is 

medically severed in the late stress, criminalisation, excessive anything mandatory regarding 

needed, in which the health and 1970s and early 80s ‘at the cost of working hours, reduced crewing the provision of onshore welfare 

wellbeing of seafarers are given the industry-wide pension and often poor standards of crew facilities if there was any implication 

greater priority and treated in a scheme’. 

accommodation and communication 

that the financing might 

‘holistic way’, Nautilus official Mr McEwen suggested many 

equipment. he pointed have to come from governments.’ 

Peter McEwen told the 10th International 

seafarers may be reluctant to out. 

To move forward, all sides of 

Symposium on Mar- 

complain about the medical ‘There are insufficient interna- 

the shipping industry — includ- 

itime Health. 

examination system because tional regulations to cover all of ing flag states, owners, unions and 

He told owners, managers, regulators 

they feel they will not win. ‘I won- 

the various issues that exist,’ Mr seafarers — should work together 

and medical experts der whether it would be appro- 

McEwen warned, ‘and there is on a holistic approach to health 

attending the three-day conference 

priate for an external researcher nothing which imposes a duty on and welfare, with better assess- 

that cost considerations may to organise focus groups and anybody within the industry to ment of the quality of services 

often affect the approach taken questionnaires to seafarers on the have a holistic approach linking being provided, he concluded. 

to seafarer welfare. 

whole issue of how they have the medical general welfare and The conference also included 

‘The industry faces commercial 

been, or feel they have been, wellbeing of seafarers.’ 

presentations and discussion on 

pressures and although cer- 

treated by maritime doctors,’ he Whilst the Maritime Labour such key as stress, psychological 

tain aspects of health are high on added. 

Convention should improve and interpersonal problems at 

the agenda for employers, others ‘The results might not be comfortable 

things when it comes into effect sea, medical care and medical 

are less so, and welfare is woefully 

for the International Mar- 

in a few years, the section dealing standards for seafarers. 

Fitness training call for cadets 

Shipping companies are being urged to 

Ainclude a health and fitness awareness 

training syllabus as part of their cadet training 

programmes. 

Physical Initiative, a company that specialises in 

seafarer health and fitness, has written to shipping 

companies and to the Merchant Navy Training 

Board encouraging them to look at the benefits of 

such training. 

‘Currently there is no time in the various courses 

of training given to discuss positive health at sea, 

personal fitness, good nutrition, physical exercise 

needs, lifestyle issues, etc,’ said Physical Initiative 

director Andrew Neighbour. 

Physical Initiative is calling for the education and 

training framework of all maritime studies 

contributing to the foundation degree, HNC and 

HND to include a structured health awareness 

training syllabus. The syllabus would be tailored to 

fit around current programmes, complementing 

and developing any existing subjects that may 

touch on such relevant health topics. 

The aims of the syllabus, Physical Initiative 

suggests, would be to enable students to 

understand their health status and physical limits, 

to make informed choices about exercise, nutrition 

and lifestyle throughout their careers at sea, 

benefiting their own physical health and those for 

whom they become responsible. 

Backing its proposal, Physical Initiative, 

sponsored by the Seamens’ Hospital Society, has 

amassed a database on the health and physical 

condition of more than 10,000 seafarers it has 

consulted. ‘Our work has revealed that there are 

many health issues in the seafaring community,’ Mr 

Neighbour explained. 

He warned: ‘The physical status of many 

personnel deteriorates steadily throughout their 

careers, giving rise to many health problems such as 

obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. 

‘Our most recent surveys have highlighted the 

very poor cardiovascular fitness of the majority of 

those tested, and this fact alone is contributing to 

the growing problems of crew fatigue. 

‘Confronting these issues early in the career of 

seafarers will considerably improve their chances of 

a healthy life in what is still an arduous working 

environment.’ 

New UK cruise company is launched 

A new UK-based cruise 

Fcompany is being launched 

next year — using the Bahamasflagged 

vessel Marco Polo, pictured 

left, and the Portuguese-registered 

Ocean Countess. 

Cruise & Maritime Services 

International (CMS) says it will be 

offering a year-round programme of 

cruises with both ships, aiming at the 

UK market. It has secured a five-year 

time charter agreement for the 

22,080gt Marco Polo, which will 

commence operations under a new 

livery on 2 January 2010. 

The 16,795gt Ocean Countess will 

begin services with CMS in April 2010 

under an initial two-season deck and 

engine charter arrangement from the 

Greek based Majestic International 

Cruises Group. Prior to delivery, the 

vessel will undergo a £3m 

refurbishment and upgrade 

programme. Picture: Eric Houri


NEWS 

‘Drunk in 

charge’ 

skipper 

is fined 

£1,000 

A fishing vessel skipper who 

Fwas more than twice over the 

legal limit and had to be rescued 

with his crew when his boat ran 

aground was fined £1,000 last 

month. 

Following the case, the Maritime 

& Coastguard Agency said it will now 

examine the suitability of the 

skipper — George Wood, from Ayr in 

Scotland — to hold a master’s 

certificate of competency. 

Mr Wood was charged with being 

over the prescribed limit when in 

charge of a boat after he failed a 

breath test when the 30m trawler 

Honeybourne III ran aground near 

Filey, North Yorkshire, in August. 

The multinational crew of seven 

all escaped unhurt, but Mr Wood — 

who had celebrated his birthday 

ashore on the previous night — was 

tested by police and found with 

81mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, 

more than twice the 35mg limit. 

York Crown Court heard that Mr 

Wood has previous maritime 

convictions, including travelling the 

wrong way down the English 

Channel which resulted in a £3,000 

fine. He also has other minor 

convictions including failing to keep 

a proper log book, excessive use of a 

dredger and failing to notify his 

arrival at port. 

Mr Wood claimed that he was 

undertaking an anchor drill at the 

time and misread the tides. 

His lawyer, Jim Withyman, told 

the court that his client — who has 

21 years experience as a skipper — 

had lost his job as a result of the 

incident and may also have his 

certification withdrawn. 

Fining Mr Wood £1,000, Judge 

James Spencer told him: ‘I am doing 

that because you have lost your job 

and you stand the prospect of losing 

your master’s ticket.’ 

Captain Jeremy Smart, head of 

the MCA’s enforcement unit, 

commented: ‘Being drunk in charge 

of any vessel is a very serious matter. 

It puts at risk not only all those 

onboard but other users of the sea.’ 

Norway slammed over 

‘criminalisation’ case 

Unions and managers condemn ‘legally and morally indefensible’ treatment of officers 

Ship master jailed by US court 

The bulk carrier Full City aground off Norway after dragging its anchor during a storm in July Picture: Kystverket 

PSeafaring unions and 

ship managers have 

jointly condemned what 

they have described as the worst 

case of criminalisation since the 

‘Hebei Two’ controversy in Korea. 

In a hard-hitting statement, 

the International Transport Workers’ 

Federation, Norwegian maritime 

unions and the international 

ship managers’ association 

InterManager accused the Norwegian 

authorities of ‘legally and 

morally indefensible’ treatment 

of two officers who have been 

detained since their ship ran 

aground after dragging its anchor 

in a storm in July. 

There was a small spillage of 

oil as a result, and prosecutors 

have filed charges of gross negligence 

against the Chinese master 

and third officer of the bulk carrier 

Full City. 

Hopes that the two men would 

be allowed to return home last 

month were dashed when an 

appeal court overturned a district 

court decision to give the men 

their passports. 

It also altered their bail conditions 

to keep them in the country 

pending a trial for negligence that 

is unlikely to be held until next 

year. 

‘This is looking all too much 

like another Hebei Spirit, where 

seafarers doing their job are 

hauled in front of a court to satisfy 

an illusory public requirement 

that someone gets punished 

when oil leaks onto water,’ 

said Intermanager president 

Roberto Giorgi. 

HA Greek shipmaster has been 

jailed for six months and banned 

from US waters after admitting 

obstructing justice and breaking maritime 

safety and pollution laws. 

Capt Panagiotis Lekkas, master of the 

71,242dwt bulk carrier Theotokos, will also 

have to serve a further four months in a 

community confinement facility and pay a 

$4,000 fine. 

He was sentenced in federal court in 

New Orleans last month after pleading 

guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, 

one count of violating the Act to Prevent 

Pollution from Ships, and two counts 

of violating the Ports and Waterways Safety 

Act. 

‘This sentence, including the three-year 

ban from US territorial water, sends the 

message to ship crew members and captains 

that violating environmental and 

ship safety laws will have consequences,’ 

said acting assistant attorney-general John 

Crudden. 

‘We are serious and we will continue to 

prosecute these cases and seek sentences 

that appropriately punish the crime.’ 

The charges were brought after a US 

‘This automatic reaching for 

the handcuffs is emphatically not 

the way to solve the fact that 

sometimes ships get into trouble, 

and actively undermines all the 

efforts everyone in shipping puts 

into making sure that safety is 

made paramount. 

‘Norway, a nation that understands 

safe shipping more than 

most, has shot itself in the foot 

by pandering to ignorance of the 

realities and a desire to blame 

someone, anyone, when things go 

wrong,’ he warned. 

ITF general secretary David 

Cockroft added: ‘The criminalisation 

of seafarers — the vilification 

of workers for accidents that may 

be beyond their control – is one of 

the ugliest developments in shipping. 

‘Sadly, it appears that once 

again we are looking at a knee-jerk 

response to an incident, which, 

more sadly still, is happening in 

Coast Guard inspection on the Liberianflagged 

Theotokos discovered fuel leaking 

into the forepeak ballast tank. In addition, 

the ship’s oily water separator was not 

working property and bilge waste had been 

discharged directly overboard. 

Inspectors also found that crew members 

had failed to notify the USCG about a 

crack on the ship’s rudder stem, even 

though they had informed shore management 

about the problem some three 

months earlier. 

The investigation led to the first criminal 

prosecutions under US laws designed to 

the country where you’d least 

expect it.’ 

Captain Hans Sande, director 

of the Norwegian Maritime Officers’ 

Association added: ‘There is a 

wealth of maritime experience in 

Norway and we hope that some 

of it will find its way into the judicial 

process. 

‘If that happens, the court case 

will be dropped and the normal 

maritime investigation processes 

will be free to take action unfettered 

by political considerations 

or nods to public opinion. 

‘If common sense prevails, 

then the lessons of the grounding 

will be identified and learned, 

and the cargoes that we all rely 

on to sustain our way of life in 

every country in the world will 

travel that little bit more safely,’ 

Capt Sande added. 

‘If not, we will once again see 

not just the criminalisation of 

these two men, but a new generation 

of potential ship’s officers 

deciding that the job isn’t worth 

the risk of being unfairly pilloried 

that increasingly seems to 

come with it.’ 

control the spread of invasive species 

through ballast water, and also saw the 

ship’s chief officer and chief engineer being 

brought before the courts. 

The ship’s manager, Greek operator 

Polembros Shipping, has been fined 

US$2.7m and banned from operating any of 

its 20 owned or managed vessels in US 

waters for three years after admitting a 

series of related charges, including making 

false statements during the USCG investigation. 

The company will also pay 

$100,000 towards research into ballast 

water issues. 

Crew members on the 

FPanama-flagged 

containership Cosco Tianjin are 

pictured above helping to produce 

a new training film to counter the 

threat of pirate attack. 

Produced by Maritime Training 

Services, the DVD film — Piracy: 

Preparations, Precautions and 

Response — outlines a ship’s five 

key vulnerabilities, identifies active 

and passive defensive measures, 

introduces anti-piracy technologies 

and explains how to apply your 

ship security plan. 

Many of the scenes were shot 

onboard the 66,380gt Cosco Tianjin 

— with the crew simulating 

mustering exercises, stocking the 

safe haven or citadel, and removing 

weapons, all as precautions against 

piracy attack. 

BIMCO offers 

new service 

for security 

The international shipowners’ 

Dorganisation BIMCO has 

launched a new ‘one-stop shop’ to 

help owners and seafarers to assess 

the security risks of specific voyages. 

Its new Automated Voyage Risk 

Assessment tool (AVRA) has been 

developed in conjunction with private 

security consultants Aegis and the 

International Maritime Bureau to 

assess the level of all sorts of nonnavigational 

risk that need to be 

considered during the full extent of a 

voyage — including piracy, 

stowaways, and people or drug 

smuggling, as well as the level of 

crime and robbery in port and at 

anchor and the problems of 

corruption which may arise in some 

parts of the world. 

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HEALTH & SAFETY 

Call for training on steering failures 

Accident investigators have stressed the 

Aneed for masters and deck officers to be 

properly tested and trained to respond to 

emergencies causes by steering gear failures. 

The call comes in a report on the grounding of 

a fully-laden Isle of Man-flagged bulk carrier in 

Port Hedland in July 2008 after its rudder twice 

failed to respond to the pilot’s port helm orders 

while setting out on a voyage to China with an 

iron ore cargo. 

Investigations revealed that the 161,167dwt 

DA new €3.5m research 

project to evaluate the 

effectiveness of the principles 

used to govern ship evacuation 

regulations has been 

launched. 

Led by UK-based BMT Group, 

the EU-funded Project Safeguard 

programme of research involves 

eight partners who will use computer 

simulations and data from 

Iron King, right, was suffering from a leaking 

actuator relief valve which cut pressure in the 

steering gear’s hydraulic system by more than 

two-thirds when the rudder was turned to port. 

The ship’s Polish master told investigators that 

he had switched the steering control switch 

between the two follow-up control systems in an 

attempt to regain control. The Australian 

Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report on the 

incident suggests that these actions showed the 

master ‘probably did not have a thorough 

EU researches effectiveness 

of ship evacuation rules 

onboard trials to investigate the 

adequacy of the existing ship 

evacuation models. 

The study will cover both fire 

and flooding scenarios, and will 

include shipboard tests on Color 

Line, Royal Caribbean and 

Minoan Lines vessels. 

BMT group project manager 

Jenny Gyngell said: ‘Safeguard are 

proud to continue the work 

started in this exciting project, 

the results of which will lead to 

modification of the IMO circular 

on evacuation policy through 

research on realistic passenger 

response times. 

‘We hope that the results of the 

Safeguard project will again lead 

to improvements in maritime 

safety and changes to IMO regulations.’ 

understanding of the ship’s control system and 

that he was not aware of the correct procedure to 

be followed in the circumstances’. 

While the vessel’s safety management system 

required emergency steering failure drills to be 

carried out, it did not detail how these should be 

done. Investigators said the master and OOW 

were not aware of the appropriate emergency 

steering system change-over procedure, and it 

urged shipowners, managers and masters to take 

note of these findings. 

Grounded: the Isle of Man-flagged bulker Iron King Picture: ATSB 

IMO acts on 

space risks 

Union backs moves to cut deaths in enclosed spaces 

Speedy slide passes trials 

A French firm has developed a new marine escape 

Aslide that is claimed to offer the fastest evacuation 

speeds for small to medium sized ships and high speed 

craft. 

Pictured above undergoing heavy weather sea trials, 

the Zodiac Solas MES MIS is a double-track slide that can 

enable the evacuation of 731 passengers in 30 minutes 

when used with the company’s Throw Over 150-person 

canopy liferafts. 

When used with Zodiac’s Open Reversible Inflatable 

151-person open liferafts, up to 397 passengers can 

escape in just under 18 minutes. 

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requirements of Force 6 winds with 3m wave height. 

Grounding blamed on 

personal problems 

A 36,606gt containership ran 

Haground in the Gulf of Suez 

after the lone officer on the bridge 

became distracted by personal 

problems. 

Accident investigators found that 

the Polish chief officer of the Germanflagged 

Norfolk Express had been 

checking emails shortly before the 

vessel stranded after he failed to 

make two course alterations. 

A report on the incident, which 

occurred in May 2008, said the OOW 

had been ‘diverted by the content’ of 

the emails — which related to 

‘worrying’ relationship problems. 

The officer told investigators he 

had been so worried by the emails 

that he had been unable to react to a 

series of warnings from vessel traffic 

services in the 14 minutes before the 

grounding. 

He also complained that he had 

been very lonely onboard the ship, as 

there was only one other Pole 

onboard and he had very little offduty 

contact with other crew 

members. 

The report, published by the 

German accident investigation body 

BSU last month, notes that the officer 

was later advised by his doctor not to 

continue working at sea and now 

works ashore. 

BSU said it considered the 

accident to be ‘a one-off case’ and 

PNautilus has welcomed 

important progress at 

the International Maritime 

Organisation on new measures 

to cut the seafarer death toll 

in enclosed spaces onboard ships. 

The Union has been pressing 

for action in response to the 

deaths of three seafarers in an 

enclosed space onboard the North 

Sea support vessel Viking Islay in 

September 2007. 

The issue was also raised at the 

Union’s BGM in May, when members 

backed a motion expressing 

concern at the continuing high 

number of fatalities in enclosed 

spaces and the lack of rules 

requiring the mandatory carriage 

of oxygen testing equipment. 

Nautilus took part in the last 

meeting of the IMO’s dangerous 

goods sub-committee, where 

secretary-general Efthimios 

Mitropoulos added his voice to 

the debate — expressing concern 

at the ‘avoidable’ accidents in 

enclosed spaces ‘which, according 

to accident statistics, remains one 

of the most common causes of 

seafarer deaths’. 

He spoke of ‘lack of knowledge 

of the dangers concerned, inadequate 

risk assessment, failure to 

use personal protective equipment 

or inadequate safety management 

systems’ and stressed 

the ‘urgent need’ to tackle the 

problems. 

The sub-committee backed 

proposals tabled by Bahamas calling 

for improved enclosed spaces 

training at nautical colleges, 

mandatory pre-entry drills and, 

by implication, the carriage of 

remote oxygen analysing equipment. 

The Bahamas paper expressed 

concern at the ‘unnecessary loss 

of life’ in confined spaces — at 

least 93 fatalities since 1997 — 

and pointed out that barely a 

quarter of these had taken place 

on tankers, despite the common 

belief that enclosed space entry 

is an issue only for the tanker 

industry. 

It argued that the problem 

could not be blamed on seafarers, 

but instead ‘highlights a failure in 

the safety system’ and the lack of 

proper training in enclosed space 

entry and rescue procedures. 

The Bahamas proposals — 

which include a change to SOLAS 

rules to require monthly enclosed 

had therefore decided not to make 

any recommendations targeting, for 

example, psychological testing of 

seafarers before voyages. 

However, the report stresses the 

importance of ‘appropriate’ bridge 

manning — noting that the OOW had 

allowed the lookout to leave the 

bridge to carry out cleaning work. 

It also points to the need for 

improved alarm management 

systems. ‘Simply structured alarms as 

used in the conventional watch alarm 

system and the echo sounder system 

tend to induce staff to switch them off, 

as was the case here, as such alarms 

are felt to be disturbing and 

troublesome,’ it adds. 

space entry drills — will now go 

before the IMO’s maritime safety 

committee, to be placed on the 

organisation’s work programme. 

The meeting was also presented 

with a paper from the 

Marine Accident Investigators’ 

International Forum, expressing 

concern at problems including 

lack of understanding of the dangers, 

inappropriate or unavailable 

personal protective equipment, 

and poor management oversight. 

Another paper, submitted by 

Sweden, also tabled proposed 

improvements to enclosed spaces 

procedures, and highlighted the 

risks posed by a range of oxygendepleting 

cargoes — including 

wood pellets. 

‘This is a welcome development,’ 

said senior national secretary 

Allan Graveson. ‘Such measures 

should bring about a cultural 

change, particularly on ships 

other than tankers where the 

majority of these deaths occur. 

‘However,’ he added, ‘it is disappointing 

that other flag states 

which have investigated such 

incidents have not sought to produce 

measures to deal with these 

very real safety problems.’ 

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Language 

problems 

blamed 

for bulker 

flooding 

Communication problems 

Aamongst a mixed nationality 

crew helped to contribute to an 

incident in which a bulk carrier’s 

engineroom was flooded during a 

ballast transfer operation, according 

to an investigation report. 

Twenty-two electric motors were 

damaged when the engineroom of 

the 46,194dwt Great Majesty was 

covered to a depth of around a metre 

above the bottom plates when some 

390 cu m of sea water flooded in 

from the ballast system while in Port 

Kembla, Australia, last October. 

The leak occurred because repair 

work was being carried out on the 

system and the chief mate was 

unaware that he should not have 

used two suction valves that had not 

been effectively isolated. When he 

remotely opened them, he 

connected an open pump casing to 

the main seawater line, leading to 

the flooding. 

A report from the Australian 

Transport Safety Bureau published 

last month states that the ballast 

operations procedure did not 

provide sufficient guidance for the 

chief mate to establish whether the 

system could be used in the way he 

intended. 

It also points to communication 

problems between the senior 

officers. The Indian master and 

Bangladeshi chief mate both had 

problems understanding the Chinese 

chief engineer’s English, 

investigators found. 

As a result, the chief engineer 

had failed to effectively or accurately 

communicate the status of the 

relevant ballast water pump and its 

associated valves. As the officers 

were aware of the language 

problems, they should have 

considered using ‘closed-loop’ or 

written communications to ensure 

accuracy and understanding, the 

report adds. 

It said that the ship’s work permit 

system had not been effectively 

implemented, and most repairs and 

maintenance carried out by the crew 

were without a work permit. 

CNautilus has voiced concern at proposed 

new laws to stub out smoking 

on UK merchant ships. 

Although the Union recognises the health 

case for curbing smoking at sea, it has warned 

the government that the planned regulations 

will set ‘a very dangerous precedent’ for health 

and safety legislation. 

Nautilus is alarmed because the government 

is proposing the limit the application of 

the legislation to UK and its territorial waters. 

In its response to the Department for 

Transport consultation, the Union points out 

that a recent suite of safety directives issued 

by the European Union was universally 

applied to UK ships anywhere in the world. 

‘Hazards to seafarers do not cease on leaving 

PAccident investigators 

have called for a coordinated 

clampdown on 

cargo securing arrangements 

onboard ferries using UK ports. 

The call comes in a Marine 

Accident Investigation Branch 

report on an incident in January 

when a road tanker crashed 

through the stern door of the 

high-speed service vessel Stena 

Voyager shortly after leaving the 

port of Stranraer. 

Investigations revealed that 

the securing arrangements for 

the 34-tonne articulated tanker 

were not in accordance with the 

vessel’s manual or applicable 

codes of practice. 

The driver had failed to apply 

his parking brakes or leave the 

tanker in gear and the vehicle was 

not lashed in accordance with 

national or international guidelines. 

Tests showed that while rubber 

wheel chocks were used, they 

could not have been correctly 

positioned, and subsequent 

analysis of the web lashings 

found that these had lost between 

43% to 65% of their residual 

strength as a result of wear and 

tear. 

As the HSS increased speed to 

27 knots and became trimmed by 

the stern, the lashings failed and 

the tanker — which was the last 

vehicle to be loaded onto the ferry 

— crashed through the stern 

door, with the semi-trailer coming 

to rest on a waterjet unit. 

The ferry was quickly stopped, 

and crew members managed to 

secure the tanker. Stena Voyager 

then returned to Stranraer, but 

the 156 passengers had to remain 

onboard overnight because the 

position of the tanker prevented 

the ferry from berthing stern to 

the linkspan. The passengers had 

to be disembarked by the fire 

service the following day using a 

telescopic rescue platform. 

The MAIB said neither the 

Stena Voyager’s deck securing 

points nor the vehicle’s ferry 

securing points, to which the 

lashings were attached, complied 

with relevant national and international 

codes of practice. The 

tanker should have been fitted 

with four securing rings on each 

side, but had only one pair at its 

forward end. 


Checks carried out by the 

MAIB after the incident found 

widespread shortcomings in the 

fitting of ferry securing rings on 

freight vehicles. Some 95% of 

semi-trailers inspected onboard 

the Stena Explorer failed to comply 

with ISO standards, more than 

50% had fewer securing rings 

than recommended by the IMO 

and 26% had no securing rings at 

all. 

Further inspections conducted 

in the port of Dover showed that 

more than half of the articulated 

HEALTH & SAFETY 

MAIB seeks crackdown 

on freight ferry lashing 

Investigators find widespread failure to comply with international cargo securing standards 

UK territorial waters,’ it stresses. General secretary 

Mark Dickinson described the limitation 

as ‘ludicrous’ and said it could create serious 

practical problems for seafarers and 

shipowners in seeking to comply with the regulations 

— especially on voyages where vessels 

are moving in and out of territorial waters. 

Nautilus also told the government that 

whilst it recognises that this is an important 

measure intended to protect against dangers 

associated with passive smoking, the regulations 

should reflect the fact that ships serve as 

a home for seafarers, as well as a place of work. 

It says the proposals fail to reflect the need 

for a designated smoking room on particular 

types of vessels carrying hazardous cargos 

where smoking may be prohibited in cabins 

A 34-tonne articulated road tanker hangs from the stern of the Stena Voyager in January Pictures: MAIB 

Nautilus raises concerns over 

loopholes in smoking laws 

both at sea and, in particular, while alongside 

oil or gas terminals. 

The Union also argues that the responsibilities 

for the control and the enforcement of 

the regulations should be with the ship owner 

or manager — and not with the ship master. 

The response to the consultation says that 

it is unacceptable that the regulations would 

make masters subject to punitive penalties – 

fines of up to £2,500 — and possible criminalisation 

for breaches of the law on their vessels. 

The Union also argues that rather than 

imposing fines of up to £200 on seafarers who 

break the rules, infringements would best be 

dealt with through internal disciplinary procedures. 

Simulator experts at South 

HTyneside College are carrying 

out a special study to test the impact 

of a new Forth River bridge on marine 

safety in the area. 

A team from the college, left, is 

working with Forth pilots to evaluate 

any effects on navigation of the 

proposed new bridge near Edinburgh. 

The work is being done for the firm 

Jacobs and Arup, which is designing 

the bridge for Transport Scotland. 

South Tyneside College have been 

freight vehicles awaiting shipment 

had no securing rings — 

including 57% of those declared 

as carrying dangerous goods. 

The MAIB did find one ferry in 

Portsmouth where all the semitrailers 

loaded onboard were fitted 

with securing rings. It said 

that the operator had implemented 

a strict inspection and 

reporting regime, but noted that 

most of the vehicles carried were 

regular customers and that there 

was no competition from other 

ferry companies on the route. 

In response to its findings, the 

MAIB recommended that the 

Vehicle & Operator Services 

Agency and the Maritime &Coastguard 

Agency should conduct a 

coordinated programme of 

inspections to identify freight 

vehicles that do not comply with 

IMO and MCA guidelines. 

It also urged the MCA to 

review the cargo securing manuals 

of all UK-flagged high-speed 

craft carrying freight vehicles and 

to survey all UK and foreign 

flagged freight ferries operating 

to UK ports to ensure that 

onboard practices and shipboard 

procedures are in line with cargo 

securing manuals and safety 

management systems. 

Tyneside tests new bridge 

given the task of creating a simulated 

model to assess the impact the new 

bridge may have on marine traffic 

and the effects on navigation around 

the bridges during and after 

construction. 

Forth Port pilot Neil Walker said: 

‘Work is due to begin in the next few 

years. Throughout the build the port 

will operate as normal, and the pilots 

need to know how to navigate 

though the port safely during the 

construction phase.’


INTERNATIONAL 

shortreports 

CREW REPATRIATED: four crew members 

stranded without pay in the French port of St Nazaire 

since July have been repatriated to Turkey after help 

from the International Transport Workers’ Federation. 

The ITF is also continuing to fight for the payment of 

wages owed to the crew of the cargoship Aspet. Eight 

other crew members have chosen to stay onboard the 

vessel until the owner pays a €100,000 bond to cover 

essential repairs and salaries. 

FRENCH TRAINING: the French National 

Assembly has voted to establish a single National 

Higher Maritime Academy to train merchant navy 

officers. The government plans to group the country’s 

current four academies at Le Havre, Nantes, Saint Malo 

and Marseilles into a single centralised establishment 

but the four sites will remain as part of the ENSM, which 

will come under the authority of the junior sea ministry. 

SEA STUDIES: most of France’s maritime 

professional high schools have reported higher 

registration for the three-year maritime baccalaureate 

(A level) following the latest reform of the maritime 

education system that came into effect this year. 

Women still make up fewer than 12% of the entrants 

and students from maritime families account for as 

much as 15% of the intake, depending on area. 

SNCM STOPPAGES: seafarers serving with the 

French Mediterranean ferry operator SNCM voted last 

month to end a six-day stoppage to protect pay and 

conditions. The unions had called for assurances on the 

pay and conditions of crew members working for a new 

freight-carrying subsidiary, which they fear could be a 

vehicle for the company to recruit seafarers from lowcost 

countries. 

JAMAICAN PLAN: Jamaica’s government has 

revealed plans to establish the Island as ‘a global 

shipping centre’ offering a world-class container transshipment 

port, cruise port facilities, an IMO-approved 

officer training facility, and ship management, broking, 

chartering, repair and specialist maritime services. 

STOWAWAYS SENT HOME: four Moroccan 

stowaways were discovered in Marseilles having 

travelled in a container from Casablanca. The 

stowaways were sent back to Morocco on the freighter 

Tanger, operated by the Compagnie Maritime 

Marocaine, that had carried them to France. 

PORTS CALL: the Organisation for Economic 

Cooperation and Development says that Europe’s port 

services sector should be opened up to greater 

competition. The Paris-based body said that while some 

EU ports have become efficient and competitive, others 

have lagged behind in their productivity. 

FERRY LAY-OFFS: the Swedish operator HH 

Ferries has announced plans to halve its 200-strong 

workforce — including 60 seafarers — following a 

slump in freight volumes on the service between 

Helsingor and Helsingborg, which it blamed on a newly 

constructed bridge. 

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Court clears officers 

on rescue charges 

UN refugee body says verdict upholds ‘basic principle of the sea’ 

PA ship master and chief 

officer have been cleared 

by an Italian court of 

aiding illegal migration after they 

rescued a boatload of African 

migrants in the Mediterranean. 

Humanitarian groups hailed 

the decision, saying any conviction 

would have amounted to 

criminalisation of the internationally-enshrined 

duty to rescue 

people from danger at sea. 

Captain Stefan Schmidt and 

first officer Vladimir Daschkewitsch, 

together with Elias 

Bierdel, president of the Cap Anamur 

relief group, were accused of 

aiding illegal immigration for 

picking up 37 African migrants 

from a drifting boat that was in 

danger of sinking in 2004. 

If convicted, they would have 

faced up to four years in prison 

and fines of as much as 

€400,000. 

After the refugees were taken 

onboard, Italian authorities 

refused to allow the Cap Anamur 

vessel to berth for three weeks 

before finally allowing it to enter 

a port in Sicily. Italy had argued 

that the migrants should have 

been disembarked in Malta, since 

they were rescued in Maltese territorial 

waters. 

The Italians also claimed hat 

the responsibility for their care 

rested with Germany, becauuse 

the Cap Anamur was a Germanregistered 

vessel. 

The UN High Commissioner 

for Refugees welcomed the verdict. 

‘The decision of the court was 

positive and it was a relief for us, 

by Jeff Apter 

A crucial court case has opened 

Hin Paris to determine 

responsibilities for the massive 

pollution caused by the sinking of the 

flag of convenience tanker Erika in 

December 1999. 

The trial — which is expected to 

last six weeks— sees the French oil 

company Total, the Italian 

classification society Rina and the 

Erika’s owner and manager appeal 

against a 2008 court ruling that they 

bore responsibilities for the loss of the 

ship and the clean-up costs involved. 

The Erika lost two-thirds of the 

30,884 tonnes of heavy oil it was 

carrying when it sank off the French 

Atlantic coast, fouling 400km of 

beaches and oiling an estimated 

150,000 birds. 

During the 2008 trial, Total and 

Capt Stefan Schmidt celebrates his acquittal with members of his legal team Picture: Daniele La Monaca/Reuters 

and for those who work at sea, it’s 

an encouragement to save 

human lives, no matter what their 

judicial status is,’ spokeswoman 

Laura Boldrini told The Telegraph. 

‘Rescue at sea does not mean 

going to jail,’ she added. ‘Those 

who do their duty, and rescue at 

sea, must not be punished.’ 

Ms Boldrini said the UNHCR 

two subsidiaries, along with Rina, the 

ship’s owner Giuseppe Savarese and 

its manager, Antonio Pollara, were 

each fined €75,000 — the maximum 

then possible under the law. 

The court also ordered the 

defendants to pay a total of €192m in 

damages to civil claimants, including 

€154m to the state. 

Erika’s master, the rescue teams 

and Total’s two subsidiaries were 

cleared of responsibility — but the 

prosecutor appealed against the 

acquittal of the companies while 

Total, Rina, Mr Savarese and Mr 

Pollara have also appealed against 

their convictions. 

The 2008 judgement strongly 

endorsed the argument that oil 

companies should be held 

responsible for the state of the 

tankers they use to ship their products 

— but Total maintains the vessel’s 

had recently dealt with a case in 

which 75 people died onboard a 

drifting vessel in the Mediterranean 

last month, which had 

been passed by around a dozen 

other vessels. 

She said there was a ‘vacuum’ 

in maritime policies and urged 

EU governments to put an agreement 

in place to prevent ‘ping 

corrosion was not disclosed to it and 

argues that, as the charterer, it 

cannot be held responsible for the 

failings of the classification society 

that had approved the defective 

tanker. 

Rina is pleading for immunity 

from conviction, as it did on the 

opening day of the original trial in 

February 2007. 

The classification society said that 

Malta, as the flag state, had chosen 

Rina to carry out what amounted to a 

mission of ‘public service, public duty’. 

Malta had not been a defendant and 

neither should the company be, it 

argued. 

Giuseppe Savarese, Erika’s 

operator, said the tanker’s age did not 

necessarily mean greater risks — 

something that the civil appellants’ 

barrister called ‘a hymn to old 

tonnage’. 

pong’ between countries when 

ships seek to disembark people 

who have been rescued at sea. 

Capt Schmidt told reporters: 

‘This verdict is important for all 

those who do good. My only 

regret is that with the money we 

have spent fighting this case for 

five years we could have been 

helping people.’ 

New legal hearing on 

Erika responsibilities 

Ranged against Total and its codefendants 

are dozens of plaintiffs — 

many of them local communities — 

who are seeking higher 

compensation than they were 

awarded in the 2008 judgement. 

French shipowners’ association 

AdF — which had welcomed the 

outcome of the original trial, 

including the conviction of the 

operator — said it did not understand 

why there was an appeal: ‘All the 

victims have received compensation, 

the guilty parties have paid their fines 

and the ecological damage has been 

repaired.’ 

However, the case is being closely 

watched by the shipping industry, 

because it has potentially huge 

implications in determining who is 

responsible — and financially 

accountable — for maritime pollution 

incidents.


INTERNATIONAL 

US Coast Guard gets tough with ports 

that prevent seafarers’ shore leave 

CThe US Coast Guard has warned port operators 

that it will reject their security plans 

unless they take steps to ensure that visiting 

seafarers get the chance to have shore leave. 

In a directive sent to USCG port captains, Coast 

Guard Commandant Thad Allen expressed concern 

at continuing reports of cases in which seafarers 

have run into problems in getting ashore or 

carrying out crew changes. 

He warned that there are some ports where 

seafarers have been unable to leave their ships 

because of the high costs involved in securing 

authorised escorts. 

Following a legal review, the USCG says it has 

established that it has the authority to require 

ports regulated under the Maritime Transport 

Security Act to ‘provide reasonable access to 

seafarers’. 

It wants port captains to check terminal 

security plans to ensure that they contain details 

of how crew changes will be carried out, and that 

shore leave and visits by union and welfare 

organisation representatives will be enabled. 

In a significant shift away from the previous 

hardline US approach to shore leave, the directive 

warned that any plan that ‘does not positively 

Flagship ‘rests’ 

In a surprise move, the French 

Hwestern Channel operator 

Brittany Ferries will this month ‘rest’ 

its new flagship Amorique — pictured 

left — ‘provisionally for several 

months’. 

The ferry, which entered service at 

the beginning of this year between 

Plymouth and Roscoff, will first 

undergo a programmed technical layup 

before being moored in a port, 

probably Le Havre. 

The company said it could not 

justify operating such a high-capacity 

vessel when the normal seasonal fall 

in passenger traffic had been 

aggravated by the economic 

downturn. Picture: Eric Houri 

SeaFrance crews stage new strike in restructuring row 

Seafarers serving with the 

Across-Channel operator 

SeaFrance staged a one-day strike 

last month in the latest stage of a 

battle to resist cost-cutting plans for 

redundancies and fleet reductions. 

The majority CFDT union 

representing ratings remains 

opposed to plans to reduce the 

current 1,600-strong workforce by 

more than 500, and organised the 

stoppage in protest at the company’s 

‘inflexibility’ and in a bid to end 

months of deadlock in talks on the 

‘recovery plan’. 

Seafarers say the cuts are far in 

excess of what is needed to return 

the company to profit and accused 

the firm of using the threat of 

redundancy as a form of blackmail. 

They have called for the French 

government to appoint a mediator 

to explore an independent solution 

to the dispute. 

As the Telegraph went to press, a 

crucial meeting between 

management and unions was due to 

take place in a special session of the 

official SeaFrance works council — 

the second in a fortnight. 

The deadline for a decision on the 

SeaFrance plan — which would also 

see the company’s fleet cut from five 

ships to three — was extended by a 

fortnight in a bid to secure 

agreement of all the unions. 

Danish unions protest 

over Maersk cutbacks 

Socialist MP says government green light to officer job losses is a scandal 

by Andrew Draper 

PDanish unions are reeling 

after AP Moller-Maersk 

announced cost-cutting 

plans to replace 170 junior Danish 

officers with Asian nationals. 

The Danish navigators’ and 

engineers’ unions have been 

meeting management to clarify 

and negotiate the terms of the job 

losses. They are fighting any compulsory 

job cuts. 

Maersk said the early retirement 

and redundancy package 

was aimed at officers (excluding 

captains and chief engineers) 

wanting to switch from sea to a 

land-based job. 

Navigators’ union SL has urged 

the company to redeploy the 170 

seastaff to other parts of the 

group. It also asked the Danish 

Shipowners’ Association to help 

find them alternative jobs. 

Danish Maersk cadets staged a protest against the cutbacks last month 

Maersk has around 2,200 non- Dane onboard — even though the 

Danish officers on its ships, out government-backed register 

of a total of some 3,000, and says 

it sees no difference in their quality 

based on nationality. ‘We don’t 

think we’ll miss anything once 

the Danish officers disappear,’ 

Henrik Sloth, vice-president of 

offers generous tax breaks for 

owners. They get to keep the theoretical 

tax element of employees’ 

salaries. 

Union president Peer Bøje 

Brandenborg commented: ‘The 

crewing at APM, was quoted as Danish owners and Danish 

saying. 

SL estimates there are already 

50 vessels operating under the 

Danish International Ship register, 

DIS, that do not have a single 

Shipowners’ Association must 

now show that they are worth all 

the tax rebates and favourable 

framework conditions. 

‘Denmark’s focus on shipping 

with really good framework conditions 

also obliges the owners to 

deliver Danish jobs,’ he stressed. ‘ 

If they can’t do that in practice, 

then the matter will have to be 

taken up at a political level.’ 

Socialist Danish MP Ole Sohn 

has already tabled a question to 

business minister Lene Espersen 

asking what it costs the taxpayer 

to finance the DIS. 

Mr Sohn — himself an ex-merchant 

navy man — has criticised 

the government’s acceptance of 

Maersk’s plans as a ‘scandal’, saying 

favourable treatment under 

DIS should entail responsibility 

towards society. 

Mr Sohn is also asking for 

information on the cost of educating 

Danish officers. 

The CO-Søfart combined 

union body says there have only 

ever been guesses before at what 

shipowners receive in subsidies. 

address this requirement should be returned to 

the submitter for further development before 

approval can be granted’. 

Coast Guard officers should report any ports or 

terminals that continue to deny access to 

seafarers, charge exorbitant fees, greatly limit the 

hours of access or impose ‘overly restrictive 

policies that discourage or refuse access’. 

Tim Brown, president of the US Masters’ Mates 

& Pilots union welcomed the ‘new direction’ taken 

by the USCG. ‘This could be a major step forward in 

the relationship between the Coast Guard and the 

seagoing maritime community,’ he added. 

shortreports 

BUDGET BOXES: a new Danish-based company is 

planning to establish a low-cost container shipping line, 

modelled on airlines such as easyJet. The ‘strippeddown’ 

service is being set up by former Maersk and CMA 

CGM senior executive Franck Kayser and Norwegian 

shipbrokers Boxton Maritime. Norwegian shipping 

magnate John Fredriksen is also reported to have 

confirmed his involvement in talks on the proposed new 

service, which will go under the name of The 

Containership Company. 

CUTS RESISTED: leading European Union 

shipping nations — understood to be led by Greece and 

supported by Malta and Cyprus — have expressed 

opposition to the EU’s proposed 20% reduction in 

carbon dioxide emissions for shipping as part of its 

contribution to combating climate change. The 

countries involved told Sweden, which holds the EU 

presidency until the end of the year, that the target was 

set too high against 2005 levels. 

DEBT BATTLE: following years of growth, the 

French firm CMA CGM — the world’s third ranking 

containership operator — is facing major financial 

problems as a result of the slump in seaborne trade and 

is seeking to restructure its businesses. The Marseillesbased 

operator has set up a committee to find solutions 

to its debt, estimated at €5bn, and has warned that 

workforce reductions may be necessary. 

BREAKING CALL: decent ships can become a 

‘rustbucket’ within a year, a leading French owner has 

warned. In an interview with the maritime journal Le 

Marin, Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, boss of the Channel ferry 

operator LD Lines, called for a system to eliminate the 

oldest tonnage — including effective ship inspections to 

exclude high-risk vessels. 

HAPAG-LLOYD AID: the German container 

shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is to receive direct state 

aid after the country’s government agreed to guarantee 

some €1.2bn in bank loans for the Hamburg-based 

operator. Shareholders have also agreed to inject some 

€750m of fresh capital into the company in a bid to 

avoid its collapse. 

YARDS ALARM: European shipbuilders have 

voiced ‘major concern’ at the slump in the size of their 

orderbooks. The Community of European Shipyards’ 

Associations, which represents almost 100% of the 

continent’s facilities, warned that at current order levels 

some yards may have to halt production in 2011. 

SWEDISH PRESSURE: Swedish seafarers have 

welcomed calls from the country’s opposition Social 

Democrats for their government to set up a tonnage tax 

system. The SEKO union said there was now broad 

political support for the measure, and the government 

was ‘entirely isolated’ in its failure to act. 

WATER PLAN: the French port of Le Havre has 

revealed a €200m project to boost waterborne freight 

by linking into the French inland waterway system via 

the existing Tancarville canal and the River Seine. 

HOTA, one of this Country’s leading 

MCA Approved Maritime Training Providers 

based in Hull, East Yorkshire will be running the 

5 Day MCA Approved Training Course in 

Electronic Chart Display & Information Systems 

(ECDIS) 

in conjunction with ECDIS Ltd starting in November 2009 

This is the full IMO model course 1.27 

Dates now available for all short STCW95 courses for 2010 

For further information please contact: Karen Shepherd 

Tel: 01482 820567 

Fax: 01482 823202 

Email: karen@hota.org 

Website: www.hota.org


YOUR LETTERS 

What’s on your mind? 

Tell your colleagues in Nautilus International – and the wider world of shipping. Keep your letter to a 

maximum 300 words if you can – though longer contributions will be considered. Use a pen name or just 

your membership number if you don’t want to be identified – say so in an accompanying note – but you 

must let the Telegraph have your name, address and membership number. 

Send your letter to the Editor, Telegraph, Nautilus International, 750-760 High Road, Leytonstone, 

London E11 3BB, or use head office fax +44 (0)20 8530 1015, or email telegraph@nautilusint.org 

[ STAR LETTER 

We will pay for wage cuts 

Has the Nautilus membership thought 

through the implications of the motion 

regarding the International Maritime 

Employers’ Committee proposals for a 

10% cut in FoC wages? 

How can any of our members be 

supportive of anything put out by the 

IMEC? If members of this gouging and 

exploitative organisation are able to 

secure an agreement to cut wages of 

seafarers, this is a cartel action. This 

should be, and may be, illegal and is 

certainly immoral. Many seafarers 

working on FoC ships are already horribly 

exploited, with long voyages, unreliable 

conditions and uncertain payment 

regimes. 

The shipping business has always been 

governed by the most harsh free market 

forces: freights, price of steel, cost of 

slipway time, price of fuel and demand for 

services. 

Seafarers’ wages or lay-offs have been 

abundant when freights were low and 

A brush 

with 

success! 

Congratulations to Nautilus 

member Angelo Bayada 

— winner of last month’s 

competition to find the best 

caption for the Ocean Village 

photograph of Basil Brush on 

the bridge. 

His entry: ‘Cap’n! We’ve 

dropped the hook on a 

Yes 

46% 

ship scrappage or ship lay-ups common. 

Now shipowners who have enjoyed the 

highest freights on record for years are 

seeking to squeeze the seafarer. They 

will have spent their increased bonuses 

and emoluments, the brokers have had a 

heyday. 

All the leech industries have sucked the 

host dry and now the seafarers — but only 

the so-called national flag seafarers — 

want to see their colleagues, unfortunate 

enough to have to work on FoC vessels, 

take a cut. 

I am actually pretty disgusted 

because I left the national flag during 

the 1969-1970 reorganisation when 

containerisation reduced the national 

fleet to around 20%. Remuneration to the 

officers went up by the rate of inflation 

and the European seamen were pushed 

out of the business bit by bit. Many of my 

contemporaries, trained to the highest 

standards by Blue Flue, P&O, NZS, Shell 

and BP (and a host of others), were obliged 

munitions dump! Boom, 

boom!’ 

Runner-up was Mike Owen, 

whose entry was: What did 

the cannon say to the pirate? 

Answer: ‘BOOM, BOOM!’ 

Boom, boom! 

Have your say online 

Last month we asked: is the shipping industry 

doing enough to cut exhaust emissions? 

No 

54% 

This month’s poll asks: Does the Maersk 

flag-out spell the end of the UK and Dutch fleet 

revival? Please give us your views online, 

at nautilusint.org 

to flag out or go home. The readjustment 

was inevitable but salutary. 

So what’s behind this FoC business? 

The owners want to be free to move assets 

wherever they pay less tax, pick up crews 

wherever they find them, but not pay the 

competitive wage. Wage bargaining is the 

business of the unions and this is 

another example of them flopping over 

in front of the owners by even posing this 

question in this non-representative form. 

It looks very much like a ‘softening up’ 

process. 

I only hope the Filipino, Indian, and 

Chinese wage negotiators have a bit more 

courage. The quality of FoC captains, 

chiefs, officers and hands is high and the 

shipowners need them — so let them pay 

the going rate. 

If the freight market is poor, let the 

wages fall to a natural level (each owner 

making his individual commercial 

decision about what to offer and who to 

keep or send home) and when the market 

is high again let them rise to attract the 

best. 

The owners created the shortage by 

negligence towards training. FoC officers 

very often have to pay for training out of 

wages. 

We white men do not have a superior 

right. We are common seafarers with or 

without tickets, we must compete on a 

level field. This way the owners may start 

to do some of the right things and not 

try to impose a cartel both immoral, and 

possibly by UN/ ILO rules illegal. Rejoice 

in free enterprise for all. 

Please don’t expect owners to respect 

any informal quid pro quo to wage 

negotiators, nor to their fellow members 

once the competition starts again. 

Remember: every wage cut to a fellow 

seafarer raises the potential for low-cost 

competition for your job. 

ROBERT OGDEN 

mem no 102115 

Shipmates 

Looking to get in contact 

with a colleague from 

way back when? 

Members should visit 

www.nautilusint.org/ 

Time-Out and click on 

Shipmates Reunited 

Duty raids worthwhile? 

You may be already aware of this, but 

for your interest I attach an article 

from Torbay’s local newspaper — the 

Herald Express. 

Headlined, ‘Tankers in duty-free 

swoop’ it tells how supertankers 

anchored off Tor Bay for the past few 

months waiting for the price of oil to 

rise were boarded by UK government 

officers. 

The 200 crew members have 

brought a big boost to the Bay’s 

economy, the report states, but last 

week their long stay came to the 

attention of the Borders Agency, 

Challenge for 

fitness award 

At the Physical Initiative this year we were able to 

respond to what many crews were looking for, 

apart from a pay rise a physical challenge that 

pushed them in to doing some regular and 

valuable exercise when they were at sea. 

So at the beginning of August we launched the 

Seafarers’ Challenge, which does just that. There 

are several activities that involve the use of some 

basic exercise equipment that many ships will 

have, and for those that don’t there are other 

exercise challenges that can be carried out without 

any equipment. 

Not only can the seafarer compete against his/ 

her shipmates, but we have designed a website to 

allow everyone taking part to see how they are 

doing in relation to other ships and other 

companies who are taking part. 

The activities that register points are: treadmill 

running, exercise biking, rowing, deck walking, 

stair climbing, push ups and sit ups. Crews are 

asked to send us photos of their ship and their top 

man/woman for each month, and these are 

published on our website at www.physicalinitiative. 

co.uk under the Seafarers Challenge tab (Team 

UBUD are seen here posing after putting in some 

whose officers were not happy that 

the crews continued to pay duty-free 

prices for their bonded stores while 

being in British waters for so long. 

‘They are believed to have 

boarded the tankers and sealed the 

bonded stores, leaving the crews to 

pay full prices from the mainland,’ 

the report states. ‘It is thought the 

stores will remain sealed until the 

tankers leave British waters.’ 

Bearing in mind that none of 

these ships are British registered, 

and are no doubt manned by low 

paid crews, I have two questions to 

ask about this article: 

1) Was this exercise a worthwhile use 

of taxpayers’ money? 

2) Is this yet another example of 

seafarers still being treated as 

second-class people? 

Does this now mean that we can 

now no longer feel superior when we 

complain about the attitude of 

Immigration Officers in the USA 

towards British seafarers? 

ROBERT KNIGHT 

(Retired Shipmaster) 

mem no 145558 

useful scores!) 

The aim of the competition is to gain points by 

the number of minutes spent doing the exercises 

in blocks of five, 10 or 15 minutes, or more for those 

really going for it! 

So far we have ships competing from Maersk, 

BW Shipping, North Star and Golden Bay, but we 

need more crews to take part. If enough ships join 

the Challenge we hope to provide a reward weekend 

for those who have done the best over the year (the 

competition runs from Aug 2009 to Jul 2010). 

You can download posters and scoring charts 

from our website easily, and then email us the 

results every month and we will do the rest. 

Take the initiative — do the Challenge! 

ANDREW NEIGHBOUR 

Director, The Physical Initiative Ltd 

Best source 

on SD14s 

Not being a member, but always able 

to read a copy of your interesting 

publication, the following article really 

interested me. 

This was in the August issue, Off 

watch/Ships of the past by Trevor 

Boult, which was an article on SD14s. 

I have always had an interest in this 

class of vessel and have an almost 

complete history list of all vessels built. 

I am also in possession of a book 

by John Lingwood, called SD14, The 

Complete Story. This is excellent for 

the history buffs and, if still available, 

should be a must for followers of this 

class. 

Once again many thanks for a 

great publication. 

IAN TEMLETT 

Debate! 

Have something to talk 

about with others at sea? 

Members can take part in 

our seafarers’ discussion 

forum. Visit www. 

nautilusint.org/Time-Out 

and click on Debate 

Well done to 

Nautilus 

Having just read the September 

Telegraph, I felt that praise was due. 

Although long retired, I still find the 

Telegraph a wonderful read. 

May I, through your letters column, 

thank and offer congratulations to 

newly-elected Council member Clive 

Evans, for the nice words and also 

congratulate Nautilus International, 

their officials and committee on the 

continuing achievements in 

advancing ETO training. 

May I also take this opportunity to 

congratulate Mark Dickinson and Paul 

Moloney for their ‘promotion’, wishing 

Brian Orrell a long and happy retirement. 

This would apply to Peter McEwen, but I 

understand he is remaining at work 

looking after my pension! 

On a sad note, I must add my 

condolences on the passing of Eric 

Nevin and John Newman, who along 

with Brian provided so much help 

during my years on Council, while 

promoting the cause of the ETO. 

Thank you, and bon voyage to all 

who know me. 

ROD CLAYBURN 

mem no 120330 

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yal Alfred 6 x 2.indd 1 20/2/09 14:17:46 


YOUR LETTERS 

Cadets’ pay is 

a bit of a joke 

What is really giving me some 

concern at the present time is the 

level of pay I and the other cadets 

receive from for the company 

sponsoring us. 

What I would really like to 

know is how the tonnage tax 

allowance scheme set by the 

government works. I have heard 

that the government pays 

sponsoring companies £15,000 a 

year to take on British cadets and 

that this £15,000 is to be passed 

onto the cadet. 

I have also heard that the 

government grants companies 

tax allowances of up to £15,000 a 

year per cadet and that it is up to 

the individual companies how 

much of this allowance they pass 

onto the cadet. 

I and my colleagues have just 

started at Warsash. When we were 

informed how much the 

accommodation is costing it 

came as one hell of a shock. Once 

the cost of accommodation is 

deducted from my monthly 

allowance, I have £55 a week to 

pay for everything else — ie food, 

transport, electricity, college 

equipment, and all of life’s 

unforeseen costs. 

I don’t believe I lead a lavish 

lifestyle, but this sum is a bit of a 

joke. If we were working and 

earning this amount in wages no 

doubt we would be able to claim 

benefits to increase the take-home 

pay. Depending upon the answer 

to my question above, surely the 

government — who I believe set 

the terms and conditions for the 

scheme — could step in and do 

something about it? 

NAME & NO SUPPLIED 

SENIOR NATIONAL SECRETARY 

ALLAN GRAVESON COMMENTS: 

SMarT funding is designed to 

encourage companies to recruit 

and train officer trainees (cadets). 

Funding is currently worth in 

excess of £17,000 for a three-year 

cadetship. It costs an average of 

around £42,000 to train a UK 

officer. For companies who 

choose to be in the tonnage tax 

scheme, the difference is made 

good with tax allowances. 

THE VIEW FROM MUIRHEAD 

Work at sea has 

become slavery 

telegraph 

STAFF 

editor: Andrew Linington 

production editor: June Cattini 

reporters: Mike Gerber 

Sarah Robinson 

web editor: Matthew Louw 

ADVERTISING 

Century One Publishing Ltd 

Arquen House, 4-6 Spicer Street 

St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 4PQ 

Sales: Oliver Kirkman 

tel: +44 (0)1727 739 184 

fax: +44 (0)1727 893 895 

email: 

ollie@centuryonepublishing.ltd.uk 

website: 

www.centuryonepublishing.ltd.uk 

Although the Telegraph exercises 

care and caution before accepting 

advertisements, readers are advised 

to take appropriate professional 

advice before entering into any 

commitments such as investments 

(including pension plans). Publication 

of an advertisement does not imply any 

form of recommendation and Nautilus 

International cannot accept any liability 

for the quality of goods and services 

offered in advertisements. Organisations 

offering financial services or insurance 

are governed by regulatory authorities 

and problems with such services should 

be taken up with the appropriate body. 

Incorporating the merchant 

navy journal and ships 

telegraph 

ISSN 0040 2575 

Published by Nautilus 

International 

Printed by College Hill Press Limited 

37 Webber Street, London SE1 8QW. 

We’re now on 

Facebook. 

Become a fan 

Visit 

www. 

nautilusint.org 

Follow us on 

Twitter 

THE ROYAL ALFRED 

SEAFARERS’ SOCIETY 

BELVEDERE HOUSE provides 

quality nursing care, residential 

and sheltered accommodation 

primarily for Seafarers and their 

dependants offering modern en 

suite rooms and sheltered flats 

set in 14 acres of lovely Surrey 

countryside. For further 

information, please contact the 

I am a plain seafarer — a captain, 

merchant one. I was not gifted 

from the maker to be an EU state’s 

citizen or language-bearer, so I 

hope to be forgiven for mistakes, 

languages and stylistic. But as an 

active seafarer who has sailed the 

seas more than 40 years, I have 

seen things and have much to say. 

Having read the Telegraph 

carefully, two sorts of articles 

have attracted my attention — 

piracy and fatigue — as a source 

of high risk and danger. 

As to piracy, do we need arms 

on the vessels? Yes, we do! I’m 

working within the area where 

the pirate threat exists and if you, 

as a pirate, have even a suspicion 

that the crew may have a 

shooting item you will probably 

say to yourself easy money is a 

good thing, but it’s not worth my 

own life. 

A good deal of us were in 

military service before, and some 

still belong to hunters’ clubs, so it 

is wrong to say we are fully 

ignorant in handling a weapon. 

Two or three AK47s or M-16s, 

self-loading Enfield or Heckler & 

Koch, simple and robust, and 

personal pistols for the officers to 

be stowed and secured in steel 

Chief Executive, Commander 

Brian Boxall-Hunt OBE, 

Head Office, Weston Acres, 

Woodmansterne Lane, Banstead, 

Surrey SM7 3HA. 

Tel: 01737 353763 

www.royalalfredseafarers.com 

Reg Charity No 209776 Est 1865 

box in the captain’s cabin until 

the clock strikes will be a good 

assistance for seafarers. Much 

more useful than the ISPS bulky 

folder, which may be best tossed 

into the muzzle of attackers or 

beating stupid heads of shorebased 

theoreticians. 

As to the second problem, 

fatigue, the articles were warm, 

kind and full of regret for the 

poor seafarers, and some with the 

declaration to make scientific 

explorations. But why, I ask, did 

no one did not put a question 

about working hours? 

Let us cast a glance on a 

common coaster, many of which 

cross European waters — from 

Antverpen to Bilbao for instance. 

What we can see? Six or 

sometimes five crew members, 

exhausted by the heavy weather, 

by the overnight washing of the 

holds, movable bulkheads, 

maintenance work, 

watchkeeping and ISPS, finally 

entering the port and thankful 

that the vessel is alongside. So, we 

start to rest. Loading takes a few 

hours only with all hands on deck 

for ropes and windlasses (six 

ropes minimum, as per harbour 

rules). 

At the same time, the 

bunkering is in progress, victuals, 

water receiving, garbage disposal, 

PSC, FSC, customs, owner’s audit, 

stores supply — need I say more? 

Yes! Administration! A huge heap 

of paper, countless checklists as a 

fig-leaf to cover the known spot, 

plus service to equipment, expiry 

date of documents prolonging 

and hundreds of other urgent 

works. 

Let me see someone, who has 

enough of shamelessness to say it 

is your time, lad, have a rest! And 

the same for all of us! Rest hours 

on paper look nice! Watch 

schedule — six after six, and in 

darkness I, as a captain, have to 

suck from my finger a lookout. 

And we all lie — yes, we kept an AB 

for lookout. It is not a secret and 

all parties — owners, operators, 

and port authorities know it. 

Know it, but do nothing to change 

the situation. 

Minimum safe manning is 

acceptable only for a very short 

A service for seafarers and their families 

FREE, FAST & CONFIDENTIAL 

period when there is an 

unexpected shortage of crew 

(due to illness, death or so on) for 

two or three days, for instance — 

but not for the constant handling 

of the craft. 

If we really wish to diminish 

danger and stop the seafarers’ 

torture, an eight-hour working 

day or three full watching shifts 

(two plus two plus two) should be 

implemented. Ships with less 

than nine crew members should 

be prohibited to sail for trips 

exceeding three days. This should 

be strongly controlled by the 

state authority and in case of a 

breach of this rule, the owner and 

operator should get a sensible 

penalty. 

It is time to leave aside any 

sort of hypocrisy and lies and say 

loudly that work at sea has 

become drudgery — slave labour, 

though well paid. And a shameful 

spot on the face of the modern 

civilisation. 

YURIY B 

Master Mariner 

Russia 

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Seafarers.indd 1 19/9/08 08:31:11


YOUR LETTERS 

Members do not 

need to fear MCA 

I was disappointed to open this 

month’s Telegraph and read the 

heavily skewed article on the 

perceived criminalisation of the 

seafarer, and particularly the 

references to the MCA’s 

Enforcement Unit. It implies that 

seafarers are routinely treated as 

criminals in the UK, which is not 

the case, and featuring a picture 

of the US Coast Guard 

handcuffing someone sets up a 

wildly misleading angle: we don’t 

handcuff anyone. You have gone 

a long way to make your 

members feel like criminals. 

The article is full of innuendo, 

eg ‘Seafarers should not face the 

prospect of incarceration for 

errors of judgement or as a result 

of the actions of others on board 

their vessel’, as if they routinely 

do so. As the record shows, it is 

very rare that a seafarer is sent to 

jail in the UK for an offence under 

the Merchant Shipping Act, other 

than for excess alcohol while in 

command of a vessel. The 

Enforcement Unit will 

investigate negligent decisions, 

but it is not concerned with 

errors of judgement. 

With respect to other criminal 

offences committed aboard ship, 

then it is obvious that seafarers 

should be treated exactly like any 

other member of the public. 

Certainly the Unit investigates 

thoroughly; we say publicly that 

it is ‘…[the] MCA’s policy to 

primarily prosecute owners and 

managers of vessels and only to 

prosecute individual ship’s 

officers where they are 

personally culpable’. The Agency 

has never prosecuted a seafarer 

who was not suspected of being 

personally culpable, while the 

tone of the article suggests just 

the reverse. You also refer to 

imprisonment of seafarers for 

pollution offences when the MCA 

has never prosecuted a seafarer 

Disappointed: MCA chief executive Peter Cardy 

for pollution, only owners. 

There are many minor 

breaches of MS legislation each 

year, which are dealt with 

through non-judicial means by 

the MCA’s local Marine Offices. 

The Enforcement Unit only looks 

at potentially significant 

breaches of which we see about 

120 a year, of which only 10 to 15% 

result in prosecution. 

Unfortunately your article 

mixes up innocent witnesses and 

those suspected of significant 

breaches, and there is a huge 

difference. If you witness an 

incident ashore your statement 

to the police is given voluntarily, 

but as a witness you would not be 

cautioned, require legal advice, 

need to notify your union etc. It is 

no different for seafarers. 

Suspects are entitled to nominate 

another person to be present, but 

witnesses are not because they 

have done nothing wrong. 

If however a seafarer is 

suspected of breaching the law, 

then for their own protection all 

the safeguards of the Police and 

Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 

would come into effect. This is a 

formal process, including the 

caution, but it needs to be 

because it is essential that a 

Marine Simulation 

suspect fully understands both 

the caution and their rights. 

Among these is the right to legal 

advice, and I am glad that 

Nautilus advises against using 

the company’s lawyer, because of 

the potential conflict of interests. 

Our investigating officers will 

always advise those interviewed 

this way to get separate legal 

advice and to contact their union 

if they are a member. 

Of course we recognise 

seafarers may be shocked and 

feel vulnerable after an incident. 

We have to be very careful of this 

aspect. If it is shown that 

someone interviewed under 

PACE was not in a fit state to give 

evidence and was not offered rest 

breaks, for example, then UK 

courts would not accept the 

evidence. There is no point in our 

interviewing a person who is not 

ready to be interviewed. 

Officers of the Enforcement 

Unit are not trained to be 

aggressive, but they are trained 

to be formal. Their remit is the 

need to get to the root of what has 

happened so that appropriate 

action is taken against the 

company or individuals. The 

article seems to hint at ways to 

frustrate an investigation by the 

Our bridge, engineroom and VTS simulators offer a wide range 

of training opportunities that include technical, operational and 

behavioural training at all levels. 

The excellent resources provide ideal facilities for skills assessment, consultancy and research. 

The extensive training provision delivers STCW 95 courses in engineering, navigation aids and 

radar, approved by the MCA, and VTS courses to IALA standards. 

Courses can be arranged to meet specific customer requirements. 

For further information, 

Tel: +44 (0)191 427 3772 E-mail: marine@stc.ac.uk Web: www.stc.ac.uk/marine 

South Tyneside College , St. George’s Avenue, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE34 6ET 

regulatory authorities. It would 

not help to maintain the UK as 

one of the world’s four top 

shipping administrations if we 

were to appear to be powerless in 

dealing with miscreants. 

I hope members of the 

Enforcement Unit will be able to 

attend the planned seminar in 

Warsash next month and I know 

they will be looking forward to 

meeting concerned individuals, 

to further allay any fears they 

may have. 

PETER CARDY 

Chief Executive 

Maritime & Coastguard Agency 

General secretary 

MARK DICKINSON responds: 

our article, and the seminar at 

Warsash this month, both seek to 

address the considerable concern 

about the criminalisation of the 

maritime profession and, 

specifically, the very important 

differences in the UK regime 

between the MAIB and the MCA 

investigations. There is 

absolutely no intention of 

seeking to ‘frustrate an 

investigation by the regulatory 

authorities’ — but rather to 

ensure that members are aware 

of their rights and of the 

potential consequences of 

interviews with the MAIB and 

MCA. The feature set the UK 

position within the context of an 

international industry in which 

both owners and unions are 

united on the need for seafarers 

to be treated fairly following 

accidents, and reflected the 

concerns that were raised by 

members in an extensive debate 

at the Nautilus BGM earlier this 

year. 

Dr Owen Murphy 

Sad to see the loss the NVQ 

training path for the MN 

I have just heard that National Vocational Qualifications 

(NVQ ) for Marine Vessel Operations are going to cease at 

the end of September, so anyone reading this and hoping 

to enrol for an NVQ is now too late! 

It was going to finish in the New Year, but apparently 

someone has decided to bring forward the date without 

informing anyone. I also hear that both a college in the 

north and one in the south are refusing to complete 

assessments for students who are presently on their 

books doing an NVQ qualification. This would seem very 

unfair if they cannot complete and get a qualification they 

have enrolled for. 

The fact that the NVQ has been scrapped will 

disadvantage many seafarers who want to advance 

themselves in the industry. It was ideal for people 

advancing from rating to officer as its flexible nature 

meant that they could work on the NVQ at sea and whilst 

on their leaves. Now they will have to do an HND, for 

which they may not be academically qualified or be 

unable to afford the time away from sea to undertake this 

qualification. 

There also seems now not to be any route for people on 

tugs or fishing vessels to advance their career and get a 

qualification. What is going to replace the NVQ? 

Also the HND does not seem to be producing people 

with the knowledge to become competent officers as the 

pass rate for first-time orals for OOWs has fallen to a 

particularly low level in recent times which seems to 

illustrate that colleges are not serving their students well 

and preparing them to pass what is after the final arbiter 

Former Merchant Navy officer 

Owen Murphy, pictured, was 

recently awarded a PhD by the 

University of Bradford for a 

research thesis on effective (UK) 

export trade performance, with 

a recommendation that it be 

published. It was, he explains, 

very much a solo effort. 

The doctorate is the 

much-delayed culmination of 

an academic progression that 

began in the early 1960s when 

he and four other former 

students of the College of The 

Sea — Tony Lane, Jim 

McConville, Norman Hearn and 

John Prescott — under the aegis 

of its director Dr Ronald Hope, 

went up to Ruskin College, 

Oxford. 

At the end of the intensive 

two-year course, all five 

obtained the University’s 

Diploma in Economics & 

Political Science. 

Subsequently, Mr Murphy 

— who hails from Ireland — 

took an Oxford Honours degree 

in Philosophy, Politics and 

Economics. And through later 

part-time study, he also 

acquired diplomas in 

accounting and finance, and 

personnel management. 

In a seafaring career 

extending over almost 10 years, 

before and after university, Mr 

Murphy saw service, worldwide, 

as a radio officer on a wide range 

of ships — from tankers to small 

passenger vessels, and on 

several oil rigs. For part of this 

period he was on the REOU’s 

executive committee, also 

Research 

on trade 

secures 

PhD for 

ex-radio 

officer 

acting as one of its roving ‘shop 

stewards’. With the merger of 

the unions in 1985, he joined 

NUMAST and remains a 

member of Nautilus. His links 

with the sea are now 

maintained chiefly through his 

role as an annual governor of 

the Marine Society & Sea 

Cadets. 

Ashore since the early 1970s, 

he was for a time an industrial 

relations officer with the 

Commission on Industrial 

Relations, whose remit was to 

improve British industrial 

relations. Thereafter, he made 

his career at the National 

Economic Development Office 

— promoting, as an industrial 

economist, improved economic 

performance in a range of UK 

industrial sectors. The economic 

development committee which 

he managed achieved some 

notable successes. Now a 

part-time business consultant, 

he lives in Chelsea, London. 

Dr Murphy is a Fellow of the 

Chartered Management 

Institute and a chartered 

member of the Chartered 

Institute of Personnel and 

Development. He was formerly 

a tutor in economics for the 

College of the Sea, for which he 

retains a warm regard. 

‘The resilience and ability to 

self-motivate which I developed 

as a student of the College so 

long ago proved especially 

valuable in the sustained 

solitary effort that led to the 

award of my PhD,’ he told the 

Telegraph. 

for the industry, the MCA Orals. 

University-run courses approved by the MCA also do not 

seem to be faring very well, as I hear of one university where 

less than a quarter of the students passed their first year. 

Regrettably the NVQ, which was good for the student, 

has foundered because it was not good for the colleges as 

it took too much time for lecturers to assess students after 

they had completed their portfolios. As so often with 

higher education, it is a case of maximising the number of 

students and giving them the minimum training to meet 

the criteria. Colleges should surely be monitoring the pass 

rates of their students and if too many are failing then 

doing something about it? 

I hope this will make some members aware of what is in 

the offing. I would suggest that if they are undertaking an 

NVQ at present, they should check as to whether they will 

be able to complete the qualification with their training 

provider. 

NAME & NO SUPPLIED 

Nautilus senior national secretary 

ALLAN GRAVESON comments: 

All those currently involved in NVQ courses should be able to 

complete their studies. Should they encounter any 

difficulties, they should contact the Union. Uniquely within 

Europe, we have a complete range of courses to suit all 

applicants and meet the requirements of the different 

sectors of the industry. The new foundation degree is 

proving extremely successful in producing officers to meet 

the demands of the rapidly-changing industry.


SAFETY AT SEA 

Crewing 

issues were 

high on the 

agenda when 

international 

marine 

insurers held 

their annual 

meeting, 

Denzil Stuart 

reports… 

The Turkish bulk carrier 

Seli 1 has been abandoned 

by its owners and insurers 

after running aground off 

South Africa Picture: Mike 

Hutchings/Reuters 

Try talking to officers, 

ship insurers are told 

C 

“ 

Isn’t it time to get 

closer to the business 

you are insuring? 

” 

Are you experienced? Insurers are concerned at the 

marked fall in average time in rank for chief officers 

Graphic: June Cattini/UK P&I Club 

Marine insurers ought 

to visit the ships they 

insure and talk to the 

seafarers onboard to find out the 

realities of life at sea, the annual 

conference of the International 

Union of Marine Insurance was 

told. 

This year’s conference, held in 

Bruges, was extremely well 

attended and was judged very successful 

— yet the underlying 

mood was sombre. 

President Deirdre Littlefield 

set the scene at the outset of the 

three-day meeting. She said the 

common theme selected this 

year, ‘Marine insurance — mastering 

rough seas’, was intentionally 

broad to address the global 

economic storm ‘that continues 

to batter all of us personally and 

professionally, and the issues we 

must all understand and hopefully 

master to ride out this storm 

successfully’. 

Where only a short time ago 

there were shortages of vessels, 

now there was a glut, the meeting 

heard. HSBC Global Research had 

reported that about 45% of new 

boxship capacity scheduled for 

delivery in 2010 would be delayed 

or cancelled over the next two 

years. And Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence 

Unit estimated that around 

10% of the global boxship fleet 

was sitting idle due to slumping 

world trade. 

‘Unfortunately, despite the 

delays and cancellations and 

plans for accelerated scrapping, 

there are still too many ships 

chasing too little cargo, and a huge 

amount of new tonnage is still on 

order,’ Ms Littlefield warned. 

Indeed, IUMI’s facts and figures 

committee reported that the 

world fleet in 2008 showed a net 

growth of 7% in gross tonnage and 

3% in volume over 2007. The 

growth in the fleet over the last 10 

years is a staggering 46% in gross 

tonnage and 12% in volume. 

This growing tonnage oversupply 

problem impacts on the 

question of crewing — and that 

was why IUMI’s loss prevention 

committee focused on seafarers 

in its workshop in Bruges. 

In a very challenging but comprehensive 

presentation, principal 

speaker Guy Morel — general 

secretary of InterManager, the 

International Ship Managers’ 

Association — put underwriters 

on the spot by urging them to visit 

the ships they insure. 

His blunt message was: ‘You do 

not generally have direct contact 

with our crews, but your business 

profitability depends to a substantial 

degree on these crews. So, 

isn’t it time to get closer to the 

business you are insuring? 

‘Send your inspector on board, 

and let him take time to interview 

the crews — mainly the officers,’ 

Mr Morel added. ‘You will learn 

greatly from their comments on 

their relationship to shore and on 

their general approach to loss prevention. 

Do not hesitate to visit 

your ship managers and talk to 

their crew department. Ask them 

what they are doing in terms of 

crew training, how they are developing 

their crew loyalty programmes.’ 

Earlier, he showed two slides. 

The first — thanks to the UK P&I 

Club — showed the distribution 

of experience in rank for chief 

officers. It indicated that in 2007 

the median experience in their 

rank was 2.8 years — down from 

4.3 years in 1995. 

The second slide — from Intertanko 

— showed how incident 

rates on tankers had bottomed 

out between 2000 and 2005, 

thanks to the development of a set 

of regulations that had had positive 

effects on security and safety. 

But it also showed that incidents 

were rising again. 

‘It may be a bit of a shortcut to 

equate this rise in incident rates to 

the shortening of experience in 

rank, but it is also difficult to discard 

it completely, Mr Morel said, 

adding that ‘an obvious case of the 

correlation between loss prevention 

and crew training and skills’. 

Mr Morel said that the function 

of ship manager was becoming 

more and more central to the 

shipping world. In fact, the last 10 

years had seen the transfer of 

responsibility for crew recruitment, 

training and management 

slip away from owners to managers 

— be they ship managers, crew 

managers or crew agents. The 

activities of InterManager had 

further enhanced this situation. 

His association — representing 

some 3,500 ships — is promoting 

a number of actions, including 

a code of conduct promoting 

transparency and ethics in ship 

management, training of cadets, 

and the unfair criminalisation of 

officers. 

Reviewing the current environment, 

the InterManager general 

secretary gave a downbeat 

prognosis as the deepest down 

cycle experienced in shipping for 

decades continued. He thought 

the chances of getting out of trouble 

soon were very slim for several 

years ahead — so people would 

suffer more and bankruptcies 

would become more and more 

common. 

And owners would try to 

reduce running costs to the maximum, 

instructing their ship managers 

accordingly, while all 

expenses without any immediate 

justification were or would be 

slashed — including the cost of 

crew training, as this was an 

investment in the future. So all 

the signs pointed to a worsening 

crew shortage situation for the 

future, he added. 

Examining the question of 

shortages, Mr Morel said they had 

to differentiate between the 

immediate problem and the 

future. In the short term, the pressure 

for quality officers had been 

great, leading to a massive increase 

in crew wages in the last four 

years. However, it was correct to 

say that the numbers had still 

been sufficient to avoid a ship 

remaining stuck alongside due to 

lack of crew. 

For the longer term, however, 

all agreed that the potential shortage 

was massive. At the height of 

the booming market, last year, 

some were forecasting a shortage 

of up to 50,000 officers for 2012. If 

the shortage was evenly distributed, 

and assuming an average of 

10 officers per ship, and an average 

of two officers for each position, 

this would mean that 2,500 

ships would not be able to leave 

port by 2012. And if the shortage 

concerned mostly the three top 

officers, then the number of ships 

affected could be closer to 

10,000. 

It was generally agreed that the 

number of ratings was sufficient, 

so the shortage was only concentrated 

on officers — most acutely, 

senior officers. Mr Morel said: 

‘This was the result of decisions 

made some 10-15 years ago. At that 

time, the world of shipping was 

discovering Asian crews, with 

their cost advantage. So we 

thoughtlessly dropped the 

employment and training of 

young European officers to 

replace them with junior Asian 

officers. After 10-15 years, the then 

senior European officers had 

retired, and the ex-junior Asian 

officers have not been trained to 

take up senior positions.’ 

Could the present economic 

crisis reduce the need for additional 

crews, Mr Morel asked. ‘We 

have seen that we need to eliminate 

a minimum of 2,500 ships. Is 

that possible? If we assume there 

are about 50,000 oceangoing 

ships today, and another 10,000 

on order, this means that 4% to 5% 

of the world fleet would be without 

crew, thus inoperative.’ This 

might be possible, he thought, but 

demand needed also to be analysed, 

or the industry might find 

itself in a situation where more 

ships were needed but could not 

be manned. 

‘Finally, even if the present crisis 

gives some breathing space, 

the shortage would only be postponed, 

not solved,’ he warned. ‘I 

believe therefore it is essential to 

act today for the potential shortages 

of tomorrow.’ 

Piracy was another hot topic at 

IUMI, as might be expected, and a 

special workshop was devoted to 

the subject. One speaker predicted 

that the coalition naval forces 

in the area will improve their 

cooperation. The pirates’ success 

rate would reduce and ransom 

payments would drop, too, to a 

much more manageable level. 

However, he added that no one 

knew if ransom payments were 

used to fund terrorism.


SAFETY AT SEA 

Aiming to reduce 

mooring horrors 

c 

Crewing issues were 

pinpointed as major 

factors in mooring and 

anchoring accidents, at the 

launch last month of two books 

that it is hoped will encourage 

best practice on ship and ashore 

to prevent these incidents. 

The Nautical Institute published 

the books Mooring and 

Anchoring Ships, Volumes 1 and 

2, with the message; ‘good practice 

is needed urgently to prevent 

deaths and injuries’. Volume 1, 

Principles and Practice, by master 

mariner Ian Clark MNI, looks at 

the theory behind good practice 

and, with the aid of clear illustrations, 

explores how shore and sea 

staff can avoid personal injury 

and breakaway incidents. 

Volume 2, Inspection and 

Maintenance, by Walter Vervloesem 

AMNI, looks at good practice 

with hundreds of colour photographs 

to illustrate the right 

way to carry out procedures, and 

includes a related CD. 

At the London launch seminar, 

hosted by the Nautical Institute 

with the UK Harbour Masters’ 

Association, horrific photographs 

of victims of mooring incidents 

were flashed up on the presentation 

screen by Karl Lumbers of 

the UK P&I Club. ‘These injuries 

are extremely serious: we’ve had 

deaths, we’ve had multiple injuries,’ 

he warned.. 

Large mooring accidents had 

cost the Club more than $34 million 

over the last 20 years, he said. 

These claims accounted for the 

seventh highest injury rate suffered 

by ships’ crews by both 

number and value, and the third 

highest in average value per claim. 

On the causes of these claims, 

Mr Lumbers pointed out: ‘These 

comments are put in by the claims 

handlers who are not necessarily 

mariners, so you have to be a little 

bit circumspect with the broad 

Ian Clark 

overview of where the blame lies … 

but clearly over a third we fear are 

caused by the crew themselves; 

25% equipment failure; deck 

officer error 15% — of course the 

mate or second mate in charge of 

the mooring is going to get the 

blame anyway for that. We all 

know, most of us who’ve been to 

sea, the master gets the blame for 

everything.’ 

Referring to the Club’s latest 

ongoing research, Mr Lumbers 

revealed: ‘The key points we felt 

so far are 43% of the vessels use 

non-deck crew during mooring 

operations. What are the controls 

here? What is the training?’ 

Formally launching publication 

of the two volumes, Nautical 

Institute president Captain Richard 

Coates noted: ‘There are many 

mooring training courses out 

there, but there is no single mooring 

qualification across the industry. 

Ships are getting larger and 

those in the dry bulk and container 

trades, especially crews, can 

find themselves on vessels or in 

ports where mooring equipment 

or arrangements are completely 

different from those they have 

experienced in the past.’ 

The authors, Ian Clark and Walter 

Vervloesem, have assimilated 

an extensive amount of information. 

Consultation in the development 

of their respective volumes 

has involved masters and pilots of 

different classes of vessels in varying 

trades, rope and wire manufacturers, 

equipment manufacturers, 

classification societies, 

port authorities, government 

administrations, international 

bodies, shipping companies and 

individual specialists. 

Vervloesem, who assumed 

chairmanship of the Independent 

Marine Consultants and Surveyors 

group of companies (UK) in 

2000, informed the launch seminar: 

‘Over the last four years we 

have done about 800 ship inspections 

— why do we find that 

almost no single ship is free of 

mooring defects? The mooring 

defects are even found immediately 

after, or even upon completion, 

of class, port state or superintendant 

inspections. So the fact 

that so many defects or problems 

can be indentified, that means so 

much evidence of bad practice.’ 

Warned Mr Vervloesem: ‘The 

present situation is alarming. 

When we make surveys, when we 

make inspections, what do we see 

STCW95 basic training (PST, EFA, FP&FF and PS&SR) 

PSCRB, PFRB, GMDSS, Advanced Firefighting, First Aid, Medical Care on Board, Efficient Deck Hand, 

MCA Approved Engine Courses, RYA Qualifications, Ship Security Officer Courses. Refrigeration and 

Air Conditioning Courses available from the Hall Training Centre. All Superyacht courses undertaken. 

Maritime Open Learning Courses: 

NVQ Level 3 Deck and Engineering courses leading to STCW. 95 officer of the watch certificates. 

Surveying courses available through the school of Marine Surveying. 

Distance Learning courses for Marine Surveying, Ship Management and Ship Superintendency, 

offered in partnership with Lloyds Maritime Academy. 

New books seek to reduce seventh highest cause of crew injuries 

Walter Vervloesem 

“ 

The present 

situation is 

alarming 

” 

P&I club research shows many ships do not use deck crew during mooring operations Picture: Danny Cornilessen 

when we inspect the mooring 

equipment? We see lack of awareness, 

lack of knowledge, lack of 

familiarisation. We see complacency 

being very dangerous, poor 

and inadequate onboard inspection 

programmes, poorly maintained 

equipment, poorly trained 

crew, insufficient crew, poor communication 

between parties 

involved, poor planning of the 

mooring operations, dangerous 

practice due to time pressure, lack 

of emergency procedures.’ 

Addressing the harbourmasters 

at the launch, Mr Vervloesem 

also highlighted the issue of poor 

inspection of moorings when the 

ship is alongside in port. 

In many cases, these problems 

occurred in combination — ‘a dangerous 

mix’, said Mr Vervloesem: 

‘They remain unidentified; they 

remain there until something 

eventually goes wrong.’ 

He added: ‘All these things 

were accidents waiting to happen. 

All these things have high accident 

potential, with serious consequences 

like loss of life and 

limb, breakaway incidents, damage 

to third-party property, 

restricted access to the port, 

impact on stevedores’ activities. 

Disruption of the berthing schedules, 

pollution, disruption of the 

mooring process, and various 

inquiries affect the ship’s schedule, 

the company’s image and also 

have a large cost.’ 

Ian Clark insisted that ships 

must have enough crew available 

to tie up. The minimum safe manning 

levels on many ships he 

described as ‘very, very iffy’. 

‘I read an account in Lloyd’s 

Register from the Hong Kong 

Chamber of Shipping, where a 

shipmaster had complained to 

his owner, and the owner brought 

it up at a meeting, that his 

minimum manning level for a 

200,000 tonne tanker with 10 

men. And he said this was terrible, 

“we need a crew of 25 on the ship”.’ 

If shipping companies started 

using the minimum standards 

for the maximum standards, that, 

warned Mr Clark, would be ‘very 

dodgy’. 

‘And I worked through the back 

of the book to see how you could 

use 10 men to tie up a ship that 

size. I came to the conclusion that 

multi-tasking comes in, so you 

need women, and you need superwomen 

because they’re going to 

have to leg-around very fast’. 

The industry could not, Mr 

Clark argued, just rely on regulation 

on the supply the number of 

people needed to do the job. 

‘It’s up to the shipowner to 

know how to run their ship.’ 

g Mooring and Anchoring Ships 

Vol 1 Principles and Practice, by I. C. 

Clark, £75, ISBN: 978-1-870077-93-4. 

g Mooring and Anchoring Ships 

Vol 2 Inspection and Maintenance, 

by W. Vervloesem, £75, 

ISBN: 978-1-870077-94-1. 

g Volumes 1 and 2 together, price 

£130; ISBN 978-1-906915-03-2; 

Ref 0317. 

g Both books can be ordered 

from The Nautical Institute’s 

website www.nautinst.org. 

NW Kent College 10 x 3.indd 1 16/4/09 14:29:58



The work to defend lifeline services from political attack 

or potential cherry-picking has been intensified... 

Union calls for 

Scottish ferry 

safeguards 

CalMac on the 

airwaves to 

promote jobs 

CalMac Ferries has teamed 

Aup with Ayrshire radio station 

3TFM and Skills Development 

Scotland to promote careers at sea 

over the airwaves. 

3TFM runs a regular careers 

show featuring lively interviews 

and music, and last month the 

production team visited the 

Ardrossan-Brodick ferry Caledonian 

Isles to meet the crew. Presenter 

Eddy Gemmell was shown round the 

ship and interviewed crew members 

in a range of roles, while his 

colleague Joanne McAdams made 

some short films for broadcast on 

the YouTube website (pictured). 

All areas of the ship were 

explored, including the bridge, 

engineroom, cafeteria, galley and 

vehicle deck. Interviewees included 

the master, Captain Colin MacBain, 

as well as other deck officers, senior 

and junior engineers, motormen, 

the bosun, onboard services staff 

and catering staff. 

To show that careers at sea are 

not just for the traditional young 

male school-leaver, the team spoke 

to 42-year old deck cadet Victor 

Burns, and, away from the ship, to 

Lauren Ferguson, a female officer 

trainee. There was also a discussion 

with Captain Norman Jones, 

Caledonian MacBrayne’s group 

training manager. 

The show is due to air at 

13.00GMT on 6 November, and 

can be heard around the world 

via the website www.3tfm.org 

— click on ‘Listen Now’. Nautilus 

International is looking into the 

possibility of hosting a podcast of the 

show on the Union’s own website; 

more information on this will be 

published in the Telegraph when 

available. Meanwhile, the short 

films shot on the Caledonian Isles 

can be viewed at www.youtube. 

com/careersshow. 

g Send in your song requests 

to Eddy Gemmell! The presenter 

has invited Telegraph readers to 

contact him with music requests and 

dedications for the show, so if you’re 

reading this before 6 November, 

you can get in touch with Eddy 

at edward.gemmell@careersscotland.org.uk 

Scenes from the 

films Pictures: Skills 

Development Scotland 

X 

Nautilus has stepped 

up its campaign to safeguard 

Scottish ferry 

services — making a submission 

to the Scottish Executive and a 

presentation to members of the 

Scottish parliament. 

Assistant general secretary 

Paul Moloney spoke to SNP and 

Labour MSPs last month at an 

event organised by the Scottish 

TUC, outlining the contents of the 

Union’s response to the Executive 

consultation on the future of Scotland’s 

ferry services. 

‘This was a useful opportunity 

offered by the STUC, and there is 

no doubt that the message regarding 

safety was well received by the 

MSPs who attended,’ he told the 

Telegraph. 

Mr Moloney also took part in 

the Scottish Maritime Conference 

in Edinburgh, raising the issues of 

the ferries review with transport 

minister Stewart Stevenson. 

In its consultation submission, 

Nautilus says it recognises the 

need for a long-term strategy for 

Scotland’s ferries — but registers 

surprise that ‘there is no specific 

mention of safety within the aims 

of the policy’ outlined by the Executive’s 

review paper. 

It reminds the Executive of the 

publicly-owned Scottish ferry 

operators’ excellent safety record, 

preservation of which ‘must be 

the paramount concern of the 

review team’. 

Scotland’s safety record does 

not happen by chance, says Nautilus. 

‘It is the result of safety being 

at the forefront of every decision 

made’. The ferry companies do 

not compete with each other by 

simply trying to undercut their 

rivals on wage costs, the submission 

notes. ‘Indeed, it is recognised 

that many of Scotland’s ferry 

routes are essential lifeline services 

to the communities of the 

islands.’ 

Nautilus urges the review team 

to develop indicators to ensure 

that ‘any proposal that is made 

can be made by enhancing, or at 

the very least maintaining, the 

excellent safety record of Scotland’s 

ferry services’. 

The Union issued its call 

Europort 

Nautilus assistant general secretary Paul Moloney with Labour’s Scottish transport 

spokesman Des McNulty at the Parliament meeting last month 

“ 

Scotland’s lifeline 

services remain in the 

public sector providing 

a safe and efficient 

service 

” 

against the background of uncertainty 

that exists over the European 

Commission’s investigation 

into the subsidies paid to some of 

Scotland’s ferry services. The 

Union believes such subsidies are 

legal and that the arrangements 

fall within current EU cabotage 

policy. But should the European 

review prove unfavourable, the 

Union urges the Scottish Executive 

‘to find other ways of ensuring 

that Scotland’s lifeline services 

remain in the public sector providing 

a safe and efficient service’. 

The submission highlights the 

type of competition that has ‘been 

allowed to creep in’ to the European 

ferry sector, such as services 

operating between the UK and the 

near continent with vessels flying 

flags of convenience and employing 

few, if any, UK/EU nationals 

onboard. 

And the Union warns against 

any further importation of pennypinching 

practices current in global 

shipping. ‘Nautilus takes the 

view that appropriate measures 

need to be put in place by individual 

governments and by the EU to 

assist quality companies to compete 

in this environment in a way 

that protects quality, encourages 

training to the highest levels and 

promotes safety and efficiency as 

the Key Performance Indicators 

on which companies compete, 

rather than simply cost.’ 

Nautilus International will be taking a stand at 

the Europort 2009 conference and exhibition being staged 

at the Ahoy centre in Rotterdam between 3-6 November. 

Officials from the Union will be running an information stand 

— Booth number: 8.108 — for the duration of the exhibition, 

and existing and potential members are urged to pay a visit. 

The event aims to bring together all sectors of the maritime 

industry, including inland navigation, deepsea and 

coastal shipping, dredging, offshore, construction vessels, 

workboats, naval specials, superyachts and fishing. 

The main focus of this year’s event will be advanced 

technology. 

For more information see: www.europort.nl



Adam Kelso ,left, has just begun studying at 

Fleetwood Nautical Campus for a nautical 

science foundation degree and his OOW 

certification. Aged 30, and from Douglas in 

the Isle of Man, he has worked in a variety of 

jobs — including banking, insurance and 

journalism — before making the decision to 

go to sea with PIL Shipping, sponsored by 

Anglo Eastern. He explains why he has made 

a ‘sea change’ career choice… 

Adam is among the new intake of foundation degree 

students at Fleetwood Nautical Campus, pictured above 

with their lecturers Picture: George Edwards 

Why I have changed 

course to seafaring… 

M 

‘I just woke up one morning 

and realised I had to 

do something better 

with my life.’ So often do we hear 

those words these days, or words 

to that effect, that it has almost 

become something of a cliché. 

In many respects, such sentiments 

seem to have become 

ingrained in the popular consciousness. 

One need only take a 

cursory glance at the weekly dramas 

and soaps on TV to see a variety 

of introspective characters, 

stuck in their own not-so-unique 

ruts, suddenly realising that they 

must make their escape in order 

to attain something at least a little 

bit better. 

Of course, what ‘better’ actually 

equates to is without question 

purely subjective — one man’s rut 

is another’s path to fulfilment — 

but for me at least, there was no 

singular moment of clarity or 

epiphany that caused me to look 

upon the world in a whole new 

light. 

My personal discontent was 

born out of years of frustration at 

the 9-5 routine and the realisation 

that I could barely distinguish any 

of the past seven years from one 

another. 

Having worked in a host of 

office environments where the 

only difference was the job title 

and salary band, by the time my 

30th birthday ominously 

approached I knew I had to take 

decisive action. 

Some will no doubt say that 

O I should think myself lucky 

to have been able to move from 

workplace to workplace whilst 

staying pretty much constantly 

employed since my first stint in 

higher education. 

Others might opine that 

there’s no such thing as a job for 

life these days so it’s inevitable 

that people will change jobs on a 

regular basis, while still others 

might say that perpetually moving 

from job to job is symptomatic 

of the modern quick-fix culture 

and epitomises all that is wrong 

with the world we live in. 

Whatever the reason may be, I 

don’t really care — I just know that 

I couldn’t bear the thought of 

spending the rest my life chained 

to a PC behind a desk. 

There were, however, a number 

of false dawns before I finally 

hauled myself out of my slumber 

and at times I had so many irons in 

so many fires that I thought it 

almost inevitable that I would be 

saving, or at least changing, the 

world by the time the next Christmas 

or birthday came around. 

But as more and more annual 

events came and went with no 

significant advancement from 

the previous year, my want for 

something completely different 

(and better) soon evolved into an 

absolute necessity. Another job in 

another office simply wouldn’t 

suffice — I had to make a sea 

change. I had to take the plunge. I 

had to see the world. I had to join 

the Merchant Navy. 

My father was a chief engineer 

in the Merchant Navy for many 

years, so you could be forgiven for 

asking why I didn’t decide to pursue 

this route sooner. To be honest 

I’m not sure of the answer 

myself. 

Maybe, in some misguided 

O way, I was belligerently 

determined to find my own way in 

the world and believed that to 

follow my dad to sea would 

somehow detract from my own 

individuality — as I look back now, 

I’m actually pretty sure this is 

exactly what I was thinking as a 

hormonal teenager, and a not 

quite so hormonal young man in 

my early 20s. 

That’s not to say I wasn’t proud 

of my dad’s chosen vocation — 

quite the opposite in fact. As a 

youngster I used to love nothing 

more than telling my friends at 

school about my dad’s mechanical 

genius, having been dumbstruck 

at his unerring knack to 

seemingly repair the unrepairable 

during my formative years. 

Perhaps this in itself partly 

explains why I was so late to 

embark on a career at sea. Maybe I 

feared that I would never reach 

the dizzy heights that, in my eyes 

at least, my dad had scaled and, as 

such, decided to take a completely 

different route that led me down 

paths with which I was not ultimately 

happy with. 

Whatever the reasons, now 

that I’m a few weeks into my threeyear 

Nautical Science foundation 

degree at Fleetwood Nautical 

Campus I can’t help sometimes 

wishing that I had done it at least a 

few years sooner. 

But despite those lingering 

regrets, I wouldn’t change everything. 

I’m glad I went to university 

before (my BA in Classical Studies 

from Manchester University is 

quite a conversation starter if 

nothing else) and I fully appreciate 

the benefits of a bit of life experience. 

It wasn’t all bad doing the 

9-5 and I had many a good time — 

there was just that certain intangible 

something missing from it 

all. 

And while it is very much early 

days, my gut feeling tells me that I 

will find that thing I’m looking for 

as a mariner. For the first time in a 

long time I seem to have a genuine 

purpose and that’s a nice feeling. 

Within a few years my 

Oambition to see more of the 

world will have been fulfilled and 

a few years after that, my career at 

sea should provide the sort of 

quality of life that I have always 

wanted for my girlfriend and 

myself. That’s a nice feeling too. 

First things first, however, and 

there’s the small matter of obtaining 

the necessary qualifications 

so that I can ultimately captain a 

ship. 

There’s no two ways about it — 

my return to academia has been 

something of a culture shock for 

the grey matter. Having to resuscitate 

the few remaining mathematically 

inclined brain cells that 

haven’t been killed off by years of 

Jack Daniels and nicotine abuse is 

no easy task. 

The last time I picked up a calculator 

before coming to Fleetwood 

was approximately 12 years 

ago, and that was just to see which 

rude words I could make from the 

numbers (BOOBS, incidentally, 

was the best I could muster). 

Then there’s things like ‘homework’, 

‘uniform’ and ‘exams’ — all 

words which I thought had been 

stowed away in my mental dustbin, 

along with algebra and 

Pythagoras. 

Some days I feel like the old 

synapses are firing on all cylinders 

again and it will only be a matter of 

time before I’m the ultimate seafaring 

brainiac — but those, alas, 

are but fleeting moments and I 

know there’s much to do before I 

can reach the level I need to be at. 

Thankfully, I do genuinely 

Obelieve I’m in the right place 

to get the support I need. Having 

been to university before, I have 

witnessed first hand how easy it is 

to slip into the shadows at 

sprawling higher education 

establishments. At Fleetwood 

Nautical Campus, however, such 

anonymity is impossible. 

Every lecturer makes a concerted 

effort to learn the names of 

every student and even the guys 

at the top of the food chain, 

munching on their prawn sandwiches, 

seem genuinely interested 

in the welfare of their students 

— something I find very 

refreshing. 

Like every other college, of 

course, this place exists to make a 

certain amount of money but, at 

the risk of sounding a touch institutionalised, 

I really don’t believe 

that is the raison d’etre here. There 

is a real desire to help the students 

become credits to the college and 

ultimately credits to the Merchant 

Navy — I just hope I don’t let 

anyone down.


WATER FREIGHT 

‘Time for 

more than 

lip service’ 

The Commercial Boat Operators Association has 

echoed Nautilus concerns that the UK government has 

overlooked the role water freight could play in 

reducing carbon pollution. 

Commenting on the government strategy paper 

Low Carbon Transport — A Greener Future, the trade 

association for companies that carry freight on the 

UK’s inland and estuarial waterways warned that 

while rail gets serious mention in the white paper, 

water freight is largely ignored. 

The CBOA points to a 2006 report from the Tyndall 

Centre for Climate Change Research, which showed 

that moving freight by road produces 400% more 

carbon emissions than water transport. 

‘It is time the government did more than pay lip 

service to the part that water freight can play in 

reducing carbon emissions and cutting down road 

congestion,’ said chairman John Dodwell. 

In a special report on 

waterborne freight, MIKE 

GERBER looks at what the 

UK is doing to shift to the 

rivers and seas… 

Parliament saw the potential of water freight when the Dutch-built vessel Terra Marique passed by in 2004 P icture: Robert Wynn & Sons 

UK needs to make 

water work for a 

greener future... 

w 

One million tonnes of waterborne freight 

sails by the Houses of Parliament on barges 

each year — a reminder to the government 

of pledges to encourage far greater use of Britain’s 

inland and coastal waterways to move cargo around 

the country. 

But compared with many other EU member states 

— not least the Netherlands — the UK has been slow 

to tap water freights massive potential to ease the 

burden on our congested and polluted roads. 

Despite the existence of the freight facilities grant 

to help support the shift of freight from the roads, 

official statistics for 1997 to 2007 show a decline in 

domestic waterborne freight from 141.8 to 125.9m 

tonnes, largely explained by the end of sea-dumping 

of sewage sludge, the loss of formerly significant coal 

traffic and some grant-aided projects not reaching 

targets. 

‘Water transport is disadvantaged by the present 

funding arrangements and government needs to 

deal with this as an urgent priority,’ Dr Hilling insists. 

‘The criteria for the award of freight facility grants 

must be far more flexible and must take into account 

that investment in shipping is long term — many of 

our barges are 30 years [old] plus — and requires 

guarantees about waterway maintenance and market 

conditions.’ 

Although IWA primarily champions inland waterways, 

Dr Hilling points out: ‘We always argued that it 

makes sense to view the UK’s domestic waterways as 

an integrated functional system embracing inland, 

coastal and shortsea shipping. We have a natural 

coastal ring road, we have radial routes provided by 

the inland waterways and outward links to overseas 

places. I became involved with the IWFG because of 

my interest and publications on barge-carrier systems 

— the idea of a maritime link between waterway 

systems.’ 

The Dutch-built vessel Terra Marique — operated 

by Robert Wynn & Sons, specialists in the movement 

of ‘abnormal indivisible loads’ (AILs) — is a case in 

point. 

Developed in association with Dutch shipbuilders 

Damen with the aid of a £8.5m DfT grant and 

described as a multi-purpose pontoon with seagoing 

capability, it can transport loads of up to 1,200 

tonnes along the UK coast and waterways that 

include the Manchester Ship Canal and tidal 

stretches of the Thames and Trent. 

Terra Marique can transfer loads along the UK 

coast to ports such at the Tees, from where specialist 

heavylift vessels sail worldwide, and also make 

shortsea crossings to Belfast and Glasgow. It is also 

designed to work in combination with Wynns’ 

smaller vessel, Inland Navigator, which transports 

AILs of up to 44 tonnes by water to and from points 

many miles inland. 

As the company points out: ‘Together the two vessels 

can transport huge pieces of cargo many hundreds 

of miles around the UK coast and to the ports 

and inland waterway systems of NW Europe.’ Regular 

ports of call include Rotterdam and Antwerp. 

Dr Hilling, alongside his IWA role, is UK vicepresent 

of the Berlin-based European River Sea 

Transport Union — so is well positioned to comment 

from the European vantage point. ‘Clearly the scale 

of operations is very different in mainland Europe; 

their rivers tend to be much larger and longer and 

their canals built to less restrictive dimensions than 

ours. They also have the advantage that much industrial 

activity is located close to waterways and the 

overall distances favour waterborne freight. 

‘However, I think that they have adopted a far 

more positive approach to development of waterways 

and have invested in this mode — the recent 

completion of the Magdeburg “cross” is a case in 

point.’ This is the water bridge that now connects Berlin’s 

inland harbour network with the ports along the 

Rhine. 

‘In this country, the amount of investment 

required to upgrade the waterways at selected points 

would be peanuts compared with what we spend on 

roads but would probably pay dividends on certain 

strategic waterways,’ Dr Hilling points out. 

When British Waterways (BW) upgraded the Sheffield 

& South Yorks Navigation, the bulk of the capital 

had to be borrowed by BW at market rates — not the 

way we invest in roads. 

‘The attitude in this country is now more positive, 

but our mainland neighbours all had water freight 

promotion centres some years before we got around 

to it. They have tended to treat waterways like other 

transport infrastructure and government foots the 

bill,’ Dr Hilling explains. 

When London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, 

the Olympic Delivery Authority set itself a target of 

50% of site traffic to be handled by sustainable transport, 

and now claims that 57% is in fact being handled 

by rail. A laudable achievement — yet as Dr Hilling 

observes: ‘Water has yet to really get going, although 

the Olympic Park is surrounded by waterways.’ 

A new lock allowing bigger vessels to access the 

site opened in June, yet traffic has been moving to the 

development for over two years. ‘The whole project 

took too long, there was no sense of urgency and it 

seems again that water transport was the neglected 

Hull terminal transfers 

The shortsea shipping movement was given a boost last month with the opening of a new all-weather terminal at 

the port of Hull. The first customer was the Netherlands-flagged general cargoship Priscilla (pictured), carrying a 

shipment for agricultural firm Helm Fertilizer. 

Vessels of up to 13.5m air draft can be accommodated within the terminal, which allows for an undercover 

rail-freight connection. The 10,000 sq m cargo-handling facility was formerly the Hull Steel Terminal, but in its new, 

fully-enclosed form can provide storage for dry bulk goods such as paper and agricultural products. 

Despite heavy rain outside, the Priscilla discharged 2,750 tonnes of bagged ammonium nitrate in completely dry 

conditions. ABP Hull & Goole deputy port manager Mark Sellers noted that the undercover transfer had cut out the 

threat of weather-related delays, and Helm Fertilizer MD Mark Wood pronounced himself highly satisfied with the 

management of his cargo: ‘If I was a farmer, I would like to think that all fertilizer was handled this way.’ 

‘Nautilus International welcomes the opening of this terminal,’ commented general secretary Mark Dickinson. ‘If 

more ports had good ship-to-rail transfer facilities, it would enable an increase in the use of environmentally-friendly 

shortsea shipping — cutting CO 2 emissions and reducing congestion on the highways by offering an efficient 

alternative to long-distance road freight.’ 

g As the Telegraph went to press, Associated British Ports confirmed its commitment to environmentally friendly 

freight with a successful emissions-cutting initiative at its Hams Hall rail freight terminal near Birmingham. This 

terminal, which handles containers from numerous rail-equipped UK ports, has just won an Environmental 

Innovation Award at the 2009 Rail Freight Group Awards. The award is for reducing fuel consumption and CO 2 

emissions in the ‘reach stackers’ which lift containers on and off trains. 

mode,’ Dr Hilling complains. 

However, all is not yet lost, he adds, as much material 

has still to be imported to the site and much could 

be imported by way of the wharves on the Thames 

— aggregates, paving material, other construction 

material, pipework, equipment and abnormal loads 

being the most obvious. Indeed, this could be a demonstration 

of the effective integration of inland, 

coastal and shortsea shipping — and BW and Transport 

for London have appointed a sustainable transport 

manager (ex-merchant master mariner Kim 

Milnes) to help move things along. 

Water transport may yet get to play its full part in 

helping alleviate the freight traffic suffocating Britain’s 

roads, following the DfT announcement in July 

of highly promising developments. The European 

Commission has approved state aid for the UK’s proposed 

modal shift revenue support (MSRS) scheme, 

and also for a modified waterborne state grant. MSRS 

will replace the present rail environmental benefit 

procurement scheme — REPS — from April next year 

and operate till 31 March 2015. The scheme will operate 

in two parts: the modal shift to inland waters and 

most non-containerised rail applications will be 

handled through the MSRS (Bulk & Waterways), while 

applications for most modal shifts for rail container 

traffic will be handled through MSRS (Intermodal). 

Funding will be awarded to successful inland waterways 

schemes from 20 September 2009. 

In ancient Greece, Aquarius was the mythological 

water bearer. In modern Britain — if DfT gives the 

bearers of water freight the backing they merit — 

might we be about to see the dawning of the age of 

Aquarius?

24 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | November 2009 November 2009 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 25 

WATER FREIGHT 

Nautilus officials Rob Pauptit and 

Marcel van den Broek with NL 

committee member Jan de Rover 

10 facts on 

waterways 

z half of Europe’s population lives within 

a few miles of the coast or the continent’s 15 

largest rivers 

z Europe has some 38,000km of navigable 

waterways — with half of the network 

accessible to ships over 1,000 tonnes 

z inland waterway vessels carry some 6.6% 

of freight volumes within the EU — but up 

to 42% in countries such as the Netherlands, 

Belgium and Germany with extensive inland 

navigation systems 

z each year, waterways carry over 485m 

tonnes of freight within the EU 

z inland shipping is the largest carrier of 

building materials in Europe, with a share of 

39%, and is an important carrier of cereals, 

agricultural products, solid fuels and ores 

z around 80% of all transported hazardous 

goods are shipped by inland waterways 

z the largest growth of inland navigation 

traffic in recent years has been container and 

general cargo traffic 

z average inland shipping vessels consume 

four to seven times less fuel per tonne-km than 

lorries 

z the Netherlands has a commercial inland 

navigation network totalling some 2,200km 

z three of Europe’s most important 

waterways — the Meuse, Rhine, and Scheldt 

— enter the sea through a common delta in the 

SW of the Netherlands 

As the 

“ biggest voice 

for workers 

in the 

industry, 

we take 

a leading 

role in EU 

discussions 

” 

Leading role for Union 

Nautilus International is the biggest 

Munion representing inland waterway 

workers in Europe — and is stepping up 

its work to protect their jobs and working 

conditions. 

‘As the biggest voice for workers in 

the industry, we take a leading role in 

EU discussions affecting the sector,’ says 

assistant general secretary Marcel van den 

Broek. 

‘We are deeply involved with the ITF 

and ETF, and in social dialogue in setting 

standards for the industry — especially in the 

areas of training and education,’ he adds. 

‘Whilst there are some sector-specific 

problems, there are also many issues that 

are similar to ocean-going shipping — such 

things as workloads and hours of work and 

rest — and we are active in addressing 

these,’ he says. 

Nautilus presently has five collective 

bargaining agreements with major inland 

navigation employers. These help to 

set decent pay and conditions, pensions 

and leave — and the Union is seeking to 

secure more of these. ‘We would like to get 

everyone covered by CBAs,’ says Marcel. 

In recent months, Nautilus has worked 

with employers to secure funding and 

create new training and education courses 

for Dutch inland navigation workers who 

were partially unemployed as a result of the 

economic downturn. 

Nautilus also has a ship visitor who 

maintains frequent contact with the crews of 

inland navigation vessels. 

Top: Europe’s huge waterfreight network 

Below: the green credentials of waterfreight vessels 

Graphics: Inland Navigation Europe 

Four grades of iron ore cargo being 

carried in the Veerhaven IX’s barges 

The Netherlands shows 

the way in making water 

work. Andrew Linington 

sees members deliver... 

C 

It’s early morning on a damp, grey and chilly 

Rotterdam morning as the Veerhaven IX moves 

off a berth at Dintelhaven, on the outer edge of 

Europort, to begin another voyage that will help keep the 

wheels of European industry in motion. 

If you wanted to find a vessel to demonstrate the value 

of inland navigation to the EU economy, you could do no 

better than this. One of a fleet of seven ‘push-barges’, it 

helps to operate a non-stop shuttle service feeding one of 

Europe’s biggest steel mills with the raw products required 

to produce high quality steel for vehicle manufacturers 

and other vital industries. 

Attached to the push-boat unit are anything up to six 

barges lashed together with steel ropes tensioned by 

winches, with a total capacity of up to 16,500 tonnes. The 

environmental credentials are significant — each voyage 

takes anything between 440 to 660 lorries off the roads of 

the Netherlands and Germany. Over a year, Veerhaven IX 

will make some 200 trips and can carry as much as 2m 

tonnes of cargo. 

The voyage to Duisburg takes as long as 28 hours, 

depending on river and loading conditions, and at the German 

berth the barges are uncoupled to be discharged 

while Veerhaven IX lashes up empty barges for the 12-hour 

trip back downstream. 

Built in 1999, Veerhaven IX is one of the newest vessels 

in the company’s fleet and one of the largest operating on 

the Rhine — up to 269.5 long and 22.8m wide when pushing 

six barges. Powered by three Mak engines, developing 

5,400hp, the vessel has three propellers, three rudders and 

two bow thrusters. 

The fleet runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and today 

the vessel has four part-loaded barges, each filled with a 

different grade of iron ore from Brazil. The part-loading is 

a reflection of a the way in which Veerhaven IX and the 

thousands of other vessels that operate on the European 

mainland’s major waterways serve as something of as a 

barometer for the state of the economy. 

When the downturn kicked in earlier this year, the owning 

company — Thyssenkrupp Veerhaven BV — had to 

temporarily lay up a couple of vessels and some of its 154 

crew members had to use up leave while work was 

reduced. 

Now — thanks largely to the German support for scrapping 

old cars — things have picked up and the fleet is fully 

employed again. A new vessel, Veerhaven XI, is due to be 

delivered next year. 

But, just like deepsea shipping, the inland navigation 

industry depends upon healthy trade levels to remain 

buoyant — and at the moment it is the same story of too 

much tonnage chasing too little trade. 

Veerhaven IX’s crew members reckon their sector is 

presently some 30% over-supplied with vessels — and 

that’s a major challenge for the 14,000 people who work in 

the Dutch inland navigation industry. 

Like their deepsea counterparts, inland navigation 

crews are a special type of worker — needing specialist 

skills to operate their vessels safely and efficiently in sometimes 

difficult conditions. 

‘Vessels can pass within 10m of each other, which would 

be a near-miss at sea,’ says Jan de Rover, a Nautilus International 

NL committee member who works in the Thyssenkrupp 

Veerhaven fleet. ‘Often the river can be congested, 

and there may be very strong currents, low water levels 

and fog so thick that you cannot see the barges in front. 

You need to be very skilled to run the ship safely in these 

conditions, and it takes a long time to learn those skills and 

to learn to read the river and its currents.’ 

Even though the Dutch inland navigation system is the 

busiest in Europe, it has a remarkably good safety record 

— with a fatality rate of close to zero in recent years. ‘Accidents 

are very rare,’ says Jan de Rover. ‘They usually happen 

in fog or when there is low water and the channel 

becomes very narrow.’ 

The push-tugs are classed and inspected every five 

years, while the crew members work under a carefully 

regulated certificate system, with navigators needing to 

have a certificate for each section of the Rhine on which 

they operate. It can take more than 10 years to qualify as a 

captain. 

Thyssenkrupp Veerhaven crew members work a two 

weeks on/two weeks off rota, with an additional 20 days of 

annual leave, and Veerhaven IX runs with two captains, 

two mates, a cook, one sailor and an engineer when pushing 

four barges and with an additional sailor when six 

barges are attached. 

Thyssenkrupp Veerhaven is one of the companies 

whose crews are on conditions regulated by an agreement 

with Nautilus International. But the inland navigation 

sector — like international shipping — is fiercely competitive, 

with increasingly intense pressures affecting operators 

and crews. 

Many of the vessels operating on the inland waterways 

are ‘privateers’ — often run by husband and wife teams, 

supplemented by a professional crew member, for whom 

the vessel is a home as well as their business. Recent years 

have seen a big influx of new tonnage, and with the economic 

downturn the market has been hit by over-capacity. 

In response to the tough conditions, operators are trying 

to cut their costs. One example was a private company 

that sought to change crews’ working rotas from 14 days 

on/14 days off to 21 days on/seven days off. 

And, just like deepsea shipping, the inland navigation 

sector is also feeling the chill wind of cut-throat competition 

in the form of flags of convenience and crews from 

low-cost countries. 

‘We have had problems with some owners putting vessels 

onto the Luxembourg flag, and we have also seen Maltese-flagged 

vessels,’ said Jan de Rover. ‘Some of them are 

now starting to use Filipino or even Chinese crews.’ 

There are also concerns that the influx of eastern European 

crews is creating problems with communications in 

the sector, where German is presently the language used 

to navigate with. And there are also fears that the longstanding 

Rhine Agreement regulating conditions in the 

industry is at risk. 

WATER FREIGHT 

Oiling the 

wheels of 

Europe... 

The Veerhaven IX, left, and the Alsvin, below, show the 

versatility of waterfreight Pictures: Andrew Linington 

‘It used to be the case that everyone was paid the rate for 

the job, but now the fear is that it will change and people 

will be paid at the rate of their own country,’ Jan de Rover 

says. 

Peter Buur, Thyssenkrupp Veerhaven fleet manager, 

raises another concern that parallels deepsea shipping — 

the future supply of crews. ‘’We are fortunate in having 

good people who stay with us for many years,’ he says, ‘but 

it is getting more difficult to get people, especially last year 

when business was booming. Young people seem less 

interested in the job now, and also many of the private 

owners with one or two vessels take lots of the people coming 

out of the schools.’ 

Despite the present pressures, Europe’s inland navigation 

industry and vessels like Veerhaven IX deserve to be 

facing a rosy future in these environment-conscious 

days. 

Ironically — given its ‘green’ merits — inland navigation 

has been suffering from the first effects of climate 

change, with the longer-lasting low water levels in the 

summers making navigation more difficult and placing 

draft restrictions on the vessels. 

Experts suggest that if all the freight presently shipped 

by inland waterways was carried by road, atmospheric 

emissions in Europe would be at least 10% higher — and 

there is significant potential to shift more freight to water, 

in stark contrast to the congested road network. 

‘When you look around us, you see vessels on the waterways 

carrying all the things that go on ocean-going ships 

— cars, containers, bulk cargoes and more,’ says Jan de 

Rover. ‘We really are the missing link in the European 

transport chain.’


SHIP EMISSIONS 

Cap that! 

Industry 

pressed 

to curb 

pollution 

J 

The debate on global warming — and shipping’s contribution 

to it — is about to really heat up. 

In December, 192 countries will be represented in Copenhagen 

at the UN climate change conference — UNCCF, or COP 15 as it has 

also been designated. The conference is expected to adopt an allembracing 

post-2012 legally-binding treaty to combat the polluting 

emissions that imperil our planet. It will replace the Kyoto Protocol, the 

international UN framework convention on climate change — UNFCC 

— that expires in 2012. 

Of those 192 states whose delegates will assemble next month in 

Copenhagen, 169 are affiliated to the International Maritime Organisation. 

The IMO contends that, under whatever new treaty emerges, it 

should remain the sole body responsible for developing and enacting 

any greenhouse gas (GHG) regulatory regime for shipping. 

Global warming was the IMO’s theme for World Maritime Day on 24 

September, when it launched a new DVD — Climate change: A challenge 

for the IMO too! 

While promoting shipping as carrying more than 80% of global 

trade ‘at a fraction of the environmental impact of other modes of transportation’, 

the IMO is alert to the industry’s responsibilities in humanity’s 

bid to arrest apocalyptic climate change. 

International shipping in 2007 contributed an estimated 2.7% of 

global emissions of CO2 — the most damaging GHG — and the new DVD 

warns: ‘If left unchecked, by 2050, ship emissions could grow by 250%, a 

scenario unacceptable to the IMO.’ 

Secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos told the DVD launch event 

that the Kyoto Protocol specifically provided ‘that the limitation or 

reduction of emissions of GHGs from ships should be pursued through 

IMO’. 

But how confident is the IMO that it will retain the remit to continue 

regulating GHGs when the UNCCF delegates meet? 

Miguel Palomares, director of IMO’s marine environment division, 

suggests that they will ‘recognise that shipping is very complex’ — and 

that its intricacies are best left to the IMO. 

And Peter Hinchliffe, marine director of International Chamber of 

Shipping, is optimistic that the IMO will remain responsible for helping 

shipping to meet the GHG reductions. ‘To imagine that UNFCC could 

establish a new international instrument in a faster timescale than IMO 

could do is out of the question,’ he pointed out. 

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A ‘bonnet’ to collect and treat 

ships’ exhaust emissions is 

demonstrated in the US port of 

Long Beach Picture: Reuters 

The pressure is on for owners and 

flag states to come up with a way 

to bring the shipping industry into 

line with international moves to 

combat climate change. MIKE 

GERBER looks ahead to a crucial 

meeting next month… 

However, the IMO has misgivings about the Kyoto agreement concept 

of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ (CBDR). Kyoto establishes 

a legally-binding commitment for targeted reduction of four 

GHGs — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide and sulphur 

hexafluoride — and two gas groups: hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. 

Mr Hinchcliffe says the way in which CBDR places this commitment 

on industrialised ‘annexe 1’ nations has served as ‘a stumbling block’ for 

shipping. ‘If we were to apply that philosophy to shipping, it would 

mean that approximately only a quarter of the world fleet would be 

required to take action on reducing CO2 emissions,’ he pointed out. 

‘Worse still, after any regulations came into force, the ships that are 

flagged in annexe 1 countries could immediately go away and flag under 

non-annexe 1 countries. So what good would we be doing to the environment 

if we forced only a quarter of the fleet to reduce emissions? And 

indeed, after a few months this quarter would be reduced to single 

figures.’ 

M 

With Copenhagen looming, IMO’s marine environment protection 

committee (MEPC) has finalised a package of technical 

and operational measures aimed at reducing CO2 emissions for 

new ships through improved design and propulsion technologies. The 

measures include: 

z a system of energy efficiency design indexing (EEDI) for new ships, 

similar in concept to the ratings applied to cars and electrical appliances 

and intended to stimulate innovation and technical development — 

emission reductions of 15 to 20% are possible depending on ship type 

and size, IMO believes 

z a template for a ship energy efficiency management plan (SEEMP), 

allowing companies and ships to monitor and improve performance on 

factors that contribute to CO2 emissions. These include improved voyage 

planning, speed management, weather routeing, optimising engine 

power, use of rudders and propellers, hull maintenance and choice of 

fuel type. 

But the IMO also recognises that technical and operational measures 

alone will be insufficient to satisfactorily reduce GHG emissions from 

shipping in view of growth projections of human population and world 

trade. 

So when presenting its package in Copenhagen, the IMO will also 

advise the UN delegations about its deliberations on possible marketbased 

measures and fiscal incentives that could be applied globally to 

shipping to encourage emission reduction. 

These include the ‘cap and trade’ proposals put forward by the UK 

Chamber of Shipping, in association with owners in Australia, Belgium, 

Norway and Sweden. 

They claim their plan for a global emissions trading scheme for 

shipping is the best way to provide effective incentives for improving 

environmental performance. 

However, the proposals do threaten to polarise the industry. The 

announcement by the Chamber and its supporting associations was 

immediately denounced by the Hong Kong Shipowners’ Association as 

not representing majority opinion in international shipping. Instead of 

an emissions trading scheme, Hong Kong backs something called the 

Danish Compensation Fund — a levy proposal developed by the Danish 

Maritime Authority. 

As the Hong Kong association declared earlier this year, however, it 

believes a compromise solution can be developed that ‘combines the 

simplicity of administration of the Compensation Fund with the political 

acceptability inherent in a declining cap or target that is one of the 

main features of emission trading schemes’. 

M 

Whichever scheme or compromise prevails, these are only 

medium-term expedients. At the IMO launch, Eivind Vågslid, 

head of the IMO’s chemical and air pollution prevention section, 

reflected on some of the prospective innovations lying over the 

horizon for shipping. 

‘I’m quite convinced that in 2050 the world merchant fleet will look 

quite different from today, provided we have this 75% reduction and we 

have an agreement,’ he added. ‘I’m sure that a large proportion of ships 

will harness wind in some way, either for hotel load or to assist propulsion. 

And you will see new types of ships, lighter constructions, and they 

will probably sail slower and many of them will be even larger than the 

largest ships today.’ 

Peter Lockley, head of transport policy for Worldwide Fund for 

Nature (WWF) in the UK, said the two main options to cut shipping emissions 

are the emissions trading scheme or a levy on fuel. ‘As we look further 

out into the decades of the 2020s, 40s, and 50s, there are going to be 

limits on the total amount of GHGs the world can emit — or there had 

better be if we are going to stabilise the global climate system. So in the 

longer term, we’ve got to be thinking about very deep decarbonisation 

in every industrial sector — and the shipping industry, like every other 

sector, will not be able to rely on unlimited offset credits in order to buy 

its way down to a target. 

‘Let’s just remember that for hundreds of years, the shipping industry 

powered world trade with entirely renewable energy. That’s got to be 

the goal for us to get back to in the longer term.’ 

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No country has more of a claim to be a 

nation of seafarers than the small island 

state of Tuvalu, where some 16% of working 

people are seafarers. Rasmus Thirup Beck 

and Anders Birch (photographs) report… 

The land 

where 

one in 

six is a 

seafarer 

“ 

We have no goods of 

importance to export, 

so we export labour 

” 

cBritain and the Netherlands 

like to think of 

themselves as maritime 

nations, but they can come 

nowhere near to matching the 

Pacific island state of Tuvalu — 

where, out of a workforce of just 

over 5,000, 800 are employed on 

ships all over the world. 

The seafarers — whose wages 

represent one-fifth of Tuvalu’s 

gross domestic product — are 

educated at Amatuka, a small 

island of just one square kilometre 

that is operated in the same 

way as a ship. 

Shortly after we land on Amatuka, 

part of the Funafuti-Atoll, 

the clock passes half past nine. At 

the stroke of the half hour, a young 

man in a sun-bleached sailor’s 

uniform jumps out of his guard’s 

hut down by the pier and strikes a 

big bell. 

This he will continue to do 

every half hour in all the six hours 

of our visit to the Tuvalu Maritime 

Training Institute, Tuvalu’s naval 

school, established in 1981. 

Because here, everything is done 

as it would be on a ship. 

‘We operate the place in the 

same way as the cargo ships the 

boys get to work on when they 

graduate. That’s also why we only 

speak English. They must know 

English when they go out into the 

world,’ says Lee Faiva Moresi, an 

officer with administrative 

responsibilities on the island. He 

shows us around dressed in a 

snow-white uniform. 

And the ship operation is 

reflected in the smallest details. 

The canteen is called the galley, 

the small hospital is an infirmary, 

the student rooms are small cabins, 

and all conversations are littered 

with seafarers’ expressions. 

The board in the middle of the 

island with over 20 different 

knots is just the icing on the cake. 

The just under 40 ‘cadets’ who 

attend the school, and the 20 that 

sail on the school’s boat for four 

months will, when they graduate, 

join the world’s most concentrated 

maritime workforce. 

Tuvalu — which is the world’s 

fourth smallest country in terms 

of land area, totalling just 24.4 sq 

km — has approximately 9,500 

inhabitants, 5,000 of whom represent 

the entire workforce, and 

of those roughly 800 are seamen. 

In other words, no less than 

one-sixth of all working age 

Tuvaluans work in the shipping 

industry — serving onboard a 

total of 39 foreign ships in 2007. 

Most of them will sign up on German 

ships, but Maersk has also 

taken on a few and Taiwan’s Yang 

Ming Lines has been employing 

some for the past two years. 

Tuvalu’s record as a maritime 

labour supplying country goes 

back some four decades, to the 

time when British and German 

shipping companies first started 

recruiting from the island nation. 

So important is seafaring today 

that the ITF-affiliated Tuvalu Seamen’s 

Union — which has approximately 

1,200 members, some 

400 of which work on foreign 

merchant vessels — is the country’s 

only registered trade union. 

Twenty-three-year-old Salomona 

Garrick Arun is a first-year 

student at the school. He had 

started a course at university, but 

had to stop because he could not 

afford it. Salomona describes the 

naval school, which is financed by 

Tuvalu’s government, as his ‘last 

chance’ — but after three months 

there he has gained an appetite 

for the life of a seafarer: ‘For those 

of us who are young and single, 

it’s cool to get out and see some of 

the world. It becomes something 

of an adventure.’ 

Salomona’s ultimate dream is 

to save up and study to become an 

officer at a school in Fiji once he 

has worked the required 18 

months. Lee Faiva Moresi and the 

Tuvaluan seafarers in the 

classroom Picture:Anders Birch 

other leaders support this in full, 

and they also say that Salomona 

is one of the best in his year. 

The school is working towards 

being allowed to offer officer 

training courses. To do so, it has to 

secure approval from the International 

Maritime Organisation 

— and if successful, it would not 

only affect the school but the 

whole of Tuvalu. The salaries the 

seafarers earn — which they usually 

send home to their families 

— constitute a full one-fifth of 

the small country’s gross domestic 

product of just £10m. 

‘And that’s real money that 

comes to Tuvalu. Virtually all 

other money is money we receive 

and which we then use to buy oil, 

etc,’ notes Lee Faiva Moresi. ‘We 

have no goods of importance to 

export, so we export labour.’ 

The many Tuvaluans 

employed on the ships can also 

take a large share of the credit for 

the fact that the small isolated 

country has become a more integrated 

part of the international 

community. The seamen bring 

news from the outside — about 

everything, from the latest fashion 

to recent political developments 

— and when there is a global 

crisis, Tuvalu is part of it too, as 

even one seafarer losing his job is 

felt on the state budget. As Lee 

Faiva Moresi says: ‘The seamen 

bring the world to Tuvalu.’


SHIP EQUIPMENT 

Tapping in to a new way 

to make onboard savings 

UK firm helps ships to make significant reductions in their water use… 

0 

Water is something most 

of us take for granted — 

and it is particularly easy 

to see it as something of an infinite 

resource when you are at sea 

onboard your ship. 

However, Ecocamel — a UKbased 

‘water technology manufacturing 

company’ — is helping 

shipping companies to chalk up 

some substantial savings by making 

more efficient use of their 

shipboard H2O. 

One of the first vessels to demonstrate 

the benefits of improved 

water management is the UKflagged 

passenger ferry Norman 

Spirit, owned by the French firm 

LD Lines, which sails every day 

between Portsmouth and Le 

Havre. 

In September this year, following 

an energy audit and preliminary 

sample testing by Ecocamel, 

chief engineer officer Jim Bate 

decided to complete a retrofit of 

all 160 cabins, crew quarters and 

galleys by installing the company’s 

aerated shower heads and fitting 

flow regulators on all taps. 

The subsequent savings were 

dramatic. ‘The early results indicate 

that we are saving a staggering 

65% of the water we use — a 

saving of around 38.5 tonnes of 

water per day, or 14,000 tonnes a 

year,’ said Mr Bate. 

The saving in metric tonnes 

alone will enable LD Lines to carry 

an extra 40 tonne lorry on every 

run, which will give additional 

turnover of more than £200,000 

a year for the company. 

0 

Ecocamel designs and 

manufactures watersaving 

showerheads 

which use aerated technology 

— firstly restricting water flow to 

seven litres a minute, then inhaling 

air into the water stream to 

give an invigorating full flow 

shower experience. 

The old showerheads fitted on 

the Norman Spirit gave a flow rate 

of 15 litres a minute — Ecocamel 

uses just seven litres a minute, 

therefore more than halving 

usage immediately. 

After retrofitting the ship’s 

showers, attention turned to the 

taps. The flow rate of taps on Norman 

Spirit was very high, with 

many taps flowing at 27 litres a 

minute. Ecocamel makes flow 

regulators which when fitted to 

taps reduced the flow rate to five 

or seven litres a minute whilst 

still giving a good rinse and wash. 

The Ecocamel technology 

replaced the existing units which 

were installed when the ship was 

built in 1991. No other water-saving 

or energy-saving devices were 

installed or fitted. 

Stena Line has also retrofitted 

one of its Irish Sea ferries — Nordica 

— with Ecocamel showerheads. 

Chief engineer officer Bob 

Adams says: ‘In comparison with 

our existing showerheads, the 

Ecocamel produces a 32% saving 

on water usage, giving the Nordica 

a saving of up to £ 4,230 per annum 

Ecocamel tap aerators and flow regulators can reduce 

water consumption by more than 60% 

off the cost of water shipped on 

board, which is very impressive. 

‘Our crew say that the Ecocamel 

has a better flow and a better 

showering experience that the 

old units,’ he added. ‘We have retrofitted 

115 berths with Ecocamel 

hand-held showerheads.’ 

0 

The company says that 

one of the key benefits 

of installing its watersaving 

technology is that it gives a 

very quick return on investment. 

In the case of LD Lines, average 

savings made on water are running 

at 65%. The cost of the annual 

water bills before the Ecocamel 

installation was €25,000. The cost 

of a complete ship retrofit with 

water-saving technology was 

€3,000, leaving projected annual 

water costs of €7,500. The total 

annual savings of €17,500 generated 

a return on investment in 

just two months. 

In the case of Stena, the cost of 

installing 110 Ecocamel showerheads 

was £1,664.50 and projected 

annual savings are £4,237 — so 

payback and ROI will be five 

months. 

The Stena Nordica is one of the 

smallest ferries in the Stena fleet, 

and according to company management, 

bigger savings will be 

made on the vessel when tap aerators 

are fitted. 

Both ferry companies are now 

considering retrofitting their 

entire fleets. 

0 

James McDonald, from 

Ecocamel, says: ‘Our 

technology is inexpensive 

and low-tech, yet offers massive 

savings on water and energy 

costs, tonnage and ultimately on 

carbon footprint.’ 

Norman Spirit chief engineer 

Jim Bate adds: ‘Over the past three 

years the Norman Spirit has used 

on average around 55 tonnes of 

water per day, at a cost of €25,000 

a year. Retrofitting all of our cabins 

and facilities with Ecocamel 

products has cut our annual water 

costs to around €7,500 — and to 

achieve this we spent £2,700. 

‘Furthermore, we expect that 

we will also show significant savings 

on our fuel and energy costs,’ 

he adds. ‘LD Lines has a strong 

environmental policy and we are 

absolutely delighted that our 

work with Ecocamel will have a 

huge positive impact to reduce 

our carbon footprint and help the 

environment.’ 

Ecocamel offers a water and 

energy-saving audit to ferry and 

shipping companies. 

g For more information: 

contact Ecocamel Ltd 

by email info@ecocamel.co.uk, 

Office tel: +44 (0)20 8211 3666 

or visit www.ecocamel.co.uk 

Many seafarers we note are under the illusion that to qualify for the 100% 

foreign earnings deduction, all they have to do is spend 183 days out of 

the country on foreign going voyages. 

Many have found to their cost, when investigated by the Revenue that it is 

not that straightforward and of course it is then too late to rectify. 

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Write, or 

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“ 

Early results 

indicate that 

we are saving 

a staggering 

65% of the 

water we use 

” 

Jim Bate 

Chief engineer 

Norman Spirit 

Elgin House, 83 Thorne Road, Doncaster DN1 2ES. 

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Seatax 16 x 4.indd 1 16/4/09 14:21:08


MEMBERS AT WORK 

Retiring Wightlink master Capt Mike Bechley tells Sarah 

Robinson about his five decades of working at sea... 

Mike closes a 

long career in 

UK shipping 

I 

One of the problems we 

face in recruiting young 

seafarers today is that so 

few British children have had any 

contact with ships and the sea. 

Not so for Wightlink master Captain 

Mike Bechley, who knew all 

about long-distance sea travel 

from an early age. Back in the 

1950s, Mike’s civil servant parents 

relied on the British India line to 

reach their jobs in far-flung parts 

of the Empire, and he says he 

always knew he wanted to go to 

sea: ‘It never really occurred to me 

to do anything else’. 

The only question was, would 

it be the Royal Navy or the Merchant 

Navy? A visit to Mike’s 

school from a British India 

recruiter settled the question. The 

itchy-footed teenager eagerly 

seized the opportunity to get out 

on the waves as soon as possible: ‘I 

liked the fact that they didn’t 

require pre-sea training; just O 

Levels.’ 

Once onboard ship as a British 

India cadet, he found that he had 

to start at the bottom. ‘There’s 

more to cleaning and maintaining 

toilets than you might think,’ 

he smiles. ‘I get cadets to do all 

those jobs now too. Scrubbing 

bulkheads, parking cars… you 

don’t want to be telling other people 

to do things you haven’t tried 

yourself. It’s important for training 

to be practical, not just academic.’ 

Mike’s work as a cadet and third 

officer with British India cargoships 

involved three round trips a 

year between Japan and the Gulf. 

www.marinediplomas.com 

Marine 

Engineering 

Surveying 

Yacht and 

Small Craft 

Surveying 

So far, so good, but after a few 

years, it was time to use his training 

for something a bit more unusual. 

In the 1960s, British India set 

up an initiative to take ordinary 

children to sea for educational 

cruises. With the phasing out of 

National Service between 1960 

and 1963, there was less of a need 

for military transport, so British 

Marine 

Diplomas 

Marine 

Industry 

Surveying 

Wightlink master Capt Mike Bechley looks forward to his 

retirement Picture: Courtesy of Mike Bechley 

Second 

Level 

Diploma 

Cargo 

Surveying 

India converted some troopships 

into floating schools, complete 

with dormitory accommodation 

for pupils, classrooms, lecture 

theatres/cinemas, libraries and 

deck space for sports. There was 

also cabin accommodation for 

teachers and independent cabin 

passengers. 

I 

Probably the best-known 

educational cruiseships 

were the Uganda and 

Nevasa, and it was these vessels 

that Mike joined as a third officer 

in 1969. He spent five years cruising 

around Scandinavia and the 

Mediterranean with hundreds of 

children and their teachers. One 

teacher, Anne, made a particular 

impression, and she and Mike 

ended up getting married. 

By 1974, Mike had worked his 

way up to staff second officer with 

British India, and decided to move 

his career forward by joining P&O 

Cruises as first officer. Two enjoyable 

years on the Oriana followed, 

but then came some difficult 

news. Anne was diagnosed with 

multiple sclerosis (MS), an unpredictable 

neurological condition 

where sufferers can experience 

disabling attacks affecting their 

vision or mobility. Even when 

well, Anne would have been ineligible 

to travel with Mike as a 

spouse due to insurance restrictions, 

and it was clear that he 

First officer Mike Bechley (centre, with 

beard), stars as King Neptune in a mid- 

70s 'crossing the line' ceremony on the 

Oriana Picture: P&O archive 

“ 

I wouldn’t have stayed a 

Nautilus member if I hadn’t been 

a satisfied customer 

” 

needed to find a post which didn’t 

involve long spells away. 

The answer lay in the south 

coast ferries. In 1976, Mike became 

chief officer with P&O Ferries 

Southampton, then joined Townsend 

Thoresen (later P&O European 

Ferries), where he served as 

second officer, chief officer and 

eventually master until 1993. 

Many readers will remember the 

1980s as a turbulent period for 

industrial relations in the ferry 

sector, and indeed Mike had some 

experience of Union negotiation 

work, spending two years as a liaison 

officer. But he says that, 

despite the poor reputation of 

P&O industrial relations nationally 

at this time, his local contact 

with the company was ‘quite cordial 

and gentlemanly’. 

Mike also felt happy with the 

service provided by the MNAOA 

union and its successor NUMAST. 

‘I managed to do some damage to 

a ferry one dark and stormy morning 

in Portsmouth, and it was very 

reassuring to phone the Union 

legal officer for support — even 

though fortunately it turned out 

the company were OK about it.’ 

I 

One of Mike’s companies, 

Townsend Thoresen, is 

unfortunately now 

remembered mainly in connection 

with the 1987 Herald of Free 

Enterprise disaster, involving the 

loss of 193 passengers and crew. 

Although Mike was not serving on 

the Dover ferries, he felt the aftershocks 

of the incident, in which a 

ferry took on water and capsized 

because the bow doors had been 

left open after leaving port. 

Numerous problems of design, 

communication and management 

were identified in subsequent 

investigations, and Mike 

feels that the incident had ‘as 

much of an impact on the industry 

as the Titanic.’ Some may have 

lamented the increase in regulations 

and paperwork that ensued, 

but Mike just felt glad that safety 

standards had been improved. 

I 

In 1993, P&O Ferries 

rationalised officers’ conditions 

to require longer 

spells away from home, and Mike 

— who now had a son, Neil — 

decided to come ashore. He 

became a port meteorological 

officer and then a weather router, 

both with the UK Meteorological 

Office. The work included installing 

meteorological equipment on 

ships, offering advice and checking 

logbooks. ‘It’s a job that isn’t 

found so much these days,’ he 

explains, ’because of computer 

forecasting and the internet.’ But 

the knowledge he gained is still 

useful, he says, particularly as he 

was encouraged to take an Open 

University BA degree in environmental 

studies and geography. 

Mike returned to sea with 

Wightlink ferries in 1995. He had 

enjoyed success with the Met 

Office and had won a number of 

awards for his work there, but he 

admits that the civil service pay 

did not match up to the salaries on 

offer to seafarers. The Wightlink 

job was perfect, as he was able to 

go home every night, and he could 

continue his studies, eventually 

Mike Bechley spent several years on the educational 

cruiseships Uganda and Nevasa as a junior officer 

completing his degree in 2000. 

He has found the degree useful for 

seafaring as well as for meteorological 

work: ‘Apart from anything 

else, it teaches you to write a mean 

report.’ 

I 

Captain Mike Bechley is 

due to retire from Wightlink 

at the end of this 

month. He has been a seafarer — 

and a Union member — for 47 

years. ‘I wouldn’t have stayed a 

Nautilus member if I hadn’t been a 

satisfied customer,’ he stresses. In 

recent years, he has attended the 

Nautilus Pensions Forum several 

times, and hopes to continue to 

have an input into the MNOPF 

pension scheme during his retirement. 

Looking back on his five decades 

at sea, he notes that one of 

the main changes has been the 

move towards multinational 

crews. Communication has therefore 

become a major issue: ‘Does a 

common language mean a common 

understanding?’ Cruiseships 

have also hugely increased in size 

since his days on the Oriana: ‘I’m 

not sure I’d like to drive one of 

those now.’ And he feels it’s a 

shame that seafarers have fewer 

opportunities to go ashore in different 

ports these days. 

Despite these well-known 

drawbacks to the modern seafaring 

life, Mike says he would recommend 

a career at sea to young 

people. ‘It’s mentally and financially 

rewarding.’ His own experiences 

show that difficulties in 

maintaining family life can be 

overcome, and he welcomes that 

fact that spouse accompaniment 

is now more widespread. 

So is the captain going to maintain 

his links with seafaring during 

retirement? Er, not exactly! He 

will be keeping up his Nautilus 

membership, but he now looks 

forward to trying his hand at 

something quite unrelated: ‘I’m 

going to be a volunteer with the 

Watercress Line, the preserved 

steam railway in Hampshire.’ 

Good luck to him — it just shows 

that experienced seafarers can 

turn their hands to anything. 

f For more on the Uganda and 

Nevasa, see the SS Uganda Trust: 

www.ssuganda.org.uk


SAFETY AT SEA 

Nautilus is working 

to secure new 

International Maritime 

Organisation rules to 

cut the appalling death 

toll in ships’ enclosed 

spaces — and a UK firm 

is leading the way with 

specialist training for 

seafarers… 

Training to ensure spaces 

are not the final frontier 

I 

Confined space training continues to be a 

critical safety issue — industry statistics 

show that 15 people, on average, are killed 

or seriously injured every year in the UK across 

a wide range of confined space working environments, 

varying from the operation of complex plants 

through to accessing storage vessels. 

These statistics are not just limited to those 

trapped, but also to those that have tried to rescue 

them. 

One of the most advanced facilities to deliver UKaccredited 

confined space training is VT Group’s (VT) 

Confined Space Training Unit (CSTU) at HMS Excellent 

in Portsmouth. 

Opened late last year, its capability and flexibility 

has already marked it out as an outstanding facility 

by the Royal Navy, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), 

Urban Search and Rescue teams (USAR) and the 

regional Fire and Rescue Services. 

In October this year, VT’s CSTU hosted the practical 

exercises for the international Confined Space 

Operations Conference, as part of a Specialist 

Response Week. A new venture developed by Hampshire 

Fire & Rescue Service in conjunction with the 

Chief Fire Officers Association, it attracted national 

and international fire service teams from as far away 

as Estonia and the United States. 

The conference identified different solutions and 

equipment, as well as facilitating discussion of best 

practice and training competencies with industry 

experts, including Bob Daunton from the Health 

& Safety Executive and Ged Richmond from the 

National Resilience Assurance Team (NRAT). 

Delegates viewed demonstrations that included 

winches and specialist breathing equipment, made 

all the more interesting with the facility’s cleverly 

designed maze of interconnected tunnels and 

enclosed areas spread over three levels. 

Currently VT’s facility is delivering City and 

Guilds accredited courses to both civil and marine 

work forces in confined space training — teaching 

people to work safely in a variety of enclosed spaces 

including plant rooms, drains and sewers, fuel tanks, 

lift shafts, and ductwork. 

Fire and rescue services are among the users of the VT 

Group’s confined spaces training unit in Portsmouth 

Navigating by torchlight, students transit 

through the interconnected tunnels and enclosed 

areas spread over three levels. A dim ray of red light 

keeps the environment dark but provides sufficient 

visibility to allow the skilled VT instructors to monitor 

the students’ progress safely, and assist where 

necessary. Plans are in progress to install infrared 

cameras with the ability to play back events and assist 

with delegate assessment, instruction and safety. 

The facility can be adapted to suit the skills 

required by different trainees with the option to add 

smoke, noise, heat and rescue dummies to the training 

scenario to make it more demanding. 

Levels of difficulty can be adapted by blocking 

entry routes and sounding gas detector alarms. This 

flexibility has interested a number of organisations, 

including USAR, on running specialist courses for 

their people. 

VT’s team believe they have got it right. Says Denis 

Johnston, firefighting training business director: 

‘We believe this sophisticated facility provides the 

capability for a first-class training experience that 

will help reduce risk and save lives. Certainly the 

response we have received from the regional Fire 

and Rescue Services and commercial customers has 

been excellent. It is still early days for the courses we 

deliver here but will be looking to further develop 

them in line with future industry and Royal Navy 

training needs.’ 

And so do their customers. Royal Fleet Auxiliary 

chief officer Russ Farquar comments: ‘The feedback 

from all courses delivered by VT to date, has had 

nothing but praise for the course, both for the facility 

and the quality of instruction. Their depth of knowledge 

gained has increased and being trained with the 

same equipment that is used onboard has further 

enhanced the confidence of the delegates who will, at 

times, be required to operate in this potentially high 

risk environment.’ 

VT’s experience in confined space training and 

working with the regional Fire and Rescue Services 

isn’t limited to the new facility in Portsmouth. The 

training management and running of the state-ofthe-art 

confined space and firefighting facilities at 

Severn Park and Cardiff Gate also form part of VT’s 

capability. Both were built as PFI projects; Severn 

Park between VT and Devon & Somerset, Avon and 

Gloucestershire fire authorities, and Cardiff Gate — 

a PFI project between VT, South Wales Fire & Rescue 

Service and South Wales fire authority. 

Severn Park and Cardiff Gate have been purpose 

designed and built to fully meet the Fire and Rescue 

based training requirements, including confined 

space training, both for fire service personnel and 

those from other organisations. These facilities 

deliver around 20,000 days of training between 

them. 

VT also provides critical support services at London 

Fire Brigade’s training centre in Southwark 

— managing and maintaining the facility to enable 

the fire service to deliver training to its people. This 

facility has a basement capable of flooding and a sewage 

complex.


OFFWATCH 

ships of the past 

General details 

BUILDER: Austin & Pickersgill, 

Sunderland 

DATES: 1957-1977 

DIMENSIONS: 344ft overall; 

46ft breadth; 20tt draught. 

3,432 gross tons. 

Stevie Clarke collier that 

went on to have many 

other different roles 

by Trevor Boult 

Rondo was a motorship 

Fbuilt by Austin & 

Pickersgill, Sunderland, for the 

Pelton Steamship Company of 

Newcastle. She traded as a collier 

under charter to Stephenson 

Clarke — a firm in existence 

since 1730, with ships on the 

shortsea trades of northern 

Europe, the Baltic and 

Mediterranean. 

All ships owned by Pelton had 

names which ended in ‘O’. The 

chairman of the board’s 

daughter launched the Rondo in 

November 1956. 

The vessel had a design 

sistership, the Arundel. They 

each carried 4,520 tons of coal in 

four holds and were served by 

the same number of derricks. 

Rondo’s three-cylinder 

Doxford opposed piston oil 

engine ran at 130 revs, 

developing 1,425bhp. 

The ship was regularly seen in 

such ports as Blyth, the Tyne and 

Thames, and Shoreham, as well 

as destinations in Germany and 

Belgium. As a result of the 

downturn in the shipping 

industry in the late 1950s, her 

owners went into voluntary 

liquidation in 1961 — 

whereupon Stevenson Clarke 

bought the vessel, which was 

renamed Findon, after a village 

in West Sussex. There is an 

interesting section about the 

ship on the village website — 

www.findonvillage.com — which 

includes contributions from 

former crew members. The 

photograph for this article is 

used with kind permission of 

Valerie Martin, who runs the site. 

In 1966, the Findon was given 

a deepsea charter. This took her 

via Panama to the west coast of 

Canada, to two small townships 

in British Columbia: Ocean Falls 

and Kittimat, where cargo was 

loaded for Philadelphia. After a 

return to Europe she also carried 

timber from Nova Scotia to the 

Belgian port of Ghent. Suffering 

a loss of a propeller blade in the 

Atlantic, she also lost deck cargo 

in the English Channel due to 

excessive rolling in severe 

weather. 

In 1973 Findon was acquired 

by the Andromyk Shipping 

Company of Cyprus. Her name 

was adeptly reduced to Indon. 

Later in the year she traded 

under the Panamanian flag as 

the San Shine. In 1977 she was 

renamed Triumph Ace. During 

her first voyage, whilst on coastal 

passage off Taiwan from 

Kaohsiung to Keelung, she 

became stranded. Here, as her 

final resting place, she was 

eventually dismantled. 

Although nominally a 

parochial collier, the Rondo, in 

all her guises, had also carried 

cargoes such as sulphur, timber, 

pit props, sugar, and even liquid 

gas — and had plied the oceans 

far distant from her roots. 

50 YEARS AGO 

The total number of MMSA members adversely affected by the current 

shipping depression has shown some increase since the last issue of the 

Journal was published, although the unemployment being experienced is, as 

yet, still not so widespread as that of the 30s. A number of companies have 

done their best to look after senior masters, despite having ships laid-up, 

while in other cases retirements have been accelerated. There are still far too 

many masters experiencing difficulty, however, and as a group they are 

primarily affected by the lack of employment among seafarers MN Journal, 

November 1959 

25 YEARS AGO 

More seafarers were killed in the Arabian Gulf last month as attacks on 

merchant shipping were stepped up. Now disturbing evidence has reached 

the MNAOA that some officers on UK tonnage may be facing pressure to serve 

in the dangerous area. The problem came to light after a deck officer was 

made redundant when he refused to sail into the Gulf. The company claimed 

he had insufficent experience to sail on other ships in its fleet — yet this 

assertion was not supported by the company’s own figures. National 

secretary Brian Orrell said MNAOA would ‘back to the hilt’ any member 

penalised as a result of exercising their right not to enter the warlike zone, 

where two British officers died last month when Iraqi jets fired missiles at the 

258,437dwt VLCC World Knight The Telegraph, November 1984 

10 YEARS AGO 

NUMAST is pressing for innovative new ways to boost Merchant Navy 

recruitment following alarming new evidence that 1999’s UK cadet intake is 

even lower than last year’s. Research conducted by the Union shows that only 

419 cadets have started training at the UK’s four main nautical colleges this 

autumn, compared with 440 at the same time last year. The research comes 

only a month after a new study warned that owners need to treble cadet 

numbers simply to maintain existing officer levels. In a submission to the 

Merchant Navy Training Board, the Union has called for the introduction of a 

‘fast track’ graduate-entrant officer scheme to widen the recruitment base 

and is also pressing for changes in the way the government helps to fund 

industry-based training schemes The Telegraph, November 1999 

THEQUIZ 

1 Which country’s shipowners 

have the largest number of 

containerships on order? 

2 The US generates more than 

11% of world maritime trade. 

What is the US flag’s percentage 

share of the world merchant 

fleet, in deadweight tonnage 

terms? 

3 What is meant by the term 

‘Handysize’ bulk carrier? 

4 What was the average length of 

a UK seafarer’s seagoing career 

in the 1950s? 

5 What was the name of the UK’s 

first VLCC, and when did it enter 

into service? 

6 Which ship won the North 

Atlantic Blue Riband in 1888 by 

being the first to attain an 

average speed of 20 knots? 

J Quiz and quick crossword 

answers are on page 46. 

Telegraph prize crossword 

Name: 

The winner of this month’s cryptic crossword competition 

will win a copy of the book Ocean Freighter Finale 

(reviewed on the facing page). 

To enter, simply complete the form below and send it, 

along with your completed crossword, to: Nautilus 

International, Telegraph Crossword Competition, 

Oceanair House, 750–760 High Road, 

Leytonstone, London E11 3BB, 

or fax +44 (0)20 8530 1015. 

Closing date is Friday 13 November 2009. 

You can also enter by email, by sending your list of 

answers and your contact details to: 

telegraph@nautilusint.org by the same closing date. 

Address: 

Telephone: 

Membership No.: 

QUICK CLUES 

Across 

1. Desk item (11) 

7. 60s scooter gang member (3) 

9. Thames Ferris wheel (6,3) 

10. Appreciate (5) 

11. Condition (7) 

12. Primate (7) 

13. Increase in wealth (10) 

16. Optimism (4) 

18. Police (4) 

19. Voter level (10) 

22. Drink (7) 

23. Struggle (7) 

25. Appearance (5) 

26. Weight (9) 

27. Plaything (3) 

28. Visually focused (4-7) 

Down 

1. Sack (7) 

2. Group of judges (5) 

3. Car storage (4-4) 

4. Lament (5) 

5. Welcome (9) 

6. Heat measure (6) 

7. Butler (5-4) 

8. Leading lady (7) 

14. Company (9) 

15. Folk dancers (6,3) 

17. Ornamentation (8) 

18. Arthur’s place (7) 

20. Cooked over water (7) 

21. Decoration (6) 

23. Prison accommodation (5) 

24. Bird (5) 

CRYPTIC CLUES 

Across 

1. Subversive forces on the 

tube? (11) 

7. Lower the lights and have 

a quick bathe (3) 

9. Not so old but somehow 

gone rusty (9) 

10. Concerning Eve’s original 

transgression, 16 by a tree (5) 

11. With a paddle for preparing 

vegetables? (7) 

12. French are nimble but not 

robust (7) 

13. Nelson’s fortress — put 

together (10) 

16. Returned church bench 

before end of Lent, it’s what 

Jesus did (4) 

18. Beep the servant (4) 

19. A coastal 13 — but not for 

long (10) 

22. Changing seat sir? 

They make the 21s 

laugh (7) 

23. Got high but came back to 

earth (7) 

25. Ask for payment, but it must 

be precise (5) 

26. Zero chromosomes, dined 

after start of Genesis, give 

them some air (9) 

27. Communist sleeping in cadre 

division (3) 

28. Cadre silent about 

qualifications (11) 

Down 

1. Grant’s first shared by 

eponymous Greco-Irish hero (7) 

2. Function to employ water — 

as extinguisher (5) 

3. Get miner to rejoin armed 

force (8) 

4. Keeps helicopter stable — 

ascending or descending (5) 

5. Not in Shakespearean costume 

— nor too bothered (9) 

6. Had rum cocktail in the city (6) 

7. Rebel did set sin circulating (9) 

8. Whiffy play on words fellow 

put together (7) 

14. ‘And if thy --- offend thee, cut it 

off’ (Matthew, V) (5,4) 

15. A grave reminder (9) 

17. Obvious, it’s the cargo list (8) 

18. Louis the milkman (7) 

20. Send Les round in circles (7) 

21. Opinionated reader — it’s a 

job (6) 

23. Sounds like the moment to 

add herb (5) 

24. Is town square in new A-Z pal? (5)


books 

OFFWATCH 

First casualty of war 

RMS Lusitania 

by Eric Sauder 

The History Press, £14.99 

ISBN 9780752452036 

The 70th anniversary of the start of world 

Kwar two is still fresh in people’s minds, but 

a book has just been republished about a ship 

whose fate reminds us that the first U-boat 

attacks on merchant vessels occurred during the 

first world war. 

Eric Sauder’s study — RMS Lusitania: The 

Ship & Her Record, originally published in 2005 

— concerns the Cunarder that was torpedoed by 

the German submarine U-20 off Ireland on 7 

May 1915. 

The stricken transatlantic liner — the largest 

and fastest ship in the world when it was built in 

1907 — sank in less than 20 minutes, and the 

author records ‘… her torpedoing stunned the 

civilised world, hitting home with a fury and 

taking over a thousand innocents to their 

deaths’. 

It is a tragedy that has been well documented 

in numerous other works, the author notes, but 

almost nothing that focuses on Lusitania ‘as a 

living vessel’ and not as just as a casualty of war. 

As such, much of his book’s 128 pages tell the 

ship’s story before and after the disaster. 

Mr Sauder, however, was able to trace 12 

survivors of the sinking, and dozens of relatives 

of survivors and victims, whose accounts add 

much to the significance of this book. 

By Sauder’s account, many travellers scoffed 

at a notice posted by the Imperial German 

Embassy in US newspapers in 1915 warning that 

because of the state of war, ‘vessels flying the 

flag of Great Britain … are liable to destruction’. 

After all, he writes, ‘they thought what civilised 

country would dare torpedo an unarmed 

passenger liner carrying women and children?’ 

Plenty of photographs and other images, 

many with detailed captions, cover every phase 

of the Lusitania story 

Given the ship’s ultimate fate, it is surely not 

without significance that that Lusitania on its 

maiden voyage in 1907 had, the book says, been 

hailed everywhere except the German Empire. 

‘Since the advent of the Kaiser Wilhelm der 

Grosse in 1897, Germany had ruled the Atlantic. 

With the advent of the Lusitania, it was now 

Britain’s opportunity to play second fiddle,’ the 

author explains. 

As such, it is a pity that — and this is his 

book’s only serious shortcoming — his coverage 

of the aftermath of the sinking does not include 

some indication of the reaction in Germany. 

Magnificent 

collection to 

celebrate the 

tramp ship 

Ocean Freighter Finale 

By Nigel Jones 

Coastal Shipping, £16 

ISBN 978-1-902953-441 

In the 1950s and 60s, the 

Kgeneral cargo tramp ship was 

ubiquitous and formed the backbone 

of the world merchant fleet. But the 

container revolution saw these ships 

slowly squeezed out of many of the 

key trades. 

However, the sweeping political 

changes in eastern Europe during the 

1990s and the privatisation of many 

of the state-owned Soviet bloc fleets 

created what photographer Nigel 

Jones describes as something of an 

‘Indian summer’ for this ship type — 

and one that he has captured 

magnificently in this 80-page album. 

The book is organised into three 

sections, with the first featuring 

‘classic’ vessels — such as Bank Line’s 

Crestbank and Ruddbank (which later 

became the ITF campaign ship Global 

Mariner). 

The roll call also includes ships 

from Ghana’s Black Star Line, the US 

Lykes Line, and Germany’s Hansa Line, 

with the informative captions to all 

the ships often telling some quite 

remarkable stories about their life 

beyond original ownership. 

Elsewhere, readers will discover 

the fate of the P&O General Cargo 

Division vessels built in the late 1970s, 

with some still operating under 

Iranian ownership this year. 

Section two covers vessels from 

the communist countries — including 

the Chinese ‘Feng’ and ‘Yang’ ships 

that were still running into some UK 

ports in the early 1990s, more than 

20 years after being built. 

In the introduction to the book, Mr 

Jones tells how he developed 

something of a quest to track down 

these ships after the break-up of the 

eastern bloc, tracking many of them 

through ‘pilgrimages’ to the Suez 

Canal. This section contains some 

interesting designs, and also some 

rather sad stories such as the demise 

of the national fleets of states like 

Romania or the import of coal into 

the Welsh port of Barry (which once 

exported a world record of 11m tons of 

coal in just one year). 

The final 10 pages look at Liberty 

Ship-style vessels — including the 

Japanese Freedom type, the SD 14 

and its derivatives, the British Clyde 

class, and Germany’s Liberty design. 

All in all, a fascinating book 

containing not only a rich vein of 

nostalgia but also some marvellous 

stories, excellent pictures and a 

lingering sense of loss. 

Two fine port 

histories do a 

grand job 

Port of Southampton 

by Campbell McCutcheon 

Amberley Publishing, Cirencester 

Road, Chalford GL6 8PE, £12.99 

ISBN 978-184868-061-6 

f www.amberley-books.com 

The Port of Silloth 

by Capt Chris Puxley 

Coastal Shipping, 400 Nore Road, 

Portishead, Bristol BS20 8EZ, £17.50 

ISBN 978-1-902953-42-7 

f www.coastalshipping.co.uk 

g The book is a limited edition of 

only 1,000 copies: phone Bernard 

McCall on +44 (0)1275 846176 to 

place an order, or email 

bernard@coastalshipping.co.uk 

Two books about port history 

Khave come the Telegraph’s way 

this month, and both are worth a 

look. Port of Southampton is a more 

polished offering, reflecting the fact 

that it deals with one of the world’s 

most famous ports. But The Port of 

Silloth is none the worse for its 

slightly home-made appearance, and 

has an equally good selection of 

historic photos and other illustrations. 

Both Southampton and Silloth 

were established as commercial ports 

in the mid-19th century with the 

building of docks to cater for large 

merchant ships. Silloth (near Carlisle) 

did not reach the same heights as the 

south coast port, but is still thriving — 

apparently focussing on cargoes such 

as fertiliser or molasses. 

The Port of Silloth starts with the 

founding of the docks in 1859 and 

works through the history in 

chronological order to the present 

day, whereas Port of Southampton 

uses a themed approach, looking in 

turn at subjects including the port’s 

role in wartime and the development 

of ferry services. And if you’ve ever 

been involved in a dock collision in 

Southampton or Silloth, you can be 

sure that someone was there with a 

camera, because both books feature 

pictures of some serious prangs. 

Never be at a 

loss for a word 

with a classic 

nautical book 

The Sailor’s Word Book 

by Admiral W.H.Smyth 

Conway, Anova Books, 10 Southcombe St, 

London W14 0RA, £9.95 

ISBN 978-0851-779-720 

f www.anovabooks.com 

After a couple of years out of print, 

KAdmiral W.H. Smyth’s Sailor’s Word 

Book has been reissued in paperback. This 

Victorian classic was an invaluable source 

for Master and Commander author Patrick 

O’Brian, and can provide enjoyable 

browsing for any reader. 

Described by the publisher as a ‘digest’ 

or a ‘lexicon’, the book contains elements 

In each history, photos of ships 

and docks are interspersed with 

diagrams, maps and reproductions of 

posters and memorabilia. For 

example, the Silloth book includes 

timetables for the old Silloth to 

Douglas steamship route, and the 

Southampton history reproduces the 

cover of a souvenir programme from 

the 1937 Merchant Navy Week. 

Cunard’s Aquitania was open for 

inspection at 1s per head at this 

festival, and there were displays 

showing how Britain could not 

manage without her Merchant Navy. 

Sounds like an event worth reviving! 

But in the meantime, these two books 

are doing a pretty good job of 

showing what the MN is about, and 

credit should go in particular to Silloth 

harbour master Chris Puxley for 

demonstrating that small, unsung 

ports can hold their own when it 

comes to maritime history. 

Shining a light 

on the wealth 

of Welsh aids 

to navigation 

Lighthouses of Wales 

by Anthony Denton & Nicholas Leach 

Landmark Publishing, £7.99 

ISBN 9781843064596 

The lighthouses that adorn 

KWales’ rugged coastline are the 

of the dictionary or encyclopaedia, but is 

— entertainingly — less impartial than 

either of these. For example, the term 

‘ship-mate’, sighs the author, once meant 

‘dearer than brother, but the habit of 

short cruises is weakening it’. 

There is extensive coverage of the 

technical language used in the age of sail, 

as well as information about seafaring 

culture and indeed every aspect of life at 

sea, including natural history and 

meteorology. 

We learn that ‘hob-a-nob’ means ‘to 

drink cosily’ by touching glasses during a 

toast, and that ‘able-whackets’ is: ‘A 

popular sea game with cards, wherein the 

loser is beaten over the hands with a 

handkerchief tightly twisted like a rope. 

Very popular with horny-fisted salts’. It is 

intriguing to see which terms are still used 

with their original meanings, which still 

exist but have changed their usage over 

time, and which now seem to come from 

a very distant place. 

So don’t be chowder-headed; use your 

earnest money to pick up one of these 

fine new copies of a seafaring 

masterpiece. 

stars of this compact full-colour 

paperback guide. 

Featured are not only major 

edifices that come under the authority 

of the Corporation of Trinity House, 

the body responsible for most of 

Wales’ lighthouses, but also the 

plethora of smaller, locally operated 

lights. 

As the authors explain: ‘Much of 

the literature about lighthouses has 

concentrated on the major lights, 

which are often impressive structures 

in spectacular locations. However, no 

less important are the many smaller 

lights found at most ports and 

harbours. They have developed in 

response to specific local 

circumstances, so their design, 

construction and purpose differ 

markedly … ’ 

The book, which opens with a 

chapter on Welsh lighthouse history, 

covers all the significant lighthouses 

around the Welsh coast, from the 

Bristol Channel in the south to the 

Dee Estuary in the north, including 

details on how one can access them. 

So the guide would make an 

excellent accompaniment to a 

themed tour around coastal Wales. In 

sum then, a light unto lighthouse 

spotters. 

To 

advertise 

your 

products 

& 

services 

in the 

Telegraph contact: 

CENTURY ONE 

PUBLISHING 

Tel: 01727 893 894 

Fax: 01727 893 895 

Email: ollie@centuryone 

publishing.ltd.uk

34 | telegraph | nautilusint.nl | November 2009 

NL NEWS 

Concept wetsvoorstel 

‘Sociale Zekerheid op 

het Continentaal Plat’: 

Alle werknemers 

dezelfde sociale 

zekerheidsbescherming 

Zoals u al in een eerdere uitgave 

Cvan ons magazine heeft kunnen 

lezen, is het huidige sociale 

zekerheidsregime op het Nederlands 

deel van het Continentaal Plat (NCP) te 

beperkt. Aangezien het NCP niet binnen 

de Europese regelgeving valt, bestaat 

er een grote kans dat veel 

medewerkers werkzaam op het NCP 

onvoldoende sociale bescherming 

genieten conform de internationale 

afspraken. Daarom wil het ministerie 

van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid 

dat er een concept wetsvoorstel komt 

om de publieke sociale verzekeringen 

te verbeteren voor álle medewerkers 

op het NCP. Het ministerie van SZW 

heeft ook Nautilus International 

gevraagd hierover van gedachten te 

wisselen. 

Wat houdt het concept wetsvoorstel in 

grote lijnen in en wat zijn de gevolgen 

hiervan voor de werknemers en 

werkgevers op het NCP? Een resumé: 

z De sociale zekerheidsbescherming 

geldt voor iedere werknemer die op 

het NCP werkzaam is. Het wetsvoorstel, 

uitzonderingen daargelaten, is ook 

van toepassing op werknemers met 

een Nederlandse arbeidsovereenkomst 

die in het buitenland wonen of in 

dienst zijn van een buitenlandse 

werkgever en eerder niet in Nederland 

verzekerd waren (zij zijn nu nog 

aangewezen op de Wet Arbeid mijnbouw 

Noordzee). 

z De werkgever heeft de plicht premie 

af te dragen voor de werknemer 

werkzaam op het NCP. 

z Er moet aansluiting komen bij de 

sociale regelgeving van andere landen 

aan het continentale Plat op de 

Noordzee. 

z Het wetsvoorstel draagt bij aan 

meer uniformiteit op Europees niveau. 

z Sociale zekerheidsrecht dat onder 

een ander stelsel dan het Nederlandse 

binnen de EU is opgebouwd, kan worden 

samengeteld met rechten die zijn 

verworven door arbeid op het NCP. 

Deze kunnen vervolgens geëxporteerd 

worden. 

z Werknemers kunnen een beroep 

doen op de bilaterale verdragen voor 

de uitbetaling van het door hun opgebouwde 

recht in het land van oorsprong. 

Als er echter geen bilateraal 

verdrag is dat export regelt, dan is er 

ook geen recht op uitkering bij verblijf 

buiten Nederland. 

z Het wetsvoorstel maakt een einde 

aan het onderscheid betreffende 

sociale bescherming voor onshore en 

offshore arbeid. Het is niet meer 

mogelijk te kiezen voor een ander 

stelsel dan het Nederlandse. Op het 

NCP behoort concurrentie op het 

gebied van een minst beschermende 

en minst kostende sociale zekerheidsregime 

tot het verleden. 

z Het kan zijn dat het netto-inkomen 

daalt als werknemers hiervoor niet 

worden gecompenseerd. Premiebetaling 

en kosten in de arbeidsvoorwaardelijke 

sfeer moeten werkgevers 

en werknemers aanpassen in hun 

eigen regelingen. 

Het kabinet beschouwt de 

administratieve lasten gelijk aan de 

administratieve lasten die werkgevers 

hebben op het grondgebied. Gelet op 

zowel de winstgevendheid van de sector 

als het kapitaalintensieve karakter van 

de bedrijfstak, verwacht het kabinet niet 

dat de introductie van een 

verzekeringsplicht zal leiden tot een 

afname van de activiteiten op het NCP. 

Geef uw mening 

Vorige maand vroegen wij: Doet de 

scheepvaart genoeg om uitstoot van 

verontreinigde stoffen te beperken? 

Nee 

47% 

Ja 

53% 

Kennisoverdracht en informeel 

samenzijn: Nederlandse en 

Belgische bonden ontmoeten 

elkaar tijdens Waterbouwconferentie 

P 

Op 11 september vond in Papendrecht, 

woonplaats van baggerbedrijf 

Boskalis, de tweede 

Waterbouwconferentie met Belgische en 

Nederlandse baggerbonden plaats waarbij 

FNV Waterbouw en CNV Waterbouw als gastheer 

optraden voor de Belgische bonden 

ABVV en ACB. Het was een boeiende bijeenkomst 

waar in ontspannen sfeer ervaringen 

werden uitgewisseld, kennis werd 

gedeeld en de eerste stappen naar een gezamenlijk 

beleid werden gezet. 

Zoals bekend wordt de baggersector wereldwijd 

beheerst door Van Oord, Boskalis, DEME 

en Jan De Nul. Het waren dan ook de leden 

van deze vier grote baggeraars die aanwezig 

waren voor de Waterbouwconferentie om de 

bezoldigde bestuurders te informeren over de 

gemeenschappelijke zaken die de hele baggersector 

aangaan. Want door samen te praten 

kun je immers tot gelijke inzichten komen en 

dezelfde doelen nastreven. Welke onderwerpen 

kwamen tijdens deze conferentie onder 

meer aan bod? 

International Framework Agreement 

Allereerst werd gesproken over het opstellen 

van een International Framework Agreement 

(IFA). Met een IFA kunnen basisafspraken 

worden gemaakt met betrekking tot zaken 

als ‘decent work’ en ‘decent conditions’ 

waaraan alle betrokken partijen zich moeten 

houden. Met deze overeenkomst kan bijvoorbeeld 

worden voorkomen dat mensen als 

schijnzelfstandigen tewerk worden gesteld 

en worden uitgebuit, of onder slechte 

arbeidsomstandigheden hun werk moeten 

uitvoeren.ook worden de werkgevers geacht 

deze IFA van toepassing te laten zijn op 

bijvoorbeeld onderaannemers. Als gevolg van 

de conferentie zullen de vier grote werkgevers 

worden uitgenodigd om te praten. Over 

deze International Framework Agreement. 

Nuttig en aangenaam 

Verder spraken de leden over het leven aan 

boord, zoals de verschillende culturen en veiligheid. 

Maar de meeste aandacht ging uit 

naar het werken in gevaarlijke gebieden. De 

aanwezigen vinden het belangrijk dat 

hierover goede afspraken komen, waarbij het 

werken in dergelijke gebieden alleen op basis 

van vrijwilligheid kan plaatsvinden. 

Alle onderwerpen die de leden aandroegen, 

zullen via de bonden met de werkgevers 

worden besproken. Het was al met al een zeer 

inspirerende bijeenkomst waar het nuttige en 

het aangename op perfecte wijze werden 

gecombineerd. 

Nautilus International bereidt zich voor 

op de CAO-onderhandelingen met HAL 

Op 3 november zijn de leden uitgenodigd 

Fter voorbereiding van de CAOonderhandelingen 

met Holland Amerika Lijn 

(HAL). De ledenvergadering zal naast de 

gebruikelijke uitvraag van voorstellen van de 

leden ook aandacht besteden aan twee zaken 

waarover in de vorige CAO was afgesproken dat 

ze bij de komende CAO zouden worden 

meegenomen. Eén daarvan is het afschaffen van 

het vaar-/verlofschema van 3 op 2 af en 

omzetting hiervan af in 3 op 3 af of 4 op 2. 

Nautilus International heeft al signalen uit de 

ledengroep opgevangen dat voor velen de 

voorkeur uitgaat naar 3 op 3 af. Wat de vakbond 

betreft zou een systeem gebaseerd op vrijwillige 

keuze voor een schema echter prima zijn. Voor 

HAL levert de afschaffing van het huidige schema 

een planningsvoordeel op, dus iedereen lijkt 

gebaat bij een aanpassing van het vaar- 

/verlofschema. Tweede thema dat deze middag 

ook besproken zal worden, is de job evaluation. 

Hiervoor hebben wij in de vorige 

onderhandelingen afspraken over gemaakt. Het 

huidige loongebouw is gebaseerd op een 

functiewaardering dat drie decennia geleden 

heeft plaats gevonden. In de loop der tijd is er 

natuurlijk veel veranderd. Om een voorbeeld te 

noemen: De techniek heeft een enorme vlucht 

genomen en de milieu- en veiligheidseisen zijn de 

laatste jaren strenger en ingewikkelder 

geworden. Het is dus de vraag of de 

verhoudingen tussen de verschillende functies en 

functiegroepen nog wel in lijn zijn met de 

werkelijkheid. HAL heeft toegezegd hier wel naar 

te willen kijken, maar heeft tegelijkertijd 

aangegeven dat dit een lastig onderwerp is; job 

evaluation heeft immers uitstraling op de hele 

sector. Halverwege november vinden 

vervolggesprekken met HAL plaats die dienen als 

voorbereiding van genoemde onderwerpen voor 

de onderhandelingen. Wij houden u natuurlijk op 

de hoogte over de voortgang van de CAOonderhandelingen. 

Na lang beraad nu toch CAO-akkoord met Stena 

De poll van deze maand vraagt: Betekent 

het uitvlaggen van Maersk het einde van de 

opleving van de NL en UK vloot? Geef ons uw 

mening online, op nautilusnl.org 

Het heeft allemaal wat langer 

Fgeduurd dan gedacht, maar de CAO 

met Stena Line is eindelijk afgerond. De 

economische crisis leidde er namelijk toe 

dat de prijs-compensatie die Nautilus 

International had afgesproken met de 

rederij, onder druk kwam te staan. De 

prijscompensatie bij Stena wordt twee keer 

per jaar doorgevoerd. Werknemers hadden 

daarbij geëist dat de prijscompensatie niet 

onder de nul procent zou komen. De 

verwachting is echter dat de prijscompensatie 

die in november tot verrekening 

komt negatief is. Stena wilde in dat geval 

dat het negatieve cijfer zou worden 

verrekend met de prijscompensatie die in 

mei tot uitdrukking komt. Wanneer er op 

dat moment nog steeds een negatief saldo 

zou volgen, moest dit weer te worden 

verrekend met de komende CAO. Dit laatste 

was echter niet acceptabel voor de leden; 

een verrekening met de volgende CAO zou 

immers wel leiden tot een loonsverlaging. 

Gelukkig heeft Stena dit standpunt 

verlaten en vindt verrekening alleen 

binnen de huidige CAO plaats door 

eventuele verrekening van de 

prijscompensatie van november met de 

prijscompensatie van mei. Wanneer aan 

het einde van de looptijd nog een negatief 

percentage aan prijscompensatie overblijft 

komt dat te vervallen. De leden hebben 

inmiddels met dit voorstel ingestemd en 

de CAO is hiermee een feit. De CAO heeft 

een looptijd van één jaar en loopt van mei 

2009 tot april 2010.

November 2009 | nautilusint.nl | telegraph | 35 

NL NEWS 

SER-traject: 

AOW-leeftijd 

niet omhoog, 

wél meer 

keuzevrijheid! 

Toen het Sociaal Akkoord in 

Cmaart zijn beslag kreeg, had 

het kabinet vast niet kunnen 

bevroeden dat de ophoging van de 

AOW-leeftijd met twee jaar op zóveel 

weerstand zou stuiten. De sociale 

partners en het kabinet spraken af dat 

de SER op 1 oktober een alternatief 

zou neerleggen om tot 2040 vier 

miljard te bezuinigen. Het is een lang 

traject geweest, waarbij veel ideeën 

de revue zijn gepasseerd. We hebben 

de laatste ontwikkelingen op een rijtje 

gezet. 

De verschillen tussen de drie 

vakcentrales (FNV, CNV en MHP) en 

de werkgeversorganisaties om tot een 

alternatief voor de kabinetsplannen 

te komen, waren groot. ‘Maar dat de 

werkgevers bij de laatste 

besprekingen bij de SER wegbleven 

ging alle perken te buiten’, aldus 

Marcel van den Broek, Assistant 

General Secretary bij Nautilus 

International. ‘De 

werknemersorganisaties hebben zich 

heel verantwoordelijk opgesteld en 

het eerder afgesloten Akkoord leverde 

ook vele voordelen op voor de 

werkgevers.’ Toch weerhield de 

houding van de werkgevers de sociale 

partners niet om met een alternatief 

te komen. Zo vinden zij dat 

werknemers zelf moeten kunnen 

bepalen of zij op hun 65ste stoppen 

met werken. Er moet meer 

keuzevrijheid komen, waarbij de 

normleeftijd van 65 jaar 

gehandhaafd blijft. Uitstellen van de 

AOW-leeftijd levert een hogere AOWuitkering 

op. 

Verder zijn de sociale partners van 

mening dat de sterkste schouders de 

zwaarste lasten moeten dragen. Dat 

Enkele jaren geleden berichtten wij in ons 

Fmagazine over een collega die bij DAF had 

gewerkt en wiens pensioen bij Nationale 

Nederlanden maar niet boven water kwam. Nu 

hebben we te maken met een soortgelijk 

verhaal: het extra pensioen dat een van onze 

leden bij Chevron Tankers had opgebouwd, zou 

opeens niet meer bestaan omdat hij niet meer 

bij die rederij in dienst is. Houd bovenstaande 

titel vast wanneer u dit artikel leest… 

Ons lid — kortweg X —, heeft van 1971 tot 1976 

gevaren bij Chevron Tankers Nederland (CTN) dat 

een collectieve pensioenregeling bij Ennia levensverzekeringen 

n.v. had. Later werd Ennia 

overgenomen door Aegon. Enkele jaren geleden nam 

X contact op met Aegon over zijn Chevronpensioen. 

De pensioenverzekeraar liet weten dat hij inderdaad 

een klein pensioen had opgebouwd en dat zijn 

gegevens in het systeem correct waren. Ook zou X 

tegen de tijd van zijn pensioen, half 2009, het aanvraagformulier 

ontvangen. Toen hij een half jaar 

later opnieuw contact had met Aegon over een 

waardeoverdracht, vernam hij dat de pensioenadministratie 

van CTN was overgegaan naar Fortis. 

betekent onder meer dat 

topinkomens (boven € 250.000,- per 

jaar) over de hoogste schijf 60% 

belasting gaan betalen en dat de 

hypotheekrenteaftrek voor woningen 

boven 1 miljoen euro gekort wordt. 

ZWARE BEROEPEN 

Er is momenteel geen antwoord op 

de vraag of mensen met een zwaar 

beroep eerder kunnen stoppen met 

werken. ‘De zware beroepen zijn 

namelijk nog niet duidelijk 

gedefinieerd, waardoor geen 

invulling gegeven kan worden aan 

eventuele speciale regelingen’, 

vervolgt Van den Broek. ‘Voor ons 

staat in ieder geval als een paal 

boven water dat onze ledengroepen 

ook een zwaar beroep uitoefenen. 

Zowel in de zeevaart als op de 

binnenvaart wordt gemiddeld 84 uur 

per week gewerkt en het is fysiek en 

mentaal zwaar werk. Mocht er een 

speciale regeling komen, dan zetten 

we alles op alles om dit ook voor 

onze leden te bewerkstelligen.’ 

Conform het ILO-verdrag mogen 

zeevarenden tussen hun 55ste en 

60ste vervroegd met pensioen en de 

laatste jaren was het zo geregeld dat 

zij op hun 60ste jaar vervroegd 

konden uittreden door ondermeer 

gebruik te maken van de 

levensloopregeling. Van den Broek: 

‘Dit dreigt nu door de nieuwe 

kabinetsplannen onmogelijk te 

worden gemaakt. De enige manier 

om twee jaar pensioen terug te 

verdienen is door het uit je nettoloon 

te halen. Volgens ons is dat in strijd 

met ILO-71 en we gaan onderzoeken 

of we de Staat der Nederlanden 

kunnen dagvaarden. Het kan dus 

nog een hete herfst worden!’ 

De binnenvaart in 

international perspectief 

P 

Hoewel de hele binnenvaartsector in 

de ban is van de economische crisis 

en het teruglopende ladingaanbod, 

gaan diverse internationale discussies over 

belangrijke binnenvaartzaken onverminderd 

door. Zo vond op 14 en 15 september de ITF 

Inland Navigation Section Conference plaats, 

op 16 september de ETF section meeting en op 

17 september de Sociale Dialoog. Alle 

bijeenkomsten werden in Brussel gehouden 

en Nautilus International was hier vanzelfsprekend 

bij aanwezig. 

Op de ITF Inland Navigation Section Conference 

werd veel aandacht besteed aan het 

onderwerp ‘Organising Globally’. Zo blijkt de 

organisatiegraad in de gehele sector binnenvaart 

ten opzichte van andere transportsectoren 

bedroevend laag. Bovendien zijn leden 

uit menig land aangesloten bij verschillende 

vakbonden waardoor de belangenbehartiging 

versnippert raakt. Verder bemerkt de ITF dat 

veel vakbonden niet voldoende participeren 

op de zeer snelle internationalisering van de 

sector en alleen maar blijven navelstaren op 

eigen nationale onderwerpen. Maar er zijn ook 

positieve ontwikkelingen, zoals de oprichting 

van de River Cruise Workgroup waarin Nautilus 

International samen met de ITF, ETF en 

een aantal nationale bonden probeert vat te 

krijgen op deze tak van sport. Afgesproken is 

dat alle aangesloten bonden actieplannen 

gaan bedenken om de vakbondspositie in de 

sector zowel nationaal als internationaal te 

verstevigen. De actieplannen zullen tijdens 

Inland Navigation Section Conference van 

2010 nader besproken worden. 

Europese richtlijn 

De ETF Section Meeting ging dieper in op de 

mogelijke opzegging van de sociale paragraaf 

van het Rijnverdrag vanwege het van kracht worden 

van de Europese richtlijn 883/2004. In de 

binnenvaart kan dat leiden tot grote 

onduidelijkheid over het land waar de werknemer 

sociaal verzekerd moet zijn. Maar ook het 

aangewezen land kan van jaar tot jaar veranderen. 

Veel Europese vakbonden hebben inmiddels 

interesse getoond in het Nederlandse voorstel 

om op grond van artikel 16 lid 1 van de 

richtlijn tussen de bij de binnenvaart betrokken 

lidstaten nadere afspraken te maken. Afgesproken 

is om eerst tot afstemming te komen met 

het wegvervoer aangezien deze sector met exact 

dezelfde problematiek stoeit. Voor de zeescheepvaart 

kent de richtlijn overigens wel een uitzondering 

waardoor verdere actie niet nodig is. 

X nam vervolgens contact op met Fortis, maar kreeg 

tot zijn verbazing en schrik te horen dat er geen pensioenrechten 

voor hem stonden genoteerd. Dat was 

het moment waarop X besloot Nautilus International 

in te schakelen. In januari 2008 scande hij al 

zijn polissen en mailde deze naar de vakbond… 

Ook wij kregen van Aegon keurig bericht dat de 

pensioenadministratie van de Stichting pensioenfonds 

Chevron was overgegaan naar Fortis Investment 

Management in Utrecht. In januari 2008 

hebben wij daarom Fortis aangeschreven met alle 

pensioengegevens van X. Half maart hadden we nog 

geen antwoord en we belden en mailden nog maar 

eens naar Fortis. We kregen te horen dat Fortis 

‘ermee bezig’ was, verder bleef elke reactie uit. Na 

een aangetekend schrijven in april 2008 hoorden 

we wederom niets. Dit werd te gek; een stichting 

heeft immers een bestuur en dat moet toch ergens 

zitten? 

Gelukkig kwamen we via internet achter het 

juiste adres en het telefoonnummer van Stichting 

Chevron Pensioenfonds en toen we belden kregen 

we meteen de secretaris aan de lijn. Hij was zeer verbaasd 

over ons verhaal; Fortis moet de pensioenadministratie 

immers gewoon uitvoeren. Vreemd was 

Ronde Tafel Conferentie 

Tijdens de bijeenkomst presenteerde een 

vertegenwoordiger van de Rijncommissie 

het plan voor de installatie van een digitale 

tachograaf aan boord van alle schepen. Volgens 

‘Aquapol’ is controle op naleving van 

arbeid- en rusttijden nu nagenoeg onmogelijk 

en met de tachograaf kan dit probleem 

ondervangen worden. Er werd uitvoerig 

gediscussieerd over hetgeen wat een 

dergelijke tachograaf precies zou moeten 

registreren: gaat het om de vaartijden van 

het schip, de werktijden van de bemanning 

of een combinatie van beide? Met deze vraag 

in het achterhoofd gaat de Rijncommissie 

een zogenaamde Ronde Tafel Conferentie 

organiseren waarvoor ook werknemers worden 

uitgenodigd. 

Rivertalk... 

Het lijkt of binnen de ETF de taalstrijd is losgebarsten. 

Het Rijnverdrag schrijft voor dat 

een schip communiceert met de wal of met 

andere schepen in de taal van het land 

waarin men vaart of in het Duits. Zo anders is 

de praktijk. Franse schippers spreken niet 

zelden alleen maar Frans, Poolse schippers 

spreken geen Duits en in zeehavens gaat de 

communicatie sowieso in het Engels. De 

Duitstalige collega’s pleiten vol overgave 

voor het handhaven van het Duits, terwijl 

andere stemmen opgaan die pleiten voor de 

ontwikkeling van het zogenaamde ‘Riverspeak’in 

navolging van het eerder beproefde 

‘Seaspeak’. Gelet op het besluit van alle 

Europese onderwijsinstellingen verenigt in 

Edinna om Engels in alle onderwijspakketten 

op te nemen, lijkt de keuze voor Riverspeak 

het overwegen waard. 

Sociale Dialoog 

Het platform waar Europese werkgevers- en 

werknemersorganisaties elkaar treffen heet de 

‘Sociale Dialoog’. Dit keer werd — naast de 

mogelijke opzegging van de sociale paragraaf 

van het Rijnvaartverdrag — uitgebreid gesproken 

over een afwijkende richtlijn voor Arbeidsen 

Rusttijden voor de River Cruise schepen vanwege 

het seizoensmatige karakter van de vaart. 

Werkgevers en werknemers liggen echter 

mijlenver uit elkaar aangezien werkgevers 

pleiten voor een werkperiode van maximaal 

240 dagen achter elkaar aan boord, terwijl 

werknemers niet verder willen gaan dan maximaal 

120 dagen. Hoewel deze kloof onoverbrugbaar 

lijkt, gaan werkgevers en werknemers 

toch nog een poging wagen er samen uit te 

komen. 

Mensen bewaar uw oude pensioenpolissen… 

Deze zijn goud waard! 

wel dat de naam van X en zijn geboortedatum ook 

niet in de bestanden van het pensioenfondsbestuur 

voorkwamen. De polissen van X hebben we daarom 

zekerheidshalve ook naar het stichtingsbestuur 

gestuurd. 

Eind juni 2008 liet Stichting Chevron Pensioenfonds 

ons weten dat ons schrijven van januari was 

ontvangen. Daarnaast werd gemeld dat X geen pensioenaanspraken 

had opgebouwd omdat zeevarenden 

volgens de stichting onder de verplichte koopvaardijregeling 

vallen. Wel was er een excedent 

pensioen verzekerd bij het Chevron Pensioenfonds, 

maar bij het uit dienst treden is dat excedent vervallen. 

Hoewel X waterdichte polissen lijkt te hebben, 

beweert het pensioenfonds dat deze zijn vervallen. 

Hoog tijd dus om meer details te weten te komen, 

zoals de exacte data van in- en uit dienst treden, 

leeftijd en het van toepassing zijnde reglement. 

Gelukkig heeft X nog een brief van Ennia waarin 

staat aangegeven dat de polis is omgezet in een premievrije 

polis bij het uit dienst treden. De polis was 

dus niet vervallen! In het Nautilusarchief vinden we 

het toenmalige pensioenreglement van Chevron 

waaruit blijkt dat de bepaling van het vervallen van 

het excedent pensioen medio zeventiger jaren is 

komen te vervallen. We weten nu bijna zeker dat er 

pensioen is voor X bij Chevron. We sturen de 

bewijsstukken in en dan begint wederom het lange 

wachten. In oktober 2008 bellen we met Fortis en 

dan horen we het goede nieuws dat er inderdaad 

pensioen moet zijn, alhoewel onduidelijk is hoeveel; 

er zitten namelijk geen gegevens van X in de administratie. 

De pensioenverzekeraar legt de zaak voor 

aan het stichtingbestuur, want Fortis heeft namelijk 

geen inzicht in de indexering van het fonds over de 

afgelopen jaren. 

Pas in maart 2009 kwam het verlossend antwoord: 

Chevron pensioenfonds heeft de afgelopen 

jaren gewoon de slapersrechten geïndexeerd. 

Eind goed al goed dus, maar alleen omdat X zijn 

pensioengegevens goed heeft bewaard!


PENSION FUNDS 

Traditionally, most British merchant seafarers 

have been members of an industry-wide pension 

scheme rather than a scheme run by a single 

employer. There are several industry-wide 

schemes aimed at different groups, and most 

involve a contribution from an employer as well 

as from the seafarer who is a member. In addition, 

many seafarers do now have access to a scheme 

run by their own employer. 

Details of the pension scheme you are eligible 

to join can be obtained from your employer or the 

Nautilus official dealing with your company. The 

industry-wide schemes are as follows: 

Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund (MNOPF) 

The MNOPF has two sections: Old (closed in 

1978) and New (from 1978). The New Section is 

now closed to new members, although service 

continues to accrue for the remaining contributing 

members. The New Section is a defined benefit 

Protecting your 

retirement rights 

The key schemes for seafarers 

scheme, based on career average salary, meaning 

that members are guaranteed a certain level of 

income on retirement. 

Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Plan (MNOPP) 

The MNOPP is a defined contribution scheme, 

meaning that members and their employers pay 

into a fund which is invested in stocks, gilt-edged 

securities, shares etc. When members retire, their 

pension pot (the size of which is dependent on 

investment performance and is not guaranteed) is 

used to buy an annuity which gives them a regular 

income. The MNOPP has been the main option for 

seafarers and their employers since 1996. 

Merchant Navy Ratings’ Pension Fund (MNRPF) 

and Merchant Navy Ratings’ Pension Plan (MNRPP) 

The MNRPF, a defined benefit scheme, was 

founded in 1978 and closed to new members and 

future accrual in 2001, when it was replaced by 

the defined contribution scheme MNRPP. 

The Maritime Stakeholder Plan (TMSP) 

TMSP was established for Merchant Navy 

officers and ratings who do not have access to an 

employer-sponsored pension scheme such as the 

MNOPP or MNRPP. It is a defined contribution 

arrangement. 

Nautilus International has a major say in the 

running of the MNOPF and MNOPP, and was the 

founder of TMSP. Day-to-day administration of all 

the schemes except TMSP is carried out by MNPA 

Ltd. 

More information: 

www.mnpa.co.uk 

www.mnopf.co.uk 

www.mnopp.co.uk 

www.mnrpf.co.uk 

www.pensionswealthplanning.co.uk/ 

nautilus.php 

Giving you a voice on your future 

P icture: jupiterimages 

Worried about your retirement? Join us! 

The Nautilus Pensions Association is a pressure group and support 

organisation that: 

z provides a new focal point for seafarer pensioners — increasing 

their influence within, and knowledge of, the Merchant Navy 

Officers’ Pension Fund and other schemes within the industry 

z serves as a channel for professional advice on all kinds of 

pensions, as well as offering specific information on legal and 

government developments on pensions, and supporting the Union in 

lobbying the government as required 

z provides a ‘one-stop shop’ for advice on other organisations 

providing support and assistance to pensioners 

z offers a range of specialised services and benefits tailored to meet 

the needs of retired members 

z operates as a democratic organisation, being a Nautilus Council 

body — with the secretary and secretariat provided by the Union 

Oceanair House, 750-760 High Road, Leytonstone, London E11 3BB 

t +44 (0)20 8989 6677 f +44 (0)20 8530 1015 

npa@nautilusint.org www.nautilusint.org 

Safeguards for 

the Old Section 

The Board of the Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund (MNOPF) 

bhas taken a big step towards securing the future for its ‘Old Section’ 

members. 

Some £500m in pension liabilities are now more safely invested in 

a bulk annuity contract purchased from specialist insurer Lucida plc. The 

agreement entails Lucida insuring around 40% of the total pensioner 

benefits of the old section. 

The MNOPF old section closed to new members in 1978, and is therefore 

dominated now by those drawing pensions. It is standard practice to move 

the assets of funds like this into low-risk investments as time goes on, as 

MNOPF chairman Peter McEwen explained last month: 

‘Security has been the watchword in deciding to de-risk, in selecting 

a provider and in negotiating the contract. This insurance policy takes a 

significant step along that path and is an important contribution to our 

wider strategy of progressively reducing risks across the fund.’ 

The insurance policy becomes a new asset class within the pension 

scheme, overseen by the MNOPF trustee alongside the other scheme 

assets. This means that members will continue to receive their pensions 

from the MNOPF administrator MNPA in the usual way, and will not have 

any contact with Lucida. 

MNOPF old section members have been contacted individually by letter 

about the change, which was the result of a year-long strategic review of 

the fund’s management. 

Nautilus has launched a new 

body to serve as the voice of 

retired UK Merchant Navy 

seafarers and to provide 

essential advice, support 

and benefits to its members… 

a 

Forty-two thousand 

British seafarers and 

Merchant Navy pensioners 

were invited to join the Nautilus 

Pensions Association (NPA) 

last month, in one of the Union’s 

biggest ever mailings. The new 

body will serve as both a pressure 

group and a support body for 

those concerned about their pensions; 

membership is open to all 

UK Merchant Navy seafarers. 

The Union has administered 

industry-wide pension schemes 

for British seafarers since 1938, 

and in recent years has ensured 

regular face-to-face contact with 

pension scheme members 

through its popular pension 

forums. Now, with the NPA, Nautilus 

will be stepping up its services 

to a new level. 

The NPA will: 

> provide a new focal point for 

seafarer pensioners — increasing 

their influence within, and knowledge 

of, the Merchant Navy Officers’ 

Pension Fund and other 

schemes within the industry 

> serve as a channel for professional 

advice on all kinds of pensions, 

as well as offering specific 

information on legal and government 

developments on pensions, 

and supporting the Union in 

lobbying the government as 

required 

> provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for 

advice on other organisations 

providing support and assistance 

to pensioners 

> offer a range of specialised 

services and benefits tailored to 

meet the needs of retired members 

> operate as a democratic organisation, 

being a Nautilus Council 

body — with the secretary and 

secretariat provided by the 

Union 

The NPA will be supervised by a 

committee of nine individuals — 

four elected by the NPA membership 

and four nominated by the 

general secretary, plus the general 

secretary. It will elect the four 

committee members for a period 

of office of four years, with half 

being elected every two years. Two 

of the four elected committee 

members will be nominated by 

Council as officer directors (i.e. 

trustees) of the Merchant Navy 

Officers’ Pension Fund (MNOPF). 

The NPA committee will meet at 

least once a year and will be able to 

submit motions to Council, as 

well as reporting back to a meeting 

of Council once a year. 

The NPA will also build on 

the existing Nautilus pension 

forums, continuing to hold at 

least four NPA forums around the 

UK each year, open to all NPA 

members. The forums will be able 

to submit motions to the NPA 

committee and from there to the 

Council — potentially shaping 

the stance adopted at the MNOPF 

and Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension 

Plan (MNOPP) by the Union’s 

officer directors. 

British affiliate (retired) members 

of Nautilus International will 

automatically be enrolled in the 

NPA free of charge. Pre-retirement 

Nautilus members can opt to join 

the NPA at no charge by contacting 

head office, and other MN seafarers 

can join for £3.60 per month 

by filling in the application form 

included in the recent mailing. 

For more information, visit us 

online at www.nautilusint.org/ 

membership and click on Pensions. 

‘We are delighted to be able to 

offer this new service to Merchant 

Navy pension scheme members,’ 

said senior Nautilus official Peter 

McEwen, who is chairman of the 

MNOPF. ‘In the current economic 

climate, it is crucial that pension 

management is transparent as 

well as prudent, and the NPA will 

allow us to build an even stronger 

relationship with members.’


SAFETY AT SEA 

Building 

dangers 

for the 

future? 

Are standards of new ships slipping as a result of cost-cutting at shipyards? 

Mike Gerber reports on a conference to discuss the problems… 

= 

Market pressures are 

undermining quality 

control in shipbuilding 

— at a time when ships are becoming 

ever more complex, a classification 

society expert has warned. 

Det Norske Veritas global quality 

manager Medhat Bahgat told a 

London conference on marine 

failures that problems such as 

hull structure, machinery and 

stern tube damage are being 

experienced at an increasing rate. 

‘This damage has a high frequency 

and has severe consequences 

for all of us,’ he warned. 

‘It’s a nightmare for the operator, 

for the shipyards, for the owners 

— for everybody.’ 

“ They 

put a 

team 

together 

as they go 

along 

” 

Mr Bahgat said the industry 

needs to look at the ‘big picture’ 

affecting build standards, and 

said owners need to ask many 

more questions about the way in 

which their new tonnage is constructed. 

He expressed concern at the 

emergence of new countries with 

maritime aspirations and new 

shipyards at a time when building 

projects have become more complex. 

At the same time, commercial 

pressures have become even 

more intense, with cost-cutting 

measures affecting quality. ‘Everybody’s 

squeezing the next level 

down, squeezed by price and time. 

You have to deliver cheaper, and 

quicker,’ he added. ‘All these are 

causing a higher potential risk 

exposure.’ 

The split between design and 

production is very serious, Mr 

Bahgat added. ‘Traditionally, shipyards 

in Europe or the Far East, in 

the 60s, 70s and 80s, were large 

shipyards. They had their own 

design people, an engineering 

department — some of them even 

had their own foundries, they 

could cast their own propellers, 

and some could even build their 

own engines,’ he said. 

But recent years had seen the 

rise of so-called ‘greenfield’ shipyards. 

‘Many have never built 

ships before. Several have contracts 

and are building a ship, and 

building a shipyard around them. 

Some, there is no shipyard, no 

people around, everybody is got 

from outside and they are putting 

together a team as they go along, 

solving problems as they go along. 

And that situation has increased.’ 

Such yards are now undertaking 

even the most complex 

projects, Mr Bahgat found. ‘They 

are building LPG carriers, container 

vessels, quite sophisticated 

offshore supply vessels, anything.’ 

He questioned the experience 

and qualifications of many of the 

workers in these yards, and said 

owners should beware of the consequences. 

‘It takes time to get an 

understanding of how to weld, 

how to put a ship together, what is 

good quality, what should be 

rejected, what should be rewelded,’ 

he added. ‘The understanding 

of what is safety and 

quality is completely different. 

One shouldn’t be surprised that 

we start having problems in the 

hull structure, in the machinery, 

everywhere.’ 

Mr Bahgat also alerted the conference 

to the implications of the 

widening split between vessel 

designers and builders. New yards 

may buy a ship or equipment 

design from another yard — and 

may often be sold ‘the problem 

designs that they have suffered 

with in the 70s and 80s’. 

There may sometimes be as 

many as six levels of sub-contracting 

a project — raising the risks of 

lack of understanding or common 

approaches to quality, he warned. 

All this has been happening at 

a time when newbuilding projects 

have become increasingly complex 

— not only technically, but 

also to manage. Mr Bahgat said 

the Aker yards’ Genesis project to 

build two of the world’s biggest 

cruiseships involved building 

work in eight different yards, with 

the involvement of 32 design 

offices and the technical complexity 

of integrating multiple hitech 

systems and equipment. 

Nowadays, even much smaller 

ships — such as offshore support 

vessels with DP systems and 

redundant propulsion — are 

stacked with complex onboard 

systems, he pointed out. 

But Mr Bahgat warned problems 

in integrating all this equipment 

could lead to a ‘digital big 

bang’ as a result of poor interlinking 

and overall control of software 

and components. 

Owners need to ask more questions about the quality of the yards building their vessels, says DNV Picture: Reuters 

“ 

They start to take short cuts in 

production, they accept defects 

that they pretend are not there 

” 

As for the impact on crews, he 

warned: ‘Lots of signals, lots of 

alarms. What are we expecting — 

a superman or superwoman here 

to really be able to analyse and 

assess what to do in different situations?’ 

DNV, he reported, had been 

analysing some of the groundings 

it had dealt with. ‘And we’ve seen 

that many of the problems that 

ENDSLEIGH 

Home insurance 

for Nautilus UK members. 

Special extended unoccupancy cover whilst you are away* 

Up to 

10% 

discount 

we have noted are happening just 

after delivery of the vessel. The 

crew are not able to really have 

control and manoeuvre and to 

steer the vessel properly, and 

what happens is they run aground. 

Lots of collisions happen just after 

delivery, because the people are 

not well trained to cope with all 

the alarms and buzzers.’ 

On the production side, smaller 

revenues and shorter delivery 

times are als affecting quality 

control, Mr Bahgat warned. ‘They 

start to take short cuts in production, 

they accept defects that they 

pretend are not there, they don’t 

dare to stop it because they have 

to deliver. 

‘So, the tendency is to more 

sub-contracting, everybody 

squeezed by time and money. 

 

 

 

They have to deliver cheaper and 

quicker, so if they’re going to do it 

with high quality, and the right 

quality, and repair what should be 

repaired, it will cost them more — 

so they just send things that 

shouldn’t have been sent out. 

‘You must ask questions,’ Mr 

Bahgat urged shipping companies. 

‘Who is building for me? Who 

is doing what, who is controlling 

quality? Is it the shipyard, is it 

class, is it the one who sub-contracted, 

is it the sub-sub? You must 

ask — it’s your responsibility.’ 

And, he concluded: ‘You have 

to understand, if you’re getting it 

cheap, you’re getting nothing for 

nothing. So it’s important to be 

aware that you have to put things 

under control.’ 

www.endsleigh.co.uk/nautilus 0800 028 3571


NEWS EXTRA 

Awards for heroic sea rescuers 

PA Royal Navy helicopter 

crew has been presented 

with this year’s Edward 

& Maisie Lewis Award for their 

outstanding teamwork and 

professionalism while carrying out an 

extremely difficult rescue at sea. 

Four members of the crew of 

‘Rescue 193’ 771 Squadron at the RN 

air station in Culdrose, Cornwall, were 

presented with the award last month 

by Rear Admiral Sir Jeremy de 

Halpert, vice-president of the 

Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ 

Royal Benevolent Society. 

They went to the aid of a crew 

member onboard the Spanish fishing 

vessel Pescada Verdes Tres, who was 

reported to have suffered severe and 

life-threatening abdominal injuries off 

the Isles of Scilly last November. 

Working in atrocious conditions 

— including gale-force winds, 

mountainous seas and a pitch black 

night, meaning that they had no 

references or horizon to stabilise the 

hover — the helicopter crew spent 

over an hour conducting the rescue. 

Ship Squat 

& Interaction 

By Dr D. C. Barrass 

Chief Petty Officer Dave Rigg, 

suspended on a winch wire, had to 

use hand signals, which were 

translated by Lieutenant Jonathan 

£60 

Hounsome into manoeuvring orders 

for the pilot. CPO Rigg gave 

emergency care, assisted by Lt 

Hounsome, to successfully resuscitate 

Witherby Seamanship International nal Ltd 

Tel No: +44(0)1506 463 227 

27 

4 Dunlop Square, Livingston, 

Fax No: +44(0)1506 468 999 

Edinburgh, EH54 8SB, 

Email: info@emailws.com 

om 

Scotland, UK 

www.witherbyseamanship.com 

ip.com 

the casualty on five occasions. By the was 

time the aircraft returned to RNAS 

Culdrose the crew had been on duty 

for nearly 20 hours. 

The Society — which is currently 

celebrating its 170th anniversary — 

supports former merchant seafarers 

and fishermen in times of financial 

hardship, and makes a series of 

annual awards to recognise skill and 

bravery in maritime rescues. 

Chief executive Commodore 

Malcolm Williams said: ‘We had some 

exceptional award winners this year. 

The crew of Rescue 193 demonstrated 

excellent teamwork and 

professionalism, ensuring that the 

fisherman, who was critically ill, was 

recovered from his vessel.’ 

z The Lady Swaythling Trophy for an 

outstanding feat of seamanship was 

awarded to Leading Seaman Kevin 

Leeson, for his ‘cool decision-making 

and good leadership’ to ensure the 

safety of a survey vessel and her crew 

in trouble in appalling conditions in 

the South Shetland Islands 

z A second Lady Swaythling Trophy 

Are you concerned about 

acriminalisation? Would you like 

to know more about the legal 

liabilities of seafarers? And what 

about your rights after an accident? 

In response to a number of recent 

cases, Nautilus International is staging 

a special free seminar at Warsash on 

Friday, 6 November where these issues 

— and more — will be tackled by 

leading maritime lawyers. 

On the panel will be Charles Boyle, 

director of Nautilus legal services, 

Andrew Oliver and Andrew Coish, 

from Andrew Jackson solicitors, and 

barrister Ian Lawrie. 

Items on the agenda include the 

master and officers’ role following an 

accident or an incident, and the roles 

of the police, Maritime & Coastguard 

belatedly presented to Gordon 

Cook, who was originally awarded 

the Trophy in 1977 for his 

‘determination, seamanship and 

navigational skills of a high order’ 

during an incident that year. The 

Society was unable to contact him 

because he was sailing around the 

southern hemisphere for several years 

after the event 

z The Lord Lewin Award for 

distinguished service to the Society 

was presented to two volunteer 

‘honorary agents’ — senior 

superintendent George Shaw, 

Peterhead, and Darryl White, of St 

Cyrus, Montrose, for ‘exceptional 

dedication’ to the role 

z The first ever Exceptional 

Fundraising Award was presented to 

Catherine Johnson for raising more 

than £900 when she completed the 

Reading half marathon earlier this 

year. Catherine choose to run the 

marathon for the Society, after being 

inspired by her father, a former 

merchant seafarer, who is the last in a 

long line of ocean-going Johnsons. 

Attacks outstrip last year’s level as bulker crew are threatened with execution 

Rear Admiral Jeremy de Halpert presents the award to ‘Rescue 193’ 

Pirate danger gets worse 

The Chinese bulk carrier De Xin Hai was seized by pirates some 350nm NE of the Seychelles Picture: EUNavFor 

PIn a worrying escalation 

of the threat to ships and 

seafarers, Somali pirates 

seized a Chinese bulk carrier some 

350nm NE of the Seychelles and 

700nm E of Somalia last month 

and threatened to kill the crew of 

25 if any attempt was made to 

storm the ship. 

The 76,432 dwt bulk carrier De 

Xin Hai was attacked at a record 

distance from the Somali coast — 

well outside the recommended 

60-degree advisory zone. 

Chinese authorities said they 

were planning ‘all-out’ efforts to 

rescue the ship and its crew, but 

news agencies reported that the 

pirates had threatened to execute 

the seafarers if naval forces intervened. 

As forecast, pirate activity has 

increased off the coast of Somalia 

and in the Gulf of Aden following 

the end of the monsoon season. 

The majority of the attacks have 

been unsuccessful, although a Singapore-flagged 

containership was 

seized some 150nm N of the Seychelles 

just a few days before the 

Chinese ship was attacked. 

Figures released by the International 

Maritime Bureau (IMB) 

last month showed that there 

were more attacks in the first nine 

months of 2009 than in the whole 

of the previous year. 

The report also revealed that 

the total number of incidents in 

which guns were used has risen 

by more than 200%. 

A total of 306 incidents were 

reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting 

Centre (PRC) in the first nine 

months of 2009, while in 2008, 

the total number of attacks for the 

year was 293. 

Between 1 January and the end 

of September a total of 114 vessels 

were boarded, 34 hijacked and 88 

fired upon. A total of 661 crew 

members were taken hostage, 12 

kidnapped, six killed and eight 

reported missing over the same 

period. 

The IMB said 32 vessels were 

hijacked by Somali pirates in the 

first nine months of 2009, with 

533 crew members taken hostage. 

A further 85 vessels were fired 

upon and at 30 September, four 

vessels and more than 80 crew 

were being held hostage. 

It said Nigeria remains another 

area of high concern. While only 

20 attacks were officially reported 

in the first nine months, the IMB 

said evidence showed that at least 

50% of attacks on vessels — 

mostly related to the oil industry, 

and mostly in the Lagos area — 

have gone unreported. 

Chittagong port in Bangladesh 

has also seen an increase in the 

number of incidents compared 

with the same period in 2008, and 

10 incidents have been reported 

in the South China Sea — the 

highest recorded number in the 

corresponding period over the last 

five years. 

In a bid to improve the 

effectiveness of the counterpiracy 

operations off Somalia, 

naval leaders from 30 nations 

and international organisations 

met in Bahrain last month to 

discuss ways of increasing co-ordination. 

‘CTF 151 is ready to counter 

these attacks and support vessels 

in need,’ said Rear Admiral Scott 

Sanders, Commander of the Combined 

Task Force. 

‘We’re not being passive out 

here; we’re being proactive,’ he 

added. ‘We are creating an environment 

in which pirates are not 

so bold. We make every attempt 

to intercept the skiffs with pirate 

paraphernalia before they can 

attack a merchant ship.’ 

Warsash seminar on 

criminalisation at sea 

Agency and Marine Accident 

Investigation Branch. 

Advice will be given on port state 

control related issues and the 

potential offences that seafarers may 

face. Speakers will also address the 

rights and responsibilities of masters 

and officers, as well as providing an 

overview of the legal framework and 

practical hints and tips. 

All are welcome to attend. There is 

space to accommodate 60 people, 

and first preference will be given to 

members of Nautilus International — 

both cadets and senior members 

being welcome. 

g To book your free place: call 

Sharon Suckling at Nautilus 

International on +44 (0)20 8530 

1656 or email legal@nautilusint.org 

2009 MN 

Medal 

winners 

revealed 

A British shipmaster who 

ahelped to fight off a pirate 

attack on his ship in the Gulf of Aden 

earlier this year is one of the 

recipients of this year’s Merchant 

Navy Medal. 

Captain Peter Stapleton, who 

works for Bibby International 

Services, has been given the award 

in recognition of exceptional 

bravery. He was nominated as a 

result of his conduct as master of the 

general cargo vessel Boularibank, 

which was attacked by pirates in the 

Gulf of Aden in April. 

Pirates approached the vessel 

opening fire with submachine guns 

and a grenade launcher. The crew 

retaliated with what was to hand — 

initially fire hoses and then heavier 

objects such as planks and logs. Capt 

Stapleton and his team managed to 

protect the vessel and its 31 crew and 

11 passengers until a Russian military 

vessel arrived to give support, 

enabling the Boularibank to 

continue on its voyage to Hull. 

Capt Stapleton is one of 10 

merchant seafarers who will be 

presented with the Merchant Navy 

Medal by Admiral Lord West of 

Spithead at a ceremony in London 

later this month. 

The other winners are: 

z Capt Eric Beetham, for services to 

merchant shipping, to safety at sea 

and the Marine Society & Sea Cadets 

z Capt Nick Cooper, for services to 

merchant shipping and to the 

Nautical Institute 

z Capt J.S. Earl, for services to 

merchant shipping and to the 

Merchant Navy Association 

z Chief engineer W. Findlay, 

associate lecturer, Warsash Maritime 

Academy, for services to marine 

engineer education and to the Guild 

of Benevolence, Institute of Marine 

Engineering Science and Technology 

z Captain J.R. Harper, master of 

the RRS Ernest Shackleton, for 

services to polar exploration 

z Chief engineer J. Parry, BP 

Shipping, for services to merchant 

shipping, especially the design and 

operation of LNG tankers 

z Communications officer I.C. 

Petrie, Windstar Cruises, for services 

to merchant shipping 

z Capt J. Pinder, Port Hydrographer, 

Port of London Authority, for services 

to the Port of London and to youth 

maritime training 

z Mr J. Rimmer, messman on the 

Mersey Viking, for services to 

merchant shipping and to the RMT 

Honorary awards are also being 

made to: 

z The Revd Canon Bill Christianson, 

former secretary-general, Mission to 

Seafarers, for services to merchant 

seafarers and to the International 

Christian Maritime Asssociation 

z Mrs D. Simco, for services to the 

welfare of seafarers and to the 

Queen Victoria Seamen’s Rest 

z Mrs Irene Bonnici, 

ex-administrator at the Dreadnought 

Medical Service, for services to the 

care of seafarers 

z Mrs F. Manson, Cook, Scrabster 

Mission, Royal National Mission to 

Deep Sea Fishermen, for services to 

the welfare of fishermen in Scotland 

z Capt J. Evans, honorary president 

of the Anglo-Scottish Fishermen’s 

Association, for services to 

commercial fishing and fishermen in 

Scotland


SHIP TO SHORE 

M-Notices 

M-Notices, Marine Information 

Notes and Marine Guidance Notes 

issued by the Maritime & 

Coastguard Agency recently 

include: 

MIN 352 (M) — Code of safe 

working practices for merchant 

seamen: issue of Amendment 09 

This note alerts seafarers to the recent 

publication of an amendment to the 

Code of safe working practices for 

merchant seamen. Amendment 9 

deals particularly with safe movement 

during heavy weather. 

Shipowners and masters are 

reminded of the regulations requiring 

copies of the Code to be easily 

accessible onboard. Electronic copies 

may be used, but at least one print 

copy should be available. 

MIN 358 (M+F) — Information on 

Class ‘D’ VHF radios 

Class D VHF Digital Selective Calling 

(DSC) radios are intended for use on 

smaller vessels, particularly leisure 

craft. They must comply with 

equipment standards known 

internationally as IEC 62238 and in 

Europe as EN 301 025, which specify 

that Class D VHF must have the 

following features: 

z distress 

z all ships urgency/safety 

z individual routine 

z group routine 

It has come to the MCA’s attention 

that some of the radios on the market 

do not meet the international/EU 

standards because they have too 

many additional features. Their 

complexity may make them difficult 

to operate without special training. 

Functionality should be limited to the 

DSC uses defined in the standards 

above, and users should check this 

before purchase. 

Internet purchasers dealing with 

suppliers outside the UK should note 

that their transaction deems them 

the ‘importer’, and they may risk legal 

sanctions if the equipment does not 

conform to the relevant standards. 

MIN 359 (M) — Safety data sheets: 

adoption of amendments to chapter 

VI of Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 

1974, as amended 

Under new SOLAS regulations, it has 

become mandatory for ships carrying 

MARPOL Annex 1 products (e.g. 

marine fuel oil) to carry a material 

safety data sheet. This must be 

provided to the vessel prior to the 

loading of the relevant cargoes or fuel 

oils. The format of the data sheet can 

be found in MARPOL Annex 1 — 

MSC.286(86). 

MIN 362 (M+F) — Change of MCA 

distribution agent for M-Notices 

As of 1 October 2009, the distributor 

for M-Notice subscriptions is EC Group 

of Grays, Essex. Subscriptions taken 

out with the previous distribution 

agent before this date will run as 

normal until 31 March 2010 but will 

be administered by EC Group. Details 

of how to contact EC Group are given 

at the end of this section. 

MGN 399 (M) Prevention of 

infectious disease at sea by 

immunisations and anti-malaria 

medication (prophylaxis) 

This note explains which 

immunisations are needed for travel 

to particular parts of the world, and 

whose responsibility it is to ensure 

that seafarers have this protection. It 

also deals in detail with the issue of 

prophylactic (preventive) medication 

for malaria, a disease for which there 

is no inoculation yet available. 

Seafarers are reminded that good 

hygiene and bite avoidance are major 

factors in the fight against infectious 

diseases, but it is also crucial to make 

sure immunisations are up to date. It 

is the maritime employer’s 

responsibility to provide and pay for 

preventive measures such as 

immunisations, and the seafarer’s 

responsibility to comply with these 

measures. 

Before a crew member is 

appointed to a ship, the employer — 

including the agency or ship 

management company which 

formally employs the seafarer — 

needs to know where each person will 

be travelling to and the risks of 

infection in these places. They should 

check the immunisation status of the 

seafarer and insure any missing 

inoculations are given. For crews 

travelling to areas affected by 

malaria, the employer must supply 

items such as mosquito nets and 

insect repellent sprays as well as 

prophylactic medication. 

Employers should inform MCA 

approved doctors of crew members’ 

likely destinations so that routine 

medical checks can include 

immunisations and advice on disease 

prevention. It is important to take 

medical advice before starting antimalaria 

medication, as some drugs 

are unsuitable for people with 

particular health conditions. 

Where manning agencies are 

recruiting without adequate briefing 

on destinations, immunisation and 

malaria prevention is the ship 

operator’s responsibility, even if the 

operator is not the direct employer of 

the crew. 

Seafarers should retain a record of 

their own immunisations and any 

drug side effects they have 

experienced and present this to the 

approved doctor at medicals, and 

when requested by employers. They 

should also be aware of the 

importance of reporting symptoms 

such as a flu-like illness, fever or 

diarrhoea. The seafarer’s record 

should be checked before departure 

by the ship’s operator and finally by 

the master. 

Annexes to MGN 399 contain 

information on organisations to 

contact for further advice, as well as a 

list of immunisations recommended 

for travel to particular parts of the 

world, a schedule of immunisations, 

an overview of the various antimalaria 

drugs and a note of 

medication which can be taken if 

malaria is contracted. 

z M-Notices are available in three 

ways: a set of bound volumes, a 

yearly subscription, and individual 

documents. 

z A consolidated set of all 

M-Notices current on 30 July 2007 

(ISBN 9780115528538) is published 

by The Stationery Office for £195 — 

www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp 

z Annual subscriptions and copies 

of individual notices are available 

from the official distributors, EC 

Group. Contact: M-Notices 

Subscriptions, 

PO Box 362, Europa Park, Grays, 

Essex RM17 9AY. Tel: +44 (0)1375 

484 548; fax: +44 (0)1375 484 556; 

email: mnotices@ecgroup.co.uk 

z Individual copies can be collected 

from MCA offices, electronically 

subscribed to or downloaded from 

the MCA website — 

www.mcga.gov.uk — click on ‘Ships 

and Cargoes’, then ‘Legislation and 

Guidance’. 

Nautilus has always had a 

firm commitment to 

dialogue with its members 

and that commitment 

continues to this day, with 

the Union placing a high 

priority on contact between 

members and officials. 

UK-based officials make 

regular visits to ships, and 

a variety of different 

meetings are held by the 

Union to encourage a 

healthy exchange of views. 

The Union also offers 

the chance for members to 

meet Nautilus 

International’s UK officials 

when they make regular 

visits to ships in ports and 

nautical colleges, or stage 

specialist forums. 

These visits aim to give 

members the chance to 

get advice on employment 

and other problems that 

cannot easily be dealt with 

by letter or email. 

Times and venues for 

meetings in the next few 

months are: 

Nautilus International has produced a 

stylish new tie to enable members to show 

off their membership with pride and 

celebrate seafaring traditions. 

The high-quality navy blue silk tie 

features the word Nautilus displayed in the 

International Code of Signals flags. It is 

available for just £7 or €8.50. 

Also on offer are the Nautilus 

International ‘lightning’ mouse mat 

(£1/€1.30), Nautilus pens (£1/€1.30 each) 

and a set of two badges with Nautilus and 

Red Ensign designs (£2.50/€3). 

In addition, members can help to stick up for 

The face of Nautilus 

Roger Garside, consultant IT manager 

Roger Garside was working as 

ga Gallup Poll market researcher 

when he landed in IT — information 

technology, that is. 

‘The manager said: “Have you 

done anything with computers?” 

I said: “Yes, I did a course on 

computing at university.” He said: 

“Oh, come down and work in the IT 

department.” 

Within a year or so, Roger had 

completely reinstalled all their IT 

equipment — and he ended up 

working there for 18 years. ‘I was 

looking after a department with 50 

people in the end.’ 

Now, as consultant IT manager, he 

oversees Nautilus’s IT network. ‘The 

COLLEGE VISITS 

Nautilus International’s 

recruitment team is now 

holding regular meetings 

with trainees and 

members at all the UK’s 

maritime colleges. Contact 

Garry Elliott or Blossom 

Bell at the Wallasey office 

for visiting schedules and 

further details. 

SHIP VISITS 

If you have an urgent 

problem on your ship, you 

should contact Nautilus — 

enquiries@nautilusint.org 

— to ask for an official to 

visit the ship. Wherever 

possible, such requests will 

be acted upon by the Union 

and last year more than 

200 ships were visited by 


officials as a result of 

contact from members. If 

you need to request a visit, 

please give your vessel’s ETA 

and as much information as 

possible about the problem 

needing to be discussed. 

SCOTLAND 

Members employed by 

companies based in the 

west of Scotland should 

contact Nautilus 

International at Nautilus 

House, Mariners’ Park, 

Wallasey CH45 7PH (tel: 

+44 (0)151 639 8454). 

Members employed in the 

offshore oil sector, or by 

companies based in the 

east of Scotland, should 

contact +44 (0)1224 

638882. This is not an 

office address, so members 

cannot visit in person. 

Future dates and venues 

for Nautilus International 

meetings of the National 

Professional & Technical 

and National Pensions 

Forums include: 

g National Professional 

& Technical Forum — this 

body deals with technical, 

safety, welfare and other 

professional topics relevant 

to shipmaster and chief 

department has two roles: one to 

maintain current systems; the other 

to take things forward. Every time 

you put something new into the 

system, it inevitably brings with it 

more things to support,’ he explains. 

Integrating the UK and Dutch 

systems has been a key project since 

his involvement with Nautilus began 

in July 2008. Other projects to date 

include IT support for the 2009 BGM, 

a roll-out of PCs, and the launch of 

Nautilus International’s new bilingual 

website and CRM database. Roger 

has been assisted in all this 

endeavour by Nautilus systems 

administrator Phillip Ryan. 

Upcoming projects include: 

Nautilus meetings with members: diary dates 

INDICATORS ACDB 

A key measure of UK inflation 

Lhas fallen to its lowest level 

since September 2004, according to 

the latest official statistics. 

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 

dropped to an annual rate of 1.1% in 

September, from 1.6% in August. 

Meanwhile, the Retail Prices 

Index (RPI) inflation measure, which 

includes mortgage interest 

payments and housing costs, fell to 

-1.4% from -1.3%. 

RPIX inflation — the ‘all items’ 

RPI excluding mortgage interest 

payments — was 1.3% in September, 

down from 1.4% in August. 

As an internationally comparable 

measure of inflation, the CPI shows 

that the UK inflation rate in August, 

at 1.6%, was above the provisional 

figure of 0.6% for the European 

Union as a whole. 

The Office of National Statistics 

also reported that average pay rises 

in the year to August were at the 

lowest level since March 1991. 

Average earnings including bonuses 

rose by 1.6% in the year to August, 

engineer officer members. 

The next meeting is due to 

be held on Tuesday 1 

December at the Union’s 

London head office, 

starting at 1300hrs. 

g National Pensions 

Forum — this body was 

established to provide a 

two-way flow of 

information and views on 

all pension matters and 

pension schemes (not just 

the MNOPF). This forum is 

open to all classes of 


member, including 

associate and affiliate. The 

next meeting will be held 

on Tuesday 17 November 

at Leytonstone public 

library, starting at 1100hrs. 

All full members of the 

relevant rank or sector can 

attend and financial 

support may be available 

to some members by prior 

agreement. For further 

details contact head office. 

down from the July rate of 1.8%. 

Average earnings excluding bonuses 

rose by 1.9% over the same period, 

down from the July rate of 2.2%. 

A report from the independent 

analysts, Incomes Data Services, said 

that one in three UK firms had 

imposed a pay freeze on their 

workers this year. 

IDS found that the employers 

who did agree wage rises made 

average awards of 2.9%, and the 

median award across public and 

private sectors was 2.3%. 

Get knotted with the Nautilus International tie! 

the maritime profession with the Union’s 

popular ‘delivered by ship’ stickers. These 

free stickers show the wide variety of 

products that reach our shops thanks to 

merchant ships and seafarers, and are ideal 

for putting on envelopes, or handing out in 

schools and at festivals. 

Please send in a cheque for the ties, 

mouse mats, pens and badges; or for free 

stickers, simply contact our Central Services 

department at head office and let them 

know how many you need. Call Central 

Services on +44 (0)20 8989 6677 or email 

centralservices@nautilusint.org. 

launching a new intranet; storing old 

information — currently stashed on 

microfiche in the UK and on an 

antiquated IBM mainframe in the 

Netherlands — onto disc and the 

network; arranging high-speed 

telecoms; installing new printers; 

and upgrading the ‘internet café’ 

facilities enjoyed by care home 

residents at Mariners’ Park. 

Roger — a triathlon competitor 

and potential ‘Iron Man’ — was part 

of the Nautilus team that raised funds 

for seafarer welfare causes at this 

year’s London marathon, but in IT, 

he’s learned, there is no finishing 

line. ‘You’ve got to keep running to 

stay still.’ 

Quiz answers 

1. German shipowners have the largest 

number of containerships on order — 

a total of 310. 

2. The US flag percentage share of the 

world merchant fleet, in deadweight 

tonnage terms, is just 1.09%. 

3. A ‘Handysize’ bulk carrier is classed 

as one between 10,000dwt and 

34,999dwt. 

4. The average length of a UK 

seafarer’s seagoing career in the 1950s 

was less than 10 years. One-third of 

new recruits left the industry within a 

year of joining it. 

5. BP’s 103,490dwt British Admiral, 

which entered into service in 1965. 

6. Inman Line’s second City of Paris. 

Crossword answers 

Quick Answers 

Across: 1. Paperweight; 7. Mod; 

9. London Eye; 10. Enjoy; 11. Allergy; 

12. Tamarin; 13. Enrichment; 

16. Hope; 18. Cops; 19. Grassroots; 

22. Martini; 23. Compete; 25. Looks; 

26. Milligram; 27. Toy; 

28. Long-sighted. 

Down: 1. Pillage; 2. Panel; 

3. Roof-rack; 4. Elegy; 5. Greetings; 

6. Therms; 7. Major-domo; 

8. Doyenne; 14. Repertory; 

15. Morris men; 17. Trimmings; 

18. Camelot; 20. Steamed; 21. Tinsel; 

23. Cells; 24. Egret. 

This month’s cryptic crossword is a 

prize competition, and the answers 

will appear in next month’s Telegraph. 

Congratulations to Nautilus member 

Capt D.J. Berry whose name was the 

first to be drawn from those who 

successfully completed the October 

cryptic crossword. 

Cryptic answers from October 

Across: 8. Balmoral; 9. Others; 

10. Coin; 11. Backhander; 12. Pebble; 

14. Travesty; 15. Trickle; 17. Ululate; 

20. Camisole; 22. Spread; 

23. Ringleader; 24. Last; 25. Palace; 

26. Articles. 

Down: 1. Saboteur; 2. Omen; 

3. Treble; 4. Placate; 5. Mothball; 

6. Chancellor; 7. Priest; 

13. Buckingham; 16. Loosener; 

18. Transfer; 19. Deadpan; 21. Animal; 

22. Surety; 24. Lick. 

Need to contact Nautilus 

International in the Netherlands? 

The address is: 

Schorpioenstraat 266 

3067 KW Rotterdam 

Tel: +31 (0)10 477 1188 

Fax: +31 (0)10 477 3846 

Email: infonl@nautilusint.org 

Correspondentieadres: 


Postbus 8575 

3009 AN Rotterdam


JOIN NAUTILUS 

When trouble strikes, 

you need Nautilus 

www.nautilusint.org 

Ten good reasons why you should be a member: 

1. Pay and conditions 

Nautilus International negotiates on your behalf 

with an increasing number of British, Dutch and 

foreign flag employers on issues including pay, 

conditions, leave, hours and pensions. The Union 

also takes part in top-level international 

meetings on the pay and conditions of maritime 

professionals in the world fleets. 

2. Legal services 

With the maritime profession under increasing 

risk of criminalisation, Nautilus International 

provides specialist support, including a 

worldwide network of lawyers who can provide 

free and immediate advice to full members on 

employment-related matters. Members and their 

families also have access to free initial advice on 

non-employment issues. 

3. Certificate protection 

As a full member, you have free financial 

protection, worth up to £102,000, against loss of 

income if your certificate of competency is 

cancelled, suspended or downgraded following a 

formal inquiry. Full members are also entitled to 

representation during accident investigations or 

inquiries. 

4. Compensation 

Nautilus International’s legal services 

department recovers substantial compensation 

for members who have suffered work-related 

illness or injuries. 

5. Workplace support 

Nautilus International officials provide expert 

advice on work-related problems such as 

contracts, redundancy, bullying or discrimination, 

non-payment of wages, and pensions. 

6. Safety and welfare 

Nautilus International plays a vital role in 

national and international discussions on such key 

issues as hours of work, crewing levels, shipboard 

conditions, vessel design, and technical and 

training standards. Nautilus International has a 

major say in the running of the industry wide 

pension schemes in the UK and the Netherlands. 

7. Savings 

Being a Nautilus International member costs less 

than buying a newspaper every day and gives you 

peace of mind at work, with access to an 

unrivalled range of services and support. It’s 

simple to save the cost of membership — by 

taking advantage of specially-negotiated rates on 

a variety of commercial services ranging from 

tax advice to UK credit cards, and household, 

motoring, travel and specialist insurance. 

8. In touch 

As a Nautilus International member, help is never 

far away — wherever in the world you are. 

Officials regularly visit members onboard their 

ships and further support and advice is available 

at regular ‘surgeries’ and college visits 

throughout the UK and the Netherlands. There is 

also an official based in Singapore. 

9. Your union, your voice 

Nautilus International is the voice of some 

25,000 maritime professionals working in all 

sectors of the shipping industry, at sea and 

ashore. As one of the largest and most influential 

international bodies representing maritime 

professionals, the Union campaigns tirelessly to 

promote your views. 

10. Get involved! 

Nautilus International is a dynamic and 

democratic union, offering members many 

opportunities to be fully involved and have your 

say in our work — at local, national and 

international levels. 

CALL NOW TO JOIN NAUTILUS 

ON: +44 (0)151 639 8454 

It’s never been more important to be a member and it’s never been 

easier to apply for membership. You can now join over the phone, 

or online at www.nautilusint.org — or post us this form to begin: 

SURNAME 

FIRST NAMES 

GEN DER 

ADDRESS 

POSTCODE 

PERSONAL EMAIL 

HOME TEL 

EMPLOYER 

SHIP NAME 

DISCHARGE BOOK NO (IF APPLICABLE) 

DATE OF BIRTH 

MOBILE 

RANK 

If you are, or have been, a member of another union please state: 

NAME OF UNION 

SUBSCRIPTIONS PAID UNTIL 

MEMBERSHIP NO (IF KNOWN) 

DATE OF LEAVING 

Please post this form to: 

Membership services department 


Oceanair House 

750-760 High Road 

London E11 3BB 

United Kingdom


NEWS 

IBF talks agree a peg on 

pay rates for FoC crews 

Negotiations agree to freeze wages pending completion of a review of officer-rating pay system next year 

PMonths of top-level talks on the 

wages and conditions of seafarers 

serving on flag of convenience 

ships have ended with agreement 

to freeze pay levels until sometime in the 

new year. 

More than 60 delegates from unions 

and employers from 17 countries, meeting 

under the umbrella of the International 

Bargaining Forum, agreed to defer 

a decision on pay rates until a working 

group completes a report on possible 

changes to the way in which the IBF allocates 

wage increases between cash and 

social issues, and between officer and ratings’ 

grades. 

However, both sides did agree to set 

aside ‘substantial funds to enhance 

recruitment, training, skills enhancement, 

employment promotion and 

career development’ in the coming year. 

The IBF talks — which cover more 

than 157,000 seafarers serving on FoC 

ships — had been convened to renew a 

two-year agreement on pay and conditions 

which was due to run out at the end 

of this year. 

The agreement came after a series of 

meetings which began when the employers’ 

side tabled proposals for a 10% cut in 

wage bills this year — and unions 

claimed an increase worth in the region 

of 8%. 

Although neither side got what they 

wanted, there was mutual satisfaction 

with the agreement to release money 

Seafarer wages 

rose 21% last 

year, says study 

from the fund for developed-economy 

ratings to support more general and 

wider training and recruitment needs. 

Speaking after the meeting, Takao 

Manji — chairman of the employers’ Joint 

Negotiating Group — said: ‘This outcome 

represents a pragmatic reaction to a very 

difficult economic situation affecting the 

shipping industry. None of the various 

problems facing us were easy to deal with 

and the discussions with ITF were difficult 

and at times frustrating. But overall we 

are satisfied with the result.’ 

And ITF spokesman Paddy Crumlin 

commented: ‘The negotiations have been 

particularly difficult this time, given the 

economic situation faced by the industry 

and the serious problems this has caused 

for many of our members. But the IBF 

system has been able to cope with these 

strains and the outcome provides further 

positive developments on which we 

can build our relationships that are 

essential to the industry.’ 

It is expected that the working group 

will prepare a report during 2010 concerning 

any possible changes that might 

be made to the current ‘total crew costs’ 

system, and it has been agreed that 

changes to the current pay rates and 

other wage-related issues covered by the 

claims of the ITF and the JNG will be put 

on hold until this work is concluded. 

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson 

said some positive news had come 

out of a bad situation. ‘The pay negotiations 

were always going to be difficult in 

the current climate,’ he pointed out, ‘but 

we take some comfort in the announced 

review of the TCC methodology which 

will hopefully result in officers’ benchmark 

pay rates increasing. Nautilus has 

long argued that IBF benchmark rates 

should reflect reality.’ 

International Maritime Employers’ 

Committee chairman Ian Sherwood said: 

‘Looking at the positive points, IMEC 

members will be particularly satisfied at 

the renewed commitment to training 

and employment promotion that has 

emerged from the settlement. With very 

tight economic conditions affecting us, 

the new funding for training and recruitment 

will be very welcome.’ 

Seafarer wage bills soared by 

Fmore than 20% last year, 

according to a new study of operating 

costs in the shipping industry. 

The annual OpCost report 

produced by the accountants Moore 

Stephens reveals an average increase 

of 15.8% in the price of running a 

broad range of ship types. 

The benchmarking study — which 

is based on data supplied by owners 

and operators — showed an overall 

21.4% increase in crew wages last 

year, the highest figure since the 

OpCost survey was first carried out in 

2000 and more than double the 

increase recorded in 2007. 

‘In almost every vessel category, 

crew costs accounted for the single 

largest increase in expenditure,’ 

Moore Stephens stated. The largest 

increases were for crew costs on 

suezmax tankers — 29.8% — while 

the smallest average increases — 7.8% 

— were for mainline containerships. 

All vessel categories experienced 

an increase in total operating costs 

over the 12-month period and, 

generally speaking, the increases 

were more marked than in any 

previous year, the survey found. 

Bulker costs were up 18.6%, on a 

year-on-year basis, tankers up 15% 

and containerships 10.2%. 

The costs of stores rose 7% overall, 

repairs and maintenance were up 

13.5%, and the bills for insurance 

averaged an additional 8% across the 

various vessel types. 

Moore Stephens partner Richard 

Greiner said it was the first time the 

OpCost indicator had broken through 

the 15% barrier. ‘This is sobering news 

at a time of depressed freight 

markets, and creates something of a 

double-whammy for owners 

struggling to survive in a climate of 

falling revenues and increased costs,’ 

he added. 

Mr Greiner said it was no surprise 

to find that crew costs were the most 

significant element of the increase in 

operating expenditure. ‘We often 

hear industry comments about the 

adverse effect which cheap crews 

have on safety and efficiency, but we 

see no evidence of such crews in the 

responses received from the owners 

and managers of more than 2,100 

ships whose details are included in 

OpCost 2009 — rather the opposite,’ 

he added. 

Union cares for 

crew stranded 

in Liverpool 

Nautilus has expressed 

Fconcern about the crew of a 

flag of convenience ship stranded in 

Liverpool following the bankruptcy 

of a shipping company and the 

collapse of a crewing agency. 

Nautilus/ITF inspector Tommy 

Molloy was last month seeking to 

recover some $94,000 wages for 10 

seafarers onboard the 5,006gt 

containership Believer after the 

owner, Skips Christine AS, was made 

insolvent when the bank terminated 

its credit line. 

The nine Poles and one Russian 

are owed wages for September and 

two months’ basic wages as 

compensation for early termination 

of their contracts. 

‘It seems that either the 

administrator or the mortgaging 

bank has appointed an agent and 

has placed fresh provisions onboard, 

so at least their immediate needs 

are being taken care of,’ said Mr 

Molloy. ‘But it is still a very worrying 

time. They don’t know when they 

will receive their owed wages, who 

— if anyone — is paying them at 

present and into the future, or how 

the matter will resolve itself. One 

crew member packed his bags and 

simply went to the airport and paid 

for a flight home himself. He couldn’t 

face the uncertainty.’ 

Mr Molloy explained that when 

he first approached the crew to offer 

assistance they felt relatively secure 

because their crewing agent had 

assured them they would honour 

their wages and get them home 

safely in due course. But that 

changed a few days later when the 

crewing agency was also wound up. 

Crew members were told that the 

vessel had been sold to a Polish-based 

operator. ‘We are not sure if the new 

buyer is aware of the crew claim for 

owed wages, since no 

acknowledgement of the claim has 

been received,’ Mr Molloy commented. 

‘In any event, a maritime lien follows 

the vessel and — if need be — it can 

be arrested in this or a future port for 

the outstanding amount. We would 

hope it doesn’t have to come to that.’ 

St Peters Street 

Lowestoft 

Suffolk 

NR32 2NB 

Phone: 00 44 1502 525025 

Fax: 00 44 1502 525106 

www.lowestoft.ac.uk/maritime.asp 

E-mail: maritime@lowestoft.ac.uk 

Accredited by 

FOR THE MARITIME INDUSTRY 

STCW95 

Basic Safety Certificate (5 Day) 

MEDICAL 

Elementary First Aid 

Medical First Aid Onboard Ship 

Medical Care Onboard Ship & Refresher 

Offshore First Aid & Refresher 

RADIO 

GMDSS ROC/GOC/LRC 

NAVIGATION 

NaRAST (O) & (M) 

OTHER 

Efficient Deck Hand 

CPSC&RB 

Personal Survival Techniques 

Personal Safety & Social Responsibilities 

Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting & Advanced 

BRIDGE SIMULATOR 

Bridge Team Management 

Command & Control 

Bespoke courses enquiries welcome 

Ships Safety Officer/Security Officer 

Tanker Familiarisation 

Specialist Tanker Training (Oil) 

DYNAMIC POSITIONING 

DP Induction 

DP Simulator 

DP Maintenance (Kongsberg SDP and 70x systems) 

MERCHANT OPERATIONS (DECK) 

Certificate of Competency 

Officer of the Watch (OOW) Unlimited January/May & September 

Chief Mate/Masters (Unlimited) May & September 

Masters MCA Orals Preparatory Course 

SQA Prep (4 weeks)

NAUTILUS P01 NOVEMBER 2009.qxd - Nautilus International

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