P&I clubs ‘ought to work
with the ITF’
Conference told of the need to cooperate
to tackle increase in cases of seafarer
abandonment.
Maritime insurers have been urged to do more to combat
substandard shipowners who abandon their seafarers with
little or no provisions and many months of unpaid wages.
The call came from Katie Higginbottom, projects and
campaigns leader for the International Transport Workers’
Federation (ITF), during a meeting organised by the
International Group of Protection & Indemnity Clubs (IG)
last month.
She told a session looking at the impact of the Maritime
Labour Convention (MLC) that the global downturn has
had a huge impact on seafarers — with evidence of an
increase in the number of abandonment cases.
Last year, Ms Higgin-bottom said, the ITF recovered
more than US$42m in unpaid wages and dealt with 1,869
cases of seafarers being owed pay, 1,545 cases of breach of
contract, and 1,017 cases of non-compliance with interna-tional
standards.
There were at least 42 cases of seafarers being aban-doned
during 2016, she added, and in the first eight months
of 2017 the ITF had handled 33 cases of abandonment.
‘For the crew involved, the impact is enormous,’ Ms
Higginbottom said. ‘It can be catastrophic for them, with
inhumane living conditions, a loss of dignity, physical and
mental breakdown, and problems with stress and family
relationships.
‘This is a shameful aspect of the shipping industry, but
it is not difficult to manage the risk,’ she pointed out. ‘The
MLC provides the framework for cooperation and timely
solutions, and everyone benefits from collaboration.’
Of the 33 cases this year, she said nine had involved
owners who were covered by IG members, nine covered by
non-IG P&I clubs, 13 whose cover was unknown and two
with no cover at all.
‘We need to address the part of the industry which is
outside the concept of the level playing field, and that
means that must find ways to address areas where ships
are operating without cover,’ Ms Higginbottom argued.
Jonathan Hare, the IG’s legal advisor, said amendments
to the MLC which came to effect earlier this year are
extremely important for P&I clubs as they aim to ensure
that owners have financial security for the consequences
of crew abandonment, and for claims in respect of seafarer
deaths and personal injury.
IG club members have arranged reinsurance cover
which provides a total of US$200m in MLC abandonment
cover, he said. ‘But, of course, addressing the issue of
abandonment is not purely financial. It is about providing
support to crews when they need it most — ensuring that
they have access to food and water, fuel and medical
supplies while they are awaiting repatriation; working to
secure visas and repatriation travel, and paying unpaid
wages.
‘Here, there is quite a lot of common interest for clubs to
work with the ITF and seafarer representatives to get the
money paid and the crew repatriated as soon as possible,’
he added. •
Migrants protest
crew abandoned
ITF condemns far-right group over ‘clown
car’ attempts to block rescue ships.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation has hit
out at a far-right group which abandoned the crew of a ship
it chartered to confront refugees and send them ‘back to
Africa’.
The Defend Europe group had been using the Mongo-lian-
flagged research vessel C Star to block search and
rescue vessels operated by humanitarian organisations in
the Mediterranean.
But the organisation was forced to end its crowd-funded
mission after a series of problems — including break-downs,
failure to produce an acceptable crew list, allega-
The British-owned research vessel C Star starting its
abortive mission to disrupt migrant rescue ships.