A seafarer aboard an 80,000-tonne bulk carrier, the Villa Deste, contacted the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) pleading for help. The starving crew claims to have no food and no onboard wages, and being fed on a $4 food budget per day.
Maritime unions in Canada have taken solidarity action in support of colleagues in Australia sacked after an Australian shipping company decided to replace them with foreign crew on flag of convenience (FoC) vessels – employed on lower pay and with poorer conditions.
A Louisiana court has fined a tanker company USD2 million and sentenced it to four years’ probation after it was convicted of illegally discharging oil from one of its tankers and then attempting to cover this up.
In early February, the ITF with the ITF Arab World regional office, organised a four day seminar in Tangiers, Morocco, bringing together representatives from affiliated unions in Morocco, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan and Tunisia.
The incidence of crime at sea and in ports, including armed robbery and piracy, continues to pose a threat to seafarers and shipping in many “hot spots”.
The ITF has welcomed a letter from United Nations special rapporteurs to the Irish government that criticises its work permit scheme for non-European workers in the fishing industry.
British lifeboats and Border Force vessels have rescued over 30 migrants and refugees, including a child, off Dover, Kent as they were trying to cross the English Channel to England in a dangerously overcrowded small boat.
Seafarers are to take part for the first time in judging the International Seafarers’ Welfare Awards 2019. The annual awards, which are organised by the International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), recognise the best examples of seafarers’ welfare provision across the globe.
The United Kingdom authorities detained six foreign-flagged vessels during January for failing port inspections.
