Inside - Nautilus International

More documents

Recommendations

Info

02 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | March 2011 NAUTILUS AT WORK Nautilus International’s new head office in ASouth Woodford, east London, was officially opened by two of the Union’s longestserving UK staff members last month. Following a retirement lunch for former deputy general secretary Peter McEwen, Josie Union attacks end of sea freight aid Abolition of Freight Facilities Grant ‘torpedoes’ cleaner transport policies PNautilus International has accused the UK government of torpedoing its green transport policies. The union has criticised a Department for Transport decision to scrap the Freight Facilities Grants (FFG) scheme to encourage cargoes to switch from roads to water and rail. The grants — which were first introduced in 1974 — were suspended last July ahead of the government’s comprehensive spending review. But ministers have now decided to close the scheme in England to new and existing applicants with immediate effect. Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘This is a desperately disappointing decision and raises serious Jaw and Adele McDonald were invited to cut the ribbon on the new building. ‘It was such a surprise when the general secretary asked us to do the official opening,’ said Josie, who started working for the Union in 1973, when it was the Merchant Navy & Airline Officers’ questions about the government’s commitment to greening the country’s transport systems. ‘Our coastal waters and inland waterways offer a cost-effective and highly green alternative to the increasingly clogged-up road system; FFGs have encouraged such a shift and more could have been done,’ he pointed out. ‘However, we are now moving less freight on water than we did 25 years ago, and the proportion being carried on UK-flagged ships has fallen to an all-time low. ‘It is essential the government delivers a clear commitment to a proactive policy to ensure that the UK does not waste the huge potential that coastal shipping and inland waterways offers in delivering cleaner transport.’ Seeing red on green posters Getting the message: one of the Green Party’s wartime posters to encourage fewer ‘food miles’ Nautilus has taken issue with a Anew climate change campaign by the UK Green Party. The Union argues that the campaign, launched with eye-catching second world warstyle posters, oversimplifies the concept of food miles and unfairly demonises the shipping industry. In a letter to party leader Caroline Lucas MP last month, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson observes that one of the campaign’s posters contains the slogan ‘Let your shopping cut down shipping’. ‘Nautilus has been concerned for some time now,’ he says, ‘that the anti-food miles movement might lead to a backlash against imported food that could unfairly affect the shipping industry and, ultimately, seafarers’ jobs — not to mention those of The government says it will now concentrate its support for greener freight transport through the Mode Shift Revenue Support and Waterborne Freight Grant schemes. But Nautilus is concerned that the loss of the FFG scheme will have an adverse impact on investment in new projects in the coastal shipping sector. Recent government statistics showed that the volume of freight moved on UK waters slumped to the lowest level in more than a decade during 2009 and had declined by 20% over the previous five years. The volume of goods moved on UK inland waterways has slumped by a staggering 32% in the past decade, and only 6% of producers in developing nations. I was therefore disturbed to see shipping being illustrated in a negative way in your series of posters.’ Whilst acknowledging that almost all food transportation generates harmful CO2 emissions, the Union stresses that not all food miles are equal. A mile travelled by a ship carrying thousands of tonnes of cargo is very different from a mile travelled by a 4X4 bringing home a bag of salad from the supermarket. Air freight, too, is a much more problematic way to transport food than shipping; air transport accounts for 0.1% of total food miles but generates 13% of total food transport CO2 emissions. What’s more, transportation is not the only environmental factor that Association. ‘It was such an honour and an unexpected pleasure.’ The address of the new office is 1 & 2 The Shrubberies, George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1BD. Telephone numbers and email addresses remain unchanged. the 110m tonnes of freight lifted in the UK in 2009 went by water, against 82% on road, 8% by pipeline, and 5% by rail. Only 10% of freight lifted in the coastwise and one-port trades was carried by UK-flagged ships in 2009 —compared with more than 40% 15 years ago. The last FFG given by the government to encourage cargoes to go by water was an award worth £500,000 that will save an estimated 900,000 lorry miles. However, the Scottish government has had a U-turn on plans to cut the FFG from its Budget. Following protests over the plans, ministers announced last month that they will now make at least £2m available for FFGs in the next financial year. concerned buyers should take into account. Because of the intensive use of heated greenhouses and artificial fertilisers by Britain and its European neighbours, it can actually be more environmentally-friendly overall to transport food by ship from distant countries such as New Zealand, where farming methods generate less CO2. ‘Using food miles to campaign for people to “Buy British” or “Buy local” is wrong,’ concludes the general secretary, ‘and I would contend that it could lead to adverse effects upon the environment, the economy and producers in many developing nations.’ Nautilus is now seeking further dialogue with the Green Party, with the aim of modifying the climate change campaign. New membership benefits aim to save you money The cost of living is rising Aremorselessly. But Nautilus is set to launch a new package of benefits for UK-resident members this month that aims to bring big savings on many day-to-day purchases. And the new deals could easily save you at least half the cost of your annual Nautilus subscription, says assistant general secretary Paul Moloney. The package — which is due to be introduced early in March — has been drawn up following an extensive review of the services and benefits offered by the Union. Key features include partnerships with Lealta Benefits and Union Energy, which will offer potentially huge savings on petrol, electricity and gas. Members will also be able to get discounted rates on gym membership through two nationwide chains and reduced entrance rates to airport lounges. ‘These two Nautilus-specific benefits have been negotiated in response to demand from members, and we ANautilus was taking part in top-level talks last month to call for compulsory new controls to cut the risks posed by overweight or badly stuffed containers. Together with other union members of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Nautilus took part in a two-day meeting to lobby politicians, the European Union and other stakeholders on the dangers of badly prepared shipping containers. Organised by the International Labour Organisation, the meeting heard concerns about the health and safety hazards being caused by a variety of container stuffing and securing problems. The ILO forum on safety in the supply chain in relation to packing of containers was described as the first truly worldwide examination of the safety problems linked to overloaded, believe that they will prove to be very popular,’ Mr Moloney added. The package will enable UKresident Nautilus members to access more than 300 discounted benefits and services available through the website. A key feature will be the ability to save 5p a litre on petrol and diesel at Sainsbury’s filling stations. ‘Combined with the potential savings from Union Energy — which gives members the ability to achieve significant reductions on their household power bills — it is likely that members will easily be able to save at least £100 a year,’ Mr Moloney said. Nautilus conducted the review of the membership benefits package last year, and Mr Moloney said the new services were the result of listening to members. ‘We want to meet the real needs of maritime professionals, as well as significantly reducing the cost of belonging to the Union,’ he added. Details of the new package will z appear on the Nautilus website when the scheme is launched. Unions seek tougher rules for containers badly packed or inadequately secured freight containers, and those carrying undeclared dangerous goods. ITF general secretary David Cockroft commented: ‘At their best containers are a key link in the world supply chain; at their worst they are a danger to the lives of workers and the public. Their use across transport sectors — lorry, port, rail, ship — makes this of particular relevance to the ITF and its members.’ The unions argued that ‘best practice’ and self-regulation have failed to stop the worst kind of incidents, and that mandatory international instruments should be developed to guarantee that those handling and moving containers are informed of their weight, state of packing, stowage and securing, as well as their centre of gravity and whether or not any fumigants or dangerous substances are present. Getting ahead for charity Nautilus general secretary AMark Dickinson led the Union’s support for the Woolly Hat Week fund-raising initiative for the maritime charity the Sailors’ Society. The Southampton-based charity — which hands out some 15,000 woolly hats knitted by volunteers annually, gift-wrapping 6,000 as Christmas presents for seafarers — encourages people to wear knitted headgear to work for a week each year to raise both cash and awareness. Nautilus made a donation to the Society — an interdenominational charity supporting seafarers throughout the world — and Mr Dickinson said he was pleased to be able to take part in the event.
March 2011 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 03 NAUTILUS AT WORK shortreports SPILL CONSULT: the UK Marine Management Organisation has launched a six-week consultation on the best ways of treating oil spills. Representatives from across industry, government and the environmental sector have been urged to have their say as part of the oil spill treatment product approval scheme review led by the Organisation. The review is due to be completed by April and will concentrate on dispersants in the light of lessons from the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico. The Duchess of Cornwall is pictured with ARoyal Fleet Auxiliary Commodore Bill Walworth and crew members from the RFA vessel Argus during a visit to Portsmouth last month. As well as operating as an aviation training ship, Argus can be deployed to war zones as a primary casualty receiving facility, and the duchess visited the vessel in her capacity as Commodore-in-Chief of Royal Naval Medical UK plans to close loopholes on pay UNautilus International has welcomed ‘long overdue’ moves by the UK government to curb pay discrimination between seafarers of different nationalities on British ships. Shipping minister Mike Penning has announced that the government will act to comply with European Commission rules outlawing the practice of paying different rates to crew members based on their home country. The announcement came after the Commission last month threatened to take legal action to force the UK to put an end to the legal loopholes that allow owners to give differential pay rates to non-UK seafarers. Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘We’re glad the UK is finally acting on this, although it is a shame it Services. She was shown the ship’s 100-bed hospital facility, including intensive care and high dependency units, and two 35-bed general wards and two operating theatres. The duchess also toured the bridge and was told about the operation of the engines and steering systems. And she was also given a demonstration of simulated casualties arriving on the ship and being treated by medical staff, as well as meeting has taken so long and that it has taken the threat of court action and financial penalties to deliver a result. ‘We are disappointed that the minister is saying he will do only the bare minimum required to comply with the EU directive, which means we will still see problems for non-EU and EEA seafarers,’ he added. Mr Dickinson stressed that Nautilus remains committed to its offer to work with shipowners to avoid the threat of flagging out, and to find constructive ways of compliance that keep UK ships internationally competitive. ‘However, we will also spare no effort in tracking down those owners that do switch their ships to other flags to evade their responsibilities for decent working conditions,’ he warned. Mr Penning said he believed Brussels had unfairly penalised the UK by giving it just two months to fall into line with the EU rules — claiming that other countries are ‘getting off scotfree’. He added: ‘I am determined to do everything I can to stand up for British shipping and the red ensign. We will do the absolute bare minimum to comply with the EU’s ruling so as to cause as little disadvantage as possible to UK interests.’ Announcing the ‘two-month warning’, the Commission said the UK’s legislation allowing non- UK seafarers to be paid at levels directly and indirectly linked to their nationality was in breach of the obligation to treat EU migrant workers in the same way as national workers. The Commission stressed that the European Court of Justice had members of the Joint Force Medical Group who are about to deploy to Afghanistan. Commanding officer Captain Paul Kehoe said the visit would help to raise the profile of the ship. ‘We tend to be a bit of a silent service and this engages with a wider audience what the capabilities of the ship are,’ he added. ‘We are the only Nato ship that has the flexibility and the facilities we have onboard.’ Minister promises action on discriminatory rates following EU protests clarified that EU law on the free movement of workers fully applies in shipping, and applies also to work that takes place outside the EU. The Chamber of Shipping described the decision as ‘most regrettable’ and warned that shipping companies had consistently warned of the possibility of flagging-out if they were forced to pay ‘above market rates for their crew members’. In a statement issued after last month’s announcement, it added: ‘The Chamber awaits with great interest the publication of the regulations that will apply Part 5 of the Equality Act to seafarers. ‘The impact on UK-flag shipping operations will depend on the precise wording of the regulations and the circumstances of individual companies,’ the statement added. CHANNEL FINE: the skipper and owners of a Belgian trawler have been fined by a UK court after the vessel went the wrong way through the Dover Strait traffic separation scheme and was involved in a nearmiss with a cross-Channel ferry in March 2009. Brian Witdoeckt, skipper of the De Zwerver, was fined £400 and ordered to pay £600 costs and owners BVBA Deo Volante were fined £1,500 and costs of £3,733 after admitting breaching the collision prevention regulations. TUC PROTEST: the TUC has expressed concern at a fresh rise in the UK inflation rate, with figures out last month showing the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) increasing to 4% and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) up to 5.1%. General secretary Brendan Barber commented: ‘Price pressures have nothing to do with wages and much to do with the government’s decision to increase VAT, the unfairest tax of all. Interest rate rises would be nothing more than economic self-harm.’ PIRATE JAILED: a Somali pirate who was caught following the attack on the US-flagged containership Maersk Alabama last year has been sentenced to almost 34 years in jail by a court in New York. The FBI said the sentence ‘sends a clear message to others who would interfere with American vessels or do harm to Americans on the high seas: whatever seas you ply, you are not beyond the reach of American justice’. NINE DETAINED: nine unseaworthy foreign flagged ships were under detention in UK ports in January, according to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency. The list included a Maltese-flagged ro-ro cargoship that had failed to save voyage data recorder information after a collision and a Panamanianregistered bulk carrier whose crew could not demonstrate effective fire and abandon ship drills. GUARDS CALL: leading shipowners have amended their policy on the use of armed guards on merchant ships. The International Chamber of Shipping said the changing nature of the threat had resulted in its decision to end opposition to the use of private armed guards — leaving it to the choice of individual operators. CANAL COMPETITION: China and Colombia have revealed plans to build a new link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to rival the Panama Canal. The 220km rail connection would connect Cartagena, on the northern Atlantic coast of Colombia, with its Pacific coast — making it easier for China to export its goods. BOX BLAZE: crew members onboard the UKflagged containership Safmarine Nomazwe managed to control a fire which broke out in three containers packed with charcoal onboard the ship off the coast of South Africa last month. Local fire teams were called in to assist when the ship arrived in the port of Cape Town. SINGAPORE SHUTDOWN: Nautilus International members are advised that the Union’s Singapore office will be closed between 28 March to 29 April because of staff leave and training. Normal service will be resumed in May. Royal rendezvous: it was a case of little meeting large off Tristan da Cunha last month as the only two ships in the world with Royal Mail status — the RMS Queen Mary 2 and RMS St Helena — passed each other and exchanged salutes. RACON VIEWS: Trinity House is seeking users’ views on the continued need for the X & S band racon at Round Island Lighthouse, in the Isles of Scilly. Comments from those who navigate in the area are needed by 9 May.
Page 1: Frontline fears Seafarers speak of
Page 5 and 6: March 2011 | nautilusint.org | tele
Page 23 and 24: 24 | telegraph | nautilusint.org |
Page 37 and 38: ii | telegraph | nautilusint.org |
Page 39: iv | telegraph | nautilusint.org |

Inside - Nautilus International

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?