Features: - Tanker Operator

INDUSTRY - SHIPMANAGEMENT
must realise
that shipmanagement fees
need to increase otherwise
“Shipowners
the majority of
professional managers will become reluctant
to take on more ships", warned Ole Stene,
InterManager president.
Claiming that shipowners still had to
recognise the valuable role that third party
managers play in today's shipping industry,
Stene complained that owners still "did not
want to pay the fees that managers' deserve
for taking care of their assets"
He added: "I have not seen much
improvement in the management fee structure
since it first started to be debated in the media
and when you see how the shipping market has
improved coupled with the concerns we have on
recruiting and manning and taking care of the
asset value of the ships, we are surprised
owners are not prepared to share their fortune
with us in taking care of their ships."
Despite this reticence on the part of the
owners, Stene claimed it was inevitable that
fees would rise and that owners would start to
realise they have not only to invest in
manning but also in paying for the
management services that they are receiving.
"It is becoming more difficult for
shipowners themselves to recruit the right
shipmanagement resource. In a way it is the
third party managers who control those people
who will be eventually employed as
superintendents ashore. If a shipowner,
particularly the asset players, goes out into the
market to try and hire superintendents or crew
managers, he will find he has a huge problem
attracting the right people," he added.
InterManager has also reiterated its stance
on the continuing detention in South Korea of
the Hebei Spirit's master and chief officer.
"Yet again we see our highly professional
and valued seafarers singled out for appalling
treatment," said Stene. "How can we
encourage young people to take up a career in
shipping when they see experienced and
innocent crew criminalised in this way. Would
30
InterManager speaks
out for a pay rise
One of the major problems facing third party shipmanagement concerns today
is remuneration, especially when basic costs are escalating.
InterManager president Ole Stene.
the airline industry accept this - I think not!"
The 1993-built single hull VLCC was at
anchor waiting for a berth to discharge when
a crane barge broke its tow in stormy
weather and smashed into her side, holing
three cargo tanks.
About 10,500 tonnes of oil spilled into the
sea, causing the country's largest ever oil spill.
Two South Korean tug masters were jailed
for their part in the incident, but the tanker's
two officers, Indian nationals Capt Jasprit
Chawla and Syam Chetan, were cleared of all
charges on 23rd June.
However, they have since been prevented
from leaving South Korea pending a retrial
that is not expected to take place until early
next year. Under South Korean law,
prosecutors have appealed to the country's
high court against the decision by a district
court in the Daejeon area of South Korea that
exonerated the men of blame.
Depending on the outcome of the high court
trial, prosecutors may appeal to South Korea's
Supreme Court, which would result in another
retrial which might not take place until the
middle of next year.
The two men have received support not just
from their employer, V Ships, but also from
other seafarers in messages and telephone calls.
Capt Chawla, who has 17 years of exemplary
seafaring service, said in a recent interview that
he felt he had done nothing wrong and that he
was reluctant to return to sea, fearing that any
future decisions he took at the helm would be
coloured by this experience.
Stene added: "This criminalisation of
seafarers is having a seriously detrimental
effect on recruitment. Seafarers spend many
months away from their families doing an
essential job for global trade. It is horrific to
then confine these men many miles away from
their homes and their loved ones, particularly
when they have already proved they have done
nothing wrong. We are very concerned that this
type of incident is deterring young men from
pursuing a worthwhile career at sea." TO
TANKEROperator � August/September 2008