Croatia has been an active maritime nation since the end of the Second World War, giving the country an advantage compared to other Eastern European countries in terms of language, education and international experience.
Iceland and Ethiopia have become the latest member states of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC 2006), which sets out minimum international working and living conditions for seafarers on board vessels.
The latest quarterly figures from the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau (IMB) show a fall in incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported to the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre in the first three months of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018.
The targeted operation will see the ITF Inspectorate – a network of 147 inspectors and contacts based in ports all over the world – inspecting and auditing the Blumenthal fleet in ports around the world.
The International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) has produced new guidance to assist welfare organisations when they are supporting seafarers who are abandoned or dealing with vessels that have been arrested or detained.
The meeting in Cartagena last week culminated with the launch of the ITF Latin American Contact Network, extending the ITF’s commitment to providing support to seafarers in the region.
Dockers are the workers trained in lashing, seafarers are not. That difference matters.
You should say no if your shipowner tries to force you to do it. If you can’t, know where to get support.
Since January 2018, 16 dockers and 12 seafarers have died from asphyxiation or explosions in confined spaces – or from falls after passing out due to bad air. That’s a shocking spike in deaths in confined spaces, a workplace hazard long familiar to the shipping industry.
Following a longstanding campaign, the ITF has won a commitment from the Irish government to bring in new measures to protect migrant workers in the country’s fishing industry.
