FINLANDS SJÖFART J SUOMEN MERENKULKU 33
tions of people smuggling, and attempts to prevent the ship
refuelling in several ports.
The ITF intervened after the eight Sri Lankan crew of
the vessel were abandoned unpaid in Barcelona by its
charterers. The local ITF inspector said the seafarers were
hoping for payment and repatriation, and any reports that
they had claimed asylum were false.
ITF seafarers’ section chair David Heindel commented:
‘Oh, the irony. This group charters a British-owned,
Mongolian flag of convenience ship, with a Sri Lankan
crew to protest migration into Europe. Then abandons the
crew in Europe.
‘This so-called mission began as a farce, played out as a
farce, and now it’s ended as a farce,’ he added. ‘Famously,
the C Star was spurned at almost every stop it tried to
make by local citizens and governments.
‘The ship has reportedly both been investigated on
suspicion of people smuggling and had to call for help
from one of the NGO search and rescue vessels it was
supposedly blocking.’
Mr Heindel concluded: ‘This vessel has been like a
clown car on water: overcrowded, comical, and, just like
the “mission” it was on, the doors quickly fell off. Sadly, it’s
no surprise that the overgrown schoolboys behind it all
have now abandoned the crew and left them to be looked
after by the organisations they aimed to castigate: the Red
Cross, the Spanish Coast Guard and the local maritime
authorities.’
The ITF worked with local port state control authorities
to provide the crew with food, water and fuel. Once the
ship was allowed to berth in Spain, the crew were looked
after by the Red Cross and ITF, in cooperation with the
port authorities.
‘As is normal practice, we have been in contact with the
ship owner and reminded him of his obligations to pay and
repatriate the men,’ the ITF added.
‘He assures us that he shares our concern for the crew
and is working to ensure that this happens. We will
continue to assist the crew and also monitor the situation
to ensure that this does happen. •
‘Remote’ VTS proposal
sparks union warnings
Pilots join Nautilus in raising safety concerns
over plan to amalgamate vessel traffic
services for five key UK ports.
Nautilus has raised concerns with the UK Safety of
Navigation Committee over Peel Ports’ plans to amalgam-ate
vessel traffic services operations for many key British
ports.
The company has developed a centralised VTS system,
based in Liverpool, to cover the Mersey, Clyde, Heysham,
Great Yarmouth and Medway — a move which the Union
describes as ‘totally unacceptable’.
Nautilus is involved in negotiations with management
after members serving as VTS officers in the Medway
Navigation Service were told they were at risk of redundan-cy
as a result of the move, with effect from 1 April next year.
Members attending the Nautilus professional and
technical committee last month discussed their worries
about the plans — including concern over the reliability of
the technology being used and over the potential loss of
local knowledge.
Senior national secretary Allan Graveson said many
major UK ports already operate below the highest levels of
VTS — and he described the proposed new system as
‘information minus’.
‘Ports have a responsibility to their users and the
Maritime & Coastguard Agency has a responsibility to the
public,’ he added. ‘It is a derogation of responsibility by the
MCA to countenance this.
‘The complex and unintended consequences of this are
unbelievable,’ Mr Graveson said. ‘This is a cocktail for
disaster brought about by “light touch” regulation and it is
making a complete disconnect between pilots and the VTS
community at a time when traffic densities in many of
these ports are increasing.’
Iain MacKenzie told the meeting: ‘I think they are trying
to cut costs by centralising everything, but there is a
danger that we lose local knowledge and the ability to call
the tower to check the conditions.
‘They are trying to replace people with electronics, but
until you have reliable and stable technology I don’t believe
it is safe to rely on such equipment,’ he added.
The UK Marine Pilots Association has written to the
Department for Transport to express its unease about the
plans. ‘Pilots, as key local stakeholders, have not been
consulted or involved in the process to relocate, risk
assess or mitigate issues which are inevitable with such a
big change to structure and procedures,’ it said.
‘Ports work most safely and efficiently when pilots and
VTS officers work closely together,’ UKMPA added. ‘This
close relationship is developed through mutual respect
gained from shared local knowledge and appreciation of
each other’s abilities, constraints and experience.’
The Association said the ports have their own particu-lar
complex and distinct concerns, handling a wide range
of tonnage from VLCCs, containerships, passenger vessels,
LNG carriers, ferries, bulk carriers and naval vessels,
including submarines, as well as considerable levels of
recreational traffic.
The pilots said the change in VTS location should
require a review of navigational risk assessments. Other
key questions the UKMPA wants to see addressed include
the adequacy of infrastructure and its resilience to cyber
attack, as well as the ability to handle emergencies from a
remote location.
UKMPA also warned that local knowledge and experi-ence
is in danger of being lost as a result of enforced
redundancies among existing VTS staff. •
Copyright Nautilus International ”Telegraph”
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