The ITF is calling for the immediate release and repatriation of the MV Wakashio (IMO: 9337119) crew who have been held by Mauritian authorities now for over a year.
Ship owners should stop attempting to perform crew changes in northern Mozambique while seafarers are at risk of attack or kidnapping by violent terrorist groups operating in the region.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) supports the calls by the Norwegian Maritime Unions (NMU) for a crew change suspension until the threat to seafarers’ lives reduces along the Mozambique coast.
Hundreds of lives will be saved thanks to two new emergency projects being funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and delivered through two Indian-based seafarers’ unions.
Fijian authorities are being called to urgently investigate Goundar’s MV Lomaiviti Princess III amid allegations of falsified safety documentation and concerns over passenger and maritime worker safety.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has issued a stark warning that if temporary short cuts adopted in the industry during the Covid-19 pandemic continue or become permanent, then there will be a rise in shipping accidents and environmental disasters.
This week marks a year since Ravindu Telge, 2nd Officer of the Maersk Patras, fell overboard while lashing underway along the Saint Lawrence Seaway, in Quebec, Canada.
Whilst we await the outcome of the investigation it appears that the young Ukrainian seafarer took her own life in the Port of Rotterdam whilst awaiting repatriation home. We are currently seeking more information about the circumstances of the man’s death on board the Mariner of the Seas.
The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the global seafaring community to numerous challenges. Maritime employers and seafarers' unions, along with many other international organisations, are working relentlessly to ensure the work and dedication of our seafarers, to provide the world with essential products including food, medicine and fuels, is recognised.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) is clear – a seafarer, while working on board, has the right to adequate health protection and access to prompt and adequate medical care including essential dental care. This must be as comparable as possible to medical care which is generally available to workers ashore and include the right to be allowed to visit a qualified medical doctor or dentist without delay in ports of call.
The ITF and global union federations have urged governments and employers to urgently act to protect workers, and the global economy and society that depends upon them. The Council of Global Unions (CGU) today adopted a statement calling for urgent economic stimulus and for dialogue between unions, employers and governments to work collectively to protect workers’ health and their rights at work.
