Joint efforts are the only way to tackle seafarers' problems

Recently the summit of maritime trade unions of the Asia-Pacific countries has been held in Tokyo (Japan). The event was attended by delegations from 15 APR states. The interests of the Russian seafarers were represented by a delegation of the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR), headed by SUR Vice Chairman Vadim Ivanov.

This is the first summit after a three-year forced break due to the coronavirus restrictions. Actually, the pandemic, or rather the crew change crisis, became a main topic of the summit.

“Seafarers felt the effects of the pandemic sharply,” - Nikolay Sukhanov, Chairman of the SUR Far Eastern Territorial Organization said . “Many of them have been trapped on board vessels for many months due to the cancellation of most international flights, the introduction of  signing off conditions such as coronavirus testing and self-isolation regime, as well as expensive logistics. There were cases when crew members had to renew their employment agreements up to several times  even without having opportunity to go ashore. This could not but lead to severe stress.

“The consequences of the pandemic have not yet been fully overcome,” - Sukhanov emphasized. “Our task is to draw the attention of the governments of maritime states to the fact that maritime workers are a key link in the supply chain delivering  cargoes and vital goods around the world. One more violation of the established crew change procedure could have irreversible consequences for the economies of many countries.”

Discussing this situation, the summit delegates shared their practical experience of effective assistance to seafarers. For example, at the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, the Indonesian authorities repeatedly refused urgent medical evacuation of a Russian crew member with symptoms of a stroke,  despite the m/v WL Palekh (IMO 9674397), where the seafarer worked, was free of Covid-19. The Seafarers' Union of Russia and the Seafarers' Union of Indonesia (KPI)  collaborated extensively  with responsible authorities of Russia and Indonesia and, with the support of the International Transport Workers' Federation and relevant UN agencies, including the International Labor Organization and the International Maritime Organization, managed to  ensure evacuation of  the seafarer to the hospital after almost four days from the initial request.

Another topic of the summit was prospective trends of transport infrastructure development. The automation of the maritime industry takes  great strides forward, including the construction of unmanned ships. “It is necessary to start retraining seafarers today already so that they were skilled enough  to work ashore and, in particular, to provide support for autonomous navigation as well,” - Sukhanov noted.

Environmental issues have also been given due attention : the quality and quantity of marine fuels, measures against the uncontrolled discharge of garbage and toxic waste from vessels and other efforts to keep  the global ocean safe - these are the aspects that modern shipping industry should take into account.

The Russian delegation held meetings with Norwegian, Japanese and Chinese colleagues. The latter thanked the SUR representatives for their assistance in the repatriation of the Chinese crews of vessels that  ran aground last year. The leaders of the China Maritime Union expressed hope for further cooperation.

Another important event for the Russian delegation was meeting with Fusao Ohori, Coordinator of the International Transport Workers' Federation in  Japan, who for many years has been providing invaluable assistance to Far Eastern seafarers in trouble.

The SUR FETO  Chairman added that Seafarers' Union of Russia, for its part, is also ready to render assistance to crew members of different nationalities who faces difficult situations on the territory of our country.

“Unity and solidarity ran like a red thread through the entire summit of the maritime trade unions of the Asia-Pacific countries,” - he concluded.

Photo from  FETO SUR