The United Kingdom (UK) has become the 13th member state of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No.188).
The United Kingdom authorities detained four foreign-flagged vessels during December for failing port inspections, including poor conditions for crew and breaches of safety regulations.
The Seafarers International Union, Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters (SIU) has revealed the role of its members in the rescue of crew from the stricken car carrier Sincerity Ace when fire broke out as the Japanese-owned, Panama-flagged vessel was in the mid-Pacific.
BHP Billiton the Anglo-Australian multinational mining company headquartered in Australia has dumped its Australian crew from two vessels that carried iron ore from Port Hedland in Western Australia to steelworks in Port Kembla and to China.
2019 is the centenary year of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and it hopes to celebrate the anniversary by achieving 100 member states signing up to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC).
The ITF has condemned the decision by the BHP company to cut the Australian crew from two iron ore shipping vessels and replace them with foreign crew on flag of convenience (FoC) vessels.
The ferry company P&O is set to flag out its entire cross-English Channel fleet to Cyprus following more than 50 years of operating under the United Kingdom flag.
About 170 people are feared to have drowned in two separate shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. In one incident, a dinghy sank off the coast of Libya with 117 people on board, while 53 people were reported missing in a boat lost between Morocco and Spain.
Dozens of migrants and refugees are feared to have drowned off the coast of Djibouti after two overcrowded boats capsized. Two survivors were recovered but at least 38 people were confirmed dead as they tried to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula.
