NAUTILUS P01 OCTOBER 2010.qxd - Nautilus International

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14 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | October 2010 INTERNATIONAL shortreports PENSION PLEDGE: Boskalis, the Dutch dredging major, has claimed that it was aware all along of the problematic financial position of Smit’s €200m pension fund — including a €28m shortfall — when it sealed a €1.4bn takeover of the fellow Dutch maritime services company in spring this year. A terse announcement from Boskalis revealed that the board of Smit Pension Fund Foundation had been urged by the Dutch central bank to take ‘accelerated measures’ to improve its financial position. FRENCH WORRIES: French seafaring unions and pensioners’ associations have expressed concern that the High Maritime Council is to be abolished in the government’s reform of seafarers’ social security arrangements. They fear that some rights could be withdrawn in the rehash of the advisory body, which was set up in 1953 and brings together all sides of the industry. GREEK CONCERN: Greek seafaring unions have reacted strongly to their government’s announcement that cruise ships will now be able to use the country’s ports as home bases without having to employ Greek seafarers. The government is seeking to more than double cruise ship calls as part of a programme to tackle its economic crisis. INJURIES DOWN: Sweden’s SFBF officers’ union has welcomed a report suggesting that the gap between injury rates among those working at sea and ashore has narrowed dramatically. The study concludes it is ‘only’ 30% more dangerous at sea now, while in 1992 the at-work injury rate was 300% higher than ashore. WAGES WON: sixteeen seafarers stranded onboard the Sierra Leone-flagged cargoship Eastern Planet in the Spanish port of Algeciras since July have received more than US$98,000 in owed wages following intervention by a local <strong>International</strong> Transport Workers’ Federation inspector. COASTAL SERVICE: France has begun moves to establish a new coastguard function to coordinate the activity of various state bodies dealing with maritime issues and establish a centre of operations that will provide specialist advice to the government in crisis situations. INTAKE INCREASE: French maritime high school directors have expressed satisfaction with an increase in the number of new trainees this year. The number of pupils starting the three-year maritime course last month was 1,932, up from 1,650 a year ago. BOX BOOST: the ailing containership operator CMA CGM has announced a spectacular recovery, with a 41% year-on-year increase in turnover and profits of €675m in the first half of 2010. CHERBOURG COAL: a new coal terminal in the French port of Cherbourg was inaugurated last month, with a bulk carrier delivering a cargo from Colombia. ‘Scapegoat’ officer in $23m lawsuit Greek chief engineer launches claim after 14-month detention in the US PA Greek chief engineer officer has launched a US$23m lawsuit against his former employers, claiming that he had been scapegoated in an oily waste dumping case. Ioannis Mylonakis is seeking damages for a wrongful 14-month incarceration, lost personal income and medical expenses before he was cleared by a US court on five charges relating to oily waste dumping from the tanker Georgios M. His lawyers claim the chief engineer had been the victim of a plea bargaining agreement between the US authorities and the tanker’s owners, the Mamidakis Group. In May this year Mr Mylonakis became the first seafarer to be AA Danish bulk carrier has begun the latest in a series of voyages that mark the opening up of the Arctic Ocean to merchant shipping services. The 43,731dwt Nordic Barents is carrying some 41,000 tonnes of iron ore from Norway to China and is set become the first non-Russian commercial vessel to attempt a nonstop crossing of the Northern Sea Route. Using the Arctic route from Europe to Asia instead of the Suez Canal or Cape of Good Hope cuts 5,000nm from the journey and offers fuel savings of up to US$180,000. The receding Arctic ice cap is making it increasingly easier for ships to use polar waters, and during the summer the ice sheet shrunk to near record distances from the Russian coast. In a separate trail-blazing voyage, the Aframax tanker SCF Baltica is sailing from Murmansk to China with a 70,000-tonne cargo of gas condensate, escorted by two nuclear-powered ice-breakers. cleared of ‘magic pipe’ offences after a Texas jury rejected the evidence given by ‘whistleblowing’ crew members on his ship. He had spent the previous 14 months detained in the US awaiting trial. During this period he suffered medical problems and his pension and health insurance lapsed because he had not been working as a seafarer. The Mamidakis subsidiary Styga Compania Naviera, which managed the 69,900dwt Georgios M, had admitted in its plea agreement to a three-year history of dumping oily waste and using by-pass equipment. In return for its plea, Styga paid a $1.25m fine and agreed to a three-year probationary environmental-compliance inspection programme. Russian authorities say the voyages will demonstrate the viability of the Northern Sea Route for shipping services and will open up ‘new business opportunities’. Sovcomflot, which owns the SCF Baltica, said its transit ‘confirms the economic potential of the NSR for delivering hydrocarbons to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.’ Tschudi Shipping chairman Felix Tschudi added: ‘We are very excited about the opportunities the NSR will generate. It has been our ambition for years, so we are very happy to finally have the opportunity to do The company also agreed to assist the US government in prosecuting its former employees, including Mr Mylonakis. But his lawyers point out that he had served on the tanker for only two months when the magic pipe was discovered and that he had been unaware of the equipment, which was concealed beneath the engineroom floor plates. They say the legal action is aimed at ‘restoring the chief engineer’s dignity and obtaining just compensation for the ordeal he and his family were forced to endure’ as a result of the company’s ‘scapegoat strategy’. Laywer George Chalos commented: ‘We are going to do everything humanly possible to get justice for the Mylonakis family. Beyond that, we hope the result will be a lesson and a serious deterrent for anyone who ever even thinks about trying to opportunistically blame the little guy. The defendants made a major mistake in how they handled the case and the strategy has backfired miserably. ‘We are confident that a Texas jury is not going to look kindly on rich, admitted polluters who tried to scapegoat the last man on the ship in order to save a few bucks, he added. ‘It is both our and Mr Mylonakis’s most sincere hope that no one will ever have to go through what the Mylonakis family did and that the fair treatment of seafarers remains front and centre for all concerned in future matters.’ Fines imposed for oily discharges AA chief engineer officer has been fined US$5,000 and sentenced to three years’ probation by a US court on oily waste dumping charges. Dimitrios Dimitrakis, who had been serving on the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier New Fortune, had admitted a series of charges relating to the overboard disposal of oil residue, sludge, oil and oily mixtures into the ocean and his attempts to conceal the discharges. Volodymyr Dombrovskyy, the vessel’s second engineer, was sentenced to two years probation, a $500 fine and a $100 special assessment after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the failure to maintain the oil record book. The pair were brought to court following a US Coast Guard inspection in the port of Oakland which uncovered evidence that equipment had been used to by-pass the oily waste separator system, as well as false entries in the record book. The ship’s owners — Transmar Shipping of Greece — had earlier been fined $750,000 and ordered to make a community service payment of $100,000. Shipping starts to open up Northern Sea Route The Nordic Barents leaves the Norwegian port of Kirknes for its Arctic Ocean voyage Picture: Reuters this voyage. ‘The NSR can be of great importance for the companies in northern Scandinavia and on the Kola Peninsula which ship oil, gas, minerals and other raw materials to the increasingly important Asian markets.’
October 2010 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 15 INTERNATIONAL French and Spanish unions want their members onboard the UK-flagged Norman Bridge Picture: Eric Houri Three-month lifeline given to SeaFrance Unions warned of need to accept proposed job cuts by Jeff Apter PThe long-running SeaFrance survival saga continues — with the surprise decision by the Paris commercial court last month to give a three-month extension to the period of administration and protection. The judge took the unexpected decision saying that the extension would enable the company’s restructuring and redundancy programme to continue following the approval of ‘rescue’ funding totalling €50m by the European Commission. But unions representing staff working for the cross-Channel operator have been warned against taking any action that could make the company go bankrupt. Management said they would be meeting unions in the wake of the court decision to discuss arrangements for the remaining job losses required by the company’s survival plan. AThe first Danish maritime catering officers have completed their training to switch to being navigation officers. Two of the class are now seeking jobs as second or third officers, while six are continuing their training so they can become masters of smaller vessels up to 3,000 tonnes. The background to the retraining is rooted in Maersk’s decision in 2008 to replace its Danish catering officers with cheaper Filipinos. ‘SeaFrance’s restructuring and reorganisation measures also entail a new system of working patterns aboard our vessels and talks on this will begin soon with staff representatives,’ the company added. Officers’ and ratings’ unions reluctantly agreed this summer, following months of negotiations and industrial action, to accept the rescue package established by management and court officials. The proposals will mean a total of 725 redundancies — of which around half still remain to be made. Management’s veiled threat was that the unions either accept the plan or SeaFrance’s liquidation. Parent company, the stateowned rail firm SNCF, has already given €70m worth of finance this year to keep SeaFrance running. But SeaFrance boss Pierre Fa said the line of credit is shortterm and must be reimbursed by 15 December — the date the court observation extension measure ends. Another, more discreet, reason for the extension is the possibility that one or more new investors will appear on the scene. Although both LD Lines and Brittany Ferries have withdrawn previous offers for SeaFrance, it is possible an even slimmer operation than originally anticipated could again interest them. Until now, Being Bang — a finance company specialising in the entertainment industry — was the only candidate officially interested in investment, but the undisclosed offer was rejected. Mr Fa welcomed the court’s decision and said it served to provide a clear deadline for negotiations on the recovery plan. He warned the unions to play it cool over the next few weeks — saying that if any difficulty arose in carrying out the plan during the observation period, the SNCF would withdraw its credit line. In other words, even the slightest hint of industrial action would lead to SeaFrance disappearing from cross-Channel activity. As Danish maritime catering officers are highly qualified, taking their training a step further was a natural step, according to the Danish Maritime Catering Union. Union chairman Ole Philipsen says six of the eight candidates who passed their exams in the summer came from Maersk, with the other two from Torm. Some of those are continuing with their education and will graduate by Christmas, qualified to command smaller vessels. Protest at UK flag on new link to Spain The official launch of the first A‘motorway of the sea’ between France and Spain was called off last month because of concerns over ‘risks to public order’ as a result of union protests. The new service between Saint Nazaire and Gijón in northern Spain is intended to take up to 100,000 lorries off the roads every year and had been due to be launched by French and Spanish government ministers on 16 September. But the formal event was called off after French shipping minister Dominique Bussereau issued a statement warning of ‘risks of trouble to public order’. Before the anticipated launch, some 300 dockers blocked the access to the port. CGT union secretary Yves Tual said his members did not oppose the service, but were protesting at the lack of progress in talks on working conditions. Both the CGT and CFDT seafarers’ unions also criticised the decision to use the UK-flagged and Britishcrewed ferry Norman Bridge on the service. They argued that French and Spanish seafarers should be crewing the ship as the service will receive €30m in subsidies from France and Spain and a further €4m from the EU. The Norman Bridge has been transferred from LD Lines’ Dover- Boulogne route, which closed earlier in the month. Grounded ship master jailed for drinking The master of a Dutch-owned Ageneral cargoship that ran aground off Sweden has been sentenced to a month in prison after tests showed he was four times over the alcohol limit. Captain Andrei Sharafonenko, from Ukraine, was arrested after the 4,536dwt Flinterforest ran aground in the Oresund Strait on 13 August and was sentenced by a court in Malmo last month on a charge of aggravated drunkenness at sea. Prosecutors said the careless navigation of the Flinterforest in a narrow and busy waterway had presented a considerable risk to other vessels. At the time of the accident, the Flinterforest was carrying 700 tonnes of paper from Finland to Scotland. New role for catering officers Mr Philipsen — himself a former maritime catering officer with Maersk — said: ‘In Denmark, much emphasis is placed on you never being in a blind alley education-wise. There must always be an alternative route ahead.’ The oldest catering officer to have retrained was aged 62 and Mr Philipsen said everyone on the course had been very satisfied with the training. ‘My view is that those who become captains will be good all-round seamen,’ he added. shortreports SWEDISH SLUMP: an official study of the Swedish maritime cluster paints a depressing picture, according to the SBF officers’ union. Supporting the grant-dependent cluster means an economic drain on the Swedish state, and bringing in an international register — with more shipping flagging in — would only make matters worse, the report claimed. The study says it is cheaper to use foreign crews and Swedish owners would be better off using other countries’ national support schemes. Swedish officers will still be needed, but the government would be best off funding training on foreign-flagged ships rather than maintaining its own training support measures, it adds. NORWEGIAN WELCOME: maritime unions in Norway have welcomed a research report that sets out ways in which the country can help to ensure Norwegian jobs at sea on national terms and conditions. The study — which has been presented to industry minister Trond Giske — notes how it is common practice for countries to have rules restricting access by foreign-flagged ships to domestic trade or regulations designed to ensure equal rights for all seafarers, irrespective of nationality. COASTAL PLANS: the US government is considering a series of plans to boost coastal shipping and inland waterways. A shortlist of schemes has been drawn up after 35 requests for subsidies under the US$7m Marine Highway Program. Maritime administrator David Matsuda said: ‘These projects will help make better use of America’s marine resources by reducing costly gridlock, improving the environment, and putting skilled mariners and shipbuilders to work.’ WATER WORK: Dutch electronics firm Philips has decided to use the Netherlands river system instead of the roads to carry goods between its distribution centre in Roosendal and Rotterdam following a pilot project with Maersk Line and the Port of Rotterdam. The move will save 80,000 road kilometres and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 200 tonnes a year. ATTACK PROBED: the Israeli inquiry into the 30 May attacks on humanitarian aid ships destined for Gaza has asked the Turkish master of the Mavi Marmara — onboard of which nine Turkish nationals were killed — to give evidence to the hearings. The commission is examining the legal aspects of the attack and will report to a UN group of experts. SPANISH SAFETY: Spanish unions have accused the country’s government of putting lives at risk with a package of cutbacks within the national maritime safety agency, Sasemar. They have warned that the cuts — which include the loss of more than 100 jobs — will result in lower safety standards. ROTTERDAM BOOST: container traffic in Rotterdam — Europe’s biggest port — has bounced back to the levels of 2008, with a 14.8% increase in the first half of this year. The port has also had more calls by 10,000TEU-plus containerships and handled its 100th ULCC in August. Come to Hull for all your STCW95 short courses plus Ship Security Officer, PSCRB, Efficient Deck Hand, Crowd Management, Crisis Management and Human Behaviour Dates available throughout 2010 Tel: 01482 820567 Fax: 01482 823202 Email: bookings@hota.org Website: www.hota.org
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