May-June 2012 - The International Organization of Masters, Mates ...

news briefs (continued)
Strong Opposition Meets U.S.-U.K. Proposal
To “Discourage Ransom Payments to Pirates”
A proposal by British Prime Minister David Cameron to “discourage the payment of ransoms to pirates” is evoking sharp criticism
from shipping organizations, labor unions, seafarers’ rights groups and the marine insurance industry.
The Round Table of international shipping associations and the Save Our Seafarers campaign (SOS) have written to Cameron
and other U.K. government officials to say they are “highly disturbed” by statements made by U.K. and U.S. officials at the
London Somalia Conference earlier this year. During the conference, Cameron and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton discussed
creating an international task force to study policies to discourage ransom payments.
The proposal “is a continuation of the U.S. State Department’s ill-conceived notion that piracy can be stopped by denying the
payment of ransom, a position which ignores the human cost of sacrificing the lives of innocent seafarers,” says the MM&P Pilots
Group Vice President. “It is particularly troubling that governments have not mounted a robust and effective campaign against
acts of piracy, the shore bases that permit pirates to operate and the tracking of ransom money to the financiers of piracy,” he
adds. “There is no doubt that denying the payment of ransom will result in the death of seafarers, which is totally unacceptable to
the maritime community.”
“This could be a disaster for the shipping industry,” says Alistair Evitt, chairman of Save Our Seafarers, who was quoted in an
interview published in the April 26 issue of Fairplay. “There has to be a system to get the seafarer released.”
MM&P, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association and other U.S. maritime unions have spoken out strongly against the
idea of blocking ransom payments since it was first floated in a 2010 Obama Administration Executive Order.
“There is a vast difference between blocking the payment of funds to criminals where there are no consequences… and blocking
ransom payments intended to protect the lives of innocent hostages,” the unions say. They are calling on the United States
instead to place armed military detachments exercising governmental authority aboard U.S.-flag ships transiting waters subject to
pirate attacks.
Re-Elect U.S. Representative
Colleen Hanabusa!
America’s maritime unions are expressing strong support
for Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House of
Representatives who is campaigning for re-election to
the seat she won in 2010.
Hanabusa, a labor lawyer, says she chose a career in
public service to fight for low-income communities like
the ones on Oahu’s Leeward Coast, where she grew up.
The granddaughter of sugar cane workers, Hanabusa
was elected President of the Hawaii State Senate in 2006,
becoming the first woman to lead either house of the
state legislature.
A strong supporter of the Jones Act and maritime
labor, Hanabusa is credited with fighting back an attempt
to shut down the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in
Oahu. She also played a central role in the fight to secure
more than $500 million for vital military construction
projects in Hawaii.
MM&P Honolulu Representative Randy Swindell (left) and Jeremiah Harrington, a
member of the Seafarers International Union, show their support for Rep. Colleen
Hanabusa, a strong advocate for maritime labor who is running for re-election to the
House seat she won in 2010.
May - June 2012 - 4 - The Master, Mate & Pilot