FINLANDS SJÖFART J SUOMEN MERENKULKU 41
” If it is possible, however hard, to repatriate,
Majeure’ situation – defined as acts, events or
circumstances beyond control.
As it grew increasingly difficult to get
seafarers off ships and fly them home, the
International Transport Workers’ Federation
(ITF) twice reluctantly agreed to 30-day
periods of onboard service extensions under the
International Bargaining Forum (IBF) Framework
Agreement.
This would at least allow for seafarers to
retain the right to wages and accrued paid
annual leave whilst stuck onboard. The
extensions permitted seafarers who had
worked 11 months to stay onboard with full
pay and conditions up to a maximum of 13
months. Ideally, a new one-month SEA should
be agreed for each extension.
Seafarers must have genuinely consented to
staying onboard and/or extending their contracts
if circumstances meant that they could not be
repatriated or take annual leave, and all
benefits and other terms must remain the
same.
When asked for a third time, the ITF
refused another extension. Instead, govern-ments
were given an extra 30 days, up to 15
June 2020, to implement crew changes in line
with industry protocols circulated by the Interna-tional
Maritime Organization (IMO) in mid-May.
That should have meant governments finally
started to allow crew changes. But in many cases
borders remained closed, and a growing number
of seafarers – now thought to be as many as
200,000 – remained stuck at sea, to their increas-ing
distress.
A CAPTIVE ENVIRONMENT
Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, the head of World
Maritime University, is known as the Mother of
the MLC for her work to develop this ‘seafarers’
bill of rights’ in the early 2000s. She has warned
that, despite the exceptional circumstances of the
pandemic, tours of duty must be limited to protect
the mental health and wellbeing of seafarers.
‘We have to be careful that seafarers are not
subject to forms of abuse because they are in this
captive environment,’ she warned. ‘This has been
really traumatic and a very dramatic set of
circumstances in which no one should find
themselves.’
Dr Doumbia-Henry urged the maritime indus-try
to continue to fight for crew changes. ‘We have
to champion the cause for seafarers because they
are onboard the ship. They are powerless, waiting
on us to help them get back.’
WHAT NOW?
As time has passed and the pandemic
has begun to wane in many parts of the
world, border restrictions are gradually
easing. Tourist travel has cautiously
restarted in some places, and the
conditions for repatriation and transfer of
seafarers have improved. It is becoming less
viable to claim Force Majeure as an excuse
for not making crew changes.
‘It is important to make the distinction
between what is difficult to do, and what is
impossible to do when it comes to Force
Majeure,’ Nautilus director of legal Charles
Boyle explains. ‘If it is possible, however hard,
to repatriate crew, then tough! You have to do
it under the MLC. Governments signed up to
these international conventions. Industry
must comply with them.’
On 9 July, the UK hosted an international
video-conference where 13 governments
adopted a statement pledging to urgently take
forward a range of actions to ‘avert the global
crisis that is unfolding at sea’ for the seafarers
who remain trapped working on ships.
The governments pledged to designate
seafarers as ‘key workers’, to provide visa
waivers, and to exempt them from quaran-tine.
The event was attended by Australia,
Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Indonesia, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, United
Arab Emirates and United States of America.
ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton, who
attended the online event, said: ‘After months
of this crew change crisis getting worse,
governments must do their bit. That means that
port states where ships dock, flag states where
ships are registered, transit hubs with airports,
and the home countries of seafarers all need to
make visa, quarantine and border exceptions
for seafarers now – not tomorrow, not next
week.’
Change is slowly starting to happen. From 1
July, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority
(AMSA) said it would no longer allow seafarers
to serve onboard beyond 13 months without a
break. Vessels can be detained at Australian
ports if a seafarer has continuously served
onboard beyond that time.
‘What we’re seeing now is a tipping point in
terms of facilitating crew changes,’ Mr Boyle
says. ‘It will be harder for lone wolves to hold
out. Attention will be drawn to non-compliant
countries, pressure will be applied, and it will
become harder and harder to rely on the
excuse of Force Majeure.
’Basically, it comes down to: will you
enforce MLC at the end of the day or won’t
you?’ •
then tough! You have to do it under the MLC”.
NAUTILUS LEGAL DIRECTOR CHARLES BOYLE
Standing up
for seafarers’
MLC rights
during the
crew change
crisis.
TOP: Nautilus
legal director
Charles Boyle.
MIDDLE: ITF
general
secretary
Stephen
Cotton.
BOTTOM:
Nautilus
general
secretary
Mark
Dickinson.
A