Volume 47 | Number 07 | July 2014 | £3.50 €3.70

It’s good to talkNew studies show why crew comms need improving 24-25

Saving simulationConference stages world fi rst mass rescue exercise22

NL nieuwsTwee pagina’s met nieuws uit Nederland34-35

Judges condemn seafarer fatigueUS court overturns damages ruling against Maersk but judges hit out at ‘outrageous’ hours

PA US appeal court has overturned a milestone 2012 judgement order-

ing Maersk to pay damages to a chief offi cer who claimed that long hours and stress at sea had caused him to suffer a serious heart condition.

Former chief offi cer William Skye originally won a $2.36m award after complaining that ‘excessive hours and duty time’ had left him ‘overworked to the point of fatigue’ while serving on the US-fl agged containership Sealand Pride between 2000 and 2008.

The court heard that Mr Skye regularly worked between 90 and 105 hours a week, for between 70 and 84 days at a time.

In 2000, he was diagnosed with a benign arrhythmia and

his cardiologist advised him to change his diet and rest more.

But his symptoms worsened in 2004 when Maersk began directly managing his ship, and his over-time hours increased by between 12% and 15%.

In 2008, he was diagnosed with left ventricular hypertrophy — a thickening of the heart wall of the left ventricle — and his car-diologist concluded that this was the consequence of ‘continued physical stress related to his job, with long hours and lack of sleep’.

The cardiologist advised Mr Skye to stop working on the ship and in 2011 the offi cer fi led a com-plaint against the company for negligence under the US Jones Act.

His original damages award, made by a jury in Florida, was cut

to $590,000 by another court before Maersk Line appealed against the decision.

Lawyers for the company argued that Mr Skye had discre-tion over his working hours and had failed to delegate duties prop-erly. Maersk also denied that its ships were undermanned, and insisted that it complied fully with work and rest time rules.

Now the US Court of Appeal has ruled that Mr Skye was not entitled to bring the claim against the company under US law — on the grounds that work-related stress and an arduous work sched-ule cannot be classed as ‘physical perils’.

But the judges differed on the decision — voting two to one in favour of Maersk — and one called for the US Supreme Court

to reconsider the issues. ‘Being required to work 90 and 105 hours per week for 70 or 84 days at a time is hardly being given a safe place to work,’ said circuit judge Peter Fay.

‘I fail to see the difference between being given a defective piece of equipment and being required to work outrageous hours, in determining whether or not the workplace was safe,’ he stated.

And circuit judge Adalberto Jordan pointed out that Mr Skye had persuaded a jury that his inju-ries were physical, not emotional. ‘I would not read the Jones Act to preclude liability for an employer who makes a seaman work so hard and so continuously that he suf-fers physical injury in the form of heart disease, heart attack,

organ failure, seizure, or stroke,’ he wrote.

Nautilus senior national secre-tary Allan Graveson described the case as a further signifi cant devel-opment in the campaign against seafarer fatigue.

‘We have always argued that the issue of fatigue will be resolved in the courts and although it is disappointing that the original judgement was overturned, this ruling comes with signifi cant qualifi cations and the appeal was only upheld on a technicality,’ he said.

‘Whilst the case may have been lost, the complaint that the condition was directly caused by Maersk’s negligence was not dis-proved and the comments made by two of the judges are very sig-nifi cant,’ he added.

Owners call for harmony on emission rules

FInternational shipowners have called for governments

around the world to ensure that new sulphur emissions regulations are implemented consistently.

The warning came as the UK Chamber of Shipping stepped up its campaign for more time to comply with the rules — warning that the costs could lead to route closures and as many as 2,000 job losses.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), however, underlined the industry’s ‘full compliance with the IMO sulphur ECA requirements from January 2015’ through the use of low sulphur distillate fuel or technology such as exhaust scrubbers.

But the ICS also warned that many governments do not seem ready to enforce the rules in a uniform way and said there is an urgent need for port state control authorities to harmonise inspection procedures.

InsideFWaterway worryBarge crews face rising levels of stress, Nautilus Swiss branch meeting hears — page 21

FKnow wayEU-funded project aims to help mixed nationality crews to bond — page 23

FBreaking the iceExpert explains why the IMO’s Polar Code falls short on safety — pages 30-31

Mist opportunity: TUI Cruises’ 76,988gt vessel Mein Schiff is pictured arriving in the UK port of Southampton in foggy conditions last month Picture: Gary Davies/Maritime Photographic

01_front.indd 25 18/06/2014 16:54

Olivia follows in her father’s footsteps…

FThe Merchant Navy Offi cers Pension Fund (MNOPF) has

completed a nationwide series of forums to engage with members before the implementation of the £1.3bn buy-out of the Old Section of the scheme with Rothesay Life and Legal & General. The buy-out is due to take place this month.

The pension scheme member forums were held in 10 cities across the UK and attended by nearly 1,000 members. This is believed to be the fi rst time that such forums have been off ered to members in the lead-up to a buy-out.

The objectives were to ensure members understood the buy-out process and to reassure them that there would be a seamless transition to the new arrangements. The forums also enabled members to ask questions of the trustees

and executive of MNOPF, the administration team and the insurers, and to discuss particular issues in more depth.

Nautilus senior policy advisor Peter McEwen is chairman of MNOPF trustees. He commented: ‘I am delighted with the members’ very positive response to the forums. This was a result of MNOPF, Ensign Pensions Administration, Rothesay Life and Legal & General working as a single team and putting the interests of members at the heart of future processes and operations.’

gFor those who could not attend the forums, the MNOPF commissioned a fi lm that highlighted the key messages and included footage from the presentations. To watch this and read more information about the Old Section buy-out, go to: www.mnopf.co.uk/mymnopfpension.

Members honoured for long service at annual branch meeting in Basel

Swiss campaign on new port plan

FNautilus senior national secretary Garry Eliott is

pictured visiting Fleetwood Nautical Campus last month with Olivia Gudgeon, the daughter of former Nautilus Council member Steve Gudgeon.

‘Olivia has just completed her degree studies at the University of Chester and is interested in politics and unions, so her father had asked if we could provide her with some time at Nautilus,’ Mr Elliott explained. ‘She has spent a couple of weeks of work experience with the Union, including time with the recruitment, industrial and welfare departments.

‘During our visit to Fleetwood,

we were shown the newly refurbished facilities, including the new deck and engine simulators, the lifeboat and survival centre, and the new fi ve storey tower built to replicate access to wind turbines, Mr Elliott said. ‘Olivia was particularly impressed as her father had studied here many years ago.

‘Whilst she is not considering a career at sea, Olivia was keen to see what her father was involved with and how Nautilus fi ts into the industry,’ he added. ‘We were certainly please to accommodate a young person showing such an interest, especially as we actively promote the Investors in People standard.’

PThe third meeting of Nautilus International’s Swiss branch took place

last month, and four members were recognised for their com-mitment to the Union and its pre-decessor organisations.

Yvonne Rebsamen and Ewin Näf were honoured for clocking up 55 years of membership, and Heidi Fritz and Karl Rotzetter for 25 years.

Mr Rotzetter was unable to attend the meeting, but was described by other members as ‘the best chef in the world’. Ms Fritz, who did attend the meet-ing and was presented with a cer-tifi cate and wine, was very active on women’s issues when inland waterways members were part of Unia, and was thanked by senior national secretary Nick Bramley for her continuing work with Nau-tilus.

Mr Näf was also presented with a certifi cate and wine at the meet-ing, and said that he had even for-gotten himself how many years he had been a union member.

There were no motions sub-mitted to the conference, but Mr Bramley said that it had been a busy year for the branch and that he was pleased to have been able to increase the support offered to

members with the arrival of two new members of staff, who were presented to the meeting.

He said that the coming years were likely to be as busy, as one of the port areas in Basel is due

to close for redevelopment and a new port will be built.

‘They want to build a new ter-minal which links all the modes of transport, but this will cost a lot of money,’ Mr Bramley said. ‘The government supports the idea but is considering building the new port in France or Germany. This would create all sorts of prob-lems around how it is paid for, what hours people work and what pensions they get.

‘We need to be actively cam-paigning on this, as it will be very important for our members. Those making the decisions for-get about the people who actu-ally have to work within them,’ he argued.

‘The cantons in Switzerland are too intent on just defend-ing their own interests,’ Ms Fritz added. ‘In the canton of Basel we have huge docks with ships com-ing in all the time, but we have this bridge in the middle. If we all worked together we could fi nd better ways of working.’

gFull report — see page 21.

MNOPF completes buy-out forums

FShipping minister Stephen Hammond and Maritime &

Coastguard Agency chief executive Sir Alan Massey have dismissed Nautilus concerns about the issue of certifi cates of equivalent competency (CECs) to foreign offi cers serving on UK ships.

The Union had written to the minister and to the MCA to raise renewed alarm at the CEC system following a Marine Accident Investigation Branch report on a collision last year in which communication problems were identifi ed between foreign offi cers on a UK-registered containership.

Nautilus had asked for a review of the CEC system to be re-opened, but both Mr Hammond and Sir Alan said they were content with the checks made before the certifi cates are issued. The minister also rejected Nautilus warnings that the current CEC application system could ultimately be a key factor in a major incident.

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘To say we are disappointed with the responses is an under-statement. We have already produced extensive evidence of cases in which the actions of offi cers holding CECs resulted in serious incidents, and it is worrying that these are dismissed so lightly.

‘We certainly do not intend to let this issue lie, and we will continue to use every opportunity to ensure that the well–documented problems caused by CECs are addressed,’ he added.

AA training fi lm produced to combat bullying and

harassment in the shipping industry, which was made in response to Nautilus research, has picked up an award in an international competition festival honouring the best work in commercials, DVDs, in-house videos and web-links.

The 20-minute fi lm — Say No To Bullying, Say No To Harassment (Edition 2) — was produced by Videotel for a European Union

project to update guidelines and an associated training package originally produced in 2004 in response to the results of a Union report on the experiences of women members, published in 2000.

Nautilus participated in the project steering group and contributed to the script and direction of the Videotel fi lm, which won the silver award in the safety and security category of the 23rd annual Questar Awards for excellence in video communications.

Minister says no to call for CECs review

02 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

NAUTILUS AT WORK

General secretary Mark Dickinson and national secretary Nick Bramley present Ewin Näf with a certifi cate marking his 55 years of membership Picture: Debbie Cavaldoro

FThe new White, Grey and Black Lists from the Paris MoU come

into eff ect this month — and there have been several changes in the fl ag state rankings since last year.

The country judged by port state control inspectors to have the best-performing vessels is France, which therefore tops the new White List. A

place on this 46-strong list indicates a quality fl ag with a consistently low detention record.

Of the three Nautilus nations, Switzerland been promoted to the White List this year, while the UK has risen from 13th to 7th place and the Netherlands has dropped from 15th to 19th place.

Averagely-performing fl ags appear on the Grey List, which like last year has 19 fl ags — several of which have moved up from the Black List. These are Georgia, Lebanon, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Libya and Albania.

The only fl ag designated ‘high risk’ this year was Tanzania, which sits at the bottom of the Black List.

Award for bullying film

ANine young members attended the recent Nautilus Young

Maritime Professionals Forum (YMP) meeting, pictured above, held in Newcastle last month. At the event, they heard from guest speaker Paul Rutterford of Viking Recruitment, who gave the members some hints and tips about how to make the most of their CVs and promote themselves in the best possible way at the start of their careers.

He explained to the group that most modern recruitment agencies

use social media to fi nd out more about applicants, and warned them to ensure that their virtual personas fi tted their professional one.

Mr Rutterford said that a common mistake that young people make when looking for their fi rst or second job was to keep email addresses that they had at school which were unprofessional, and to over exaggerate unrelated work experience.

The YMP forum members all agreed that the session was

incredibly useful and that they would like to see more speakers invited to meetings in the future.

Mentoring was another area that members were interested in, suggesting it as a possible idea for a future campaign issue for the forum or a possible motion to the Nautilus General Meeting.

The group noted that although some other maritime organisations off er mentoring, the Union would be able to provide mentors with more related, recent experience.

Forum members get careers advice

Inspection lists show good fl ags

02-03_at work.indd 2 18/06/2014 16:54

Unions re-launch the Federation shortreportsSAFETY CALL: Nautilus has urged the International Maritime Organisation to carry out an independent analysis of passengership safety to focus on design and construction, operation and manning, and fi re-fi ghting and life-saving systems. Speaking on behalf of the International Federation of Ship Masters’ Associations at the IMO’s maritime safety committee, senior national secretary Allan Graveson said it was vital that such issues are addressed by regulatory authorities to minimise loss of life in a major accident. The meeting agreed a revised long-term action plan on passengership safety, addressing topics including damage stability and survivability, watertight doors and double hull requirements.

ALLIANCE DROPPED: plans by the ‘big three’ containership operators — Maersk, CMA CGM and MSC — to create a vessel sharing alliance have been dropped after China’s Ministry of Commerce rejected the proposals. The P3 Network would have seen the three companies cooperating on three key trade routes with a total of 255 ships and a capacity of 2.6m TEU. The plans had been approved by competition authorities in Europe and the US, but China said the alliance would restrict or eliminate competition on the Asia-Europe services.

MED RESCUE: the crew of an Isle of Man-fl agged bulk carrier have been praised for rescuing more than 300 people from two wooden boats which were sinking in the Mediterranean last month. The 30,153dwt Jupiter Bay picked up a total of 322 people who had been trying to reach Europe and disembarked them at the Italian port of Pozzallo. The UN refugee agency UNHCR says it is concerned about the rising death toll of refugees and asylum seekers sailing from Africa.

CRUISE BOOM: more than 1.7m Britons took a cruise last year — up by 25,000 from 2012, according to new fi gures from the Cruise Lines International Association, which also showed that the number of jobs in the sector increased by 6.3%, to total more than 70,000. Southampton retained its position as Europe’s largest disembarkation port — with total passenger numbers growing 7.5% to 1.64m last year.

ARDMORE ADDITIONS: the expanding Irish-based operator Ardmore Shipping has acquired two secondhand 47,000dwt MR product tankers for US$23m each. Adding to a further secondhand purchase last month, the new acquisitions will bring the Ardmore fl eet up to 24 vessels, with 14 in operation and 10 eco-design product and chemical tankers to be delivered over the next year.

FERRY GROWTH: UK ferries operators carried more than 9.4m passengers in the fi rst four months of this year — up by 3.5% over the same period in 2013. Numbers on routes to the continent were up by 4.1%, domestic services carried an extra 3.6% and passengers on Irish Sea routes increased by 1.3%, according to fi gures released by Discover Ferries last month.

DATA AID: a new package which promises to cut seafarer workload by collecting key onboard performance data had been launched by BMT Smart. The new charter party reporting module will enable reports to be compiled at the end of a ship’s voyage capturing signifi cant details which can be compared with agreed charter party conditions.

COLLISION PROBE: an investigation has been launched into the causes of a fatal collision between the Cyprus-registered dredger Shoreway and a yacht off Felixstowe last month. A woman on the yacht died after the collision — which occurred in good visibility and calm seas — while her male companion was pulled to safety by the dredger’s crew.

POLAR PROGRESS: the International Maritime Organisation has approved proposed new regulations which seek to improve the safety of shipping in Polar regions. The Polar Code covers issues including ship design and construction, crew training and navigation, and the coordination of search and rescue operations.

PNautilus has expressed disappointment at theUK government’s re-

sponse to a Parliamentary report calling for ministers to ‘make an explicit commitment’ to tackle forecast seafarer shortages.

In its reply to the House of Commons transport commit-tee report, which was published earlier this year, the government says it has ‘made clear its com-mitment to ensuring that the UK has the maritime skills base it will need to sustain our position as the world’s leading maritime centre and to sustain our mari-time and offshore activities’.

It argues that it has done this by increasing the Support for Maritime Training scheme and by moving to include ratings as part of the tonnage tax core train-ing commitment.

The Department for Transport said it would continue to analyse industry needs in relation to the projected number of seafarers. ‘Future policy also needs to take into account such factors as avail-ability of berths on vessels and capacity at relevant nautical col-leges,’ it stressed.

The government said it had also moved to launch a ‘mari-time trailblazer’ scheme for rat-ings apprenticeships. And it also pointed out: ‘Apprenticeships are demand-led — they can only be delivered where employers come forward with vacancies. We hope that the current reform of apprenticeships will make them

more relevant and attractive to employers.’

The response acknowledges concern that the growth of the UK fl ag since 2000 appears to have gone into reverse. ‘Recent trends — including the increasing chal-lenge from other maritime cen-tres, particularly those in the Far East — mean that it is necessary to look, in partnership with the ship-ping industry and the broader maritime sector, at a range of actions that might help to main-tain or improve the attractiveness of the UK as a fl ag of choice and the place in international shipping companies would wish to bring their business,’ it adds, promising that plans will be published in the near future.

The document defends the government’s support for the Red Ensign Group of registers and promises that effective monitor-ing will ensure that all ships fl ying the red ensign are ‘maintained

and operated in accordance with relevant international conven-tions and UK policy’.

It rejects calls for an independ-ent inquiry into Maritime & Coastguard Agency staffi ng and resources; and in response to con-cerns about safety in the expand-ing windfarm support vessel sector it argues that ‘it would be counter-productive to introduce wholesale prescriptive changes without proper consultation and full consideration of the likely consequences’.

General secretary Mark Dick-inson commented: ‘The govern-ment’s response contains few surprises and generally re-states existing policy. However, it is important to state from the out-set that we will be opposed to anything which might dilute the UK register’s quality standards in the drive to make the red ensign “a fl ag of choice”. We await the gov-ernment’s plans with interest.

‘It is disappointing that the government does not address head-on the issue of promoting the UK fl ag to foreign shipowners whilst it ignores the competition from other fl ags in the red ensign group,’ he added.

‘We continue to question how it can live up to the pledge of retaining an effective level of oversight and scrutiny when the Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s staffi ng and resources are being depleted so much.’

Mr Dickinson said the govern-ment should have set out a more dynamic and proactive commit-ment to safeguarding the UK maritime skills base. ‘It’s clear that the current measures are not delivering the numbers needed to prevent long-term decline and we need a more radical and ambi-tious approach than we have at present,’ he pointed out.

‘However, the government is right to identify the fact that much training is demand-led —and can only be delivered where employers come forward with vacancies. Owners must invest more in training the next genera-tion of maritime professionals.’

Mr Dickinson said he was also disappointed that the gov-ernment had taken a ‘hands-off approach’ to the concerns about safety in the windfarm sector. ‘The incidents that have already taken place demonstrate that we need something more than industry codes of practice,’ he stressed.

Government defends its training record and its support for Red Ensign Group

ANautilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson was among representatives

from 10 seafaring unions from around the world — pictured above — who met in Hong Kong in May for discussions to re-launch the Nautilus Federation to unite maritime professionals and provide a mechanism for improved mutual cooperation and support.

Hosted by the Hong Kong Merchant Navy Offi cers Guild, the meeting involved participants from seven countries, including the United States, New Zealand and Singapore. They agreed proposals to fi nalise the constitution of the Federation and discussed its budget and fi nancial regulations.

Mr Dickinson said the meeting had been very

positive and had backed the idea of developing cross-border cooperation to tackle key issues such as criminalisation, fatigue and globalisation, as well as increasing partnership to provide enhanced support for maritime professionals internationally.

Further talks on the Federation are to be held in August.

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 03

NAUTILUS AT WORK

Rio Tinto has switched three bulk carriers, including RTM Wakmatha, above, from the UK fl ag to Singapore and reports suggest more will go

UK falls short on calls for training commitment

02-03_at work.indd 3 18/06/2014 16:54

04 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

NAUTILUS AT WORK

shortreportsSCOTLAND COMPLIANCE: joint pay and conditions negotiations are underway on behalf of members employed by Marine Scotland Compliance. National secretary Steve Doran and liaison offi cer Tom Wilson conveyed members’ issues and concerns to the employer and are waiting for a formal response.

SUPPORT AGREEMENT: members employed by LCT Support Services have voted to accept the company’s off er of a 2% increase in salaries. The company has also agreed to review the situation further if there is an extension to the service contract to Newhaven.

TRINITY CLAIM: a joint pay and conditions claim for a 4% pay increase has been submitted on behalf of members employed by Trinity House. The submission is the fi rst time that Nautilus International and Unite the Union have made a joint claim.

GLOBAL MEETING: industrial organiser Lisa Carr is due to meet with Global Marine Services on 16 July. Members who have issues they would like to be raised at this meeting should contact Ms Carr as soon as possible.

NORTHLINK NOTICE: national secretary Steve Doran is hoping to undertake a series of ship visits in August with members employed by Northlink, ahead of forthcoming pay and conditions negotiations.

ORKNEY SERVICE: members employed by Orkney Ferries have been advised that in addition to the accepted pay increase of 1%, the 25 year length of service bonus is being increased from £300 to £600.

SMIT CONSULT: members employed by Smit International are being consulted on the company’s off er of a 2% increase in pay from 1 April 2014. The results of the consultations were due late last month.

MADOG REJECTION: industrial organiser Paul Schroder is seeking a meeting with P&O Maritime to discuss the rejection of a pay freeze by members serving onboard Prince Madog.

PNautilus has welcomed an important employ-ment tribunal ruling

that a member serving with Maersk was entitled to bring an unfair dismissal case on the grounds of age discrimination.

The member — who had worked for the company since joining P&O Nedlloyd (Bermuda) as a second offi cer in 1999 — had been dismissed in June 2013 on the grounds of alleged poor per-formance.

He claimed that he had suf-fered age discrimination while serving as chief offi cer onboard a number of ships after passing the age of 60.

The case centred around the member’s entitlement to claim unfair dismissal because he was not employed in the UK, but through Maersk Offshore (Ber-muda).

However, the tribunal

upheld the Union’s claim that the member’s case was covered by UK jurisdiction. It ruled that UK-based Maersk Crewing Ltd (the ‘crew administrator’) and Maersk Offshore Bermuda (the ‘crew provider’) were ‘agent’ and ‘principal’ and that both should be party to the discrimination proceedings.

The 41-page judgement describes Maersk Crewing’s role as ‘far greater than that envis-aged in the crew administrator agreement’ and concludes that the agreement to dismiss the member was taken in Newcastle and recorded in a letter written in that city.

The judgement also notes that the member’s tour of duty was held to have started when he left home in the UK to travel to join his ship in a port overseas, and that this travel day was treated as a working day for which he

was paid under the contract of employment.

‘The claimant claims that he was dismissed for discrimina-tory reasons based on age,’ the judgement states. ‘It is not right that he should not have a rem-edy.’ It argues that the member was entitled to bring a claim to the tribunal under the provisions of both UK law and EU directives.

Nautilus senior national sec-retary Ronnie Cunningham wel-comed the decision. ‘This is a very signifi cant judgement of critical importance to our campaign for seafarers to have access to jus-tice,’ he added.

‘The judgement clarifi es the position and reinforces our belief that the new tribunal regu-lations have improved members’ jurisdictional rights and it sets an important new benchmark for seafarers who have previously been treated as second-class citi-

zens in their ability to take unfair dismissal cases,’ Mr Cunning-ham said.

Charles Boyle, director of Nau-tilus legal services, represented the member at the pre-hearing on jurisdiction and said it is good for seafarers that the employ-ment tribunal rules of proce-dures had been widened last year, which increased the chance of bringing claims against employ-ers based overseas — as was Mae-rsk Offshore (Bermuda).

‘Furthermore, the employ-ment judge took a purposive approach to interpreting the UK’s age discrimination regula-tions, to allow the claim to go ahead even though the last ship on which the member served was fl agged outside the EU,’ Mr Boyle added. ‘It helped this aspect of the claim that some of the alleged discriminatory acts took place in Great Britain.’

Tribunal ruling ‘a benchmark’

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Union says discrimination case is a step forward in access to justice battle

‘End EU exclusions’

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FNautilus has urged the UK government to lend its support

to moves to end the exclusion of seafarers from important European directives on employment rights.

Following the recent European Parliament elections, it is expected that fresh attempts will be made to secure the agreement of MEPs on proposals to bring seafarers under the remit of directives covering such issues as protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their

employer; a general framework for informing and consulting employees; and employees’ rights in the event of transfers of undertakings.

In a joint letter with the RMT union, Nautilus has asked shipping minister Stephen Hammond to indicate whether the UK will support the proposals to end the exclusions with the aim of improving seafarers’ working conditions and to enhance the attractiveness of the maritime sector for young people.

FFigures issued last month by the UK Ministry of Justice show

a 59% drop in the number of cases taken to employment tribunals over the past year — an indication, say unions, that new fees are deterring wronged employees from taking their employers to court.

Commenting on the fi gures, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘The huge drop in cases taken certainly doesn’t mean that Britain’s bosses have got a whole lot nicer

in the past year. It’s simply because pursuing a complaint against a bad employer has become too expensive for many workers, and that is just plain wrong.’

zNautilus backs the TUC campaign to abolish UK employment tribunal fees. However, to ensure members are not deterred from pursuing justice under the current regime, the Union has agreed to cover these fees, where it is judged that the case has a reasonable chance of success.

Fees lead to cases fall

FNautilus industrial offi cer Gary Leech is pictured above

with Captain Kieran Daly, chief engineer Ron McArthur and Captain Simon Townsend during a recent visit to the 18,930gt ferry Seatruck Power. The visit was part of a recent consultation with members on company proposals to change the number of electrotechnical offi cers serving in the fl eet.

Seatruck visit

Nautilus industrial organiser Paul Schroder is pictured visiting members onboard Arcadia and Queen Elizabeth last month under the ongoing Partnership at Work programme. Members employed by Fleet Maritime Services, including those serving as hotel offi cers, have now accepted the company’s off er of a 2.5% increase in pay

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04-05_at work.indd 4 18/06/2014 17:41

shortreportsMAERSK OFFER: members serving on Maersk containerships have been urged to take part in a consultation on the company’s pay and conditions off er. The off er includes a three-year pay deal starting with a 1.6% increase back-dated to 1 January 2014, plus 0.4% for 1 January to 1 April 2015, when it is proposed the pay review date will change; a 1.7% increase from 1 April 2015 and 1.8% from 1 April 2016. National secretary Steve Doran said the off er falls short of the claim for an above-RPI rise, although the change in the review date should help to reduce the risk of future delays in negotiations.

CALMAC MEETINGS: Nautilus national secretary Steve Doran and national ferries organiser Micky Smyth will be meeting members employed by Caledonian MacBrayne in the week commencing 28 July. Members are welcome to raise any issues with Union offi cials ahead of the joint pay and condition negotiations which are due to commence in August.

BOSKALIS OFFER: members serving with Boskalis Westminster are being consulted on a two-year pay deal. The off er includes a 2.2% increase for 2014 (being CPI plus 0.4%) and CPI plus 0.4% from May 2015. Industrial organiser Paul Schroder said the off er will give stability for the next two years without the need for further negotiations.

PRINCESS VISITS: Nautilus national secretary Jonathan Havard visited members onboard Ruby Princess in Southampton last month as part of a programme of meetings to discuss issues including rotation and promotion policies. He is planning to visit seven more Princess Cruises vessels in Alaska between 10 to 14 August.

CROWN ASPIRATIONS: members employed by Crown Crewing are being asked to submit their aspirations for the pay and conditions review ahead of the August review date. Members are also being asked to provide the Union with details of any increases in offi cers’ workload and responsibilities in the last 12 months.

GRIEVANCE SETTLED: following discussions with P&O Ferries management, Nautilus has resolved a collective grievance over refi t payments, brought on behalf of members serving onboard Spirit of Britain and Spirit of France.

ABSOLUTE PARTNERSHIP: following the recent agreement with Absolute Shipping, Nautilus International is encouraging members to stand for election to the Partnership at Work committee.

MEDWAY OFFER: members employed by the Port of Sheerness Ltd and serving with Medway Navigation Service VTS are being consulted on a 2% pay increase in basic pay to be backdated to 1 April 2014.

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 05

NAUTILUS AT WORK

IBF agrees three-year deal

PNautilus has welcomed the outcome of intensive negotiations with Stena

Line which have seen the com-pany withdraw its controversial plans for big cuts in the terms and conditions of members serving on Irish Sea services.

Following a meeting between Stena Line management and Nautilus senior national secre-tary Garry Elliott, national ferries organiser Micky Smyth and Union liaison offi cers, it was agreed that no changes will be made to exist-ing members’ pay rates, leave or terms and conditions.

The company had originally tabled plans to cut its crewing costs by 10% this year — with a model that could have resulted in foreign offi cers, pay cuts, a two-week reduction in leave, the long-term loss of study leave, and changes to the existing sickness scheme.

But after strong representa-tions by Nautilus on behalf of members, Stena agreed to drop the most contested elements of the package.

As well as agreeing not to cut current terms and conditions, the company also withdrew the pro-posal for ‘new start’ salaries and to fi ll the current 20 offi cer vacan-cies on the Irish Sea routes on

current Stena Line rates of pay.Following protests by Nauti-

lus about the technical manage-ment systems, the company also agreed to implement a ‘common’ Stena safety management system across all vessels, with roles and responsibilities returning to the senior positions onboard.

‘We are very pleased that man-agement have listened to Nauti-lus and their employees, and have signalled the wish to repair rela-tionships with their offi cers,’ said Mr Elliott. ‘It is a positive develop-

ment, although we have warned the company that it has quite a long way to go to restore the good-will, motivation and morale that has been damaged since the pro-posals were fi rst put forward in January.

‘A good fi rst step in this pro-cess would be a statement that there will be a pay rise in January 2015,’ Mr Elliott added. ‘Moving forward, the Union and employer will now look to develop a Partner-ship at Work (PAW) committee, taking volunteers from all ranks

to progress areas and issues that could be discussed outside of the annual pay negotiations, such as differentials, training and cadets.’

Following further talks with Stena, Nautilus is now consulting members on new MLC-compliant Seafarers’ Employment Agree-ments (SEAs).

Mr Elliott said the Union had ensured that all agreements refl ect the existing terms and conditions and stressed that it is important for members to sign and return the documents.

Stena withdraws cutbacks plansUnion welcomes decision to drop controversial changes to members’ terms

FNautilus national secretary Jonathan Havard is pictured

with Royal Fleet Auxiliary liaison offi cer Russell Downs and members onboard Argus during ship visits last month.

Mr Havard and Mr Downs also met members from Mounts Bay to discuss issues including this year’s pay and conditions submission and recruitment and retention.

The Union also met RFA Commodore Rob Dorey last month and the talks covered such subjects as incremental scales, performance awards, tour lengths, the RFA allowance, study leave and ticket bonuses, and a new cadet agreement.

Mr Havard said discussions are now reaching their fi nal stages before consultation begins on the RFA’s future development plans.

More talks with RFA

Back row: Colm Mooney and Stuart Spencer; seated left to right Guy Taylor, Micky Smyth, Garry Elliott, Norman Mac Kay and Malcolm Clift during the Nautilus talks with Stena Line management

The Tube, 86 North Street Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 8RA

DELIVERY WORLDWIDE

Braids Work Wear Tropical Wear Cadet Uniforms Officers Uniforms

FNautilus has welcomed a three-year deal covering the pay and conditions for thousands

of seafarers serving on ships covered by the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) agreement.

Assistant general secretary Marcel van den Broek was part of the unions’ negotiating team last month which secured a long-term package providing salary increases of 1% next year, 2% in 2016 and 3.5% in 2017, along with enhanced welfare support for seafarers.

The negotiations between the unions, the International Maritime Employers’ Council and the International Shipping Employers’ Group began last October and both sides described the discussions as ‘particularly challenging following the depression of the global shipping market, since the last agreement was negotiated in 2011’.

Under the agreement, employers belonging to the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) will receive a 10%

rebate on their International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) welfare fund payments, as well as an additional 2.5% based on an incentive scheme to bring more ships under the terms of the IBF.

The two sides also agreed to downgrade the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor off the coast of Somalia from a from a war zone to extended risk-zone status — meaning that seafarers will no longer receive double pay while transiting the area. All other existing risk zones will be maintained.

Dave Heindel, chair of the ITF seafarers’ section, commented: ‘Considerable progress has clearly been made from both parties over this round. The ITF has understood the challenges facing the JNG members in their ability to aff ord a pay increase, but it has been important to secure a pay increase for our members, to ensure a fair wage and conditions of employment.

‘There have at times been diff ering views by both

parties, but both have been able to put aside these diff erences to conclude the negotiations.’

JNG chairman Tsutomu Iizuka added: ‘The last eight months of IBF discussions have been tough. Both sides commenced the progress at diff erent ends of the spectrum, wishing to best represent their respective members.

‘There has been considerable movement from each side, which has been diffi cult at times and has only been possible due to the mutual respect between the parties for the IBF, gained over the past 10 years.’

Mr van den Broek said the outcome of the discussions demonstrated the maturity of the IBF as a system for determining the pay and conditions of seafarers on fl ag of convenience ships.

‘However,’ he added, ‘these were very tough negotiations that leave both parties with a nagging feeling that more should have been achieved.’

04-05_at work.indd 5 18/06/2014 17:42

06 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

OFFSHORE NEWS

shortreportsDEESIDE DAYS: industrial organiser Gary Leech and liaison offi cers have met Deeside Crewing Services, to discuss the change to day rates for members serving on vessels owned or operated by Vroon Off shore Services. Members have been presented with a chart showing the new rates, which will give them an uplift in salaries for July and August. Liaison offi cers were happy to accept the changes at the meeting and any members who have further questions should contact Mr Leech.

FUGRO SEARCH: Dutch survey vessel operator Fugro has secured a contract with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to support the underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines fl ight 370. The Bahamas–fl agged survey vessel Fugro Equator, fi tted with state-of-the art multibeam echosounder equipment, will conduct a bathymetric survey of the search area off western Australia.

FARSTAD REFUSAL: members have rejected a pay and conditions off er of a 2.75% increase in pay from Farstad Singapore. The off er also included removing the pay disparity between DP and non-DP vessels and an extension of the long service award. Industrial organiser Gary Leech has informed the company of the rejection and is seeking a further meeting.

STAR TURN: Grampian Dynamic, the latest ERRV newbuilding for North Star Shipping, was launched at the Balenciaga Shipyard in northern Spain last month. The fi rst in a series of six to be delivered between 2014 and 2016, Grampian Dynamic will be equipped with one daughter craft, one fast rescue craft and survival facilities.

SUBSEA CLAIM: a claim for an above RPI pay increase has been submitted on behalf of members employed by Subsea 7. The claim also includes a request for increased compensation when working in Nigeria, a loyalty scheme, double pay for public holidays and economy plus seats for long haul fl ights.

GULF CONSULTATION: members employed by Gulf Off shore are being consulted on the company’s off er of a pay increase in line with RPI. The off er also includes an increase in sick pay provision, an increase in compassionate leave, and improvements to welfare including wi-fi and televisions.

FSU DEAL: Bibby Ship Management has secured a contract to supply crew management services for Chevron’s 125,000dwt Alba fl oating storage unit in the North Sea. The crew will provide operating, loading and equipment handling services on the UK-registered vessel.

BIBBY MEETING: industrial organiser Derek Byrne has met Bibby Ship Management to discuss the pay and conditions review for members serving under the BP off shore vessels agreement. A formal response to the meeting was due as the Telegraph went to press.

OCEAN ACCEPTED: members employed by Ocean Supply Guernsey have accepted the company’s off er of a 3.5% increase in pay .

F Vroon Off shore Services has opened a new offi ce in Great

Yarmouth as part of an expansion programme which promises to create around 100 new seafaring jobs.

The company — which last month announced that it had secured a fi ve-year charter and support contract for fi ve emergency response and rescue and fi eld support ships with a major North Sea oil operator — said it was entering a new phase of development.

The vessels operating on the fi ve-year contract — which has an option to extend for a further four

years — will consist of four new ERRV and fi eld-support vessels, all currently under construction in the Far East, supplemented by the 2,012gt supply ship VOS Provider.

Managing director Evert Maandag said the new Great Yarmouth offi ce would provide technical support and crew recruitment services.

‘We believe that the combination of investment in new vessels and additional personnel, plus the economies of scale this contract represents, make the future for our company very bright,’ he added.

P‘Exploration is in crisis, our cost base is increas-ing and average produc-

tivity levels have slumped. We simply cannot go on like this.’ This was the downbeat message from Oil & Gas UK chief executive Malcolm Webb at the body’s fi rst annual conference last month.

Mr Webb did acknowledge that current capital expenditure is at an all-time high, but he said that radical improvements were needed in regulation, taxation and ‘in the very way we conduct our operations’, before the UKCS could be competitive on the global stage.

‘We need to act urgently,’ he stressed, ‘because the penalty for indecision will be permanent loss of indigenous oil and gas resource and the jobs, the taxes and the security of energy supply that yet–to–be recovered oil and gas can provide.’

The Aberdeen conference was

convened so that leading industry fi gures could address the future of the UK offshore sector. It was opened by Scotland’s fi rst min-ister Alex Salmond — although Mr Webb was keen to emphasise a position of neutrality on Scottish independence, saying that his organisation would engage with whichever system of government emerged from the 18 September referendum.

During the conference, Oil & Gas UK welcomed the establish-ment of a new industry regulator, whose name — the Oil and Gas Authority — was announced at the event by the UK government’s chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander.

The new body is being set up in the wake of a government-ordered review by Sir Ian Wood, whose report on how to maximise output from the UKCS recom-mended that an independent agency be created to increase

levels of collaboration across the industry.

Sir Ian was present at the con-ference, and drew on presenta-tions given there by the Dutch, Danish and Norwegian authori-ties to point out how the new UK regulator could learn from these regimes.

Mr Alexander noted that the Oil and Gas Authority would be independent of government, and would be designed to encourage economic production in the UK and provide sustainable, long-term support for the industry. He confi rmed that the regulator’s headquarters would be in Aber-deen, and reported that the pro-cess of appointing a chief execu-tive is now underway.

Mr Alexander also used his speech to argue that the sector’s future would be more secure if Scotland voted to stay part of the UK in the independence refer-endum.

‘Crisis’ for UK exploration

FThe Royal Niestern Sander Shipyard in the Netherlands is

nearing completion of a new ‘walk to work’ off shore support vessel for the Dutch fi rm Wagenborg.

Due to be delivered next year, the Dutch-fl agged ship will be used by a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil to cut costs and emissions by reducing the number of helicopter fl ights taking crew to off shore installations.

The 3,750gt vessel will operate with up to 20 crew and will be capable of carrying as many as 40 workers, together with cargo and other materials.

Operators call for urgent action to protect productivity

Joint venture for Go’s ships

Jobs boost as Vroon wins new contract

Newbuild ERRV for massive gas fi eld

FThe Aberdeen-based fi rm SeaEnergy has formed a joint

venture ship management unit with Go Off shore, from Singapore, to manage Go’s vessels in UK, European and adjacent waters.

GOSeaEnergy Ship Management has begun with the management of the multi-purpose vessel Surf Ranger, which is operating in the North Sea, and is set to take over the AHTS GO Pegasus when it arrives in Europe this summer.

The joint venture also has plans for the construction and operation of accommodation and maintenance vessels for off shore windfarm and oil and gas support sectors using SeaEnergy’s ‘walk to work’ designs.

AGDF Suez UK has awarded a fi ve-year contract to

Singapore-based Sentinel Marine to provide a new 61m multi-role emergency response and rescue vessel (ERRV) to support drilling operations in the Cygnus fi eld in the southern North Sea.

The contract will be operated with the 1,890gt newbuilding Cygnus Sentinel, pictured right, which is presently under construction in China and due to be delivered in January 2015.

Cygnus Sentinel is one of eight ERRVs that Sentinel has ordered from the Fujian Southeast yard.

‘All eight vessels have a fuel and environmentally effi cient design and off er the crews a high level of onboard comfort,’ said Sentinel managing director Jonathan Mitchell. ‘The vessels will comply with pan-European industry standards, which will allow them

to work in all areas of the North Sea as well as throughout the UK Continental Shelf.’

Located some 150km off the Lincolnshire coast, the Cygnus fi eld is the largest UK gas discovery in 25

years and is expected to supply 5% of the UK’s gas needs when it reaches peak production in 2016.

‘Walk to work’

Vroon Off shore Services is to install Dacon Scoop rescue systems (above) on two of its Aberdeen-based vessels. Each vessel will be fi tted with a 5m x 10m Dacon RSA Scoop with a catch net, a Dacon RB300 rescue basket and four Dacon scrambling nets supplied by UK-based Ocean Safety.

06_offshore_SR edit.indd 6 18/06/2014 16:55

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 07

NEWS

PFifteen seafarers from the South Korean ferry which sank in April with

the loss of more than 300 lives have gone on trial — with four of them facing charges which carry the death penalty.

Nautilus and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have raised concerns about the case — and have questioned whether the crew will get a fair trial.

Speaking at the International Federation of Ship Masters’ Asso-ciations (IFSMA) annual general assembly last month, Nautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson suggested the trial should have been delayed until an independent investigation into the causes had been completed.

‘The legal and insurance envi-ronment drives the focus onto proximate cause, which gener-ates the pressure to blame the master,’ he added.

‘There should be much more of a focus on the designers, the builders, the owners, class and ultimately the regulatory author-ities — all of which share respon-sibility for the consequences,’ Mr Graveson said.

The IFSMA conference backed a motion expressing concern about the treatment of the Sewol’s

master and crew and urging gov-ernments to refrain from crimi-nalising seafarers before investi-gations into incidents have been concluded.

The ITF stressed the need for due legal process to be followed in the trial. ‘The Sewol sinking was a tragedy that rightly affected eve-ryone who learnt of it,’ said seafar-

ers’ section chair Dave Heindel. ‘It is right that there should be a full and fair legal investigation into what went wrong.’

But he stressed: ‘The trial of those accused must follow due process and there must be proper legal representation for them. The screaming at defendants, courtroom chanting of “murder-

ers”, and President Park Geun-hye’s description of the crew’s behaviour as “an act of murder” are throwing the validity and impartiality of any fi nal verdicts into doubt.’

Sewol’s master, Captain Lee Jun-Seok, and three other senior offi cers have been charged with homicide — with carries a maxi-mum penalty of death. Two oth-ers have been charged with fl ee-ing and abandoning ship, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. And nine were charged with negligence, and are consequently facing jail sen-tences.

On the opening day of the trial, lawyers for the seafarers defended their decision to aban-don the vessel even as passengers were trapped. They argued that it was the Korean Coast Guard’s responsibility to rescue survivors and that crew were limited in their ability to help passengers because of the angle of the list.

The captain’s lawyer claimed: ‘It is unfair to hold him responsi-ble as he was rescued by the coast guard. He was injured at that time.’ He said the master had no intention of causing the accident, so there were no grounds for the homicide charge.

gIFSMA conference — page 19.

Warnings over ferry crew trialAlarm raised as Sewol seafarers face death penalty or life imprisonment

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ANautilus national secretary Jonathan Havard is pictured

right at last month’s Wales TUC conference, where he moved two motions highlighting concerns about unfair competition in the ferries sector and cuts in the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.

The conference backed Nautilus calls for action to enforce national minimum wage and work permit requirements on ferries operating in UK waters and to close legal loopholes allowing companies to compete by using low-cost foreign crews.

‘The ferry sector is one of the last bastions of jobs for British seafarers and it is vital that we prevent it from being dragged into a race to the

bottom on employment standards,’ Mr Havard said. ‘Companies simply shouldn’t be allowed to import international pay rates into national shipping services.’

Delegates also agreed a Nautilus motion expressing alarm at the impact of cuts in the Maritime & Coastguard Agency budget.

Mr Havard told the conference there had been a ‘disturbing’ loss of professional survey staff and that Coastguard rescue centres are routinely running with below risk-assessed staffi ng levels.

‘Together with the loss of emergency towing vessels from key locations around the UK coast, it’s a kind of perfect storm that poses real worries about the future,’ he warned.

Nautilus urges action on unfair competition

Timber blamed for deaths of three crew in cargo hold

Officer shortage ‘could hold back shipping profits’

Sewol master Captain Lee Joon-seok arrives in court on the fi rst day of his homicide trial last month Picture: Reuters

FNautilus International has expressed concern about an

incident in which three seafarers onboard a German ship died in the UK port of Goole last month.

The German master and two Filipino crew members from the 1,564gt general cargoship Suntis were taken to Hull Royal Infi rmary after falling ill onboard the vessel, but died a short time later.

Local police were initially called in to begin investigations into the deaths, but they said they had determined that there were no suspicious circumstances and no criminal activity had taken place.

Offi cials from the German maritime casualty investigation board BSU said the men had suff ocated in an enclosed space.

BSU said measurements in the cargo hold had shown the seafarers had died as a result of very low levels of oxygen. The ship had carried a cargo of moist timber from Finland and this had depleted the oxygen content in the cargo hold, it concluded.

Warning signs that required the atmosphere to be tested before entering the cargo hold, were apparently ignored by the experienced crew, BSU director Volker Schellhammer said. It was possible there may have been a ‘chain reaction’ as one or more of the men tried to rescue others, he added.

Nautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson commented: ‘This is yet another preventable incident. Only now in 2014, is the IMO mandating the carriage of O2 remote testing equipment and pre-entry drills. Non-mandatory short courses are undertaken by all new entrants in the UK.’

Following the accident, Suntis was detained for three days by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency after an inspection revealed defi ciencies relating to entry dangerous spaces, pipes and wires (insulation), safety management, navigation, and manning specifi ed by the minimum safe manning document not as required.

FThe current worldwide shortage of ships’ offi cers is set to worsen

and threatens to hit the profi tability of shipping companies, a new report warned last month.

The annual Manning Report published by Drewry’s estimates that the global gap between supply and demand for offi cers is around 19,000 at present and will rise to 21,700 by 2018 as demand rises to almost 650,000.

The study points out that manning has become a major target for cost-cutting since the economic downturn and offi cer recruitment has increasingly been directed at the cheapest countries.

But it also warns that the squeeze on supply will aff ect wages. ‘While ratings’ remuneration packages tend to follow International Transport Workers’ Federation standard terms, offi cer earnings are more market driven,’ explained Drewry’s MD Nigel Gardiner. ‘Manning costs look set to come under renewed upward pressure, putting a further squeeze on profi tability unless owners are able to push freight rates higher.’

He said the shortages are most acute among senior engineering

ranks and for specialist ships such as LNG carriers. ‘There is also a general drift towards shorter working tours and increased benefi ts which is putting further pressure on supply,’ he added.

‘This report confi rms what we have been warning owners about for some time now,’ said Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson. ‘The drive for short-term savings runs the risk of creating long-term damage as a consequence of skill shortages which eventually feeds into shortages ashore, which runs the risk of damaging the maritime cluster.

‘It also highlights the need for continued and expanded intervention by government in the form of support for training of UK seafarers,’ he pointed out.

‘There are opportunities for offi cer trainees to gain well remunerated positions in the world fl eet if only government would see the advantage of providing additional support to ensure that training costs are on a par with our European neighbours, and that steps are taken, not only by government but also shipowners, to off er youngsters their fi rst offi cer of the watch position.’

07_news.indd 7 18/06/2014 16:55

08 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

LARGE YACHT NEWS

by Michael Howorth

FThe traditional teak deck has long disappeared from the

modern merchant ship, but it remains a way of life onboard yachts built for leisure. Now the government of Myanmar is making massive changes to the availability of teak which could curtail the supply of the wood for the decks of superyachts.

Myanmar’s forest department is proposing to dramatically reduce the

annual allowable harvest of teak and other hardwoods, seeking to return the forests to the healthy vibrant green woodlands that once covered the country.

For the leisure marine industry, the proposed allowance for 2014 is only 20% (80,000 cubic metres) of the historical annual cut, and this includes all grades of teak. Traditionally yacht builders use only the premium grades, and prices will almost certainly rise dramatically as supply dries up.

by Michael Howorth

PThe superyacht market is buzzing as sales brokers report the busiest spring

buying season since the global fi nancial crisis began in 2008.

This positive trend has been spearheaded by the US market, where the number of superyachts sold has increased by 28% over the same period last year. Well-priced yachts are selling, and quickly. And what we see with the Ameri-can market almost always refl ects on the rest of the world, which tends to follow suit.

Camper & Nicholsons were at the forefront of these rising levels of activity during the fi rst quarter,

with more sales than any of the other leading brokerage compa-nies — a 9% share of the total mar-ket value of yachts sold.

Camper & Nicholsons CEO Michael Payne said: ‘Buyers all over the world are meeting the prices of realistic and motivated sellers, and for the fi rst time in quite a while one really can say that potential buyers should get in quickly before prices inevitably rise.

‘The reason is, very simply, that many owners have lost patience and are prepared to accept lower offers, while simultaneously many buyers who have been doing the rounds for a number of years have realised that if they

don’t buy now they will be buying in a rising market.’

The newbuild sector is look-ing equally positive, with yards reporting 735 yachts in construc-tion for 2014 — a substantial increase compared with the same period in 2013, when just 692 yachts were under construction.

Prices seem to be slowly ris-ing as orderbooks fi ll and delivery dates at the better shipyards get further away.

The charter market also looks healthy, and following the recent charter show in Genoa the vibe for the summer season is positive as fi rst-time charter yachts showed what they have to offer to the charter brokers in attendance.

Market starts to buzz againUS sales boom leads recovery in charters and newbuilds Viking takes on

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First PYC-compliant vesselA

Pictured left is the 91.5m Equanimity — the world’s fi rst

superyacht designed and built to be fully Passenger Yacht Code (PYC) compliant, which was delivered by the Dutch builder Oceanco last month.

The 2,999gt vessel is registered in the Cayman islands and can accommodate up to 26 guests and 28 crew. Steel hulled, with an aluminium

superstructure, Equanimity is powered by twin 3,600kW MTU 20V 4000 M73L engines, with a top speed of more than 20 knots.

Oceanco CEO Marcel Onkenhout said the builders had worked closely with Lloyd’s Register and the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry to design and develop ‘a magnifi cent yacht, which will undoubtedly set new standards in the industry’.

FPictured above is James Scott, who has just taken up an

appointment as yacht operations manager at Viking Recruitment’s Dover offi ce.

Mr Scott has more than 24 years of experience in the superyacht and cruiseship sectors, including time as hotel manager, purser and shore-based personnel manager. He has recently been involved in the development and set-up of hospitality services for a variety of companies.

Viking MD Matthew Jaenicke commented: ‘James joining the company is a signifi cant step in our growth plan for the yacht operations department. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge and we are confi dent that James will benefi t the service that we provide to our existing and prospective clients.’

Five dead in yacht tender accident

Luna becomes UK’s biggest superyachtF

Launched in 2010 by the German builder Lloyd Werft

to international acclaim, the 115m Luna, pictured above, has become the world’s largest charter expedition yacht.

The vessel is also now the largest superyacht registered under the British fl ag, having recently switched from Bermuda in a process handled by Watkins Superyachts, the London-based agency which had been selected to serve as Luna’s manager and central charter agent.

The 5,500gt Luna can accommodate up to 18 guests and 49 crew. The vessel features ‘at anchor stabilisers’ which work at

zero speed to increase onboard comfort at anchor and on rough waters, and has a cruising speed of 12 knots.

‘We are proud to be working with Luna,’ said Captain Adrian McCourt, head of Watkins Superyachts. ‘A superyacht is a luxury to be enjoyed and as her new managers we are committed to developing a synergy between management and crew to deliver the ultimate superyacht experience.’

Reported to have cost around US$185m, Luna was built for the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

FNautilus International has secured more than €5,500 back

pay for a member who lost his job on a Cayman Islands-registered superyacht when the owner agreed to a request from the chief stewardess to have her boyfriend serve onboard.

The member had been working on the yacht for just over a month when the master told him the owner had decided to replace him with the chief stewardess’s boyfriend.

‘Although he was unhappy with the way he had been treated, he continued to work up until the three months he had been employed for and then left the vessel to fi nd work elsewhere,’ said Nautilus industrial offi cer Paul Schroder.

‘He was told he would only be paid his owed wages, but after we intervened and communicated with the crewing agency in Guernsey, we managed to also help the member to receive 14 days’ pay in lieu of notice to bring the total fi nal payment to just over €5,558.33,’ he added.

‘The member has received the outstanding monies owed and is pleased with the service received from Nautilus,’ Mr Schroder said. ‘This is another case to show the value of Nautilus membership for seafarers in the superyacht sector.’

FFive people died when a yacht’s tender boat sank in adverse

conditions off Malta last year while returning from an evening meal in a restaurant ashore.

An investigation into the incident has concluded that the tender was swamped during the 2nm trip from Xlendi Bay to Dwejra Bay on the western coast of Gozo last May during deteriorating conditions.

The Maltese Safety Investigation Unit report estimates that the 4.1m GRP tender had a freeboard of just 0.33m when it was returning to the Belgian-registered yacht El Pirata in winds of between force 4 and force 5, and in a moderate sea of between 1m and 2m.

Investigators said the boat had become swamped after being

completely exposed to the north westerly conditions. ‘Although the local weather forecast was accurate and reliable, it was either not monitored carefully, misunderstood and underestimated, or not monitored at all,’ the report notes.

Those onboard lacked crucial knowledge of the coast and its potential dangers, it adds.

The report makes a series of recommendations to enhance safety awareness among visiting yacht crews — calling for safety notices to be issued to highlight issues including potentially hazardous areas, the quality of VHF and mobile network reception around the coast, the importance of life-saving equipment and basic navigational principles and seamanship practices.

Union gets member’s back pay Sunseeker order

FCelebrity endorsements seem to be working well for UK-based

Sunseeker, which has announced that, following the publicity surrounding the launch of its £32m 155 yacht for Formula One chief Eddie Jordan earlier this year, a second unit of the same size has been sold.

The keel for the latest 155, which will be powered by twin 16V MTUs, was laid at the company’s shipyard at Poole Quay last month. Sunseeker was tight-lipped about who the new vessel is being built for and what the price tag is.

08_yachts.indd 6 18/06/2014 16:56

Dutch operator launches new Africa service

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 09

NEWS

PNautilus and the RMT union have expressed concern at the failure to

take legal action against the oper-ators of a ship that sank off the coast of Wales with the loss of six lives in 2011.

An inquest jury has returned a verdict of misadventure on the six Russian seafarers who died when the Cook Islands-registered general cargoship Swanland suf-fered catastrophic structural failure while sailing to the Isle of Wight with a 3,000 tonne cargo of limestone in November 2011.

The court heard that the 34-year-old ship sank in 17 just minutes after cracks began to appear in its hull during gale force winds and rough seas some 12 hours after sailing from Lland-dulas.

The inquest was told that the crew did not muster after the alarm was sounded, reducing their chances of leaving in an orderly way even though the ves-sel was equipped with 14 immer-

sion suits and 15 lifejackets for a crew of eight.

Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigator Tony Brown said Swanland sank very quickly and suggested there may have been some delay in giving the order to abandon ship. He also said emergency drills were not conducted regularly.

But Ian Lawrie QC, represent-ing the ship’s managers Torbulk, produced a signed statement from survivor Roman Savin say-ing drills were regularly held.

However, the statement did not refer to abandon ship drills being held during the period October to November when he served on the ship and Mr Lawrie accepted the crew had not mus-tered as they should have done in an emergency on the night the ship sank.

The MAIB’s report on the ship’s loss highlighted problems includ-ing lack of effective safety man-agement, poor quality of survey and audit, corrosion, overloading

and poor distribution of its lime-stone cargo. Investigators said the 1,978gt ship’s longitudinal strength had probably weakened signifi cantly over the previous 2½ years through corrosion and wastage, with maintenance and repair ‘lacking focus and over-sight’. No structural repairs had been undertaken since 2009.

The MAIB said it hoped the report would act as a catalyst for action by the International Mari-time Organisation to tackle the serious safety problems in the general cargoship sector — not-ing that progress so far ‘appears to have been slow’.

Nautilus has written to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and the Crown Prosecution Ser-vice, challenging the decision not to prosecute the ship’s UK-based owners and managers on the grounds that the case was outside UK jurisdiction.

Charles Boyle, director of Nau-tilus legal services, said the fact that the ship may have sunk out-

side the 12 mile territorial limit did not alter the fact that the own-ers and managers had a responsi-bility for the safe operation of the vessel while it was transiting UK waters.

The RMT said there should have been a prosecution for cor-porate manslaughter. Acting general secretary Mick Cash said: ‘The shocking and damning MAIB report into the avoidable and tragic sinking of the Swanland in the Irish Sea should have shamed our own government and the international maritime industry into urgent action, but the prac-tices that led to the events back in 2011 still continue to this day.

‘RMT will not let those respon-sible for tolerating and encourag-ing the lack of basic safety that led to the Swanland tragedy off the hook,’ he added. ‘A repeat of this disaster is just waiting to happen and warm words and lip service will achieve nothing. The only answer is decisive and hard line action.’

Inquest rules on sinking deathsUnions challenge decision not to bring charges over ship’s loss off Wales

AThe Dutch operator RMR Shipping has launched a new

ro-ro service between NW Europe and West Africa. Its 37,237gt vehicles carrier Dresden is pictured visiting London Thamesport last month during its inaugural UK call on the run.

The Cyprus-fl agged vessel can handle a wide variety of cargoes through quarter and side ramps which allow cargo to be loaded and discharged directly onto the quay. It has the capacity to carry more than 4,000 cars and ro-ro units on various fully enclosed decks.

RMR Shipping’s new fortnightly service carries a variety of general and wheeled cargoes to Lagos (Nigeria), Dakar (Senegal) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast). Project and conventional cargoes are also accepted, utilising the line’s own Mafi trailers.

FNautilus has welcomed the release and safe return last

month of crew members from the containership Albedo, who had been held hostage by Somali pirates for 1,288 days.

The release of the seafarers — seven Bangladeshi, two Sri Lankan, one Indian and one Iranian — was achieved on 7 June in Kenya. Another Indian crew member had previously died in captivity.

The Malaysian-fl agged Albedo was hijacked by Somali pirates on 26 November 2010, and was eff ectively abandoned by its owner. In July 2012, following a local campaign, a deal was struck for the release of seven Pakistani crew members onboard. The vessel became progressively unseaworthy and sank in a heavy storm in July 2013, after which 12 crew members were held hostage ashore. The fate of four Sri Lankans onboard at the time of the sinking is not known.

It is unclear what exactly precipitated the release of the remaining crew members last month, but it followed over three years of

pressure from the pan-industry Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) and investigative work by the United Nations Offi ce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The MPHRP has been supporting the hostages’ families with tuition fees, medicines and other living costs, and will now assist the released seafarers in restoring their health and eventually returning to work.

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘As a partner in the MPHRP through the ITF, we fully support their eff orts and would like to thank them for their ongoing work on this case. It is a relief to see these seafarers released at last, but the shocking length of their captivity — and the death of at least one man — remains deeply troubling.

‘And let’s not forget that there are nearly 40 crew members from merchant ships and fi shing vessels still being held hostage in Somalia,’ he added. ‘We must all redouble our eff orts to secure their release and stamp out piracy.’

FNATO has agreed to a two-year extension of its Indian Ocean

counter-piracy mission — warning that pirates in the region continue to demonstrate both the intent and the capacity to attack ships.

Defence ministers agreed to extend the NATO Operation Shield until the end of 2016, with warships deployed in an area covering more than 2m sq miles, from the Arabian Gulf to the Seychelles and the Gulf of Aden to the Maldives.

NATO said Operation Shield —

which has been in place since August 2009 — has helped to signifi cantly reduce attacks on shipping off Somalia, with no merchant ships captured by pirates in the area since May 2012.

‘Despite the successes, piracy remains a threat,’ it added. ‘NATO assesses that pirates continue to posses the intent and capacity to attack ships. NATO ships continue to detect attempts by pirates to capture vessels. In addition, the root causes of piracy inside Somalia remain.’

Hostage crew are freed after 1,288 days held captive

Training package to help crews work with armed guards

FInsurers have called for port operators to do more to cut the

number of avoidable accidents in their facilities.

The call from the TT Club follows an analysis of 9,500 claims, totalling around US$ 400m, over the past seven years. The data showed that 68% of the claims cost resulted from operational accidents within ports or terminals and a further 14% from poor or insuffi cient maintenance.

The club said operators should install more available technology to help prevent collisions and to improve employee training.

FThe training fi rm Videotel has launched a new package to help

shipmasters, offi cers and company security offi cers to work eff ectively with private security teams.

Developed in conjunction with the Security Association for the Maritime Industry and the owners’ association BIMCO, and produced in association with Steamship Mutual P&I Club; Working with Maritime Security Guards imparts key information in vivid documentary style.

It warns that while the use of armed guards — along with eff ective protection measures, best management practices and the international naval deterrent — has contributed to a fall in the number of pirate attacks off the east of Africa, the presence of private guards brings serious risks as well as benefi ts.

The new programme is available in various formats, including online, as a DVD, computer-based e-learning, and as a workbook. It covers such topics as selecting a private maritime security

company, planning the guards’ deployment and disembarkation, working and living together, and responding to a threat; and it is a companion programme to Videotel’s Piracy and Armed Robbery, Edition 3, which deals with piracy prevention onboard ship.

‘There are legal and safety risks associated with the use of armed guards and so it is vital to choose a PMSC that off ers highly competent and professionally trained guards who have demonstrable experience in protecting ships against pirate attacks,’ Videotel CEO Nigel Cleave pointed out.

Nautilus director of legal services Charles Boyle attended the launch event and told the Telegraph: ‘The fi lm was interesting and could be a very useful tool for crews for whom having armed guards onboard is new. It showed the reporting structure within a well-organised team and covered issues such as the storage of weapons and muster drills.’

NATO extends piracy patrols for two years

Insurers warn on port safety

The 13,208TEU containership OOCL Korea is pictured making a maiden call to Southampton last month. The Hong Kong-fl agged ship has been deployed on Loop 6 Asia-Europe service Picture: Gary Davies/Maritime Photographic

09_news.indd 9 18/06/2014 16:56

10 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

NEWS

PThe maritime com-munications company Inmarsat has revealed

ambitious plans to launch a new generation safety service for the shipping industry.

The satcoms fi rm is promising a ‘sea change’ in emergency com-munications with a new service that makes full use of the high vol-umes of voice and data capacity offered by the latest satellites and onboard equipment.

Inmarsat says it is planning to seek International Maritime Organisation approval for the new system, called Maritime Safety Data Services (MSDS), early next year. It is appealing to fl ag states, owners and the broader shipping community to support its proposals.

Using the i4 satellite network, MSDS will include features such as voice distress calling over FleetBroadband and ‘distress chat’ — enabling instant mes-saging emergency communica-tions without the possibility of being misinterpreted — as well as offering enhanced support for chart updates, e-navigation, tele- medicine and rescue coordina-tion, together with improved security through integration with LRIT and AIS.

Peter Blackhurst, Inmarsat’s head of safety services, said the service will ‘take the capability of Inmarsat-C and transplant it into FleetBroadband’ — delivering the same sort of information in a modern way.

He said MSDS had been under

development in conjunction with the European Space Agency for three years, and an operational system is now running on servers in remote locations, with generic software available for testing next year. Manufacturers have equipment ready for launch later in 2015, he added, and all that will then be needed is the regulatory go-ahead from the IMO.

zDramatic advances in standards of shipboard connectivity are set to take safety and effi ciency in the shipping industry to a new level, the classifi cation society DNV GL has forecast.

In a presentation at the Posi-donia exhibition in Greece, DNV GL CEO Tor Svensen said that the maritime sector will be trans-

formed over the next 25 years by the increasing penetration of information and communication technology (ICT).

The convergence of real time data transmission, high comput-ing capacity, mathematical mod-elling capabilities, remote con-trol, sensors and miniaturisation will have a huge impact on the industry, he predicted.

‘Online monitoring and deci-sion support can lift human performance, closing the gap between safety goals and current practice,’ Mr Svensen said.

However, he stressed, more work must be done to develop regimes that ensure the safety and stability of such systems, which are often not easily testable before installation and operation.

Inmarsat planning new safety service

HThe former chief harbour master at the UK Port of Dover has been

appointed as the new president of the International Harbour Masters’ Association.

Captain Kevin Richardson, whose 46-year seagoing and shore-based career included 27 years in the Port of Dover, will serve as IHMA president for the next two years following his appointment at the Association’s ninth international congress hosted by the ports of Ghent and Zeebrugge in Belgium last month.

Capt Richardson, who served as president of the UK Harbour Masters’ Association from 2007 to 2012, said high priority issues for his new role include places of refuge for ships in distress, the use of LNG as a marine fuel, and the provision of validated nautical information for port users.

‘I am keen that IHMA continues to maintain its IMO observer status which enables it to both track and infl uence future maritime policy and legislation in safety, security and the environment,’ he added.

Satcoms fi rm promises a ‘sea change’ for emergency communications

Mission targets Singapore

New leader for IMHA

Insurers warn over lost ships’ records

Chaplain change at TilburyA

Following a reshuffl e earlier this year which saw the

departure of Tilbury chaplain Paul Cave, the London City Mission has teamed up with the Sailors’ Society to appoint a new port chaplain for Tilbury and London Gateway.

Revd Frans Sahetapy — pictured above delivering woolly hats during a recent ship visit — began work at the Thames terminals last month, bringing with him 10 years of welfare experience with the Sailors’ Society. He began his career as a

port chaplain in Belawan, Indonesia — where he provided support in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami — and later worked in the UK port of Southampton for six years.

Alistair Gale, from the Port of London Authority, commented: ‘Frans’s appointment is a welcome addition to the support seafarers receive when they reach port, often with little more than 12 hours in which to get simple things like toiletries and catch up with family and friends back home.’

New IHMA president Captain Kevin Richardson (left) and European Harbour Master Committee chairman Captain Amaury de Maupeou

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FMarine insurers have warned that safety is being threatened

by the loss of vital information about maintenance and survey histories when ships are sold.

The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) says it is seeking improvements in the International Safety Management (ISM) Code to ensure that maintenance records and service histories follow the ship throughout its life.

Helle Hammer, chairman of the IUMI political forum, commented: ‘When a ship changes ownership, it is commonplace that the outgoing technical manager removes the planned maintenance system (PMS) data which contains all maintenance and service records from the vessel.

‘Consequently, there will be no fl uid takeover of the vessel by the new crew, no maintenance records left onboard, and no list of short and long term maintenance to be carried out,’ he added. ‘This increases

the risks of required maintenance being overlooked, of incorrect handling of equipment, and of serious breakdowns due to pure lack of knowledge of the ship’s service history.’

While classifi cation survey records will always be available to a new owner once permission is given from the seller to the classifi cation society, the separate continuous machinery survey (CMS) records, carried out by the chief engineer, are stored in the onboard PMS. When the PMS data is removed, this means that the CMS records are lost to the new owner and the classifi cation society, Mr Hammer pointed out.

As well as changes to the ISM Code, IUMI suggests additional clauses may also be included in the sale and purchase agreement requiring maintenance records, operating reports and spares inventory to be part of the permanent service history of the ship.

FMission to Seafarers (MtS) secretary-general Revd Andrew

Wright is pictured launching a major new fund-raising programme to support the expansion of the charity’s welfare work for ships’ crews and their families.

The programme was launched at a reception in the British High Commission in Singapore, attended by more than 250 guests and by MtS regional representatives from India, Australia, Canada, East Asia, South Africa, the Gulf, New Zealand, the US

and the UK. The charity — which held its global conference in Singapore last month — is seeking to raise $690,000 to expand its operations in the island state.

The local MtS branch is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year and Singapore is seen as a crucial regional hub for the future development of the MtS. The Mission has just opened a new international drop-in centre in Jurong Port, which has been upgraded and relocated from previous premises.

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July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 11

NEWS

FGreen groups have urged the European Union to rethink its

Blue Growth strategy for the maritime economy — warning that the policy plans do not do enough to protect seafarers’ rights and the marine environment.

A coalition of organisations including the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), Greenpeace, the WWF and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform has urged the EU to address the shortcomings in the strategy, which was adopted in 2012.

The organisations argue that the package fails to address the real threats to the world’s ocean and seas — including the poor conditions for many seafarers on fl ag of convenience ships, the rise of water acidifi cation, marine pollution caused by ships and land-based waste, plundering of fi shing grounds, and deepsea mining, oil drilling and exploration.

In a Fair Oceans conference held to

coincide with European Maritime Day, the organisations called for the EU to establish a ‘polluter pays’ fi nancial system to make it less attractive for European shipowners to opt for fl ags of convenience when they send ships to be scrapped.

‘It is shameful that most shipowners continue to reject responsibility for their end-of-life vessels,’ said Patrizia Heidegger, executive director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform. ‘Still too many shipowners prioritise getting the best price for the ship, and ignore the harm done to workers, local communities and the environment.

‘However, we see more and more progressive ship owners refusing to sell their end-of-life ships to substandard beach breaking yards and the EU Ship Recycling Regulation has set a clear standard for safer practices. Sooner or later, safe and clean ship recycling will be unavoidable for all.’

PDenmark is planning to use aerial drones and ‘sniffer’ technology at

port entrances and on bridges to check that ships are complying with the sulphur emission curbs coming into effect in the North Sea and Baltic next year.

In an enforcement action plan published last month, the Dan-ish Maritime Authority warns of stronger sanctions and fi nes for ships caught breaking the regu-lations. And it calls for other port state authorities to work with it to ensure effective enforcement of the rules.

Denmark says it is determined to ensure that non-compliance with the emission reduction

limits does not pay. It wants to see widespread use of surveillance technology, including portable measuring equipment and more frequent sampling and testing.

It is planning to start trials of aerial drones later this year to fl y over ships in its waters and to test their exhaust emissions for sulphur oxides.

‘With the action plan, Den-mark takes an important step in the struggle to ensure effi cient enforcement of the sulphur reg-ulations. It is of decisive impor-tance to quality shipping that our control is suffi ciently effi cient,’ said Danish Maritime Authority director general Andreas Nord-seth. ‘Effi cient enforcement bene-

fi ts both the environment and the competitiveness of a responsible shipping industry.’

Shipowners have expressed concern about the way in which the sulphur controls will be enforced. In the annual Interna-tional Chamber of Shipping (ICS) review chairman Masamichi Morooka warns that failure to properly police the rules could have serious commercial impli-cations for operators.

‘The vast majority of responsi-ble ship operators are, of course, preparing for full compliance,’ he said. ‘But the unfair competitive advantage that could be derived from using non-compliant fuel will be signifi cant, unless it is

clear that non-compliance will be detected and that there will be serious consequences for those who are caught.’

A dozen leading shipping com-panies have formed a coalition to campaign for rigorous enforce-ment of the sulphur regulations. The owners and operators behind the Trident Alliance warn that ‘when enforcement is weak a temptation is created to cut cor-ners on compliance. The result is that regulations will not have the intended effect of protecting the environment and human health. Also, responsible shipping com-panies are put at a disadvantage relative to those who are inten-tionally non-compliant’.

Call for drones to police ship sulphur emissionsDenmark proposes use of ‘sniff er’ technology to enforce greener fuel rules

CGreenpeace has protested to Norway after the Norwegian

Coastguard boarded its campaign ship Esperanza outside of the country’s territorial waters to end a high profi le protest against Arctic oil drilling last month.

The environmental group said it considered that the boarding of the ship during a peaceful protest at Statoil’s Hoop drilling site in the Barents Sea was illegal under international maritime law.Picture: Greenpeace

Safeguards on shore leave sought at IMOH

Nautilus International has backed calls for the International

Maritime Organisation to ensure that seafarers’ rights to shore leave are protected when countries produce national maritime security legislation.

Senior national secretary Allan Graveson said the Union had supported a paper seeking safeguards for the availability of shore leave which was tabled at the IMO’s maritime safety committee last month by the International Federation of Ship Masters’ Associations.

The IMO is developing new guidelines for member states developing national regulations in line with the requirements of the International Ship & Port facilities Security Code (ISPS) and the SOLAS Convention.

The IFSMA paper gives broad support to the IMO initiative. While seafarers have to relate to a ‘multitude’ of diff erent national

maritime security laws, a number of countries have failed to develop legislation in accordance with the standardised framework laid down by SOLAS and ISPS, it points out.

‘This situation, with inconsistent legislation worldwide, also introduces problems relating to the availability of shore leave,’ IFSMA added.

Mr Graveson said it was important that the standards and recommended practices for shore leave outlined in the FAL Convention are taken into account when developing the guidelines for national maritime security legislation.

Especially important is the need to ensure proper procedures for facilitating shore leave for ships’ personnel or personnel changes, as well as access of visitors to the ship including representatives of seafarers’ welfare and labour organisations, when developing a port facility security plan.

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A new service linking the UK NE coast with the Russian port of St Petersburg has got underway with the arrival of the largest containership ever handled at the Port of Tyne. The 15,487gt Calisto, above, is of 168m loa and has almost four times the TEU capacity of most containerships visiting the Port of Tyne’s container terminal. The German-owned Liberian-fl agged vessel is operating an eight-day service connecting Bremerhaven, Copenhagen, Felixstowe, Grangemouth, Helsingborg, Rotterdam and St Petersburg, and will see container exports from the Port of Tyne increase by around 50%

Greens warn EU on rights of seafarers

10-11_news.indd 11 18/06/2014 16:57

FA Japanese shipmaster died following an explosion and fi re

onboard a 2,300dwt products tanker last month, pictured right.

Four of the seven other crew members who were rescued from the Japanese-fl agged Shoku Maru after the blast had to be treated in hospital for severe injuries.

The incident occurred near Himeji port on the SW coast of Japan, when the tanker was as at anchor after having discharged a cargo of oil. The ship sank 10 hours after the blast.

Investigations into the cause of the accident were launched and have been focussing on reports that crew members were working on deck at the time, and may have been using a grinder to remove paint when the explosion took place.Picture: Reuters

Simple shipboard breathalyser helps crew keep to new limits

HEALTH & SAFETY

12 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

FAn investigation into a fatal accident onboard a Norwegian

ferry has called for seafarers to be given better guidance on passing under high voltage electric cables.

The chief offi cer of the 2,053gt ferry Røst died when he received an electric shock and fell from the ship’s foremast while trying to check the ship’s safe clearance under three high-voltage power cables a few weeks after the vessel was switched to a new route linking Svolvær, Skutvik and Skrova.

The crew had been given a verbal instruction from the ferry company Torghatten Nord not to sail through Fyrsundet sound until further notice, as the aft mast was assumed to be too

high for Røst to safely pass under the cables.

But the master and chief mate had calculated that their vessel would have a clearance of 90cm at the highest astronomical tide and 2.8m at prevailing tide levels, so they decided to take it through the sound at slow speed while they checked the distance between the aft mast and the cables.

Nautical charts showed a safe vertical clearance of 20m, while the signs ashore showed 22m and the shipboard management had measured the vessel’s air draught to be 20.7m from the waterline to the top of the aft mast.

As Røst passed through the sound, the chief mate climbed into the

foremast to observe the passage and to check the margin between the mast and the cables using a fi shing rod.

But as the vessel passed under the last of the three cables, the rod touched it and the offi cer fell almost 10m from the mast to the deck.

In a report on the incident, the Accident Investigation Board of Norway (AIBN) said uncertainty about the ferry’s actual air draft, coupled with ‘equivocal’ information about the safe clearance had contributed to the crew’s decision to carry out the test.

The AIBN report notes that while national nautical guidelines urge seafarers to exercise caution when navigating near power lines, they contain no information about the

safety margin that is taken into consideration for the safe vertical clearances shown in the charts and on signs ashore when high voltage is involved.

The report says there was ‘justifi ed uncertainty’ about the safe clearance in the sound, with diff ering fi gures shown in the charts and on signs ashore.

Recommendations in the report include a call for the International Chamber of Shipping to incorporate ‘practical and relevant advice on height limitations in general, about the safety margin and the safe vertical clearance under power cables that carry high voltage’ into its Bridge Procedures Guide.

£30,000 fi ne for dock fi rm

PNautilus has welcomed a milestone International Maritime Organisation

decision to introduce compul-sory checks on container weights.

Last month’s meeting of the IMO’s maritime safety committee approved long-awaited amend-ments to the SOLAS Convention that will require verifi cation of container weights as a condition for loading packed export con-tainers onboard ships. The new rules are expected to enter into force in July 2016 following fi nal adoption by the IMO in Novem-ber this year.

The decision was welcomed by Nautilus and a number of fl ag states which have raised concerns about the problems posed by mis-declaration of container weights — including stack collapses and fears that overloading could have been involved in ship losses such as the MSC Napoli and the MOL Comfort.

The World Shipping Coun-cil — whose members represent about 90% of global contain-ership capacity — also backed

the IMO decision. ‘Misdeclared container weights have been a long-standing problem for the transportation industry and for governments as they present safety hazards for ships, their crews, and other cargo onboard, workers in the port facilities han-dling containers, and on roads,’ it added.

But the European Sea Ports Organisation expressed con-cerns that weighing operations

could disrupt container handling operations in ports. ESPO said that while it supported the IMO decision, it believed containers should be weighed before they come into port areas and prefer-ably at their places of origin.

zNautilus has expressed concern at classifi cation society moves which could enable operators to load up to an extra 22 tonnes of container weights in midship deck stacks.

Bureau Veritas announced last month that it had developed a new voluntary containership notation in line with other class societies, including Lloyd’s Reg-ister and DNV GL, which offers more fl exible lashing and deck cargo arrangements.

The notation will give the oper-ators of larger containerships the fl exibility to sail on specifi c routes with heavier on-deck containers and less strict lashing arrange-ments under certain conditions.

BV marine technical director Jean-Francois Segretain com-mented: ‘Our research and data from real ships in service shows that accelerations in the mid-ships section of container vessels are always closely correlated with the natural roll period of the ship and could often be much less than those set down in the present rules for lashing calculations.’

But Nautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson said he was disturbed by the moves. ‘This appears to have been driven by economic considerations to the detriment of safety,’ he added.

Container weight check rule agreedUnion welcomes IMO decision but warns on new class society notations

Crewman died in ‘desperate’ bid to fix tow

FA new and simple shipboard breathalyser machine has

been introduced by the marine supplies fi rm Hutton’s Medical to help seafarers comply with new alcohol limits introduced by the Manila amendments to the STCW Convention.

The lightweight and easy to use breathalyser does away with the need for complicated, time-consuming recalibration and servicing and is capable of recording alcohol levels to three decimal places of 0.1mg/litre blood at an accuracy level of +/- 0.01%.

‘This machine is very eff ective and only the very complex and expensive machines used in police stations can produce a more accurate result,’ said Hutton’s Medical general manager John MacDonald. ‘This model is

particularly appropriate for use at sea because it does not require regular recalibration. Instead the user just needs to replace the sensor once a year or after 300 tests.’

France has given Maersk Line until the end of the summer to pinpoint the location of around 500 containers which were lost from the Svendborg Maersk, above, during rough weather in the Bay of Biscay in February this year. Authorities want to reduce the risk the boxes pose to fi shing vessels.

FA crewman on a UK-registered tug died last year during an

‘extraordinarily dangerous’ attempt to reconnect a towline in rough seas off Beachy Head.

A UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report describes the incident as ‘a desperate and ill-considered measure brought about by the use of poor towing practices, a disregard of the weather forecasts, and a lack of planning, risk assessment and emergency preparedness’.

Investigators found that the tug was not certifi ed to operate in the sea conditions on the night of the accident last February. Its skipper was not qualifi ed to operate the vessel during the coastal sections of the planned voyage from Rochester to Brighton and was neither trained nor qualifi ed in towing operations.

The tug Endurance was towing the motor cruiser Sirius M on a two-day passage when weather conditions deteriorated and the towline broke in winds gusting up to force 8. The 55-year-old crewman died when he fell into the water while trying

to transfer a new line between the two vessels. He was not wearing a lifejacket.

The MAIB said the tug had been wrongly certifi ed under the SCV Code for small commercial vessels to operate as a workboat up to 60 miles from a safe haven in favourable weather. The skipper’s boatmaster’s licence allowed him to operate only out to 3 miles from lane and up to 15 miles from a point of departure.

Neither the skipper nor the crewman had appreciated the ‘considerable risks’ of transferring across to the unmanned tow in the poor conditions and the report suggests their judgement may have been adversely aff ected by fatigue — with the skipper having spent 32 of the previous 44 hours at the helm.

The MAIB noted that the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the International Institute of Marine Surveying, Medway Ports, the Peel Ports Group, and the Endurance’s owner had all taken action to address safety issues in response to the incident.

FAn UK dock company has been fi ned £15,000 and ordered to

pay £14,761 in costs after a worker suff ered severe leg injuries while unloading containers from a visiting ship.

The Harwich Dock Company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act after a court heard how agency worker Andrew Gotts, of Felixstowe, needed extensive reconstruction surgery following the incident in the port on 4 October 2012, when his leg was crushed by a jammed container that moved suddenly when freed by colleagues.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company did not have a safe procedure in place for freeing jammed containers and workers were also at risk of falling.

Off icer killed by cable

12-13_h+s.indd 12 18/06/2014 16:58

HEALTH & SAFETY

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 13

PNautilus has voiced con-cern about a case in which a fully laden products

tanker was holed in an accident on the river Thames while one of two pilots onboard was undergoing a practical examination.

The 23,988dwt Apollo suffered shell plating damage when it struck the quayside at the North-fl eet Hope Container Terminal in the early hours of 25 July 2013. No one was injured and there was no pollution.

But a UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB)report on the incident calls for the Port of London Authority to review key pilotage procedures and for the UK Marine Pilots Asso-ciation and the Port Marine Safety Code steering group to develop best practice guidelines for the conduct of practical pilotage exams.

The contact occurred as the Gibraltar-fl agged Apollo — which was carrying almost 22,000 tonnes of gasoil for discharge at the Vopak terminal, West Thur-rock — left its intended track in a strong tidal fl ow as the pilot slowed the ship to prepare for tugs to be secured.

Investigators discovered that

the pilot had ordered what he believed to be a fi xed pitch pro-peller to stop while rounding Tilburyness to reduce the ship’s speed. In fact, Apollo was fi tted with a controllable pitch propel-ler and putting it to stop resulted in an uncontrollable increase in the tanker’s rate of turn.

The MAIB said the pilot had consulted the PLA database when preparing the passage plan, but there was no reference to Apollo being equipped with a CPP and the Authority’s system had no agreed minimum data set and

no process for data verifi cation. Investigators said the reference to CPP on the ship’s pilot card was not easy to fi nd, and the format of the card was not in line with best practice.

Apollo’s master had left the bridge soon after the pilots boarded as he had not taken a period of six consecutive hours of rest in the 24 hours before the accident.

The report notes that the watchkeeper was the second offi cer, which was not in compli-ance with the ship’s safety man-

agement system or local regula-tions, and it suggests that had the master been on the bridge he might have been able to intervene to avert the accident when the ‘stop’ order was given.

The report says the tanker was ‘not a sensible test of the pilot’s practical competence as it was not representative of the size of vessels he would be expected to con at the Class 2 level’.

Although the pilot under examination had the conduct of the vessel, he was not authorised to pilot a ship of Apollo’s length and draught, the report points out.

The MAIB notes that the ship’s manager has taken a series of measures in response to the accident and the PLA has also reviewed its pilot training and examination programme.

Nautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson com-mented: ‘Noting the time that the incident occurred, it is diffi cult to believe that “fatigue” did not play a greater part in this acci-dent than identifi ed. The fi ndings of the Project Horizon research demonstrated the importance of circadian rhythms in alertness and performance.’

Pilot was being tested as tanker struck quaysideUnion points to role of fatigue in early morning accident in the Thames

AA Dutch chief mate died after falling from his ship in the

Spanish port of Bilbao during an operation to move the vessel’s tweendeck last year.

Investigations revealed that the crew were not following the procedures set down in the safety management system (SMS) because they considered them to be unworkable — as did colleagues on sisterships.

The accident occurred in February 2013 when the chief mate of the 5,650gt Dutch-fl agged general cargoship Azoresborg was supervising the moving of the tweendeck to enable consoles to be installed to support the tweendeck in the cargo hold.

A Dutch Safety Board report on the accident concludes that the offi cer had been standing in an unsafe position — on a fi xed ladder

near the hatch coaming — during the operation and had probably lost his balance. No fall prevention equipment was in use, and he fell over the ship’s railing and onto the quay before ending up in the water.

Investigators said the tweendeck operations and associated risks were

only briefl y described in the SMS. Crew members were urged to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installing the tweendecks — but, the report notes, interviews and analysis showed this procedure ‘is time-consuming and impractical’.

The company, Wagenborg

Shipping, was aware that crew on Azoresborg and sisterships were using an alternative method — but this had not been documented and the operator had failed to assess the risks or to introduce eff ective safety measures for the procedure, the report adds.

The failure to hold a safety briefi ng before the work began meant crew members had diff erent ideas about the way in which the tweendecks would be installed and how safety would be maintained, it points out.

The Dutch Safety Board said the risks of falling overboard had been insuffi ciently identifi ed — with no proactive evaluation of hazards of falling from a height of less than 2.5m. The report recommends that Nautilus and the Dutch shipowners’ association work together to produce new guidance in this area.

‘Unworkable’ SMS found on ship after chief offi cer’s fatal accident

Wear and tear caused the Wilson Leith’s pilot ladder side ropes to part last year, leading to a pilot being injured Picture: MSIU

Damage to the tanker Apollo after last July’s accident Picture: MAIB

FProblems with spotting wear and tear on pilot ladders have

been highlighted in a report on an accident in which a Humber Pilot fell about 2m when the side ropes parted while disembarking a general cargoship last year.

The pilot suff ered foot and ankle injuries when the ropes resting on the sheer strake of the 2,446gt Wilson Leith broke while he was leaving the Maltese-fl agged ship off Spurn Point.

Laboratory tests found that the pilot ladder was in a generally poor condition, with the failed side ropes showing signs of fraying, abrasion and excessive wear.

The anchoring of the ladder close to the ship’s ship had caused abrasion and progressive weakening of the rope fi bres resting over the sheer strake, and the permanent bend of the side ropes between the steps weakening over time.

The ladder had been brought into service on the ship in November 2009 and should have been subjected to a

load test every 30 months from the date of manufacture.

However, the Maltese Safety Investigation Unit (MSIU) found that this important requirement had been omitted from the manufacturer’s operational instructions for the vessel and no subsequent load tests had been carried out.

The Unit’s report notes that the ladder had been inspected and approved as part of the annual survey barely three weeks before the accident and had also been checked by the pilot before he began disembarking.

‘The accident on the Wilson Leith clearly demonstrated the diffi culties to determine the physical condition solely by visual examination and to accurately assess the eff ect on rope fi bres caused by abrasion, cuts or excessive wear,’ the MSIU report adds.

‘Equally,’ the report points out, ‘it is diffi cult to determine the derogation in tensile strength or the point at which the pilot ladder becomes unsafe.’

FA European Union-funded project has been investigating

new systems which aim to help reduce the stress experienced by vessel traffi c services offi cers.

Delegates at the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) conference heard that work-based tests involving VTS operators in Canada and Norway had looked at the eff ects of stress on their performance.

Using simulated VTS scenarios with increasing workloads, from normal to overworked, researchers found that stress levels increased in line with task load. The operators’ attention became increasingly narrow as stress levels increased, resulting in dangerous situations being missed — and in one case, a (simulated) collision was not identifi ed.

Todd Schuett, training manager with Kongsberg Norcontrol IT told the conference that the Designing Dynamic Distributed Cooperative Human-Machine Systems (D3CoS) project had developed proposals for a prototype system to reduce stress on VTS operators.

‘The need to manage stress with human solutions is already understood, but we feel that VTS technology can play an important role in reducing workload and therefore

helping operators to stay in control even when the situation is particularly challenging,’ he explained.

‘Even in this area, technology already off ers several possibilities to help operators manage and reduce stress but the D3CoS project has shown that greater automation in cooperative human-machine systems can reduce workload further, which has the consequence of reducing pressure on the VTS operator.’

The project group developed a means of sharing data between a shore-based VTS system and a ship-based system — specifi cally a portable pilot unit, he added. Automation was key to the system, with functionality including the automatic sending of vessel confl ict data and maritime safety Information such as weather data from the VTS to the PPU without VTS operator involvement.

Kongsberg, in cooperation with British Maritime Technologies (BMT) and Marimatech, had also developed an advanced vessel path planner as part of D3CoS. Once the path is established and validated, the rest is automated. The VTS operator isn’t required to fi nd and report weather data to the pilot, and should the VTS operator become engaged in a critical situation, any warnings relevant to the pilot are automatically communicated.

EU project looks at technology to cut VTS offi cer stress

Pilot injured when ladder ropes broke

The chief mate of the Azoresborg died in a fall Picture: Dutch Safety Board

12-13_h+s.indd 13 18/06/2014 17:42

14 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

INTERNATIONAL

shortreportsAUSTRALIAN ALARM: the Maritime Union of Australia has expressed concern at a federal government decision to cut a A$5m (€3.46m) scheme to promote seafarer training. Paddy Crumlin, the union’s national secretary, described the move to end the Sustaining Australia’s Maritime Skills initiative as ‘disappointing and short-sighted’ and warned of evidence pointing to a growing shortfall of domestic seafaring experience.

SPANISH DETENTIONS: two ships were detained by the Spanish maritime authorities last month following a collision in which both sustained serious damage at the entrance to the Bay of Algeciras. The 15,525gt Chinese-fl agged general cargoship Le Sheng collided with the 185,827dwt bulk carrier Cape Med. No one was injured in the incident, which is being investigated by the Spanish authorities.

CRUISE ORDER: MSC Cruises has signed a contract with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for two new 154,000gt cruiseships, with an option for a third. Costing €700m each, the vessels will be the largest ever built by Fincantieri, with a capacity for 5,300 passengers and 1,413 crew. They will join the MSC Cruises fl eet in November 2017 and May 2018.

COASTAL CONDITIONS: a government decree requiring operators to apply French working conditions to the crews of ships in the country’s coastal trades is set to take eff ect this summer. Unions have welcomed the move, which will cover pay, working hours, leave, employment rights, and health and safety.

TOTAL ACCUSED: the French offi cers’ union CFE-CGC has criticised Total for causing French seafaring job losses. The union has accused the company of being ‘somewhat irresponsible’ for switching the tankers Erships Barracuda and Erships Agamid to the Gibraltar fl ag and employing east European and Filipino seafarers.

NIGERIAN NUMBERS: Nigeria is training only 10% of the seafarers it needs to crew the ships operating its coastal and deepsea trades, the head of the country’s maritime administration warned last month. Director-general Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi said there was an urgent need for action to boost recruitment levels.

PILOTAGE PLEA: Denmark is seeking details of pilotage services in other countries after the Danish Maritime Pilots Association criticised government plans to put operations out to tender. The head of the association had urged politicians to learn from the experiences of other coastal states.

WRECK RECOVERY: Boskalis and Mammoet Salvage have started work on a project to recover the wreck of the car carrier Baltic Ace, which sank in a busy shipping lane off the Dutch coast following a collision with the cargoship Corvus J in December 2012.

ROTTERDAM TUGS: Svitzer has started operating a fl eet of six tugs from Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte, providing harbour towage services sand salvage capabilities.

AA Jordan-based shipping company has been fi ned

US$500,000 in the latest ‘magic pipe’ oil pollution case.

Arab Ship Management (ASM) pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. It was also placed on probation for two years, during which time its ships will

be banned from calling at US ports.The prosecution was brought

after a US Coast Guard inspection of the 6,398gt ASM livestock carrier Neameh in March 2013 discovered heavy oil sludge inside the pollution prevention equipment pipework. Inspectors found that the vessel’s piping arrangement had been

modifi ed to enable oil sludge to be pumped directly overboard.

Two oil record books were found to contain ‘diff erent and contradictory entries’ for the period between 30 November 2011 and 2 January 2012, as well as fake oily waste disposal receipts.

‘This conviction ensures that the

defendant is held accountable with a criminal fi ne and a contribution to conservation eff orts in coastal Delaware, as well as a two-year ban from US ports,’ said district attorney Charles Oberly. ‘The message to the shipping industry is clear: environmental crimes at sea will not be tolerated.’

PA week of action to highlight ‘shocking lev-els of crew abuse’ and

problems with unsafe ships was staged in ports around the Black Sea last month by the Interna-tional Transport Workers’ Federa-tion and affi liated unions.

The campaign over what the ITF describes as ‘the sea of shame’ followed the publication of an updated report revealing evi-dence of continuing poor work-ing conditions, low wages and unseaworthy ships in the region.

The ITF says the Black Sea remains one of the most dan-gerous places on earth to be a seafarer. Maritime coordina-tor Tomas Abrahamsson com-mented: ‘The state of some of these vessels and the abomina-ble working conditions on them almost defy description.

‘There is a crying need for genuine governmental action,’ he added. ‘There have been some encouraging detentions by port state control in Bulgaria and Rus-sia but much more needs to be done.”

During the week of action, ITF inspectors and union activists carried out more than 160 inspec-tions in 17 ports, recovering a total of US$142,491 in owed wages. The solidarity action even included activity in Ukraine, in spite of the current political situation.

The inspections uncovered

many examples of very low wages — as well as poor living and work-ing conditions — on vessels with-out collective bargaining agree-ments. The lowest reported wages were US$300 for an AB onboard a Sierra Leone-fl agged general car-goship, and more than half of the ships inspected were not covered

by union agreements.As well as challenging these

poor conditions, the week of action took the opportunity to inform seafarers of their rights — particularly under the Mari-time Labour Convention, which started to come into force last August.

The ITF report says that while the MLC was ratifi ed by Bulgaria in April 2010 and by Russia in August 2012, it has yet to make a signifi cant impact in the region, which is ‘still a haven for older vessels with inadequate insur-ance, operated by owners with scant regard for obligations to their crew’.

In addition, the report adds, political instability and a lack of political will make it diffi cult to develop the necessary national legislation and mechanisms to ensure effective implementa-tion of internationally accepted standards. The action week stressed the need for the govern-ments of the Black Sea states to take drastic action to improve that ‘disgraceful situation’.

ITF blitz in ‘Black Sea of shame’Week of action targets ‘shocking levels’ of crew abuse and unsafe shipping

ASeafarers on ships visiting New Zealand have been warned of the need to notify authorities of

incidents following a case in which a shipmaster was fi ned after his vessel was damaged when it grounded.

Captain Rolando Valmeo Legaspi, from the Philippines, was fi ned NZ$2,000 (€1,263) after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to notify Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) that his ship, the 32,282dwt bulk carrier Lake Triview, had grounded off New Plymouth after dragging its anchor.

The incident occurred on 24 May 2014, but MNZ was not informed until 28 May that the Singapore-registered vessel had been damaged when it hit a rocky reef.

The ship was detained when it arrived at Port Taranaki and an inspection found holes in the bulbous bow, the bottom of the double hull, and the ballast tanks.

MNZ director Keith Manch said the sentence should send a strong message to those responsible

for vessels operating around New Zealand. ‘It is essential that Maritime New Zealand is notifi ed of incidents as soon as possible to ensure measures are taken immediately to protect human life and the environment,’ he added.

‘This incident posed a potential threat to the 21 crew, and could have had a serious impact on the environment, and yet no eff ort was made for some days to notify MNZ,’ he said. ‘That is simply unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.’

Master fined for reporting delay in NZ

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ITF inspector Olga Anania leaves a ship in the port of Novorossiysk , where she secured a backpay claim of US$69,546 for fi ve seafarers Picture: ITF

APictured left is what will become the world’s fi rst

LNG-powered ice-breaker when it comes into service late next year. Ordered by the Finnish Transport Agency, the vessel will be powered by Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines capable of operating on both LNG and low sulphur diesel fuel.

Being built by the Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, the vessel is being specially built for the ‘demanding’ winter conditions of the northernmost Baltic Sea. While the main purpose of the vessel is ice-breaking, it will also be able to perform oil spill response operations and emergency towing and will operate all year round.

Company banned from US for using ‘magic pipe’

14-15_int.indd 14 18/06/2014 16:59

shortreportsSHIP SEIZED: the Norwegian Coastal Administration secured a court order for the seizure of the Royal Caribbean cruiseship Independence of the Seas for alleged non-payment of $100,000 pilot and security fees. The unpaid sums, court costs and interest were settled within one hour. The NCA said that non-payment or delayed payment from some cruise lines has been a major problem and that it will be stepping up its collection eff orts as vessels return to Norway.

FRENCH FINE: the master and owner of a Danish-fl agged tanker have been fi ned by a French court for pollution off the port of Le Havre. Herning Shipping, owners of the 4,473dwt Maria Theresa, were fi ned €100,000 and the master was fi ned €50,000, half of which must be paid by the operator. The case was brought after the ship — which was sailing from the UK to Spain — was spotted by a customs helicopter trailing a 12nm long slick in September 2013.

SCANNING DELAY: the US has announced a fresh delay to proposed rules requiring all cargo containers entering the country to be security scanned prior to departure from overseas. The government said the implementation deadline would be shifted to 2016 in response to concerns about the costs of the requirement, but shipping groups have called for the scheme to be dropped for good.

GREEK CALL: Greek shipowners have urged their government to increase the number of places for offi cer trainees in the country’s maritime academies. They have warned that the current annual intake is barely half the 2,500 needed to meet future needs and that there are more than three applications for every cadetship being off ered at present.

BODY FOUND: the body of a Ukrainian seafarer who fell overboard from the Cyprus-fl agged chemical tanker Julia in May was discovered by the French ferry Cap Finistère 24nm from Cherbourg. The crewman went missing during a voyage from Liverpool to Amsterdam and French maritime police are conducting an inquiry into the incident.

SCRUBBER DEAL: the Finnish ferry fi rm Finnlines has signed contracts with two suppliers to install exhaust gas scrubbers on most of its ships. The equipment will ensure the company meets IMO and EU sulphur emission regulations and installation will be completed by the time the rules come into eff ect on 1 January 2015.

MASTER ARRESTED: the master of a general cargoship which ran aground off the coast of Sweden last month was arrested after failing an alcohol test. The Lithuanian captain of the Maltese-fl agged Kaisa was accused of being ‘heavily intoxicated’ but told police that he had only drunk alcohol after the grounding.

EMISSIONS CUT: the French shipping group CMA CGM has cut its CO2 emissions by 40% since 2005. The company — which is the world’s third largest boxship operator — says it is on target to halve its emissions by the end of next year.

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 15

INTERNATIONAL

by Jeff Apter

SSeafarers serving with the troubled French ferry operator SNCM

called a fresh strike last month in protest at a new threat to the com-pany’s long-term survival plan.

The action was staged fol-lowing the decision of the SNCM board not to re-appoint the chair-man, Marc Dufour, who had agreed proposals with the unions in an effort to save the company from liquidation.

Frédéric Alpozzo, head of the CGT seafarers’ union in Mar-seilles, said the board’s ‘eviction’ of Mr Dufour was a ‘sign that the government seeks to dismantle the operator in favour of Corsica

Ferries’, SNCM’s privately-owned competitor.

Mr Alpozzo said the board had not advanced an alternative plan to fi nance the state-of-the-art ferries that SNCM intended to order before the end of June as an essential element of its new 10-year contract to run the lifeline services between Marseilles and Corsica, he said.

The CGT says it will do everything in its power to resist redundancies and has requested an immediate meeting with the prime minister and the transport secretary.

But transport minister Frédé-ric Cuvillier said that it was impor-tant to end the semi-paralysis threatening the operator.

SNCM is under pressure as a result of European Commission demands for the repayment of €440m in ‘illicit’ government aid granted during the company’s privatisation in the mid-1990s

The company chalked up cumulative losses of €250m between 2001 and 2013, and last year the French government, which retains a 25% stake, gave the company €30m to keep it afl oat.

Unions are also concerned about moves by the main SNCM shareholder, the transport fi rm Transdev, to sell its 66% stake in the company.

The US-Mexico ferry operator Baja Ferries is reported to have been in negotiations with Trans-dev after Norway’s Siem Shipping

pulled out of talks at the end of May.

Siem withdrew its offer for a lease-purchase option after the government failed to clarify the responsibility for paying SNCM’s ‘debt’ to the European Commis-sion. It had been ready to fi nance the purchase of seven vessels — four fi rm orders and three options — from its own funds.

Last month Marseilles-based shipowner Christian Garin prom-ised that a ‘genuine industrial project to invest in SNCM’s re-launch’ was being prepared in the spirit of Marc Dufour’s plan. He said viable solutions were tabled ‘to give SNCM a future that does not include its programmed dis-appearance’.

SNCM survival at risk, unions warnStrike called in protest at ‘eviction’ of chairman who agreed recovery plans

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Union opens simulator centreA

The Singapore Maritime Offi cers’ Union (SMOU) has

opened a S$4m (€2.4m) maritime simulation centre as part of its programme to boost seafarer training in the island state.

The Wavelink Maritime Simulation Centre is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that include a 240-degree full mission bridge simulator, engineroom simulator, electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) simulator and a liquid cargo handling simulator.

Developed in line with a fi ve-year government-union initiative to promote seafaring as a career choice for Singaporeans, the centre will deliver a wide range of courses to support the Tripartite Nautical Training Award (TNTA) Programme.

TNTA cadets will now undergo around 100 hours of training on the simulators during the fi rst six months of their three-year course. Shipping companies with SMOU collective bargaining agreements can also use the centre to upgrade the skills of their current offi cers.

SMOU general secretary Mary Liew described the facilities as a ‘centre of excellence for applied learning’ and said they would increase the national maritime skills base. ‘With simulation training,

the cadets’ and offi cers’ skills are accelerated with real-time feedback in a risk-free environment,’ she pointed out. ‘Thus, they become better offi cers, have better jobs and better lives. It is a win-win situation for them as well as the shipping companies.’

Launched in 2009, the TNTA programme aims to increase the

number of Singaporean seafarers. Presently, barely 1,600 of the 20,000 offi cers serving on 4,200-plus Singapore-fl agged ships are Singaporeans. The SMOU, the Singapore NTUC and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) together cover 90% of the course fees for cadets, who are also given a monthly allowance of up to S$1,400

each during their training. The scheme — which has

now progressed to its seventh intake, with 30 cadets in the latest cohort selected from almost 400 applications — is supported by 13 local shipping companies who provide seatime for the trainees, as well as training allowances and long-term jobs.

AGerman seafarers have called for urgent action

from their government after one of the country’s biggest shipping companies threatened to fl ag out to cut costs.

Reederei NSB — which operates 42 containerships under the German register and employs about 500 German and EU seafarers — said it

was planning to switch fl ags because of the economic situation aff ecting German shipping.

The company has already cut 40 shore-based jobs and warned that if ‘no economically feasible solution has been found by the end of 2014, it would be compelled to discontinue entirely the operation of its ships under German fl ag’.

NSB is in talks with the unions in a bid to keep German jobs and to cut operating costs, and has agreed to an independent auditor being brought in to assess the situation.

Torben Seebold, from the Verdi union, said it was vital that the government acts to protect employment and combat social dumping of low-cost crews.

‘German shipping companies and seafarers need political support to advance emergency measures of a promotion for the German fl ag,’ Mr Seebold added.

‘The goal is to bring the funding framework for the German fl ag on a level that ensures a long-term international competitiveness of European workers at sea,’ he said.

German owner issues fl ag-out ultimatum

14-15_int.indd 15 18/06/2014 16:59

YOUR LETTERS

16 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

Tell your colleagues in Nautilus International — and the wider world of shipping. Keep your letter to a maximum 300 words if you can — though longer contributions will be considered. Use a pen name or just your membership number if you don’t want to be identifi ed — say so in an accompanying note — but you must let the Telegraph have your name, address and membership number. Send your letter to the Editor, Telegraph, Nautilus International, 1&2 The Shrubberies, George Lane, South Woodford,London E18 1BD, or use head offi ce fax +44 (0)20 8530 1015, or email telegraph@nautilusint.org

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Tell your colleagues in Nautilus International — and the wider world of shipping. Keep your letter to a maximum 300 words if you can — though longer contributions will be considered.

Use a pen name or just your membership number if you don’t want to be identifi ed — say so in an accompanying note —

but you must let the Telegraph have your name, address and membership number.

Send your letter to the Editor, Telegraph, Nautilus International, 1&2 The Shrubberies, George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1BD, or use head offi ce fax +44 (0)20 8530 1015, or email telegraph@nautilusint.org

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Where’s my Telegraph?

Last month we asked: Do you think it is safe for the counter-piracy naval force off Somalia to be scaled down?

Have your say online

This month’s poll asks: Do you think it is right to assume that the captain should be the last person to leave a sinking ship? Give us your views online, at nautilusint.org

wn?

Yes11%

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Faulty flags give the wrong impression So many are in

Dr Hope’s debtP

Brian Thomas’s excellent tribute to the late Dr Ronald

Hope (March issue) provided a well-balanced sketch of the man and his achievements. Perhaps I could add some more detail from the perspective of a former stu-dent and later an honorary tutor of the College of the Sea.

Before joining the SES Dr Hope had also been a Fellow of Brase-nose College, Oxford, and I remember how pleased I had been to stumble upon one of his academic articles in a learned journal. His later shipping-related publications had included the well-regarded A New History of British Shipping; the creative Spare Time At Sea and a fine selection of prize-winning stories by seafarers: Twenty Singing Seamen. There were others, too, whose titles I don’t now recall. And, of his myriad initiatives, sending an artist to sea was perhaps the most imaginative.

Ronald Hope was always keenly

interested in how his students were progressing and he had been quietly satisfied that the early 60s found five of them — Tony Lane, Jim McConville, Norman Hearn, John Prescott and myself — study-ing at Oxford at the same time. All of us had appreciated the extensive encouragement and help he had already given us. It was disappointing then to find that John Prescott, in his 2009 book Docks to Downing Street, depicted him in an inaccurate and negative way: he was not ‘Professor Hope’; he was not a Scotsman, dour or otherwise; he always sought to motivate his students, and would certainly never have rated their written work as hopeless. It is equitable that John now remembers him as ‘an inspirational man’ and we may hope he will soon correct the false picture given in his book.

The SES libraries supplied to ships — in those years at least — were in a class of their own. Each

consignment had been carefully and expertly selected to comprise quality books that would cater for most interests onboard. It was always a thrill to see a new case of them being trundled up the gangway. The contrast with the tiny, ragtag collections of books available on most non-subscrib-ing ships was a striking one. And the positive impact of the libraries on ships’ crews over the years must have been very substantial indeed.

In his long and dedicated career, Dr Ronald Hope made a massive contribution to the education and welfare of seafarers. I am only one of those who are greatly in his debt. But there must be hundreds of others. Given the interest, there are surely enough of us to set up a worthy memorial to an extraordinary man possibly in the form of a prize fund or scholarship.OWEN MURPHYmem no 423592

The ‘rush to judgement’ happens in the UK tooAfter reading the front page of the June Telegraph, regarding the drive for fair treatment of seafarers, I would respectfully suggest that your campaign needs to start in home waters.

I failed to capture the original article published on the website forargyll.com — but the subsequent apology said it all. It had reported an eye-witness account of the passage through upper Loch Fyne of the

passengership Silver Explorer. It took an unusual passage route which we had not seen used before and made two notable turns that attracted attention.

The account used the expressions ‘the equivalent of a handbrake turn’ and ‘unusually close’, as well as referring to the Costa Concordia.

The website has apologised unreservedly to the ship’s pilot and to the Silver Explorer’s captain and

navigational offi cers ‘for any and all distress caused to them by our misinterpretation of what we saw’. It notes that the ship was on a pre-planned and fully controlled passage on one of four possible routes through the Minard Narrows; and a course recommended in the Admiralty Sailing Directions. It was also a course agreed as the safest passage for a vessel of this kind; and the full suite of appropriate navigational aids,

including charts, were available and in use.

Clearly this was a spicy story with no factual truth. Indeed, the website singularly failed to put themselves in the shoes of the person or company they were writing about. The article clearly illustrates the ‘rush to judgement’ which now plagues our industry.HAMISH BEATONmem no 998342

CThe fl ying of fl ags as national symbols has always been a

subject to stir the passions of pride in a country’s place in the world, and of its history — and of indignation and anger at its misuse. The proud tradition of fl ying the fl ag has its outlet at sea, in the ensigns and courtesy fl ags fl own severally at staff - and yard-arm.

I have recently observed an interesting practice in the use of ensigns, on cruiseships of two diff erent companies. The fi rst vessel is registered at Hamilton, Bermuda. The ensign displayed in port at the stern was the Red Ensign, not the ensign defaced with the Bermuda crest.

The second ship, one of three prestigious vessels from the historic stable that was proud to be the ‘Best of British’, but which has fl agged out to Bermuda, fl ew a mighty Blue Ensign at the stern, of a size in keeping with that of the ship. I’ve always understood that the Blue Ensign may

be fl own if the serving ship’s master is associated with the Royal Naval Reserve, presumably fl agging up an expertise in naval military matters. How convenient for such a renowned company to potentially lure RNR masters who can legitimately fl y their ensigns and, coincidently, confer added-value status to the ship.

I may well be cynical in attaching to the shipping companies concerned any wilful or convenient relaxing of fl ag etiquette which might result in their ships appearing to be something other than they actually are, particularly in the eyes of the passengers.

For accuracy and honesty, would it not be correct for Bermudan registered ships to proudly fl y the Bermudan fl ag and to be legally required to do so? If actually needed, recognition of the RNR could be acknowledged by a small fl ag fl own at the signal mast. Why not tell it as it really is...?Name & no withheld

MN honoured in Plymouth

CTelegraph readers are warmly invited to attend

two upcoming maritime events in Plymouth, SW England.

The fi rst is Sea Sunday at the Minster Church St Andrews, at 3pm on 13 July. A few weeks later on 3 September, Merchant Navy Day will be marked at 11am at the MN memorial stone (pictured) opposite the Mayfl ower Steps, Plymouth Barbican. All welcome to come and lay a wreath.

gFor more information on either event, email Baz Gregory, the chairman of the Plymouth & Southwest Merchant Seafarers Association, at baz_gregory@btinternet.com

Notice anything strange about this Union Jack? (flag purists — call it what you like). The courtesy ensign flown by the Maltese flagged chemical/oil products carrier Ece Nur K (yes, it’s name and shame time) has been cunningly manufactured so that it’s pretty much the same upside down as it is the right way up. She was in King George Dock, Hull, in June.

TALBOT CLARKmem no 120851

16-18_lets.indd 16 18/06/2014 17:04

PThis last month has seen the tragic death of three

seamen in a hold on a ship in Hull. It is interesting to note that three yachtsmen go missing and the world media headline this, and yet when three merchant seamen die, there is nothing.

Of course we cannot comment on this incident until the official investigation is completed, but be assured we will, especially if the finger of blame is pointed solely at the seamen, as we see in far too

many such investigations. Too many flag state investigations are poorly undertaken, often by investigators inexperienced in what they are investigating, and based around whether the ship complied with SOLAS, conveni-ently forgetting, along with all the other flag state authorities, that SOLAS is intended as a base model which any flag state authority may enhance as they wish and does not prevent ship owners from enhancing the safety on

board their vessels.If SOLAS was used as a guide to

such enhancement then it would be an effective instrument, but too many owners and flag state administrations wish to use it as a cloak to hide behind. I often feel that the phrase ‘It’s not required by SOLAS’ should be the motto of the shipping industry as it must be the most repeated ship management phase in existence.

The latest IMO resolutions on enclosed spaces, initially hailed as a step forward, are a case in point.

SOLAS now requires an enclosed space drill to be held every two months, but only on ships over 1,000 tons or over 500 tons on tankers or chemical carriers. Once again, at Mines Rescue Marine, we repeat that before you can complete a drill you must have training. An exercise assists towards that training but not a drill. A drill simply ensures that the crew are trained for the task required and by repetition of that task you establish familiarity with the equipment and requirements for that task at that time in that place.

What is incomprehensible is that smaller ships are excluded from any drills. From all our findings, the openings into many enclosed spaces on these smaller ships are smaller than those of their larger sisters and therefore require more training than the other ships! The crews are far smaller, yet if it takes three men to perform a rescue on a large ship it still takes three men to perform it on a small one! For this reason, with a small crew and smaller openings, training and practice is more important.

The new SOLAS recommenda-tions require the checking of PPE while not stating what should be

used. It wants instruments for measuring atmosphere to be checked, yet allows ships not to carry them. It wants rescue equipment to be checked that again is not required to be carried. This could be a length of rope on some ships.

It wants resuscitation techniques to be practised. Of course in general this is still essential knowledge, but in any enclosed space incident involving oxygen deficiency, time is critical — which means that supplying oxygen to the casualty is the prime task before rescue. Performing resuscitation techniques is completely pointless in such spaces, while the provision of a resuscitator that brings instant oxygen is essential.

Finally the IMO states that for entry purposes, steady readings of 21% oxygen content should be obtained. This is utterly impos-sible as the average air outside is around 20.8% and in some cities can be as low as 17%. Set the sensor alarm for 21% and it sounds as soon as you switch it on, making the alarm rather pointless and, more disturbing, ignored.

Regrettably, the IMO and all those involved in the latest enclosed space deliberations have missed an opportunity for real change and have contributed very little to the safety of those at sea in these spaces. Recommen-dations do not work for the majority of the industry. Legislation does. Rescue equipment and training, together with required PPE equipment for entry is essential, as is already recognised by safety organisa-tions ashore.

At least the IMO has recog-nised the most essential precautions in dealing with

enclosed spaces and this is in the recommendation for the identification and audit of these spaces and a proper risk assess-ment. If those going into these spaces have knowledge of what to expect and the dangers that could be present and, through this, have the ability to ensure that the precautions and equipment necessary have been prepared, then we will have achieved a considerable step forward. We recognised this before the IMO and began work on an Enclosed Space Management System that will be released in July.

Let us hope that in this inquiry into these deaths we will see this finger of blame, not just pointed at the seamen, but at those in the IMO who constantly refuse to legislate for mandatory training and equipment for enclosed spaces, at the ports who consist-ently refuse to have trained enclosed space rescue teams and claim no duty of care for the ships, and at those owners who know the training and equipment is readily available but do nothing except claim it is not required by SOLAS.

Finally, it is most surprising that there is no action or even comment by the ITF on these constant enclosed space deaths. This organisation has consider-able influence and could bring this to bear on an industry reluctant to accept that the growing number of deaths in enclosed spaces must be halted and it is only through legislation requiring training, equipment, and the proper design of ships that this will be done.Captain MICHAEL LLOYDMember of CouncilNautical adviser to the Mines Rescue Service, Marine Division

YOUR LETTERS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 17

THE VIEW FROM MUIRHEAD

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telegraph

Enclosed space deaths shame IMO

Remember Derbyshire and stop Clause 26In the event of a maritime casualty, it is possible — even years after its occurrence — to open or re-open an inquiry in the face of new and weighty evidence emerging. There is no choice in the matter: such an inquiry has to take place.

However, under new proposals being debated, the mandatory obligation will be removed and an inquiry would be held only at the discretion of the Secretary of State.

Had the deregulation now mooted been in place, and had we not had a Secretary of State with integrity, it is possible that the re-opened Derbyshire investigation would have remained unopened.

This would have meant:

zProximate cause of loss would not have been identifi ed

zLessons that now preserve lives would not have been identifi ed

zThe crew would have retained the unfair stigma of blame for losing the ship

z It would not have been proved that, given the will, any ‘lost’ ship could be found

Please would you write to your MP and other infl uential parties to ask that this (Clause 26) deregulation be cancelled and the mandatory inquiry retained as applicable now.D. C. RAMWELLmem no 311877

Why not just make fuel fi t for purpose?I’ve just been reading a copy of the April issue (we are sometimes a bit behind here!) and the front page article on safety risks caught my attention. Namely the subject of cat fi nes in low sulphur fuel.

If ‘higher amounts of cat fi nes can be dealt with by experienced and competent engineers onboard the ships’, presumably with the equipment at their disposal, then it must be a simple job for the average refi nery to deal with. So why should it be assumed that the ship’s engineers have to deal with it? They are probably all too busy worrying about KPIs anyway.

Surely the insurance companies, classifi cation societies, shipping companies, etc, should be able to force the oil companies to clean up the fuel they supply — ie, produce fuel that is fi t for purpose.WILLIAM JACKmem no 154042

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YOUR LETTERS

18 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

PThe recent sad loss of four British sailors has once again

highlighted whether we are doing all we can to preserve life at sea. Whilst the overturned yacht Cheeki Rafi ki was eventually found by a US Navy helicopter searching in an area east of Cape Cod, one cannot help but question if the crew’s chances of their survival may have been improved had help been found closer at hand.

Having spent 45 years in marine radio as first radio officer, then shore engineer and radio surveyor with the Merchant Navy, similar events have often raised this same questions in my mind.

With the role of the radio officer becoming almost obsolete by 1999, much emphasis is now placed on the role the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) plays in distress situations. It is one of the best devices invented, but since its launch the significant false alarm rate for the EPIRB device has been of concern.

Today that false alarm rate still sits at almost 95%, with EPIRB activation often only being recognised by a crew when the Coastguard comes to offer their aid. Many crews even remain reluctant to test their EPIRB in case they do so incorrectly. Whilst the EPIRB continues to offer so much, it fails to involve those who are situated closest to the location of the distress and those arguably most able to provide the quickest response.

When I retired in April 1998 I set out on a personal crusade to explore what else could be done to bring help to

seamen in distress. After many months of research, investigation and good old fashioned head-scratching, our Stanguard EPIRB Guard Receiver was designed, patented and produced for the first time in 2002.

Sitting quietly on the bridge, the Guard Receiver not only monitors the outputs of the vessel’s own EPIRB, but also those within an approximate radius of 15 nautical miles. Activation of any

EPIRB within that range triggers the receiver’s alarm and displays the unique hexadecimal code of the activated device. The crew are then able to quickly and efficiently respond, either confirming their own false activation, relaying or confirming a third party event to the relevant Search and Rescue (SAR) establishment, or offering assistance themselves if they are close at hand.

Recognition for our Guard Receiver came quickly. I received a Highly Commended Contribution to Safety at Sea award from the Minister for Trade and Industry in April 2003. Also in 2003, the International Maritime Organisation representative first used one to check new EPIRBs in Florida. Similar tests followed in 2004 and 2005. The device was also used during trials in Canada by Specpro and Techtest. We received many testimonials from satisfied purchasers saying that their purchase has been rewarding.

Early sales of the Guard Receiver enabled us to repay several of the loans we had secured to help us finance the venture, but my own investments remain outstanding to this day, as do those of the International Transport Workers’ Federation. The ITF had so kindly supported us on the basis that its investment needed only to be re-paid if sales were healthy and sustained.

In the years that have now passed since its launch, other receivers have also come to market, but they too seem hamstrung by one significant problem. Whilst a purchaser seems all too happy to buy an EPIRB, they seemingly fail to acknowledge the ethical responsibility they have for ensuring its correct operation, or for protecting the valuable time (and cost) of a SAR organisation responding to yet another false alarm. With most EPIRBs being positioned away from main crew areas, it seemed that ‘out of sight’ really does mean ‘out of mind’. Is the sea not the single community it once

was? One where we all took responsibility for offering the hand of assistance to those in need. I fear that until a false alarm activation becomes a fine-able event, such responsibilities will continue to remain unaddressed.

In entering my 78th year, I fear that time is now catching up with me. As I ponder what my next steps should be, I look back with some pride in having achieved what I set out to do. The Standguard EPIRB Guard Receiver can reduce false alarm rates and it can alert other seafarers to distress events in their locality. But alas its use (or the use of similar equipment) is not a legislated requirement.

So many individuals and organisations have helped me on my way, including dB Research, Technology Services, the Irish Navy , NUMAST, ITF, P&O, Caledonian MacBrayne, MCGA and Kinloss SAR to name a few. My sincere thanks go out to you all.

We have recently given one of our new EPIRB Guard Receivers to the Seamen’s Mission in Liverpool to raffle or sell towards funds for that great Apostleship of the Sea. In signing off this article I would also like to say thank you and good luck to all seafarers. You play a massively important role in maintaining our global supply chains, and for that, and the sacrifices you make, you deserve far more gratitude than you currently receive.STAN MCNALLYDirector, Innovation Technology UK Ltdwww.stanguard.com

Making EPIRB more effective

Seafarers at Liverpool Seafarers’ centre with the Guard Receiver donated by Stan McNally Picture: John Wilson

Memorial to Titanic’s Joseph Bell is restoredF

It is well documented in books and records about the demise of the Titanic that Joseph

Bell and his brave band of marine engineers and engineroom ratings stayed down at their posts and ultimately perished there to keep the lights on during the Titanic disaster, so that as many passengers as possible might survive. Bravery indeed!

In 2012, during the 100th anniversary of the disaster, Barrie Bell Hodgson was researching his family history and contacted Ann and Brian Freer, who are the owners of Farlam House, the family farm house where Joseph Bell grew up after his birth on 12 March 1861 until the family rented out the farm and moved to Carlisle in 1872.

Barrie and Ann decided to work together on their mutual interest. Barrie being keen to fi nd out as much as he could about a possible distant relative and Ann keen to research the history of her new home and her adopted parish of Farlam in Cumbria. They discovered that a memorial had been cut into Joseph Bell’s father’s gravestone honouring Joseph’s bravery. However, the Bell family burial plot was in an overgrown area of the old churchyard that was no longer accessible. Their fi rst priority was to raise funds to rectify the situation and open up access to the memorial for the benefi t of anyone who would be interested to see it.

Consequently the Joseph Bell Memorial Appeal was set up and a website (www.josephbellengineer.wordpress.com) created to support it.

gTo help with the fundraising, the duo’s second priority was to co-write a book: Tarn To Titanic — Life & Times of Joseph Bell Chief Engineer. Some copies are still available at £10 each by

visiting the appeal website page http://josephbellengineer.wordpress.com/tarn-to-titanic. An e-version is available in PDF format for a minimum donation equivalent to £5 via www.PayPal.com to billh@garden84.net and the charity will provide a download link by return.

The book is a biography of Joseph Bell, recording the history of his family and their farm in Farlam, Cumbria, and his career with White Star Line where he attained the rank of senior chief engineer. Money raised from the sale of both book formats will go towards the conservation and maintenance of the memorial headstone, the Bell family plot and access to it in the old churchyard of St Thomas-a-Becket church in Farlam, Cumbria.

John Lightfoot, chairman of UK-based Solar Solve Marine, became personally involved with the Joseph Bell Memorial Appeal when he read about it in the Cumberland News. He wanted to bring the appeal to the attention of people who are closely involved with marine engineering, the wider marine industry and seafarers globally, as well as individuals and organisations that he is in regular contact with through his business, so

he contacted Barrie and Ann with an off er to help them raise the necessary funds.

Mr Lightfoot attended the re-dedication ceremony during a commemoration service in the old graveyard. The skilfully re-lettered, cleaned and re-sealed memorial stone, with a new location plaque sited nearby, is now easily accessible thanks to the cleared overgrowth and newly created footpath that is signposted; there is also an acrylic encrypted QR [Quick Release] plate for further information about Joseph Bell attached to the signpost.

After unveiling the memorial, Mr Lightfoot spoke about Joseph Bell, the White Star Line and Titanic, followed by Edward Freer on his childhood, Toby Fretwell on his education, and Hazel Hartley on his family life.

Further donations received by the appeal will enable further improvements around the site, including a noticeboard detailing the history associated with it, as well as ongoing maintenance to keep it in good order for the many people who are expected to visit the memorial once its existence becomes more widely known around the world.

Further donations to maintain the Joseph Bell memorial would be welcome

Author profile sparked some happy memoriesEvery so often something leaps out of the pages of the Telegraph to remind one of good times past. Page 31 of the May edition is one such instance — ‘A writer formed at sea’.

In the article it refers to John Guy’s early career at sea. May I climb out of the woodwork and recall that in some companies in the 60s, cadets went to sea with a training offi cer overseeing their daily work, and in this instance on the good ship Clan Menzies.

Some 45 years later, I still recall John Guy on his fi rst trip proclaiming what a waste of time all the number crunching on paper involving log tables and the like was, and that within a in a few years we will all be using electric gismos to do it for us! The classic Dad’s Army saying — ‘stupid boy’ — may not have been expressed verbally, but in silence it may have been! Tough John, get number crunching, you have a Second Mate’s to work towards.

Some 10 years later, there I was with an electronic calculator, a computer but still with sextant in hand while the log tables sat on the shelf and thinking I had better retract my previous Dad’s Army thoughts expressed on that good vessel by one so young.

How nice it is to see that, protests aside, not only did he get that Second Mate’s, but went on to Extra’s and an expansive career as well.

They were good days to be at sea, in fact colleagues have thought them to be the best, when living standards aboard had been raised to a very comfortable level, time was allowed for a social life and there were still periods to chill-out in port before manpower cutbacks and containerisation started to hit. So, may we expect him to include those good days in his writings before they are lost in the annals of time?TONY WHITEmem 135733

My gratitude to Dreadnought medical serviceThrough the pages of The Telegraph I would like to thank Sandra Jones of the Dreadnought, and all the medical staff at Guy’s Hospital for their kindness, professionalism and dedicated care following my recent hip replacement there.

‘If you don’t want to lose it, use it’C. WINTERTONmem no 084660

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MARITIME POLICY

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 19

A meeting of mastersA

Concerns over criminali-sation, ports of refuge and domestic ferry safety

were high on the agenda at the 40th annual general assembly of the International Federation of Ship Masters’ Associations (IFSMA), held in Norway last month.

Delegates at the meeting — representing 11,000 shipmasters in more than 60 different coun-tries around the world — also backed a paper tabled by Nautilus International highlighting short-comings in the current system of marine accident investigation and agreed a resolution urging the IMO to introduce mandatory requirements to ensure that all accidents are investigated inde-pendently, properly and that reports are made public.

Nautilus senior national secre-tary Allan Graveson told the con-ference that the existing regula-tions contain a ‘get-out clause’ which enables flag states to evade responsibility for investigating accidents if they consider the inci-dents will not result in changes to international conventions.

Many flag states exploit this loophole and there have been cases — such as the cruiseship Costa Europa and the livestock carrier Danny F II — where reports have not been made publicly available.

In other cases — despite the availability of suitable subsea technology — wrecks are not examined to determine the causes of loss.

As a consequence, Mr Grave-son warned, valuable lessons are being lost and losses are put down to ‘human error’ rather than iden-tifying the true underlying causes. ‘Circumstances com-pound together to make an inci-dent in which somebody has to be blamed in order that other parties can walk away and continue their unsafe operations,’ he added. ‘The last thing that many people want is the truth, because it is far too embarrassing for them.’

During elections to the IFSMA governing body — the executive council — Nautilus assistant gen-

eral secretary Marcel van den Broek was re-elected to serve another term.

In a keynote speech to the AGA, outgoing IFSMA president Chris-ter Lindval voiced concern about the Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea. ‘It is an unwelcome fact that, apart from the Sewol, more than 2,932 lives have been lost in the last two and a half years and since 2002 there have been more than 100 disasters with passen-gerships in domestic trades,’ he added.

‘In my view, the time has come to step forward and take further action to improve the safety of passengerships, regardless of the nature of operation — whether international or domestic,’ Mr Lindval added.

He said other priorities for IFSMA include the administrative burden on masters, fatigue, the workload created by ISPS, crimi-nalisation and places of refuge.

The conference approved a res-olution expressing concern about the way in which South Korea’s president had referred to the Sewol’s master and senior officers as murderers only days after the incident. It called for govern-ments to refrain from criminalis-ing seafarers before investiga-tions have been concluded.

Delegates also voted in favour of a resolution calling for SOLAS Convention passengership safety provisions to be extended into coastal states’ jurisdiction.

IFSMA general secretary John Dickie told the meeting that the Association is bucking the trend by increasing membership — giv-ing it a stronger voice within the IMO. It makes ‘interventions that count’ — most notably on passen-gership safety, he added.

However, he warned, criminal-isation continues to be a major problem — with masters often ending up in court accused of offences ranging from man-slaughter, to pollution and drug smuggling. IFSMA is working with Seafarers Rights International to produce a DVD highlighting the issues, he added.

Incoming president Hans

Sande, director of the Norsk Sjøoff-isersforbund (Norwegian Mari-time Officers’ Association), said IFSMA needs to continue chang-ing in response to the transforma-tion of the shipping industry. Masters are often the first to be criminalised as a consequence of the structural changes in owner-ship and operation, he warned, and one of the biggest challenges is that masters have lost the authority to take the decisions that need to be made.

A Professor Kjell Overgaard told the meeting that there should be a change

in the way that shipping approaches the issue of ‘human error’ in accident causation. ‘It is a common assumption that humans are the cause of most accidents at sea and they are seen as a liability rather than an asset,’ he pointed out. ‘However, the concept of human error does not

help risk management.’A better analysis would include

data in which the ‘human factor’ had resulted in positive effects, Prof Overgaard suggested. He described a study of DP opera-tions in which ‘near miss’ inci-dents were examined to show how human intervention and improvisation in unexpected cir-cumstances helped to prevent more serious accidents from tak-ing place.

In the high-risk offshore sec-tor, DP operators often have less than half a minute in which to intervene when something goes wrong and much could be gained by assessing the way in which operators had been successful in recovering from a critical situa-tion, he argued.

‘It is said that there are 600 critical incidents for every mari-time accident,’ Prof Overgaard pointed out. ‘Observing near-misses will allow you to see not

only how things went wrong, but also how they went right.’

In another presentation, dele-gates were warned of the growing risk of a major accident in polar waters as a result of the increased shipping activities in the region. Tor Husjord, of the Search and Rescue in the High North (SARiNOR) project, said emer-gency services are worried about the potential for a catastrophic incident.

The project was established to identify gaps in SAR provision in the High North and to examine proposals for improving the coor-dination and execution of emer-gency operations.

Mr Husjord pointed out that there have been accidents involv-ing shipping in the area and he said SAR services face a number of serious operational challenges in the Arctic — including limited emergency resources, poor com-munications, frequently adverse weather and darkness for half of the year.

He highlighted concerns about the difficulty of evacuating pas-sengerships in such areas — and the risks that would face survivors in liferafts. Problems are com-pounded by the time it would take to mobilise resources, he warned, as well as the limited range of SAR helicopters.

‘Time is of the essence, but I am not sure if anyone is really pre-pared,’ Mr Husjord added. ‘And it will be a difficult task, no matter how well we prepare for it.’

Former Lloyd’s List editor Michael Grey also spoke about risk — explaining how percep-tions have changed as society has become increasingly risk-averse. Although the shipping industry’s safety record has improved dra-matically, he said seafarers often face significant risks in their daily lives.

Ship masters and officers are being pressed to do more risky things with their ships — includ-ing entering ports with minimum clearance or going close to the coast to give passengers a good view — and are being exposed to the unrealistic demands of char-

terers and terminal operators. ‘Plenty of people will second-guess the master or even over-rule him, but will not take the responsibility,’ Mr Grey pointed out.

The conference also heard con-cerns from Japanese delegates about the case of the chemical tanker Maritime Maisie, which was forced to spend a total of 113 days adrift at sea following a severe collision and fire last December, before being allowed into a port in South Korea.

Delegates approved a resolu-tion noting with concern that the Japanese and South Korean gov-ernments had refused to give a place of refuge to the ship due to the hazardous nature of its cargo and the severe damage to the hull — despite the risk of an environ-mental disaster if it broke up and sank. The motion strongly urges coastal states to respect the IMO guidelines and to ‘determine without any undue delay places of refuge for ships in need of assistance’.

Another presentation which generated discussion among dele-gates was made by Captain Dimi-tar Dimitrov on the subject of mul-tinational crews. Noting the huge decrease in the number of ships operating with a single nationality crew, he warned that the process has had a particularly strong impact on social interaction.

‘Nostalgia for the olden times will not help us,’ he stressed. ‘We live in the modern world. Ship-ping is becoming more interna-tional and the future lies in the use of multinational crew members.’

However, Capt Dimitrov argued, it is important that meas-ures are taken to mitigate the effects of isolation and associated demotivation on mixed national-ity ships, and he hoped the Mari-time Labour Convention would have a positive influence. ‘More social welfare will persuade crews to gather again in the messroom in their rest time, to watch films together, and to play some games so the stress and workload onboard could be reduced.’

Nautilus played an active role in last month’s annual conference of the International Federation of Ship Masters’ Associations. ANDREW LININGTON reports on the debates and the decisions

Delegates at the conference backed a Nautilus motion urging the IMO to improve marine accident investigation procedures around the world

Nautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson spoke at the conference Pictures: Andrew Linington

19_ifsma.indd Sec1:19 18/06/2014 17:05

MARITIME TRAINING

20 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

aI am an elected member of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners at HQS Wellington, a

London Livery Hall. After a year’s pre-sea training, where

the Warsash directors were ‘Cape Horners’, my sea career commenced onboard P&O’s Bendigo. Life onboard was a vestige of the days of Kipling, with Indian crews, Goanese stewards, silver service and punka louvres!

I assimilated the considerable Mer-chant Navy heritage of practical sea-manship and navigational skills, some of which were labour intensive and time consuming. Fixing the ship by stellar and solar observations remains an art and valuable skill.

Such skills can be passed on by expe-rienced seafarers, where there is suffi -cient investment in cadet training. Dur-ing my time at sea, the applications, as well as spectral implications of com-puter systems have manifested them-selves through GPS, integrated bridge systems, ECDIS, information technology and dynamic positioning. However, to avoid over-reliance on such systems, the practice of reverting to basic principles should be a training requirement.

After gaining my fi rst mate’s certifi -cate, I was selected as a P&O fl eet recruit-ment and training assistant manager ashore and cadet instruction offi cer at sea, in the days when there were 400 cadets throughout the P&O Group. Since then, I have always had a great interest in training, an essential quality to make the scheme work. The RFA spon-sored my Master’s certifi cate in 1981.

HQS Wellington’s curry lunches are very convivial occasions, and at one of these I had the honour to be asked if I would accept a role as mentor. I fi nd it very refreshing and a privilege to be allowed to draw upon my very varied sea and maritime shore experience, while discussing a wide range of possible sub-jects that interest our enthusiastic new entrants to the Industry. If I have been of service, then this is my reward.

Samuel and I met for the fi rst time onboard HQS Wellington, when he was sworn in before the Master, Wardens and myself, on Friday 30 November 2012. I have subsequently provided updates to the education and training committee on Samuel’s progress about every three months.

While Samuel was at the Blackpool and Fylde College (Fleetwood), I learned he was studying stability, so volunteered practi-cal experiences. My high calibre mentee achieved 100% for his assignment!

The scheme provides impartial advice, from experienced seafarers, on a personal level. Career advice is generally absent within shipping companies, unlike the Royal Navy, since commercial

employers prioritise business interests. ‘For now we see through a glass,

darkly...’ is a dilemma best resolved by the mentor. Hence, approximately 200 associates/apprentices have appreci-ated this advantage to date.Cdr Malcolm Graves, Member, HCMM, Nautilus International liaison offi cer and Council member.

aAs a mentee, I commenced my Merchant Navy career in March 2012, after gaining a BA in history

from Liverpool University and a fl eeting ‘stint’ in the Royal Navy. I am sponsored by P&O Ferries, on Irish Sea and Dover/Calais routes, and I will return to college for OOW orals preparation, next October, at the end of my cadetship.

I fi rst heard about the HCMM during April 2012, on phase one, Fleetwood. We were all bustled into a classroom for an HCMM Associate Scheme presentation. After about three minutes, I knew I had to get involved.

During my induction, I did not really know what to expect. It was a fantastic experience to be welcomed ceremoni-ously into such a prestigious organisa-tion. Having met my mentor, Malcolm Graves, at Euston station, we enjoyed a coffee, whilst getting to know each other. The day began formally with a reception on HQS Wellington’s quarter deck, followed by an induction cere-mony, when The Master, robed in his blue gown and fur collar, asked me to sign the Company’s Register and pre-

sented all inductees with their HCMM neckties. These had to be donned imme-diately, as a part of the ceremony. Fortu-nately, the Double Windsor knot was managed, under pressure from an audi-ence!

From there we enjoyed yet more champagne, by way of celebrating our induction, followed by a tour of the Wel-lington and the Company’s famous curry lunch.

Since my induction, the Associate Scheme has contributed signifi cantly to my professional development and training, during my career so far. The subject of mentoring has been high-lighted recently by commentators from within the Nautical Institute. However, there is little out there which formalises mentoring at cadet level and provides continuity of support throughout a sea-faring career. I feel that the Associate Scheme holds a unique position within the industry.

I am required to update Malcolm on my progress on a regular basis through-out my career, and attend at least one event onboard Wellington annually, if possible, as well as keeping a journal of my experiences at sea during my cadet-ship, and beyond. In return, I am able to draw on the experience of a Master Mari-ner, with a wide-ranging and varied career.

Malcolm has been able to advise me on professional study topics, and offer guidance on problems relating to the tra-ditional diffi culties of a seafaring life. The fact that Malcolm is able to advise on these issues, from a position that is com-pletely impartial and removed from my own shipboard environment, is another great benefi t of the Associate Scheme.

Involvement in the Honourable Company is also a great professional networking tool, especially as I am now nearing the end of my cadetship and will soon be looking for employment. Little careers guidance is given to cadets. Con-sequently, many have to face the uncer-tainty of sponsoring companies, under no obligation to provide later employ-ment when tonnage tax incentives and SMarT funding have ‘dried up’. I have recently been discussing career routes with Malcolm, at length, and it is prov-ing absolutely indispensable advice.

Moreover, involvement in the scheme really has provided an incentive for me to progress my career to Master’s and as a Member within the Honourable Company. My contemporaries within the scheme are all committed to achiev-ing similar goals, and to be connected with such a group of people has been really encouraging. I would not hesitate to recommend the scheme to similar candidates.Cadet Samuel McDougall, HCMM Associate.

Mentoring schemes are being promoted as a positive way to pass on knowledge and experience within the maritime sector. Nautilus Council member MALCOLM GRAVES and his ‘mentee’ SAMUEL McDOUGALL describe the benefi ts of the programme run by the Honourable Company of Master Mariners…

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Samuel McDougall (left) and Malcolm Graves on HQS Wellington, which is permanently moored on the Thames in central London

“…there is little out there which formalises mentoring at cadet level and provides continuity of support throughout a seafaring career”

20_mentors.indd Sec2:20 18/06/2014 17:05

SWISS BRANCH

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 21

MAttendees at the Nautilus Swiss branch con-ference were unsurprised to hear that there is no such thing as a workplace free from

burden, and that these burdens can be stressful. But human resources physiologist Dr Stefan Poppelreu-ter pointed out that what we deem to be unendur-able stress — which is harmful to health — varies greatly.

‘To me techno music sounds like the entrance to hell and being in a nightclub listening to techno music would be incredibly stressful,’ he explained. ‘However, my children believe it to be the greatest thing ever invented so they would obviously not find that a stressful situation.’

Dr Poppelreuter explained that this concept was an important consideration for the workplace as one individual may find a situation or task stress-ful which another colleague does not see as an issue. But he also noted that we all need some level of bur-den or stress in our working lives in order to chal-lenge ourselves, and remain positive and active.

Dr Poppelreuter’s organisation TUV Rheinland conducted a series of interviews with captains working on the Rhine to find out the levels of stress involved in the job and how it had changed in recent years. The research highlighted that competition in the sector is intense and has increased over the last few decades, and what is required of those working the ships and barges on the inland waterways has changed considerably.

‘They now have to come to grips with new tech-nologies, larger barges, tighter deadlines and more traffic,’ he said, ‘whilst at the same time the physical work has declined.

‘For employees, these changes are associated with an increase in stress factors, in particular mental ones but often also — as a consequence — physical ones. The skills and capabilities learned years ago at school or in an apprenticeship are no longer sufficient or have lost the importance they once had.’

However, Dr Poppelreuter explained that these changes do not always lead to an increase in stress, and all stress is not negative.

‘Shift working is not stressful per se, a big work-load is not always a problem and the challenge of using new technology does not have to be negative. It all depends on the individual’s perception.

‘Stress can develop when a job changes if the individual begins to feel they cannot cope with the demands of the job because they are too tired from the workload, or they don’t have the skills or equip-ment they need,’ he added.

‘There are also contributing factors like the work-place and the job itself. If you work in constant fear of losing your job or not being paid your wages, then your ability to tolerate other stresses will decrease. Whereas if you like your job, your work colleagues and your bosses, you are less likely to suffer.

‘Some workers may even see these changes to their workplaces or an increase in the use of technol-ogy as a challenge and an opportunity to develop which they see as positive and therefore not stress-ful in themselves.’

Dr Poppelreuter went on to explain that burn-out resulting from unendurable stress had become an over-used term in everyday life and people need to be more aware of what it actually is, how it devel-ops and what the effects are.

‘Burn-out is physical and physiological in nature.

It has a mental effect but also a physical effect on the body, triggering symptoms of fatigue, feelings of anxiety and aliments such as stomach ulcers.

‘It is something that develops over several months. If someone has a heavy weekend and comes into work on Monday morning complaining of burn-out they are just tired, not suffering burn-out.

‘It is also something that happens to enthusiastic people who were previously happy in their work. If someone is generally negative or unhappy they are unlikely to suffer burn-out in the same long-term way. It happens mainly when someone who was very positive about their job suffers a succession of burdens and added stress which leaves them feeling like they no longer have the ability to do their job.

‘It is not simple to recover from,’ he added. ‘Once burn-out has occurred the person will be unable to do many of the tasks they had previously

undertaken before the additional load was added. Therefore, it is not as simple as just taking away those additional burdens. The person could take a number of years to fully recover — if they ever recover to the extent that they were working before. They will certainly need physiological help as well as the physical recovery.’

Dr Poppelreuter said that the interviews they had conducted revealed that communications issues were one of the major new sources of stress on the river. As well as travelling through a num-ber of countries, captains were working with crew from a wider number of nationalities, with differ-ent language abilities. Many added that the skills and qualifications of some ratings was also a source of stress, as they are often having to check the work that is being done by others as well as carrying out their own duties. The interviews also revealed that technological developments are having a negative impact on inland waterways workers and adding to, rather than reducing, the workload.

‘We were told by captains that they now receive large amounts of data onboard and they were not always sure how to interpret it, or how trustworthy it was,’ added Dr Poppelreuter. ‘For the captains we interviewed, the number of these advances was becoming a burden, as they spent time working out what technology they should invest in and how to use it.’

Dr Poppelreuter concluded that the best ways for burdens to be reduced so that staff were not at risk of stress or burn-out, was for unions and com-panies to work together to change working prac-tices and ensure that the most useful and relevant developments are implemented. Not just introduc-ing change for the sake of it, and not just rejecting change without understanding the implications of it.

‘We need to see both sides creating the best possi-ble conditions so that efficiency can be realised and not negatively impacting on crew. By asking what can be done economically to improve safety, a solu-tion can be found that benefits both the worker and the employer,’ he said.

The second speaker at the branch seminar was Professor Mike Barnett from Warsash Maritime

Academy in the UK. He also spoke on the issue of stress, but focussing on how fatigue — one of the factors of burn-out — and how it had been meas-ured in the recent Project Horizon study to find out the long-term effects of seafarers’ working patterns.

Prof Barnett gave a recap of the study, which Nau-tilus and several members had been extensively involved in, and then explained how the project had evolved. The study found that more people had peri-ods of micro-sleep during six- on/six-off shifts than four-on/eight-off. On the 6/6 on average more than 50% of participants experienced microsleep whilst around 30% did on the 4/8 pattern.

MProf Barnett is now involved in a further study, named Martha, which examines the long term effects of fatigue and how predict-

ing tiredness levels can help maritime employers to employ shift patterns which are the most effective.

Martha is also the name of new software devel-oped to record seafarers’ tiredness after an original model developed by the Stress Research Institute in Stockholm for the aviation industry called ARTUR.

Martha the software analyses sleep curves (the levels of tiredness and recovery) to predict how long it takes to recover from any period of activity and one strand of the project encourages employ-ers to use the software to predict tiredness levels of crews on different shift patterns to see if they can be changed to improve or maximise crew effectiveness.

‘I must warn everyone it is a prototype, so it is not totally user-friendly but it does give results which can help employers and crew onboard understand fatigue and its effects,’ Prof Barnett added.

Another part of the project involved conducting hundreds of interviews in Europe and China to see if there are any cultural differences in the way the sea-faring industry around the world views fatigue and its effects, to see if any lessons can be learned there.

The final area of the new project is encourag-ing seafarers to keep sleep diaries on a longer term basis, whilst actually on ship, to look at the long term effects of not getting eight hours of sleep (the recommended amount for full recovery) when onboard.

‘We are asking seafarers on a variety of ships to complete a diary on a weekly basis which records their levels of sleepiness. It also asks them about any changes in their relationships with colleagues and how they feel about their work, which is similar to the research on burn-out as it shows how fatigue can builds and affect a seafarer’s entire working life. This continues until July when we analyse the results.

‘And finally, we also have seafarers wearing watches which measure activity. If the person is up and about the watch records that there is activ-ity; it then gives a flat line when they are resting. This will then be analysed to see how much seafar-ers are actually able to sleep during rest periods, or whether, as we suspect, it takes a while to get to sleep.

This has big implications on fatigue,’ he added. ‘Especially for those on 6/6 shifts, it could mean that seafarers are only getting four hours or less of qual-ity sleep in any rest period. The long term impact of this will be interesting to see.’

gProf Barnett is encouraging anyone inter-ested in taking part in these further studies to visit www.project-horizon.eu

Examining the burden of burn-outThe Swiss Branch seminar reveals the truth about the increasing levels of stress experienced by Rhine captains

The pressure placed on captains and crew working on the Rhine has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. More challenging onboard technology has led to a increase in the levels of stress boatmen are under

Members, inland waterways professionals, employers and government offi cials all attended the seminar held after the Swiss Branch Conference which examined the health risk of stress Pictures: Debbie Cavaldoro

Dr Stefan Poppelreuter, human resources physiologist at TUV Rheinland explains his company’s research

21_swiss.indd 21 18/06/2014 18:32

SAFETY AT SEA

22 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

JThe loss of large numbers of people at sea has, sadly, been much in the

news lately. The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 dominated the headlines in March, and then there was the tragic case of the Korean ferry Sewol in April. Everyone remem-bers the abandonment of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 — and Nautilus members will also recall the loss of the Rabaul Queen just three weeks later. More than 230 lives were saved in that case by merchant ships.

The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) has in progress a project to improve mass rescue operations. A major conference on the subject was held in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 1-3 June. More than 120 search and rescue (SAR) and shipping industry professionals attended, from 27 different countries. Hun-dreds more watched live web-casts from the conference.

The IMO defines a mass rescue operation as ‘characterised by the need for immediate response to large numbers of persons in dis-tress such that the capabilities normally available to the SAR authorities are inadequate’. In other words, there is a ‘capability gap’. Different incidents or acci-dents can result in a mass rescue operation — but one thing they have in common is that they are too big for the SAR services to handle routinely.

This sounds like an argument for improving global SAR services — and that, indeed, is the pri-mary aim of the IMRF. But one of the challenges of a mass rescue operation is that it is rare. That’s a good thing, of course. But it does mean that no one can justify keeping enough dedicated SAR resources on standby just in case such an operation is needed. There will always be a ‘capability gap’.

This problem, the IMRF says, can be addressed. The crucial first step is to recognise that it exists — that a mass rescue operation may be needed — and it may involve you, your ship, or your organisation. You should there-fore be as prepared as you can.

The next step is to plan. This should not be done in isolation. Planning should be led at the national or regional level, and it should include as many of the likely responders as possible. This obviously includes the emer-gency services but it also includes those who may be called upon to help fill that ‘capability gap’.

The Gothenburg conference agreed that there are essentially three ways of doing this. First, emergency response organisa-

tions should cooperate locally and regionally, so as to be able to ‘raise their game’ when needed, sharing resources and ensuring that enough trained people are ready to respond.

Second, more thought should be given to providing onboard support in some situations. If a passengership is disabled, for example, but able to remain

afloat and upright, it is better to provide assistance aboard the ship until she can be brought into port than to try to take everybody off her at sea.

The third way of filling the gap is to find additional resources, which usually means ‘vessels of opportunity’ — shipping in or near the area of the accident at the time.

The obligation to assist people in distress at sea is a long-stand-ing one and it is hoped that ships’ actual ability to assist will be improved by the new SOLAS reg-ulation III/17.1, which comes into force on 1 July. This requires all ships on international voyages to ‘have ship-specific plans and pro-cedures for recovery of persons from the water’.

The ability of ships to pick people up is often crucial to the maritime mass rescue process —

and there are improvements to be made here, as Mohammad Mobarak Hossain reminded the Gothenburg conference. Last year Mobarak was second officer of the cargoship Hope when she was abandoned after developing a heavy list off Thailand. He spent over 40 hours in the sea, and was badly injured by ships trying, and failing, to rescue him before he was eventually recovered by the Royal Thai Navy.

JOther illuminating case studies were presented to the conference — includ-

ing accounts of successful recov-eries by merchant ships. Sirio Faè spoke for the Italian Coast Guard on the SAR operation following the stranding of Costa Concordia, and Paul Culver of the US Coast Guard gave an account of the major live ‘Black Swan’ exercise in the Bahamas in 2013, based on a cruiseship emergency.

Other speakers gave the pas-senger shipping industry’s per-spective, and spoke on such sub-jects as inter-governmental cooperation, the coordination of at-sea and shoreside responses, and applying the lessons of acci-dents to maritime training. Key-note addresses were given by Dan Sten Olsson, owner of Stena AB,

and Andrew Winbow, Interna-tional Maritime Organisation assistant secretary-general.

The conference delegates did more than just listen to presenta-tions, however — excellent though they were. It is a tradition of IMRF conferences that people can get ‘hands-on’ if they wish, and this year delegates were able to gain first-hand experience of recovery from ark-type liferafts — and of a simulated mass rescue operation. The latter took place in the multi-bridge simulator oper-ated jointly by Chalmers Univer-sity and the Swedish Maritime Administration, and is believed to have been the first simulator-based mass rescue exercise any-where in the world.

Delegates were also able to explore the developing online IMRF ‘reference library’ of mass rescue operations guidance. This is another aspect of the IMRF’s project: providing a toolbox for use by people preparing their organisations for these immensely challenging events. The full library will be launched at the World Maritime Rescue Congress in Bremerhaven, Ger-many (1-4 June 2015), and is designed to be a dynamic plan-ning resource, gathering and sharing people’s experience of mass rescue operations.

The delegates at the Gothen-burg conference played a signifi-cant part in IMRF’s project to improve mass rescue response, contributing their own experi-ence and ideas in an ‘open space’ discussion forum. As well as feed-ing into the guidance in the online library, the results of this forum will help inform the mass rescue operations workshops the IMRF provides to planners around the world.

Good communications are key to successful emergency response — and they are key, too, to successful planning for such rare but extremely challenging events. Through their workshops, the developing library of guid-ance material, and conferences such as that in Sweden, the IMRF is contributing to a life-saving debate.

gIf you would like to know more, and perhaps join the con-versation, please visit www.international-maritime-rescue.org or email info@imrf.org.uk

Life and death issues in focus

“…emergency response organisations should cooperate locally and regionally, so as to be able to ‘raise their game’ when needed…”

The challenges facing merchant ships trying to rescue survivors at sea was high on the agenda at the International Maritime Rescue Federation conference last month. In this special feature, IMRF secretary DAVID JARDINE-SMITH reports on the proceedings — which included what is thought to have been the world’s first simulator-based mass evacuation exercise…

Rescue vessels are pictured taking part in the SAR operations following the capsize of the South Korean ferry Sewol off Jindo in April. A total of 476 passengers and crew were onboard the ship when it sank in sight of land, and 172 people were rescued. Divers were still working to recover bodies from the wreck in mid-June Picture: Kim Kyung-Hoon /Reuters

Delegates at the IMRF’s third conference on mass rescue operations, held in Gothenburg, were able to witness trials of ‘ark’-type liferafts Picture: IMRF

Modelling the latest in maritime survival wear for conference delegates... Picture: IMRF

22_imrf.indd Sec2:22 18/06/2014 17:43

MARITIME CAREERS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 23

IA major three-year Euro-pean Union project to examine the importance

of the human factor in the ship-ping industry has concluded with a series of reports recommend-ing measures to boost the recruitment and retention of maritime professionals.

The €1.5m KnowMe project — which involved researchers from six countries across Europe — considered issues including the image of the industry, the rea-sons why seafarers start and fin-ish their seagoing careers, and the importance of good onboard living and working conditions.

Nautilus members have been invited to give expert feedback on some of the resulting initia-tives — which include a new e-portal that seeks to raise aware-ness of merchant shipping and the careers offered in the mari-time sector.

KnowMe was established in line with the European Commis-sion’s maritime transport strat-egy for the period between 2009 and 2018 to consider such sub-jects as the future prospects for the supply and demand of EU maritime professionals, both at sea and ashore.

In an opening speech to the project’s final conference, Gian-carlo Crivellaro, from the Euro-pean Commission’s transport directorate (DG MOVE), said EU transport ministers have recently reaffirmed their com-mitment to increase employ-ment in the maritime sector.

But, he cautioned, there are many reasons why sea-farers abandon their sea-going careers — including fatigue, excessive workloads, criminali-sation, piracy and poor commu-nications with friends and fam-ily. Europe faces a challenge to

attract young people to shipping, to improve the image of the industry, increase the retention rate and enhance living and working conditions at sea, he added.

The scale of the challenge was described by Enrico Lobrigo, from Jacobs University in Ger-many, who warned of evidence showing that around 135,000 officers and 74,000 new ratings need to be trained between 2010 and 2020 to prevent a skills short-age. On current trends, he pointed out, the deficit is expected to total almost 8,000 officers and more than 29,000 ratings by the end of this decade.

Although five of the top 10 global seafarer labour supplying countries are EU member states, Mr Lobrigo said there has been a marked decline in the number of trainees in traditional seafaring nations. In Germany, the number of students starting nautical studies courses this year was less than two-thirds of the total of available places. ‘If this goes on this way, we are facing the risk that some of these maritime schools may just close because there are not enough students,’ he warned.

But Mr Lobrigo suggested there could be a future for Euro-pean seafarers — especially if shipping companies recognise their corporate social responsi-bility to invest in recruitment and training. And, he pointed out, the cost differentials with seafar-ers from newer maritime nations are narrowing.

Researchers used feedback from more than 2,000 secondary school pupils in three traditional maritime nations — Greece, Nor-way and Sweden — to assess the way in which young people view the shipping industry and per-

ceive seafaring as a career.Dr Harald Hjelle, of Molde

University College in Norway, told the project’s final conference last month that the results of this survey showed that the young people had a generally positive image of shipping — somewhat higher in Norway than in Sweden and Greece — and with little dif-ferences between genders.

The importance of the indus-try was recognised, Dr Hjelle pointed out, and young people saw seafaring as a career which offered decent wages, job satis-faction and possibilities for

career advancement. However, the research also identified that the industry would need to do more to address issues such as family life, risks and employer-employee relations to improve its image further.

Dr Hjelle said data from the survey — which also analysed the impact of influences such as par-ents, friends and home town on views about seafaring careers — could be used to create long-term recruitment strategies and these should be coordinated across Europe.

One step towards this is the

‘e-portal’ developed by the pro-ject — http://go-maritime.com — which aims to provide a ‘one-stop online shop’ for information about the maritime sector. Fea-tures include sections describing life at sea, maritime career paths, contacts for shipping companies, ports, colleges, crewing agencies and social networks. The KnowMe project is keen to get feedback from serving seafarers on the content of the site.

IOther research identifi ed the need not just for tra-ditional seafaring skills

but also the increasing require-ment for ‘soft’ and non-technical skills in response to such fac-tors as the extra administrative responsibilities arising from new regulations and policies, as well as changes in company ownership.

And a key part of the project included an analysis of the impact of the growth in multina-tional crewing — in particular the effects on shipboard team-work and communications. Not-ing that around 80% of merchant ships are multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, the study identified the ‘surprising’ scarcity of cross-cul-tural training for seafarers work-ing in such a diverse industry and pointed to the lack of a common and universal policy on the issue of cross-cultural competency among maritime professionals through education and training.

With more than 10% of ships operating with crews composed of five or more nationalities, breaking down cultural barriers is crucial for effective communi-cations and cooperation in the multinational and globalised maritime working environment, the study argues. Proper training for seafarers will not only benefit safety, it suggests, but will also

help to improve onboard social and working life, build cohesion among crews and address issues such as leadership, management, giving and receiving orders and reducing the risk of misunder-standings.

As part of the project’s assess-ment of cross-cultural training needs, the researchers developed a ‘cultural roadmap’ — a booklet which aims to help seafarers develop ‘new norms of interac-tion’ through an understanding of the significance of differences between cultures onboard and to appreciate how these may lead to different behaviours in specific situations.

A cross-cultural e-training course was one of three free pack-ages developed through a train-ing needs analysis conducted by the KnowMe researchers. Aimed at existing and potential staff at sea and ashore, the courses also cover maritime logistics & supply chain management and environ-mental management.

The KnowMe project also eval-uated the current status of inte-gration between maritime educa-tion and training institutions in the 11 largest maritime labour supplying EU member states. While researchers found that there is cross-border collabora-tion within Europe on research and development projects, they concluded that the overall exchange of knowledge between MET institutions is low and sug-gested that a more formalised network of collaboration would benefit colleges, students and maritime professionals.

The study also found that the predominant focus of MET is on operational jobs at sea, with lim-ited opportunities for seafarers seeking to update skills for a job ashore.

EU study seeks to save maritime know-how

Researchers involved in the EU’s KnowMe project developed training materials to help multinational crews to build cohesion and combat communication problems and cultural diff erences Picture: Know-Me project

Giancarlo Crivellaro, from the European Commission, and KnowMe project leader Alf Baird, from Edinburgh Napier University

Three-year EU project looks at ways to make seafarers’ lives better and develops a package of resources to improve the industry’s recruitment and retention

23_knowme.indd 23 18/06/2014 17:05

The survey respondents — 61% officers and 39% ratings — said that the standard of crew comms onboard ships is an increasingly important issue for recruitment and retention. Almost 70% said the level of shipboard services influenced their decisions on which company to work for.

Telephone is still the most common form of crew communications service provision, with 76% of seafarers on average having access. In some sectors, such as general cargoships, however, almost one-third of respondents still have no access to a telephone.

Text-only email is the most common form of internet-based crew communications — provided on average to 48% of respondents, with significant variations between sectors.

Even though telephone voice calling is the most popular service among seafarers, it is provided free by only 6% of operators. ‘As a result, this IT literate workforce is solving the problem by using Internet access for VOIP and video chat, as alternatives to expensive satellite telephone voice calling,’ the report points out.

The complex charging systems are a major frustration for seafarers, and the survey showed that the most important thing that crew want to see in the future is free port wi-fi.

‘There is undoubtedly potential for communica-tions providers to develop new VOIP and video calling products,’ the report adds. ‘IP satellite systems may be high-tech, but what seafarers want from them overwhelmingly is a cost-effective way to speak to, and see, their loved ones.’

Seafarers did, however, point to some downsides from improved crew comms. Just under half — 46% — believed better access had reduced social interac-tion onboard. Concerns were also raised about increased levels of fatigue as a result of accessing services during rest periods, poor focus caused by a lack of contact from family or bad news, and crew members being distracted by using communications services on watch on the bridge whilst at sea or using mobile phones during loading and discharge operations in port.

Worries were also voiced about unauthorised communications, including both the malicious and accidental transmission of company or vessel information — including giving away the position of the vessel as it was transiting a piracy risk area.

Of the 22% of respondents who felt that crew communications had affected safety onboard the vessel, more than half — 54% — believed that it had impacted safety in a positive way. However, this varied according to rank — with 62% of ratings believing there was a positive impact compared with 46% of officers.

Other key findings include:zthe most common place for crew to access communications services is still on the ship’s bridge, with the second most common place now in the crew member’s cabinzthe majority of services are accessed by crew no more frequently than once a week, other than text-only email and the internet, with the majority of crew (56%) using these on a daily basiszonly 17% of crew access phone services on a daily basis — primarily as a result of cost and access — but crew use the telephone more than any other service provided

zthe main factors limiting the use of crew communi-cations continue to be cost (49%), privacy and — where limited bandwidth exists — quality of servicezif crew could choose one free service, it would be free internet access. 77% of respondents chose this with the results consistent across all age groups and ranksz42% of respondents had undertaken some form of computer based training (CBT) on their last vessel — usually related to either safety or securityzseafarers carry a lot of technology/communications

Move with the times or lose us!

SEAFARER COMMUNICATIONS

24 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

PShipping companies need to do much more to provide seafarers with access to affordable and reliable communications onboard,

according to the results of a major new survey.Good quality crew communications are becoming

increasingly important as fewer seafarers get the chance to go ashore, and technological advances offer the opportunity to deliver ‘massive positive change’ to life at sea, the 2014 Crew Communications Survey concludes.

Based on feedback from almost 3,000 seafarers of more than 30 different nationalities, the study points out that crew communications are now a major factor for recruitment and retention, and it warns owners that there are growing regulatory, commercial and welfare reasons why they need to provide decent access.

Published by Futurenautics Research, the survey notes that the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 requires seafarers to be given ‘reasonable’ access at ‘reasonable’ cost to communications facilities.

But the research showed that only 56% of seafarers have access to crew communications either always or most of the time onboard, and 6% say they never have access.

Although it notes improvements in connectivity rates since the last survey, the report says that 50% of seafarers do not consider access has got better during the past two years. ‘This perception is perhaps a function of the fact that land-based connectivity is accelerating at such a pace that, despite its improvements, shipping continues to be left behind,’ it adds.

The need for good shipboard communications is underlined by the fact that 54% of seafarers reported

that they are rarely able to go ashore and 22% say they never go ashore while their vessels are in port. Around 38% of port calls are less than 12 hours and only 25% of seafarers in the survey said that they used shore-based services while in port.

The research revealed remarkable variations in access to communications across different ship types. It showed that seafarers are spending an average of US$134 a month on communications while at sea — but warned that complex pricing structures mean many have no idea about what they are being charged for.

The report points to evidence suggesting that the cost of providing crew communications services has reduced — particularly telephone calls — but questions whether ship operators are passing on the reductions to seafarers.

Almost 40% of seafarers said they had internet access onboard — and the report describes this figure as encouraging. ‘Even more significant is that 50% of those crew members are given access free of charge by ship operators,’ it adds.

However, the survey showed ‘striking’ differences between sectors. The percentage of crew reporting never having access to communications was as low as 1% in the car carrier sector but as high as 13% on containerships — and the container and bulk sectors were shown to provide the lowest levels of crew connectivity.

Internet access averaged 36% across all sectors. Seafarers on passengerships and offshore vessels — with relatively high levels of VSAT and Inmarsat FleetBroadband systems — reported close to 70% provision, against barely 20% for bulkers and boxships.

Large-scale international survey shows maritime employers are still not consistently investing in the communications technology needed to keep their crews in touch with friends and family — so seafarers are increasingly voting with their feet…

Pictures: Danny Cornelissen

NEVER have access to crew co

ACCESS to cin their decthey work f

69%72% Laptop

54% Smartphone

49% External hard-drive

48% of respondents now have internet access whilst at sea

Almost 50% of them are getting it FREE of charge

Devices taken onboard

24-25_spread_comms.indd 24 18/06/2014 17:39

i-re

ee he

f

ns

devices onboard, the majority taking multiple devices — 75% of crew choose a laptop onboard and 57% a smartphonez81% of seafarers would be happy to allow access to their data in exchange for free internet access provision

Improved connectivity may often be the result of a wider business decision to enhance operational efficiency and leverage better technology onboard, the report notes, but the survey feedback shows that it also

results in happier, safer, more knowledgeable, and more productive crew.

‘The overwhelming message from this survey is that crew want to speak to, or see their loved ones on video, regularly and affordably,’ the report concludes. ‘Addressing that one wish would mean a massive positive change in the lives of seafarers. The industry has the technology to enable that — and increasingly not simply a moral and regulatory, but a commercial imperative to deliver it.’

A good return on investment

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 25

FAirbus Defence and Space has launched a new service which enables seafarers to bring their own equipment

onboard for voice and data communications from their vessels.

The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) package combines the latest wi-fi technology standards, a set of free apps and the newest version of the XChange communications man-agement platform, allowing smartphone and tablets access to a vessel’s VSAT and MSS (Mobile Satellite Services) links.

Airbus says the BYOD service enables crew to use their own devices onboard for voice and data communication seamlessly with Pharostar VSAT, FleetBroadband or

Iridium OpenPort. The package is more cost-eff ective than traditional cellular solutions for maritime, it adds, and also comprises hardware and service support, without any additional or hidden costs.

‘This package of new functionality helps shipowners to enhance their crew welfare programmes quickly and easily,’ said Tore Morten Olsen, the company’s head of maritime satellite communications activities. ‘In the crew survey we conducted, offi cers and crew expressed a desire for more personal access to connectivity. Our focus on BYOD is in response to this need for more privacy and comfort when communicating at sea.’

‘BYOD’ package offers way forward for crew welfare

APoor communications with friends and family ashore is

the most important reason driving seafarers in the decision to move to shore-based work, a new study has revealed.

Research undertaken by the University of the Aegean and Edinburgh Napier University found that 37.5% of seafarers cite inadequate communications as the key factor for abandoning the profession, compared with 33.1% for separation from home, 22.6% for insuffi cient rest time, 18.8% for living conditions onboard, and 17.8% for excessive work requirements.

The research was conducted as part of the European Union-funded KnowMe project to investigate the importance of the human element in the shipping industry. It concludes that communication facilities are a hugely important issue for recruitment and retention — with almost two-thirds of seafarers stating that it would be a ‘critical factor’ in deciding who to work for.

The report is based on the results of a detailed questionnaire completed by more than 500 seafarers of 24 diff erent nationalities — more than two-thirds of whom were offi cers. For 71%, seafaring had been their fi rst choice as a career and 34.9% were very satisfi ed with their choice, 36.1% satisfi ed, 19.8% neutral and only 9.2% disappointed or very disappointed.

More than 60% described onboard communications as extremely important to them and 97.3% said onboard communications had a crucial role in promoting the wellbeing of crew. Almost 84% said good onboard communications would encourage them to extend their tour lengths.

According to the survey, 36.6% of seafarers have access to the internet at sea, 50.7% have email facilities, and 67.9% have satphone access. Personal cellphones (65.9%), onboard satphone (60.3%), cellphone SMS (43.8%) and onboard email (42.9%) are the most common means of communication with families.

Almost 28% of seafarers have no access to email at sea, and the majority of those who have access experience some sort of limitations related to privacy or data usage.

Other barriers to communication cited by crew members while at sea are access to facilities (46.4%), cost (43.1%) and fi nding the free time (32.9%). Only 7.4% reported no barriers while onboard.

Professor Ioannis Theotakas, one of the report’s authors, told the KnowMe project conference last month that the fi ndings demonstrated the importance of communications in reducing the negative eff ects of isolation at sea. ‘We need to move towards an approach that considers the seafarer as a long-term investment,’ he added. ‘If the provision of such facilities is combined with a more coherent and visionary approach to the development and implementation of human resources management systems, retention of seafarers to the maritime industry could be increased substantially.’

Technology can combat isolation, finds EU study

AShipowners need to do more to embrace the potential off ered

by the ‘maritime industrial internet’, says Inmarsat Maritime president Frank Coles.

Mr Coles — himself a former seafarer — says radical advances in communications technology will deliver massive effi ciency gains at the same time as improving crew welfare.

Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Maritime service is expected to become globally available from the end of the fi rst quarter of 2015, off ering ship-to-shore high-performance download speeds of up to 50Mbps. The fi rst satellite in the Global Xpress fl eet will complete all of its testing this month, with the second and third satellites on schedule to be launched by the close of 2014.

Mr Coles says the service promises to deliver a ‘game-changing’ upgrade on Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband (FBB) — giving ships the same levels of performance and fl exibility as at home or in the offi ce ashore. ‘This will demand a change in mind-set for shipowners, who tend to fi ght every communications penny without

considering the value to be gained,’ he cautioned.

‘Today, communications represent less than 1% of operating expenditure for the shipowner,’ he adds. ‘The average merchant ship in our portfolio spends $50 a day on communications ship-to-shore.’

However, he stressed, a study by the Engineering Software Reliability Group had suggested that overall optimised effi cient operations could save $1m per ship per year. ‘That is the context in which shipowners should consider that spending $50 more per day per ship will deliver 10 times more data 10 times faster.’

New systems could harvest data generated by the sensors that are already widely installed on ships in a holistic way, Mr Coles argues. Investing in communications will unleash the power of advanced analytics, so that data can be integrated, validated and analysed.

Some early movers are awake to the competitive advantages available, Mr Coles adds, pointing to the new engine packages including remote monitoring/equipment uptime or post-delivery ship care packages based on sensor monitoring.

Crew Communications

w communications6% SEAFARERS spend on

average per month on comms when at sea

$133

S to comms is a factor decisions about who

ork for

Believed crew comms had led to REDUCED social interaction onboard

46%56%

22%54%

NEVER get ashore

RARELY get ashore

when in port…

Crew who had comms onboard ALL or MOST of the time

SEAFARER COMMUNICATIONS

24-25_spread_comms.indd 25 18/06/2014 17:40

MARITIME EDUCATION

26 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

KWe are gathered at a Cowes marina as Craig Joplin and Jacob

Fincham calmly describe how their young adult lives changed tack dramatically after taking the pioneering maritime training offered by the Isle of Wight based-charity UKSA.

‘Five months ago, when I was released from the Portland Young Offender institution, I knew nothing about sailing or the sea – but now, after four weeks, I know how to plot my bearings and plan a sail from Poole to Cowes,’ says 20-year-old Craig.

He explains how a chance recommendation from his support worker in Southampton introduced him to the charity’s Unlocking Potential course for young offenders and those at risk of reoffending, and changed his career aspirations.

‘After I was released I thought I would just take up my building work again, as that was all I knew. But being at UKSA has opened a potential career path for me, because I discovered I want to be on the water, and can wake up every morning getting paid for a job I love,’ Craig adds.

Jacob, now aged 21, was one of the young unemployed people not in further education or training (NEETs) which the charity targets through its Change Direction programme.

‘UKSA was perfect for me and the courses are absolutely phenomenal,’ he says. ‘They really have a different approach to learning. It’s also opened up my eyes to the many opportunities available in the maritime industry, which as an island [nation] we don’t quite seem to appreciate.’

Growing up on the Isle of Wight, Jacob says he knew he ‘really wanted to do something outdoors for a living’. But he drifted out of school into various voluntary jobs before finding his niche through the UKSA Activity Leadership NVQ. Jacob is now a qualified watersports instructor — a job much in demand in the tourism industry — and is looking forward to finding his first winter season job abroad, preferably at a holiday resort in Dubai.

Jacob and Craig are among several youth ambassadors

helping the charity raise its profile and attract more young people onto the water. UKSA has been selected as the official event charity for Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week in August. The global investment group is the main sponsor of the famous sailing regatta, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

KNow 27 years old, UKSA was originally estab-lished as a sailing school

by Noel Lister, founder of furni-ture retailer MFI, but is now ‘much more than a sailing academy’.

As well as the quality of the teaching, both Craig and Jacob pay tribute to the mixed-age campus where primary school children and those on the youth courses can rub shoulders and get inspiration from others in training, such as cadets and deck officers, as well as experienced masters who sometimes take the vessel training simulation courses also offered on campus.

CEO Richard Thornton explains the charity currently helps up to 9,000 young people a year from all over the UK in three key areas — schools and groups, youth development programmes

and professional training courses. These include the only three-year superyacht cadetship in the UK, as well as various routes to Maritime & Coastguard Agency deck officer certifications.

He says they now have plans for a 10-fold increase in youth development programmes — from 200 to 2,000 young people by 2017 — and hopes to raise enough money to enable every Year 6 child on the Isle of Wight to get on the water in the next year.

Mr Thornton says the change of focus towards the education and training of young unemployed people was because their need was greater than ever.

‘Despite a small increase in employment generally, there are still almost one million young people not in education, employment or training,’ he explains.

‘With confidence, motivation and aspirations, we have seen that our programmes deliver extraordinary outcomes — 80% of young people on our Change Direction programme achieved a job, or moved into education or training, and less than 10% of the young offenders we have worked with have reoffended. Quite simply, that is why we want to grow our youth development programmes to work with 2,000 people in 2017.’

The charity also aims to ensure that 10% of its professional training courses — such as the three-year superyacht cadetship and other professional officer

certification courses — have young people on them who are either funded for a bursary or through other means, Mr Thornton adds.

For its youth development plans to succeed, UKSA needs to raise an additional £3m a year — as well as securing capital funding to invest in its sites. Therefore, it has launched a partnership with Aberdeen Asset Management and is looking for other partnerships to help it raise further funds.

UKSA youth development director Simon Davies says the Change Direction programme is funded by the UK government as a NEET programme through its Flexible Support Fund (FSF) grant system.

While it has currently reached its funding limit of €200,000 over three years — which Mr Davies admits ‘is a frustration as we were getting fantastic results’ — the charity is confident of sourcing alternative funding.

The Unlocking Potential programme is funded through trusts, grants and the regional police force, adds Mr Davies.

KYachting manager Rich-ard Baggett says the com-prehensive three-year

sandwich superyacht cadetship package offered by UKSA is very much aligned to the industry. It incorporates a foundation degree qualifi cation, a commercial yachtmaster level qualifi cation and a huge amount of mentor-

ing and help with sea time before completing qualifi cations — such as Ocean Yacht Master or Ship Security Offi cer. Students then return to the industry for another period of sea time before com-pleting their Offi cer of the Watch modules back on campus.

Whilst UKSA doesn’t have fixed places set up within the superyacht industry, the awareness of the course is such that crewing agencies from ‘all over’ come to Cowes to interview the cadets for potential jobs, adds Mr Baggett.

‘Our staff also have industry experience. They not only train students but liaise with crewing agents and yacht captains for the sort of crew they want,’ he explains.

UKSA has gone into partnership to fund some of its places with Trinity House and Seafarers UK, and has other types of partnerships with crewing agents, yacht management and insurance companies.

Craig is hoping to be a bursary beneficiary so he can gain a yachtmaster qualification, with the ultimate aim of becoming a skipper in the Mediterranean or Caribbean.

Jacob would like to return one day to the UKSA campus as a teacher because he loves the satisfaction of passing on knowledge to others — another about-turn for someone who ‘didn’t like mainstream education’.

In the meantime, Jacob expertly ferries a gaggle of nautical journalists in an RIB out of the harbour in choppy seas and drizzle to one of the charity’s two 65m round-the-world class yachts.

And as these media mavens hoist sail under the expert guidance of the charity’s instructors — and the watchful eye of Britain’s first woman double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson — the thrill of what it is must be like for the students to achieve their first nautical skills is immediately obvious.

From NEETs to navigatorsPathways to a career at sea have been boosted by a UK maritime education charity’s plans to increase its pioneering youth development sailing programmes. Deborah McPherson went to the Isle of Wight to meet some recent graduates from the UKSA schemes…

UKSA youth ambassadors get encouragement from Britain’s fi rst woman double gold Olympian Shirley Robertson Picture: UKSA

Craig Joplin, left, and Jacob Fincham say the UKSA scheme in Cowes has changed their lives for the better Pictures: Deborah McPherson

Shirley Robertson explains UKSA’s role at the sponsored charity event for Cowes week

26_uksa v2.indd Sec2:26 18/06/2014 17:06

Safe passage for seafarers?

JLaunching what govern-ment claims to be the UK’s fi rst ever national

strategy for maritime security (NSMS), shipping minister Ste-phen Hammond invoked the war-time words of Winston Churchill: ‘But for the Merchant Navy who brought us food and munitions, Britain would have been in a peril-ous state.’

As it would today, the minister acknowledged, ‘because the secu-rity and safety of our sea lanes and those that use them remain essential, because as an island nation without secure shipping, we would not have sufficient food on our tables, goods in our shops, material for our factories, nor the energy needed to keep the lights on’.

Mr Hammond told the launch event that while the UK needs to maintain maritime security, it also needs to respond to the changing nature of the threats it faces. As well as protecting trade routes, priorities include dealing with potential risks such as cyber attacks and threats to infrastruc-ture at sea and ashore.

The minister said the mari-time risk assessment would be reviewed biennially to ensure it remains focused on the threats of greatest concern to UK maritime interests.

Opening the event, Shell Ship-ping & Maritime vice-president Grahaeme Henderson, who chairs the UK Chamber of Ship-ping’s defence and security com-mittee, highlighted some key sta-tistics to show why ‘the safety and security of our seafarers is para-mount’. Almost two-thirds of the country’s aviation fuel, 75% of its coal and 40% of the diesel and unleaded petrol used in its cars and lorries arrive in the UK by ship, he pointed out.

The 55-page NSMA document details the way in which the UK will organise and deploy its national capabilities to detect, assess and manage maritime security challenges. It states that: ‘This strategy sets out a more holistic approach to maritime security than we have taken in

the past, bringing together myr-iad government activity under a single governance structure.’

The signatures of the secretar-ies of state of four government departments — the Department for Transport, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence — are appended to the document, which outlines five priorities:

zpromote a secure interna-tional maritime area where inter-national maritime laws are upheld

zhelp other nations develop their own maritime security

zprotect the UK and its overseas territories, their citizens and economies by supporting the safety and security of ports and offshore installations, and pas-senger and cargo vessels

zassure the security of vital maritime trade and energy trans-portation routes

zprotect the resources and pop-ulation of the UK and its overseas territories from illegal and dan-gerous activity

JArmed forces minister Mark Francois said the UK’s maritime security

interests extend far beyond its territorial waters — meaning that ‘questions of how to secure the global commons, how to main-tain our open trade routes, how to protect our shipping lanes, how to uphold international law on the waves remain of profound impor-tance to us’.

Global population growth, cli-mate change and piracy are among the challenges facing society in ensuring food and fuel supplies and protecting ‘those few worldwide choke points through which 95% of global maritime trade transits’.

Mr Francois said the ‘land-mark strategy’ aims to make the most efficient use of resources by looking well beyond White-hall’s walls, increasing inter-operability between interna-tional allies, pooling intelligence and information, and bolstering joint capacity to ‘spot trouble on the international horizon and to

disrupt potential future threats before they appear’.

Greg Kennedy, professor of strategic foreign policy at King’s College London’s Defence Studies Department, hailed NSMS as one of the first government docu-ments to truly address maritime conditions strategically. But he wondered how the growth of pri-vate maritime security fitted into the UK strategy.

What is key, Mr Hammond responded, is to ensure that pri-vate security is properly accred-ited and regulated, and guards have the right training, under supervision by the Home Office. Cross-ministerial group discus-sions were taking place about what that supervision should represent, and to what extent those guards should be in place, the minister added.

‘I think the key message is, if there is going to be work in this space, it has to be by reputable operators, it hasn’t got to be a blanket recognition that can operate at any one time,’ Mr Hammond stressed. ‘For instance, there may be some con-flicts where the presence of those armed guards would be extremely unhelpful, with the overall potential to ignite an even worse situation.’

MARITIME POLICY

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 27

The UK has launched a ‘joined-up’ national maritime security strategy that is described as a ‘major step forward’ for the safety of ships and their crews. MIKE GERBER went to the launch event to find out more…

FNautilus senior national secretary Allan Graveson attended the

NSMS launch and gave a guarded welcome to the initiative.

Although there is nothing new in the substance of the NSMS document, Mr Graveson said the ‘joined-up’ approach to maritime strategy is a positive development: ‘At least they’re trying — let’s give some credit here,’ he added. ‘But unless they’ve got the necessary resources for implementa-tion, it’s going to be extremely diffi cult.’

Mr Graveson warned: ‘In reality, unless you’ve got the necessary where-withal, you can’t back it up. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is an example of where ships can’t be put to sea because they haven’t got enough people. It’s a ques-tion of resources and commitment.’

Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West of Spithead echoed these comments at the launch event. While congratulating the government on producing the NSMS, he expressed concern about the dwindling numbers of British merchant seafarers — and

especially offi cers — given the very large sea and coastal area the UK is responsible for worldwide.

He made a comparison with the numbers of merchant seafarers the UK could draw upon at the time of the Falklands war. ‘If we would like to main-tain a very strong maritime sector, we need highly trained people,’ Lord West added. ‘We haven’t been good at it with

successive governments over a period, and I’m not sure this addresses that.’

Mr Hammond conceded that the NSMS document does not address such concerns. But he said the government was addressing it in a diff erent way, via the cross-government ministerial group he had set up with industry, to consider issues such as government support for maritime training.

Piracy patrols: protecting merchant ships in high-risk areas remains a key role for the Royal Navy Picture: MoD

Maritime domain awareness: the Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Sabre standing guard over merchant shipping operating in the busy sea lanes off Gibraltar Picture: MoD

Implementation is key to new strategy

27_secmg.indd 27 18/06/2014 17:06

KThere are seafarers who do their time, rise up the ranks, collect their gold

sextant… And then there’s Trevor Boult. This is a man for whom the term ‘enquiring mind’ might have been invented, and he was never likely to stay with the same

company from cadetship to retirement.

You’ll know his name from the Ships of the Past column and his maritime history features for the Telegraph. But he’s also a photog-rapher, an artist, a boat-restorer, a conservationist and, not least, an experienced navigation officer.

Trevor didn’t have a family background in the Merchant Navy, but he did grow up by the sea, in Cullercoats, NE England. ‘I loved to watch all the activity. It’s pretty dead there now, but there used to be shipyards in the area and vessels coming and going, like the ferries to Norway.’ He started to feel an affinity with the sea — ‘a kind of calling’ — and his father encouraged him to write to local trawler companies and tug operators to ask for work experi-ence. He even landed some paid work in the industry; his first part-time job as a schoolboy was as a luggage porter on the Bergen Line ferry Leda.

Following his A-Level exams in the 1970s, he managed to get a cadetship with W.A. Souter, and set off on various cargo vessels after an induction at Fleetwood college. He later completed his studies at South Shields to become an Officer of the Watch (joining the Union around that time) and then spent a short period with Souter’s after qualify-ing. ‘That was a baptism of fire,’ he smiles. ‘Tough navigation work in coastal waters.’

Cargoships weren’t what he had in mind for the next stage of his career, though. ‘I was inter-ested in art and design, and chart-making appealed, so that’s what got me looking at work on spe-cialist ships.’ A vacancy came up with NERC (the UK Natural Envi-ronment Research Council), and Trevor seized the opportunity to work with the scientists who chartered the research vessels.

Serving on vessels such as the Shackleton, Discovery, Charles Darwin and Challenger — ‘sadly, some of those will be razor blades by now’ — he learned the preci-sion ship-handling skills needed to deploy oceanographic equip-ment. ‘The scientists would send

down a wire to the ocean floor to collect samples, and my job was to keep the ship steady and stop the wire going under the hull,’ he explains. ‘We didn’t have DP [dynamic positioning] to help us then; you did it manually using main propulsion, thrusters and rudder. The wire would hit under-water currents and you’d have to react quickly. I heard of one time where a research wire had gone under and cut into a wooden hull like a cheese wire.’

This wasn’t just about protect-ing the ship, he adds; the skill and conscientiousness of the crew were crucial to the success of the scientific mission. That ‘wire’ could be conducting informa-tion, or taking a net down to great depths — as when Trevor and his colleagues were investigating sealife at the bottom of the Rock-all Trough.

After many good years with NERC, cutbacks led to Trevor tak-ing voluntary redundancy in 1985, but in his typical style, he took this as an opportunity to learn something new. ‘I’d been reading a book about wooden boat-building,’ he recalls, ‘and I decided to use my redundancy payment to invest in a City & Guilds course at the International Boatbuilding Training Centre in Suffolk. It was very thorough! Everyone was a mature student, and we made real boats; we did some for the RNLI, there were a few classic yachts, and there were even some rowing gigs for HMS Warrior.’

In the late 1980s, Trevor also decided to pursue another of his interests: conservation, which

MEMBERS AT WORK

28 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

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In a month which will see his fi rst book published, the Telegraph contributor — and longstanding Nautilus member — Trevor Boult talks to SARAH ROBINSON about his life and times at sea and shore...

A man of maritime talents

“Some of those old NERC ships I sailed on will be razor blades by now…”

Trevor Boult — never far from the sea… Pictures: courtesy of Trevor Boult

28-29_tboult.indd 28 18/06/2014 18:22

dated back to a spell as an island bird sanctuary volunteer as a teenager. He served as mate on the Greenpeace vessel Beluga and was involved in direct action against the Vulcanus II, a ship being used as an offshore incinerator for toxic chemicals. The Beluga didn’t manage to stop the Vulcanus II leaving the port of Antwerp in the end, but the campaign increased the pressure on the authorities to outlaw the practice of waste incineration in the North Sea, and in 1990 the Third International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea did just that.

The 1990s and 2000s saw Tre-vor making a living with spells back at NERC, then switching to jobs with companies operating around the Scottish coast: he served on Northern Lighthouse Board tenders and the Northlink and CalMac ferries. He also man-aged to squeeze in some romance, and married his fiancée Karen.

Although he had gained his higher certificates over the years, he says he was never interested in taking a command: ‘I’m happy to stay middle-ranking and have variety.’ Never short of ideas for livening things up, he heard at one point that the few remaining manned lightvessels were being taken out of service around the UK, and had a flash of inspiration that he could go onboard with one of the last crews and docu-ment their disappearing way of life (readers will not be surprised to hear that Trevor has been a skilled photographer since he and his brother set up their own darkroom as children). Funded by grants from Northern Arts and the Cutty Sark Trust, he per-suaded Trinity House to let him join the next helicopter flight to the lightvessel Dowsing with the relief crew.

‘I had a fabulous fortnight,’ he remembers. ‘There were calms, and gales, and thick fog, with the deafening diaphone signal going off directly overhead. Vessels would go past so close you could almost feel them, but you couldn’t see them. All the equip-

ment was powered by com-pressed air, and for domestic heating they’d heave these big sacks of coal across from the [Trinity House flagship] Patricia.’

KTrevor’s photos were later displayed at the Trinity Maritime Centre in New-

castle, and this also turned out to be the start of his association with the Telegraph, as in 1989, editor Andrew Linington agreed to pub-lish his article about the Dowsing experience. Further commis-sions followed, and when former Ships of the Past author Bob Wil-son retired fi ve years ago, Trevor was the obvious choice to take over the job.

‘I thought I might find enough interesting old ships to do this for a year, but it’s snowballed,’ he says. Indeed, sometimes he dis-covers so many fascinating facts that he ends up using a vessel as the subject of one of his longer maritime history features.

Trevor has enough recent sea-

time with CalMac to revalidate his master’s certificate if he wishes, but he says he considers his main occupation now to be freelance writer and photogra-pher. He has contributed to a range of publications including a woodworking magazine and even The Lady, has exhibited his pho-tography in a number of venues, and has completed documentary projects about RMS St Helena and the Hurtigruten ferry Polarlys. This month his first book comes out, documenting the last voyage of the British Antarctic Survey vessel John Biscoe.

Nautilus is known as ‘the Union for maritime profession-als’, and that broad job descrip-tion is surely epitomised by Tre-vor Boult, who has kept up his membership throughout all the twists and turns in his nautical career. He may not always be employed as a seafarer, but what-ever he does next in his eventful working life, you know it will somehow involve the sea.

Trevor hard at work in the 1970s maintaining the loadlines

MEMBERS AT WORK

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 29

Viking’s new training facility in Dover, Kent is perfectly located for links to the UK and Europe. The Academy is business to business run and specialises in STCW & refresher training and professional development courses for everyone involved in the maritime industry.

Courses currently running include:

INTRODUCINGTHE MARITIME SKILLS ACADEMY...Viking Recruitment’s new training division offer a portfolio of MCA accredited short courses and is an Approved English Marlins Test Centre.

• 5-part Basic Safety Training

• Crisis Management & Human Behaviour

• Crowd Management

• Security Awareness

• Designated Security Duties

• ISPS Ship Security Officer

• GMDSS Training

MARITIME SKILLS ACADEMY

www.maritimeskillsacademy.com+44(0) 300 303 8393shortcourses@vikingrecruitment.com

Viking are able to arrange flights, local accommodation & airport transfers for delegates

First foray into books recounts fi nal tripHer Home the Antarctic: Royal Research Ship John BiscoeBy Trevor BoultAmberley, £17.99ISBN 978 14456 38607

KDue out this month, Her Home the Antarctic

documents the fi nal voyage of the John Biscoe, up to her return and lay-up in Grimsby Docks, UK. Featuring Trevor Boult’s photography as well as his narrative, the book is described in a foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as ‘a generous and enthralling tribute’. A review will appear in the next Telegraph.

“I thought I might do Ships of the Past for a year, but it snowballed…”

28-29_tboult.indd 29 18/06/2014 18:01

MARITIME POLICY

30 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

OLast month we looked at some of the safety challenges facing ships in polar waters and how the International Maritime

Organisation’s Polar Code aims to deal with these.Under the proposed Code, ships will need a

Polar Ship Certificate and a Polar Waters Operations Manual, the combination of which will include key operational capabilities and limitations, such as Polar Ship Category and ice class, acceptable range of operating drafts, temperature capability, safe ice-going capability, and ice transit capability.

Any ship that makes a polar voyage needs to be aware of the hazards that may be involved, and the operational procedures that will be needed to avoid them, or to mitigate the risks that they may incur.

The knowledge and experience of the bridge crew is an essential element of ensuring safety, and training and manning requirements are incorporated in the Polar Code system. Voyage planning is also very important, and such plans need to be developed with an understanding of the ship’s capabilities and limitations.

Additionally, ships and mariners need to be adequately prepared for worst-case scenarios that go beyond what is to be expected in normal circumstances. The Polar Waters Operation Manual is therefore intended to give guidance for a range of planned and possible situations.

It is therefore left very much up to the owner — subject to satisfying the flag state that the content is appropriate — which is not a very satisfactory position. It is all well and good in a flag state which has a full understanding of ice operations. But what if that is not the case (which will inevitably be the position) and how will it be enforced by jurisdictions through their port state control?

On an Arctic-wide basis and in international waters this is an issue of concern for the insurance industry, as there is a considerable knowledge gap on a number of fronts in polar waters.

First, there is currently no ice regime system applied to the whole Arctic or Antarctic areas — the absence of which will make it very difficult to complete the Polar Waters Operating Manual. It goes without saying that if you cannot determine what ice conditions are at play you cannot determine what other requirements are going to be necessary. Everything flows from the encountered ice regime to determine the worst-case scenario that needs to be planned for in the conditions that, as the Polar Code says ‘may be encountered’.

Canada operates an ice regime system with zones and ice classes, depending on ice conditions. Russia also has a system of ice regime that has some similarities with the Canadian system. However, the USA, Norway, Denmark/Greenland and Iceland all lack ice regime systems. Sweden and Finland operate a Baltic system, but this is not applicable to the Arctic. In the high north, an Arctic ice regime system should be established to ensure an effective application of the IMO Polar Code, enabling a universal application of the rules across the Arctic. For the Polar Certificate and Polar Waters Operation Manual to make sense, this is essential.

Second, knowledge on where, when and with what tonnage, operations should be carried out seems to be missing from the industry at present on an Arctic-wide basis, and the Polar Code does not provide the answer. Below are the IACS class rules for vessels sailing in the Polar Regions, based on WMO sea ice nomenclature:PC 1 — Year-round operation in all Polar waters

PC 2 — Year-round operation in moderate multi-year ice conditionsPC 3 — Year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusionsPC 4 — Year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusionsPC 5 — Year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusionsPC 6 — Summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusionsPC 7 — Summer/autumn operation in thin first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions

It is essential that shipowners maintain their vessels as per class requirements for the specific ice class. However, it is a concern in the insurance

industry that IACS Polar Class Rules are currently not fully linked to the Polar Code.

Moreover, the IACS Polar Class rules themselves are not easy to interpret as they do not give any guidance as to when and where the different ice classes apply. As an example, first-year ice at -1°C varies considerably from first-year ice at -40°C, but the Polar Class rules use the term first-year ice as if it was one uniform feature. So, if Polar Class Rules are not linked to an ice regime, then the rules have little practical value as they cannot be applied in real world operations. How do you determine where a certain ice-classed ship can go if there is no ice regime to explain what type of ice is there?

Third, where, when and with what, tonnage

Doing nothing is not an option

In the second of a special two-part series, maritime lawyer MICHAEL KINGSTON takes a searching look at the proposed Polar Code to govern ships and seafarers operating in sensitive Arctic and Antarctic waters… In August 2011, the Russian tanker Vladimir Tikhonov became the fi rst ship over 160,000dwt to carry a

commercial cargo of more than 120,000 tonnes of gas condensate through the Northern Sea Route

Giving you a voice on your future

1 & 2 The Shrubberies, George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1BDt +44 (0)20 8989 6677 f +44 (0)20 8530 1015 npa@nautilusint.org www.nautilusint.org

Worried about your retirement? Join us!

The Nautilus Pensions Association is a pressure group and support organisation that:

z provides a new focal point for seafarer pensioners — increasing their infl uence within, and knowledge of, the Merchant Navy Offi cers’ Pension Fund and other schemes within the industry

z serves as a channel for professional advice on all kinds of pensions, as well as off ering specifi c information on legal and government developments on pensions, and supporting the Union in lobbying the government as required

z provides a ‘one-stop shop’ for advice on other organisations providing support and assistance to pensioners

z off ers a range of specialised services and benefi ts tailored to meet the needs of retired members

z operates as a democratic organisation, being a Nautilus Council body — with the secretary and secretariat provided by the Union

The Norwegian-fl agged LNG carrier Arctic Princess was purpose-built for carrying cargoes from the world’s most northerly LNG development, Snøhvit Picture: Allan Klo

30-31_polar.indd 30 18/06/2014 17:43

MARITIME POLICY

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 31

operations should be carried out in industry seems to be missing at present on an Arctic-wide basis, and the Polar Code does not provide the answer. Today ice classes are assigned for single vessel operations, and escorted vessels are considered protected by an escorting ice-breaker. The escorted vessels shall be able to handle the ice broken by the escorting ice-breaker. The Canadian ice regime rules state that the ice-breaker must meet the minimum criteria given by its ice regime, but it is up to the operator to clearly illustrate how it will deal with a worst-case scenario. This scenario will then form the minimum ice class of the escorted vessel.

The insurance market has seen a number of claims for escorted vessels being damaged by ice — particularly propellers.

In the offshore industry power is a key factor in ensuring a vessel is fit for the operation in hand, but in preparing for the worst-case scenario there is no refer-ence to vessel power in the ice class rules.

OWhat is clear it that the current status quo cannot persist — or a disaster will be the result. SOLAS,

as it stands, is not fi t for purpose. Life-raft requirements are nowhere near the standard required in the harsh Arctic environment. Additionally, it is clear from worldwide reviews following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that there is a fundamental disconnect internation-ally in oil pollution and safety legislation. While some individual countries, such as Norway, have stringent legislation that is fi t for purpose, there is no cross-jurisdictional regulatory agreement in relation to Arctic operations.

Recent examples have highlighted the dangers involved, where cruiseships with quite a lot of passengers onboard have been seen in ice waters off the coast of Greenland. This is a nightmare for insurers and such incidents do not inspire confidence within the insurance industry.

Last September Nordvick entered ice waters and punctured her hull in the Northern Sea Route, when, it was reported, she entered ice conditions that she was not capable of dealing with — which, given that she was carrying a large cargo of diesel fuel, could have had enor-mous environmental consequences.

And in December we witnessed the well-documented problem in the Antarctic with the Akademik Shokalskiy, which was not adequately prepared for

the voyage in question — prompting an arguably unnecessary emergency rescue of passengers which, it is reported, cost the Australian maritime authorities $1.6m.

More work is required to make the Polar Code relevant and to reduce risk on an Arctic-wide basis. To prepare for a range of planned and possible situations we must link everything together — ice regime, the Polar Code and ice class, and industry best practice.

Essential to this is an integrated approach to gathering of knowledge and it is critically important that the research community works with industry.

Ice experts have suggested that the Arctic should be divided into dis-tinct geographical areas, based on ice conditions, with a number of seasons established in a year — perhaps three to four — that captures ice seasons with ice coverage and hardness. Each Arctic coun-try can be responsible for rules in their ‘sector’. The Arctic Council is essential in this process and it can perhaps establish a central forum to be run by the research community, with industry and govern-ment making contributions.

Indeed, following a recent conference in London entitled ‘Sustainable Arctic Shipping and Marine Operations’ which was organised by the Swedish ministry of foreign affairs and attended by the IMO secretary-general, Sweden’s senior Arctic ambassador and current Arctic ambassador chairman Patrick Borbey, from Canada, the need to work together

in an integrated approach, and to assist the IMO in its work were deemed be of paramount importance.

On the following day, as a continuance of that theme, a workshop entitled ‘Bridg-ing the Arctic marine risk gap: the need for a cross-Arctic ice regime — linking ice conditions to ice class requirements’ took place at Lloyd’s of London, organised by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat in conjunction with Lloyd’s, the Swed-ish Club, and the Nordic Association of marine insurers, after which the follow-ing recommendations were made to the Arctic Council:

zthat the Arctic Council, or its working groups, is asked to assist in setting up a forum for the sharing of knowledge by industry, government, the research community and other parties in order to foster best practice

zthat under that proposed forum a spe-cific group be set up to build an ice data regime across the Arctic to encourage each member state to take responsibility for their section of the Arctic in order to ensure best practice that goes beyond current regulatory requirements in areas where it is lacking. This is similar to initiatives already in motion in relation to charting

zthat under that forum the issues of crew competence and training be nur-tured in a systematic and harmonised way in order to foster and support best practice — similar to training in relation to dynamic positioning such as that provided by the Nautical Institute

zthat the Arctic states come to some agreement about the monitoring of operations outside their Exclusive Eco-nomic Zone that constitute international waters

zthat such a forum represents a cross-section of interests that make it fit for purpose — operators, insurers, and representative bodies such as the Inter-national Association of Classification Societies, with representatives from each member state

zthat such a forum includes a mecha-nism for sharing of experience in a way that does not compromise competitive advantage, or confidentiality

gThe full reports from both these conferences can be viewed at: www.polar.se/en/articles

Such initiatives will help us achieve the goal of reducing risk, increasing trade, which will either include further sensible requirements in the Polar Code, or complement the Polar Code. One thing is certain — we must learn from the lessons of history and get it right.

The challenges presented by the drive to operate heavily in the world’s last frontier are significant. In circumstances where there is a shortage of skill, knowl-edge, and equipment this all makes a good recipe for disaster in the Arctic. While the evolution of IMO regulations is very welcome, it is clear that the marine and energy industries cannot afford another disaster. Operating in more extreme environments, together with an increase in the size of vessels, presents significant risks that must be addressed by industry and government alike.

And history has taught us that it usually takes a disaster to instil urgency in implementing previously suggested regulation. How long will it take for the Polar Code to have legal effect, regard-less of its inadequacies? The SOLAS convention was devised as a result of the sinking of Titanic. In the 1970s SOLAS was amended to take into account the need to rectify inadequacies in oil tanker safety. But the amendments were not ratified until after the loss of 50 people when the Betelgeuse exploded at Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay, SW Ireland in 1979. The ratifi-cation in 1980 arrived too late to impose a simple requirement in relation to inert gas systems that would have prevented the disaster.

Too often the lessons of history tell us that we have acted too late. Whilst the IMO has been doing its great work, in the interim industry has not always pushed for standards that will both assist that

work, help to push for the ratification of that work, and in the meantime prevent unnecessary disaster.

Indeed the Arctic Council is currently focusing on a code of practice for the cruise industry which is gathering momentum during the Canadian chairmanship.

The International Union of Marine Insurers has backed an initiative for industry to show leadership and create its own responsible standards by signing up to the Arctic Marine Best Practice Declaration (www.iumi.com) which is a significant opportunity for industry to create standards that are fit for purpose.

The marine and energy industries need to demonstrate to the world that they are being responsible. Political legitimacy to operate in such a fragile environment is at a low level follow-ing the high profile incidents of recent times. Until that responsible approach is demonstrated, organisations such as Greenpeace will continue with high-profile protests and the perception that these generate amongst the public will be complemented by reality when an irresponsible participant brings the house down for everyone. The enormous investments involved in Arctic opera-tions cannot afford that to happen.

That need not be the case if individual governments and industry take control and declare responsible standards that extend beyond IMO requirements in order to foster sustainable long-term development of the Arctic and will help to fill in the gaps that currently exist in the Polar Code. Such leadership would mean that all participants in Arctic life will be winners and, importantly, the lives of seafarers and those that work and travel on their vessels will be protected.

gMichael Kingston is a partner in the marine, trade and energy group at DWF LLP, London. He was the legal contributor to the 2012 Lloyd’s report An Arctic Opening: Opportunity and Risk in the High North, the 2013 Lloyd’s report The challenges and implications of removing shipwrecks in the 21st Century, and the 2011 report Drilling in Extreme Environments. As well as speaking on the Polar Code at the IMO, he assisted the Swedish government and Nordic Council to organise a conference on sustainable Arctic shipping and marine operations in London in March. He also works closely with the marine industry, the International Union of Marine Insurers and Arctic governments to address issues of concern and promote best practice.

Lifeboats from the passengership Explorer after it sank following a collision with an iceberg in the Antarctic Ocean in November 2007. The Chile Coastguard helped to coordinate the rescue of more than 150 passengers and crew from the vessel Picture: Ho New / Reuters

The Chinese research ship Xue Long also became trapped in ice while attempting to rescue passengers from the ice-bound Akademik Shokalskiy Picture: Andrew Peacock

30-31_polar.indd 31 18/06/2014 17:44

by Trevor Boult

FAfter the Battle of Britain the next major challenge for the Royal Air Force in the

Second World War was the protection of the North Atlantic convoys bringing vital sup-plies to Britain.

German Condor aircraft, adapted for maritime patrol and attack, were able to fl y more than 1,000 miles out into the Atlantic — well beyond the range of Britain’s shore-based fi ghters.

Condors were by far the major threat, although they were vulnerable to air attack. Converted from passenger airliners, they were not robust military machines and were being produced in relatively small numbers.

In November 1940 the subject of fi ghter protection for Allied convoys was formally considered. A key aspect was that anti-aircraft defences would have to be improved. Although aircraft carriers were the logical answer, early war losses and the demands of the Mediterranean theatre meant that there were none available for convoy duties.

It was suggested that selected ships should be fi tted not only with early-warning radar, but also with a catapult to allow two or three fi ghters to be carried. The idea of an expendable fi ghter fl own by a pilot on a one-way trip had been born. The resultant modi-fi ed vessels were known as Camships — Cata-pult Aircraft Merchant Ships — which would be an integral part of the convoy while in the danger zone. Given names prefi xed ‘Empire’, there were eventually 35 such ships.

Camships were required to have at least 90ft from the bow to the foremast, in order to accommodate the catapult. Large freight-ers were selected, where a speed in excess of 10 knots was required; also the bows needed to be of suffi cient height above sea level to allow a slight drop of the aircraft after launch. The best launch method was a simple rocket-propelled catapult.

The Hawker Hurricane was chosen as the most suitable and robust aircraft. After modi-fi cation to their new role they became known as Hurricats. The volunteer pilots needed to be good sailors and to be experienced and capable of operating aggressively after long periods of inactivity.

Three pilots were usually allocated per ship. After interception of a raider they would either have to try and reach the near-est land, or ditch the aircraft close to a ship in the hope of being picked up before suc-cumbing to exposure.

In addition to the pilot, maintenance was undertaken by RAF sea crew. The Navy provided fi ghter direction offi cers and radar operators. Anti-aircraft guns were manned by the Army and torpedo men serviced the catapult. Owing to cold and corrosion, it was a diffi cult task to keep the vulnerable and fra-gile aircraft serviceable in the winter storms. All the combined operations personnel were volunteers. Camship crews were civilian mer-chant seamen.

The rocket catapult launched the air-craft at close to 3.5g, creating a deafening noise and fl ame and a recoil which required the personnel and ship’s structure to be protected during deployment. Following an engagement, the drill for the pilot was to abandon the aircraft at 2,000ft whilst inverted, and to parachute as close as pos-sible ahead of the designated pick-up ship.

Hurricats did prove to be a deterrent. Forced to keep a safe distance, the wary Con-dor crews tended instead to become spotters for U-boats.

In the autumn of 1941 Camships operated on the hard-pressed route from Gibraltar. The following April they were deployed on the notorious Murmansk run. Life expect-ancy on the Russian convoys was very short

in the event of ditching in the cold ocean, even in summer.

The westbound convoy QP12 was attacked by two torpedo aircraft. The Hurricat pilot, John Kendal, successfully destroyed one, and drove off the other. On abandoning his air-craft, his parachute failed to open properly. Although picked up quickly, he soon died from his injuries. The convoy arrived in Ice-land without losing any ships.

Following the invasion of North Africa, Camships began convoy escort duties to that continent. In 1943 it was decided that they would cease escorting the Arctic convoys. With new escort and merchant aircraft carri-ers now available, the catapult-launch service was disbanded in mid-1943.

A total of 12 Camships were lost to enemy action. The overall deterrent of the Hurricats is recognised as having reduced losses to merchant shipping. The ‘one-way-trip’ con-cept for pilots proved not to be suicidal, as only one pilot was lost on operations.

In its many guises and theatres of oper-ations throughout the war, Hurricanes and their pilots infl icted a fearful psychological effect on the enemy as much as an awesome battle-winning prowess: no less so the Hurri-cats of the merchant convoys.

OFFWATCH ships of the past

QUICK CLUES Across8. Shakespeare Character (8)9. Unexpected (6)10. Epidermis (4)11. Confetti (6,4)12. Confused (6)14. Left work (8)15. Winter creation (7)17. Acknowledgment of payment (7)20. Grieving (8) 22. Kitchen nail (6)23. Wrestling hold (4,6)24. Digits (4)25. The people (6)26. Straight up (8)

Down1. Crammed (6,2)2. Not odd (4)3. Very happy (6)4. Musical event (7)5. Publican (8)6. Language (10)7. A drink (6)

13. Discreet showing (3,7)16. In the open (2,6)18. Of common class (8)19. Hard to fi nd (7) 21. Not see-through (6) 22. Various (6)24. Similar sibling (4)

CRYPTIC CLUES Across8. Twelve-inch memo showing

extra information (8)9. Article and mail redirected to

creature (6)10. Medical photo found in fl oss

canister (4)11. Completed board game in the

red (10) 12. Man on island before weekend

(6) 14. I’m right behind the Hayworth

girl and the National Trust in calling it a nuisance (8)

15. Last of water in sea snail causes a crease (7)

17. Great to pay attention, and so sparkle (7)

20. Instrument for connecting hooter to plumbing (8)

22. Scarper together with the overfl ow (6)

23. Unlucky 12 (10)24. Keep going to fi nal (4)25. Caught out by reference

to Spanish exclamation in language blend (6)

26. Even so, I’d hurtled into a lunge (8)

Down1. Magician usually with a cup,

we hear, and Her Majesty (8) 2. Hard cases overturned knock

out (4)3. With a bit of guts capital

of Yorkshire could be a settlement (6)

4. In this place a sign of nerves denotes a non-believer (7)

5. For nonsense you’ve a certain fl are, lad (8)

6. Bias, in part attributable to two parties (10)

7. Motor vehicle with weight in container (6)

13. Lot of noise over trendy coach seen in canteen (6,4)

16. Hung about or let die, as arranged (8)

18. Blown fuse, fi ve may be a bit over the top (8)

19. Banner raised by US Quaker and worker (7)

21. ‘--- taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs’ (For Once, Then Something, Robert Frost) (6)

22. To do with tag on a keyboard, use again without improving (6)

24. Gentlewoman from Californian city, on both sides of donkey (4)

J Crossword answers are on page 46.

Telegraph prize crosswordThe winner of this month’s cryptic crossword competition will win a copy of the book MacBrayne Ships by Alistair Deayton (reviewed on the facing page).

To enter, simply complete the form right and send it, along with your completed crossword, to: Nautilus International, Telegraph Crossword Competition, 1&2 The Shrubberies, George Lane,

South Woodford, London E18 1BD, or fax +44 (0)20 8530 1015. You can also enter by email, by sending your list of answers and your contact details to: telegraph@nautilusint.org.

Closing date is Friday 11 July 2014.

Name:

Address:

Telephone: Membership No.:

1 What percentage of total dead-weight tonnage on order around the world has been ordered by Greek ship owners?

2 There are almost 7,000 bulk car-riers in the world fl eet. How many are of 120,000dwt and above?

3 What percentage of the world bulk carrier fl eet is accounted for

by the Handysize to Panamax size vessels?

4 What is China’s percentage share of global container activity?

5 How many Liberty Ships were built during the Second World War?

6 The Queen Mary held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic from 1938 to 1952. What was the average speed of her crossing?

J Quiz answers are on page 46.

50 YEARS AGOA meeting has been held at the Ministry of Transport to discuss shipowners’ proposals to reduce manning requirements outlined in M. Notice M.380 provided certain unspecifi ed automatic devices were installed in ships. The MNAOA and other seafarers’ organisations were not prepared to go along with the owners on the basis of a general reduction in manning requirements. After a long discussion, it was agreed that for a period of between 12 and 18 months, where automatic devices of a labour-saving kind were in installed, it should be left to the discretion of Ministry of Transport surveyors as to whether such devices justifi ed a reduction in manning without in any way jeopardising the safety of the ship. Members with experience in operating vessels where there has been a reduction in manning should not hesitate to contact offi cials if any diffi culties have arisen as a consequence MN Journal, July 1964

25 YEARS AGONUMAST is urging members to write protest letters to their MPs following the shock decision to bring manslaughter charges against three members from the P&O ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, which capsized off Zeebrugge with the loss of almost 200 lives in March 1987. General secretary elect John Newman said many members had contacted the Union to express sympathy and support for the three men — Capt John Kirby, Capt David Lewry and chief offi cer Les Sabel. He said NUMAST is concerned about the legislative measures adopted since the Herald disaster, with the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act in particular introducing stiff penalties and new off ences for masters and offi cers — even though, in many cases, the liabilities are for matters over which, as seafarers, they have no real control The Telegraph, July 1989

10 YEARS AGONew International Maritime Organisation proposals for tackling concerns over the safety of large passengerships may be ‘too little, too late’, NUMAST has warned. The IMO’s maritime safety committee is to examine issues including ship survivability in the event of ground, collision or fl ooding, fi re prevention and protection, escape and evacuation, life-saving appliances, human factors, and measures to ensure ships can safely proceed to port after a fi re or fl ooding casualty. NUMAST national secretary Allan Graveson said that while it was good to see the IMO acknowledging inadequacies with the current safety regime for large passengerships, any new measures would come too late to address existing dangers The Telegraph, July 2004

THEQUIZ

Civilian-crewed Camships supported WWII ‘Hurricats’

32 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

32_offwatch_ship.indd 32 18/06/2014 17:44

Classy textbook has excellent explanationsShipping: An Introduction to the Technical, Operational and Commercial AspectsBy Nigel Draffi nPetrospot, £75ISBN: 978 19086 63191fwww.petrospot.com

KThis handy guide aims to provide a straightforward

and accessible introduction to the shipping industry for those new to the sector or who need some knowledge of the way it works.

Over a couple of hundred pages, it ranges far and wide to underline the global signifi cance of the shipping industry and to explain the many factors that determine the scale and nature of operations today.

A former engineer offi cer with Shell Tankers, Nigel Draffi n is well placed to have written the book — with many years of experience at sea and ashore, and involvement in such varied areas as newbuildings, control and safety systems, and bunkering.

Clearly written and supported throughout by good graphics and illustrations, the book moves from an overview of maritime trade to the fundamentals of ship design and operation, and the many diff erent vessel types, as well as sections on ports, pilotage, pollution, propulsion and safety.

One chapter explains onboard organisation, covering manning, training, watchkeeping, navigation and communications. The book also explains the way the industry is controlled and regulated through

classifi cation and insurance, international conventions and maritime law.

There is a strong focus on the economics of shipping, with excellent explanations of the diff erent forms of charter arrangements, contracts of aff reightment, shipbroking and vessel vetting, as well as sale and purchase, ownership structures and fi nance arrangements.

The book doesn’t disappoint with a good glossary section explaining shipping terms and abbreviations and appendices with illustrating vessel type dimensions and charter party agreements, together with a list of organisations for further information (which could have been many times longer…).

Evocative collection helps us travel back in time Pleasure Steamers of the Yorkshire CoastBy Andrew GladwellAmberley Press, £14.99ISBN: 978 14456 14540fwww.amberleybooks.com

KPaddle steamers were a familiar sight around the British coast

in the previous two centuries, giving everyday folk a brief taste of life at sea.

This is author Andrew Gladwell’s fourth book on the subject, focusing on those vessels which plied their trade around the Yorkshire coast. It follows a design and layout which will be familiar to those who have

read other books from the maritime history press powerhouse of Amberley Publishing.

The narrative is well researched and more emotive than books of a similar type can be. Rather than simply a collection of cold facts about the birth, life and end of the vessel, there are several attempts to encourage the reader to picture themselves on the vessel, experiencing one of the day trips for themselves — smelling the smoke billowing from the funnels and feeling the sea-wind in their hair.

Mr Gladwell describes how passengers became very loyal to the steamers they would travel on during their summer holidays, often returning year after year to the boats they knew. Companies quickly realised this and ensured that crews also remained the same to welcome customers year after year. Such was the popularity of Captain Duncan of the Bilsdale in Scarborough, that his picture was used in advertising campaigns.

The images in the book are all

black and white and some are a little grainy but this adds to the romanticism rather than detracting from it. There are also the usual display of postcards, posters and people onboard, making this a pleasant addition to any maritime history collection.

Money for old rope…?Titanic & Her SistersBy Janette & Campbell McCutcheonAmberley, £19.99ISBN: 978 84868 681101 fwww.amberleybooks.com

KDear readers, the Nautilus Telegraph’s editor and staff

regret that, since the end of 2012, we have no longer been able to off er a Titanic-themed book review every month. Rest assured, however, that the supply of newly-published Titanic works has only slightly diminished, and those with a pressing need for such items will still be well-served by the Telegraph and the Marine Society Shop…

If Down Amongst the Black Gang (May Telegraph) was too grimy and technical for you and The Unseen Britannic (March) was too full of injured servicemen, we now have Titanic & Her Sisters, which pays proper respect to the maritime disaster’s Kate ‘n’ Leo fanbase.

Subtitled ‘A postcard history’, Titanic & Her Sisters is an entry-level work which is probably best treated as a gift for a teenage relative. If you’ve ever read anything about the Titanic, Olympic and Britannic, there won’t be much here that’s new to you. Having said that, the

stories of the vessels are told clearly and concisely, and the book is, as promised, illustrated with a selection of contemporary postcards, as well as photos, posters and other memorabilia.

Interestingly, at one point the authors themselves say: ‘It seems as if the interest in the Titanic will never cease.’ They obviously believe they’re meeting a need, and they’re probably right, but it’s a pretty cynical bit of work to rehash such well-known material and fl og it for 20 quid, however nicely presented it may be.

Thrilling tale challenges our preconceptionsSea of GoldBy Nick ElliottSeaward Publishing, £7.99Also available as an ebook from AmazonISBN-13: 978 09929 02834

KThe world of shipping insurance might seem a strange choice

for a thriller that takes in geo-political issues including breakaway republics in eastern Europe and tribal wars in the Philippines.

But this debut novel from Nick Elliott — a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers — is unusual

in many ways, using the complex chains of ship ownership, chartering and management as the basis for an action-packed adventure in which a maritime claims investigator becomes a Bond-like fi gure seeking to crack an evil conspiracy.

The action fl its from Georgia to Greece, Scotland to Thailand, and Exmouth to Mindanao as the protagonist tries to get to the bottom of a mysterious ship loss in the Indian Ocean. To say much more would risk giving away plot details that twist and turn and deliver surprises right up to the closing pages.

While some of the characters come across as somewhat stereotypical, the depth and complexity of the plot keeps things interesting and the narrative rattles along at a relentless pace. Nick Elliott began his career as a boarding agent attending ships in the port of Leith and you wonder whether you should be worried when he states that more than a few of the events described in Sea of Gold are inspired by his own experiences.

OFFWATCH books

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 33

1914: The First World War at Sea in PhotographsBy Phil CarradiceAmberley, £14.99ISBN: 978 14456 22330fwww.amberleybooks.com

KWhile imagery of the terrible conditions in the trenches often dominates the

documentary accounts of the First World War, the confl ict also had a profound effect on maritime strategy, and this book offers a valuable testimony to the battlegrounds of the sea.

As the title suggests, this is largely an image-led production, but author Phil Carradice punctuates the pictures with well written, concise and informative text — opening the book with an excellent explanation of the ‘Great Naval Race’ between Britain and Germany before 1914.

It was described as the war to end all wars —

sadly, not something that came to fruition — and on its outbreak in August 1914, many famously thought the so-called Great War would be over by Christmas. Mr Carradice sets the scene well, describing some of the fl aws in naval planning that were to cost Britain dear in the months to come, as the Admiralty struggled to keep pace with German fl eet expansion.

The book outlines the thinking and tactics applied by both sides — noting the innovative interception of wireless messages, the threat of U-boats, the deployment of armed merchant cruisers and the extensive use of mines and torpedoes.

There are some very powerful illustrations — not least contemporary prints showing the aftermath of U-boat attacks — as well as more unusual shots of crew members off duty or trying to enjoy themselves in the face of adversity.

Some colour posters also provide a different perspective, showing the drive to recruit sailors for the war at sea.

Month-by-month accounts of the key developments in the war underline how rapidly it spread and also how far the theatre of war extended — including action in the Indian Ocean and the Falkland Islands by the year end.

Telling the story of the war through pictures works well, and the images certainly convey the very different elements of the confl ict at sea. The downside is that there can sometimes be a lack of narrative continuity. The book ends somewhat abruptly, and it would have merited a concluding chapter in the style of the excellent introduction to summarise how the war

evolved and to hint at the way in which it would unfold in the years to come.

MacBrayne Ships By Alistair DeaytonAmberley, £19.99ISBN: 978 14456 35828fwww.amberleybooks.com

KUsing the tried and tested formula of collat-ing a wealth of old material, including old

photographs, paintings and posters, interlaced with fairly brief introductory text, this new title celebrates the mighty MacBraynes — which dominated the Scottish Western Isles services for almost a century before the launch of Caledonian MacBrayne in 1973.

Author Alistair Deayton fairly rattles through the company’s history, delving back to the 1850s

and the steamship operations run by David Hutcheson & Co, in which David MacBrayne was a junior partner.

There are some fantastic old photographs and they leave the distinct impression that Mr Deayton worked very hard to amass quite so much material. It’s a shame, however, that the text is not more substantial, as there are hints of some remarkable stories to be told — such as the Hutcheson vessel Fingal, which ended up as US Navy ironclad gunboat, or the company’s brush with near-bankruptcy in the 1920s after the loss of three ships.

The book takes the story right up to recent times, with the revival of the David MacBrayne name as the holding company for the various elements of the CalMac group, and the more than 200 illustrations convey the great variety and development of the vessels used for the services.

ould have e of the

evolved and to hint at the way in which it would

and the steamship operations run by David

thwItsustFigba

tinael

Image-led history takes us beyond the trenches

BOOK SAVINGSTelegraph readers can buy the books reviewed on these pages at a whopping 25% discount on publisher’s price through the Marine Society’s online shop.

gTo qualify for this off er, readers need to make their purchase at www.marinesocietyshop.org. Click on the ‘Books of the month’ button with the Nautilus logo to see the books featured in the Telegraph, and use the promotional code Nautilus when buying your book.

Decent pictures, but text in short supply

33_books.indd 33 18/06/2014 18:09

FOp 12 en 13 mei jl. organiseerde Nautilus ledenvergaderingen

aan boord van de Pride of Bruges en de Pride of Rotterdam. Tijdens deze inspirerende varende bijeenkomsten hebben Nautilus en de leden in dienst van P&O NSF de voorstellen geformuleerd voor verlenging van de CAO die op 31 december 2013 afl iep. Ook werd de aanvliegroute bepaald voor aanpassing van het nieuwe reglement.

Bij het formuleren van de voorstellen voor de nieuwe CAO met P&O NSF is het arbeidsvoorwaardenbeleid van de FNV voor 2014 richtinggevend geweest. Onderdeel van dit beleid is dat de arbeidsvoorwaardenruimte zoveel mogelijk wordt omgezet in geld en arbeidsvoorwaarden die zekerheid scheppen. In het beleid wordt uitgegaan van een totale loonruimte van 3%. Een deel van de loonruimte kan besteed worden aan aanpassing en vereenvoudiging van het huidige reglement, waarvoor de werkgever de concepttekst zal aanleveren. Tijdens de ledenvergaderingen is besproken dat de afspraken die in CAO-verband worden gemaakt, meegenomen kunnen worden bij de vereenvoudiging van het nieuwe reglement.

VoorstellenHet voorstel is om te komen tot een nieuwe CAO met een looptijd van één jaar, lopend van 1 januari tot en met 31

december 2014. Een langere looptijd is bespreekbaar, zij het onder dezelfde condities als voor het eerste jaar. Er wordt voorgesteld om de gages te verhogen conform de afgeleide prijscompensatie (APC).

Verder stelt Nautilus voor om álle zeevarenden — ongeacht hun functie — een aantal extra verlofdagen toe te kennen. Inzet is dat de zeevarenden over voldoende verlof beschikken om het huidige vaar- verlof schema in te vullen en het niet meer noodzakelijk is om verlof bij te kopen.

Omdat er bij P&O NSF weinig doorgroeimogelijkheden zijn, wil de vakbond dat aan de bovenkant van het loongebouw een extra anciënniteit wordt ingevoerd.

Levensfasebewust personeelsbeleid Zoals bij menig werkgever, wordt ook bij P&O NSF aandacht besteed aan een levensfasebewust personeelsbeleid. Hierbij valt te denken aan een gezonde leefomgeving aan boord van de schepen. Maar ook de reeds bestaande mogelijkheid voor ouderen in dienst van P&O NSF om parttime te gaan werken, valt onder het levensfasebewust personeelsbeleid. De vakbond stelt voor dat de werkgever dit (deels) fi nancieel gaat ondersteunen.

Nieuw reglementDe voorstellenbrief is inmiddels

naar de werkgever verzonden en dient als uitgangspunt voor de CAO-onderhandelingen. De komende maanden worden de werknemers intensief betrokken bij het geheel. Zo zullen de kaderleden van Nautilus meegaan tijdens de CAO-onderhandelingen. Een speciale werkgroep, bestaande uit zeevarenden van alle drie de departementen binnen P&O NSF (dek, machinekamer en OBS), de werkgever en de vakbond, gaat zich bezighouden met de inrichting van het nieuwe reglement. De daadwerkelijke aanpassing hiervan zal plaatsvinden nadat de CAO-onderhandelingen zijn afgerond. We houden u op de hoogte van de voortgang.

NL NEWS

34 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

AEen opeenstapeling van gebeurtenissen kan soms leiden tot vervelende gevolgen voor een

werknemer. Dankzij de professionele hulp en advies van de medewerkers van Nautilus International, heeft het lid uit onderstaand verhaal weer een toekomstperspectief bij zijn werkgever.

Ons lid, al tientallen jaren in dienst bij dezelfde werkgever, werd geconfronteerd met een vervelende kwestie. Tijdens bunkerwerkzaamheden sloot een collega een slang op de verkeerde manier aan. Hierdoor werd een verkeerd product geleverd. Dit product werd bij een ander product gepompt dat al in de betreffende bunker zat, met een fl inke contaminatie tot gevolg waarvoor ons lid en zijn collega zich op kantoor moesten verantwoorden. Tijdens de werkzaamheden waarbij de contaminatie ontstond was ons lid gezagvoerder. Zijn collega werkte doorgaans ook als gezagvoerder op een ander schip. Ons lid vertelde de werkgever dat op het moment van de contaminatie hij zelf bezig was een storing te verhelpen in de computer. Zijn collega bood daarom aan de slangen te wisselen. Pas na enige tijd ontdekten zij samen de fout en zetten de pompen stil. Het leed was echter al geschied.

DegradatieDe werkgever besloot naar aanleiding van dit voorval dat ons lid geen gezagvoerder meer kon zijn; als gezagvoerder had hij mee moeten kijken toen de slangen verwisseld werden. Ons lid was van mening dat zijn zeer ervaren collega deze klus best zelfstandig kon uitvoeren. Gezien de vaak drukke werkzaamheden, was het bovendien niet gebruikelijk dit soort zaken gezamenlijk te controleren. Nadat ons lid een brief had ontvangen met daarin de degradatie en de mededeling dat dit ook gevolgen had voor het salaris, nam hij contact op met Nautilus voor bijstand. Nautilus verzocht vervolgens

middels een brief aan de werkgever de degradatie ongedaan te maken. De werkgever was het hier in eerste instantie niet mee eens. Na diverse emails en telefoontjes werd ons lid door de werkgever uitgenodigd voor een gesprek waarin hij door Nautilus werd bijgestaan.

ProefperiodeNa lang met elkaar gesproken te hebben, werd afgesproken dat de werkgever over de kwestie zou nadenken en dat een besluit spoedig zou volgen. Enige weken later bood de werkgever ons lid een proefperiode aan van zes maanden aan met de belofte dat hij daarna in functie hersteld zou worden.

Enkele dagen na het verstrijken van de proefperiode vond een vervelend voorval plaats. Tijdens het laden van een tankauto liep een tank over. Gelukkig viel de schade mee en de vervuiling kon eenvoudig opgeruimd worden. Desondanks besloot ons lid het voorval te melden aan de werkgever,

die een paar uur later zelf kwam kijken. Er viel echter niets meer te zien: de tankauto was al weg en er was geen schade. Ons lid ging er vanuit dat het voorval geen verdere gevolgen zouden hebben. Helaas vond de werkgever dit de zoveelste ‘fout’ en ons lid werd geschorst totdat een onderzoek naar voorval afgerond was. Omdat ons lid ook dit keer vond dat de verantwoordelijkheid niet bij hem gezocht kon worden, besloot de werkgever hem terug te zetten naar de laagst mogelijke functie. Hier was ons lid het niet mee eens en trok opnieuw aan de bel bij Nautilus. Er ging weer een brief uit naar de werkgever en ook volgden diverse telefoon-gesprekken en emails. De werkgever was niet op andere gedachten te brengen en besloot vast te houden aan de degradatie naar de laagste functie. Omdat de enige weg nog een rechtsgang was, werd de zaak naar de advocate van Nautilus doorverwezen.

In gesprekNadat de werkgever werd gedagvaard, stelde de rechtbank een mediationtraject voor. Dit werd door zowel ons lid als de werkgever geaccepteerd. Diverse gesprekken later leken ons lid — bijgestaan door een medewerker van Nautilus — en de werkgever muurvast en lijnrecht tegenover elkaar te zitten. Nautilus stelde de werkgever daarom voor om tijdens een kop koffi e samen na te denken over een voor beide partijen acceptabele oplossing. De werkgever ging hiermee akkoord en na een week zaten werkgever en Nautilus rond de tafel om binnen een half uur tot een oplossing in de vorm van een scholings-traject te komen. Hiermee werd een vervelende juridische procedure voorkomen die alleen maar verliezers zou kennen. Omdat werkgever en ons lid, bijgestaan door Nautilus, ondanks alles met elkaar in gesprek bleven, is een vervelende kwestie voor alle partijen goed opgelost. En ons lid gaat nog altijd met veel plezier naar zijn werk!

Uit de dienstgang

Nautilus en leden P&O NSF bepalen inzet en aanvliegroute voor CAO-onderhandelingen

CEenmaal in de vijf jaar wordt de representativiteit van het

Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de Rijn- & Binnenvaart door het ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegen-heid getoetst. Om alle werkgevers in de bedrijfstak te verplichten tot deelname aan het Bedrijfspen-sioenfonds, moet het georganiseerde bedrijfsleven een meerderheid van 55% vertegenwoordigen van de werkzame personen. De Staats-secretaris had het Bedrijfspen-sioenfonds eerder uitstel verleend voor het aanleveren van opgave van de representativiteit tot uiterlijk april 2014. Verder uitstel wilde de staatssecretaris echter niet geven. Per 31 maart 2014 is door het fonds een representativiteitsopgave en een Assurance rapport aangeleverd. Uit de stukken blijkt dat er sprake is van een representativiteitsuitkomst van slechts 52,33%. Ondanks dat de 55% niet gehaald is, wordt de ver-plichtstelling wél tot 2018 gehand-haafd. En dat is goed nieuws!

In principe wordt de verplichtstel-ling ingetrokken als er bij de herha-lingstoets sprake is van een meerder-heid tussen de 50% en de 55%, tenzij er naar oordeel van de minister van SZW sprake is van bijzondere omstan-digheden. En de minister heeft nu geoordeeld dat daar inderdaad sprake is. Zo hebben de economische omstandigheden er mede toe geleid dat de representativiteitsgegevens nét onder de maat scoren; de verwachtingen voor de toekomst zijn echter positief. Daarnaast bestaat er sinds 1 januari jl. een nieuwe werkgeversvereniging: Binnenvaart Logistiek Nederland (BLN). Hierin zijn de werkgeversvereniging Binnenvaart Branche Unie (BBU) en een deel van de ledengroep Varende Ondernemers van het Centraal Bureau voor de Rijn- en Binnenvaart (CBRB) toegetreden. Deze herstructurering neemt de nodige tijd in beslag en is derhalve

ook van invloed op de representati-viteitsgegevens. Voorgaande in aan-merking nemende, heeft de minister doen besluiten de verplichtstelling de komende jaren te handhaven.

Goede onderhandelings-positie Voor de bedrijfstak is dat goed nieuws; het zou de sector immers niet ten goede komen als de verplichtstel-ling wegvalt. De kans is dan reëel aan-wezig dat werkgevers de werknemers-pensioenen elders onderbrengen of, erger, helemaal geen pensioenrege-ling voor hun medewerkers treff en. Het wegvallen van de verplichtstelling zou ook de onderhandelingspositie van het fonds in de gesprekken met andere partijen geen goed doen. De garantie op toekomstige premie-instroom en verversing van het deelnemersbestand zijn belangrijke onderwerpen bij onderhandelingen met andere pensioenfondsen. De verplichtstelling zorgt er voor dat een zo goed mogelijke regeling voor de leden van Nautilus gerealiseerd én vastgehouden kan worden.

Nieuwe pensioenregelingMomenteel is Nautilus samen met het CNV in gesprek met werkgevers over een nieuwe pensioenregeling. De werkgevers hebben aangegeven zowel de tijdelijke bijdrage in de VPL-regeling als de bijdrage ter versterking van het fonds van in totaal 4% te willen afschaff en. l Dit voorstel is bij de vakbonden niet in goede aarde geval-len, aangezien de werkgevers er niets tegenover hebben gesteld maar enkel uit zijn op een ordinaire bezuiniging. Dit is voor de Nautilus niet aanvaard-baar Nautilus wil best praten over een aanpassing van de tijdelijke werkgeversbijdrage maar dan moet daar wel iets tegenover staan. Daar wordt nu verder over nagedacht. We houden u op de hoogte van de voortgang.

Bedrijfspensioensfonds Rijn- & Binnenvaart:Verplichtstelling deelname gehandhaafd

Wij hebben Facebook.Volg ons ook!Bezoek www.nautilusint.org

Volg ons op Twitter

De poll van deze maand is: Denkt u dat het goed is te veronderstellen dat de kapitein als laatste persoon een zinkend schip moet verlaten? Geef ons uw mening online, op www.nautilusnl.org

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Nee59%

Geef uw meningVorige maand vroegen wij: Denk u dat het veilig is om de anti piraterij zeemacht bij Somalië te reduceren?

34-35_nl_18.06.14.indd 34 18/06/2014 17:07

NL NEWS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 35

COnlangs heeft Nautilus een onderhandelingsresultaat

bereikt met respectievelijk John T. Essberger B.V. en Tarbit Tankers Services B.V. over de nieuwe CAO’s. Voor beide rederijen gaat het om een tweejarige CAO, lopend van 1 januari 2014 tot en met 31 december 2015.

Vanwege de nieuwe milieueisen moest een aantal schepen bij Tarbit Tankers aangepast worden wat tot hogere kosten heeft geleid. De werkgever wilde daarom liever geen loonsverhoging doorvoeren in de nieuwe CAO. Nautilus daarentegen pleitte voor een loonsverhoging op minimaal infl atieniveau. Uiteindelijk zijn de onderhandelingspartijen op een loonsverhoging uitgekomen van 2% per 1 januari 2014 en 1% per 1 januari 2015.

Rust op de werkvloerBij John T. Essberger is bijna een zelfde resultaat bereikt. Hier betreft de loonsverhoging en overige emolumenten per 1 januari 2014 1% en per 1 januari 2015 minimaal 2%. Mochten de loon- en arbeidsvoorwaarden (lees: infl atie) van het kantoorpersoneel of de kapiteins daartoe aanleiding geven, dank kan dit percentage

hoger uitvallen.Er is gekozen voor een

tweejarige CAO om rust op de werkvloer te krijgen na de (gedeeltelijke) reorganisatie afgelopen jaar.

ZorgverzekeringswetVoor de leden in dienst van John T. Essberger is de zorgverzekeringsvergoeding gebaseerd op het budget zoals dat in 2006 beschikbaar was. Het gaat hierbij om een totaal aan kosten van de premie ZVW en de vergoedingen zorgverzekering aan de zeevaart- en walmedewerkers. Per 1 januari 2015 wordt het budget over het dan in dienst zijnde personeel verdeeld. Vanwege de personele wisselingen in 2014 zal dit naar verwachting leiden tot een hogere bijdrage.

LedenvergaderingHet bestuur van Nautilus heeft beide resultaten met een gematigd positief advies aan de leden voorgelegd. Bij zowel Tarbit Tankers als bij John T. Essberger vindt op 12 juni een ledenvergadering plaats waar de leden zich kunnen uitspreken over het bereikte principeakkoord. Tijdens het ter perse gaan van dit nummer was de uitslag hiervan nog niet bekend.

Nieuwe CAO’s voor tankrederijen John T. Essberger en Tarbit Tankers

FNa meerdere constructieve gesprekken, zijn Fairstar

Heavy Transport en Nautilus tot een principeakkoord gekomen voor een tweejarige CAO, lopend van 1 januari 2014 tot en met 31 december 2015. Omdat de lonen dit jaar niet worden verhoogd, zal het onderhan-delingsresultaat met een gematigd positief advies aan de leden worden voorgelegd.

In de CAO voor 2013 is voor werk-nemers een eenmalige bonus van een maandsalaris overeengekomen die uitbetaald wordt in 2014. De rederij stelt daarom dat er voor 2014 geen loon-ruimte is voor een loonsverhoging. Per 1 januari 2015 worden de lonen en de afgeleide componenten daarentegen wel verhoogd, met 2%.

Verder is overeengekomen dat de overwerkvergoedingen van de junior-rangen en bootslieden kostenneutraal in de vaste maandgage wordt verwerkt. Voordeel hiervan is dat men gedurende het jaar een gelijk inkomen heeft

ongeacht of men vaart of met verlof is. Verwerking van de overwerking vergoeding in de gage is positief voor de pensioenopbouw. Ook het verkrijgen van hypotheek is makkelijker bij een hoger vast maandinkomen.

Evenwichtiger vaar-/verlof-schemaWat betreft het vaar-/verlofschema heeft de werkgever beloofd zijn uiterste best te doen om tot een evenwichtiger een eerlijker verdeling hiervan te komen. Concreet betekent dit dat niet elk jaar dezelfde zeevarenden tijdens de kerstperiode en zomervakantie aan boord zullen zijn. Fairstar heeft aange-geven nadrukkelijk de mogelijkheden te onderzoeken om meer verantwoorde-lijkheid voor de planning aan boord te

leggen, zodat de zeevarenden zelf tot een zo eerlijk mogelijke vaar-/verlofver-deling kunnen komen.

Kaderleden vrijgesteldOok hebben de onderhandelingspar-tijen afgesproken dat kaderleden acht werkdagen per jaar vrij krijgen met behoud van loon voor het bijwonen van door Nautilus belegde vergaderingen. De overige leden krijgen hiervoor twee werkdagen per jaar vrij.

Gematigd positiefMede vanwege het feit dat de leden in 2014 geen loonsverhoging tegemoet zullen zien, legt het Nautilusbestuur het onderhandelingsresultaat met een gematigd positief advies aan de leden voor. Het laatste woord is nu aan hen…

Fairstar enNautilus bereiken principe-akkoord

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CONTACT OP MET:

Tom Poole at Redactive Media

Sales T: +44 (0)20 7880 6217F: +44 (0)20 7880 7691

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AHij of zij levert een actieve bijdrage aan het ontwikkelen,

uitdragen en realiseren van de collectieve belangenbehartiging in de maritieme sector.

Nautilus International maakt zich sterk voor veiligheid en leefb aarheid aan boord van schepen. De afnemende werkgelegenheid door concurrentie uit lage lonenlanden is een grote zorg. Daarom is een sterke internationale vakbond belangrijk, die opkomt voor de werknemers in de binnenvaart, koopvaardij, off shore, waterbouw en aanverwante walbedrijven.

In deze functie geeft u sturing en draagt u actief bij aan het formuleren van een strategische visie en het ontwikkelen, voorbereiden en uitvoeren van beleid van de collectieve belangenbehartiging. Het betreft een internationale werkomgeving in een dynamisch en breed werkveld. De bestuurder richt zich op collectieve belangenbehartiging voor leden en het vertegenwoordigen van Nautilus International in nationale en internationale overlegorganen.

U beschikt over academisch werk- en denkniveau , een brede algemene ontwikkeling en sociaal- economisch inzicht. Aangevuld met kennis van één of meer van de volgende deelgebieden: arbeidsrecht, sociaal verzekeringsrecht, arbeidsvoorwaarden en pensioenen. U heeft een maritieme achtergrond en/of affi niteit met de maritieme sector.

Wij bieden een leuke baan in een interessante organisatie. Een gevarieerd takenpakket in een werkomgeving waar teamwork én eigen initiatief belangrijk zijn.

De arbeidsovereenkomst is voor de duur van een jaar met de intentie deze bij goed functioneren voor onbepaalde tijd voort te zetten.

gAanvullende informatie: www.nautilusnl.org/informatie of neem contact op met Martijn Jansen, P&O adviseur telefoon 010 2862986.

gStuur je sollicitatie met CV vóór maandag 25 juli 2014 naar Nautilus International, t.a.v. Martijn Jansen P&O adviseur, Postbus 8575, 3009 AN Rotterdam. Mailen mag ook: personeelszaken@nautilusint.org.

Nautilus International zoekt: Ervaren Bestuurder/Aankomend Hoofdbestuurder

ADe onderhandelingen hadden nogal wat voeten in de aarde en

het duurde lang voordat Maersk Ship Management (MSM) over de brug kwam met een kleine gageverhoging. Maar na vijf onderhandelingsronden heb-ben Nautilus en MSM dan toch een resultaat bereikt voor een nieuwe CAO over een periode van drie jaar en drie maanden. De looptijd is van 1 januari 2014 tot en met 31 maart 2017.

Ondanks het feit dat Maersk Line in 2013 een goede ontwik-keling heeft doorgemaakt én er 1 miljard dollar meer winst gemaakt is ten opzichte van 2012 (400 miljoen dollar), bood MSM pas na het derde overleg een kleine gageverhoging. Hierbij stelde de werkgever een aantal voorwaarden; een daarvan was dat de stappen in de dienstjaren van één naar twee jaar werden verhoogd. Ten opzichte van de geboden gageverhoging betekende dit echter dat de hui-dige verdiensten over de gehele loopbaan door alle zeevarenden (senior offi cieren, offi cieren en gezellen) niet meer gehaald gaan worden, met andere woorden: een achteruitgang in gage. Namens de leden hebben wij een dringend beroep op de onder-handelingsdelegatie van MSM

gedaan om deze voorwaarde te laten vallen. En dat is gelukt!

De onderhandelingspartijen zijn een gageverhoging overeengekomen van 1,6% per 1 januari 2014, 0,4% per 1 januari 2015, 1,7% per 1 april 2015 en 1,8% per 1 april 2016. Ook zijn afspraken gemaakt over het integreren van levensfasebewust personeelsbeleid in het reguliere personeelsbeleid.

Meer voorwaardenAndere voorwaarden die MSM stelde, waren het vervallen van de uniformtoelage, vermindering van verlof voor junior offi cieren en het vervallen van de mentortoelage. Tijdens de onderhandelingen heeft Nautilus aangegeven dat zelfs het behouden van de huidige uniformtoelage niet gezien kan worden als een loonsverhoging; Na advies van de vakbond heeft MSM dit voorstel ingetrokken. Met betrekking tot het verminderen van verlof voor junior offi cieren heeft Nautilus, mede door ervaringen uit het verleden en het feit dat nieuwe junior offi cieren hierdoor worden getroffen, aangegeven dat dit onbespreekbaar is. Over de mentortoelage is afgesproken dat deze per 1 januari 2015 in de maandelijkse gage van de

betreffende rangen wordt verdisconteerd.

Defi nitie zondagenVanuit internationalisering van de CAO stelde MSM voor een aantal genoemde ‘zondagen’ in de huidige defi nitie aan te passen aan de huidige ontwikkelingen, zoals 5 mei naar 1 x per 5 jaar en de Goede Vrijdag te laten vervallen. Het anders inrichten van de zondagen heeft voor de berekening van overwerkvergoedingen van de gezellen echter dubbele consequenties, namelijk geen feestdag en geen overwerk. Er is afgesproken dat de gezellen per 1 januari 2015 twee extra periodieke verlofdagen per jaar krijgen, ter compensatie van het gemiste overwerk en het werken op die dag.

EindbodUiteindelijk hebben deze onderhandelingen geresulteerd in, opnieuw, een mager resultaat dat MSM als een eindbod neerlegt. Dit resultaat is vast-gelegd in een resultatenlijst, welke op het moment van schrijven nog voorzien moet worden van een advies van het bestuur, voordat het in een beslissende vergadering aan de leden wordt voorgelegd.

Nautilus en Maersk Ship Management bereiken overeenstemming voor 3-jarige CAO

34-35_nl_18.06.14.indd 35 18/06/2014 17:07

ACCOUNTS

36 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

Financialstatements

Nautilus International’s accounts for the year 2013 have been externally audited and approved by Council. The accounts — which appear below — were submitted in accordance with the Union’s rules to the Nautilus International Council in April 2014. They show that Nautilus International continues to have an underlying strong fi nancial provision, with suffi cient resources available to meet members’ requirements.

STATEMENT OF COUNCIL AND GENERAL SECRETARY’S RESPONSIBILITIES

zRule 10 of the Nautilus International Rules provides that the Council is responsible for the absolute control

and administration of the affairs and property of the Union and thus for safeguarding the assets of the Union. Rule 22.2 provides that the General Secretary shall provide Council with such financial statements as it may require.

The General Secretary is responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Union and for ensuring that the financial statements comply with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 as amended and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Law applicable to Trade Unions requires the preparation of financial statements for each financial year which give

a true and fair view of the Union’s activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing those financial statements, the General Secretary is required to:z select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistentlyz make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudentz state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statementsz prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Union will continue in operation.

BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2013 2013 2012Fixed assets Note £ £ £ £Freehold land and buildings 2 462,270 471,135Motor vehicles 2 148,195 142,622Equipment 2 171,716 186,679 782,181 800,436

Investments 3 6,968,325 6,392,163 7,750,506 7,192,599Current assets Debtors and prepayments 515,347 482,693Cash at bank and in hand - Current accounts 530,777 552,252 - Deposit accounts 214,077 166,546 1,260,201 1,201,491 Less: Creditors 4 (1,039,006) (912,798) 221,195 288,693Net assets excluding pension liability 7,971,701 7,481,292SPF pension (liability) 11 (589,000) (133,000)

NET assets 7,382,701 7,348,292

ReservesGeneral Fund 7 5,052,529 5,280,219Legal Defence Fund 8 1,962,130 1,700,031Revaluation Reserve 5 368,042 368,042 7,382,701 7,348,292

The fi nancial statements were approved and authorised for issue on 3 April 2014and were signed by: Ulrich Jurgens Chair A M Dickinson General Secretary

CASH FLOW STATEMENT AT 31 DECEMBER 2013 2013 2012Reconciliation from operating Note £ £ £ £surplus to net cash fl ow from operations:Operating surplus 324,164 759,827 Investment income (206,271) (223,830) SPF contributions (175,000) (125,000) SPF current year costs 72,000 69,000 Depreciation 172,829 224,919 (Gain)/loss on disposal of fi xed assets (7,211) 8,892 Corporation tax deducted from income 24,830 3,121 (Increase) in debtors and prepayments (32,654) (80,769) Increase in creditors 101,323 160,873

Net cash infl ow from operations 274,010 797,033

Returns on investment and servicing of fi nance Investment income receivable 206,271 223,830 206,271 223,830

Taxation (17,926) (3,616)

Capital expenditure and fi nancial investment Payments to acquire tangible fi xed assets (172,463) (221,252) Proceeds from disposal of tangible fi xed assets 25,100 78,152 Payments to acquire investments (2,428,502) (2,614,249) Proceeds from disposal of investments 2,139,566 2,206,071 (436,299) (551,278)

Net cash infl ow for the year 26,056 465,969

Net funds at 1st January 718,798 252,829

Net funds at 31st December 744,854 718,798

STATEMENT OF INCOME & EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2013

General Legal Note Fund £ Defence fund £ Total £ 2012 £Subscription income from individual members 3,264,560 264,694 3,529,254 3,489,063Subscription income from MemorandumAgreements with employers 2,257,594 183,048 2,440,642 1,981,797Contribution from RLE 500,989 - 500,989 491,014Investment income net of corporation tax 6 200,706 - 200,706 221,583Advertising revenue 567,580 - 567,580 539,302Other income net of corporation tax 6 66,025 - 66,025 36,060

6,857,454 447,742 7,305,196 6,758,819Expenditure Travel and general organising 539,876 - 539,876 467,974Elections and BGM costs 99,386 - 99,386 92,664Legal defence costs - 185,643 185,643 190,325Affi liations and council expenses 245,031 - 245,031 248,168Telegraph — net cost 603,473 - 603,473 599,852Phone, post, printing and stationery 265,761 - 265,761 243,141Professional fees and bank charges 326,173 - 326,173 198,691Donations 36,030 - 36,030 32,923Staff costs 3,189,242 - 3,189,242 2,944,027Pension fund asset and costs 11 802,920 - 802,920 229,931Building costs 385,101 - 385,101 370,278Computer and equipment costs 136,778 - 136,778 147,207(Gain)/loss on disposal of motor vehicles (7,211) - (7,211) 8,892Depreciation — Freehold buildings 8,865 - 8,865 8,865 Motor vehicles 58,915 - 58,915 65,855 Computers and equipment 105,049 - 105,049 150,199 6,795,389 185,643 6,981,032 5,998,992

Total operating surplus 62,065 262,099 324,164 759,827Foreign exchange net movement 51,305 - 51,305 (34,339)Profi t on sale of investments net of corporation tax 6 217,940 - 217,940 273,268

Total surplus for the year 331,310 262,099 593,409 998,756

Statement of total recognised gains and losses 2013 £ 2012 £Total surplus for the year 593,409 998,756Actuarial (losses)/gains on SPF net pension costs (559,000) (77,000)Gain on revaluation of land and buildings - -

Total recognised gains and losses related to the year 34,409 921,756

Nautilus International expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2013

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36-37_accounts_july14.indd 3636-37_accounts_july14.indd 36 18/06/2014 17:4518/06/2014 17:45

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES1.1 BASIS OF ACCOUNTING The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of freehold land and buildings, and in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and applicable accounting standards.

1.2 REVENUERevenue is recognised when receivable by the Union and is stated net of VAT where applicable.

1.3 DEPRECIATIONDepreciation is provided using the following rates to reduce by annual instalments the cost of the tangible assets over their useful lives:Freehold buildings 2% straight line Software 6 years straight lineEquipment 10% to 33.33% straight line Motor vehicles 25% straight line

1.4 INVESTMENTSInvestments are included in the financial statements at cost.

1.5 LEGAL DEFENCE FUNDThe annual transfer of members’ contributions to the Legal Defence Fund is 7.5% per annum. In 2013 the reserve has grown to £1.9million as compared to £1.7 million in 2012. The level of the Fund is kept under review.

1.6 PENSION COSTSThe Union participates in two multi employer pension schemes; namely the MNOPF and MNOPP. Contri-butions to the Schemes are charged to the Union’s Income and Expenditure Account as they fall due.

The Union accounts for these schemes as though they were defined contribution schemes as permitted by FRS17. The information required by FRS17 is disclosed in note 11 to the financial statements.

The MNAOA Supplementary Pension Scheme (SPF), a defined benefit scheme, which is administered by Trustees, provides pension benefits for certain members of staff.

The deficit on the SPF defined benefit pension scheme is shown on the balance sheet. Current service costs, curtailments, settlement gains and losses and net financial returns are included in the income and expenditure account in the period to which they relate. Actuarial gains and losses are recognised in the statement of total recognised gains and losses.

1.7 VAT The Union is registered for VAT on a partially exempt basis and therefore irrecoverable VAT has been allocated proportionately against the relevant expense heading.

1.8 TAXATIONThe majority of the Union’s income is exempt from taxation under the mutual trading exemption. Where income is not covered by this exemption, which largely represents investment income, provision for taxation has been made in the accounts.

1.9 FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONSThe Union has operations in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Transactions and balances denominated in Euros and Swiss Francs have been included in these financial statements using the net investment method under SSAP20, with all amounts being translated at the exchange rate ruling at the balance sheet date.

1.10 OPERATING LEASE RENTALS Rental charges under operating leases are recognised as expenditure on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

2. FIXED ASSETS Freehold land Motor Computers & Cost or valuation & buildings £ Vehicles £ Equipment £ Total £At 1st January 2013 480,000 263,421 830,330 1,573,751Additions - 82,377 90,086 172,463Disposal - (71,555) - (71,555)____________________________________________________________________At 31st December 2013 480,000 274,243 920,416 1,674,659____________________________________________________________________

Depreciation At 1st January 2013 8,865 120,799 643,651 773,315Charge for the year 8,865 58,915 105,049 172,829Disposal - (53,666) - (53,666)____________________________________________________________________At 31st December 2012 17,730 126,048 748,700 892,478____________________________________________________________________

Net book value 31st December 2013 462,270 148,195 171,716 782,181____________________________________________________________________31st December 2012 471,135 142,622 186,679 800,436____________________________________________________________________

The freehold land and building at Wallasey was professionally valued on 7th April 2011. Charles Living & Sons valued Nautilus House, on a depreciated replacement cost basis in accordance with the Statements of Asset and Valuation Practice and Guidance Notes as issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

DM Hall valued Bannermill Place on an open market basis on 27th April 2011 in accordance with the Statements of Asset and Valuation Practice and Guidance Notes as issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

If the revalued land and properties were stated on a historical cost basis, the amounts would be as follows: 2013 £ 2012 £Cost 353,778 353,778Accumulated depreciation (255,972) (248,896)____________________________________________________________________Net Book Value 97,806 104,882____________________________________________________________________

3. INVESTMENTS 2013 £ 2012 £Fixed interest securities 2,600,621 2,536,660Other quoted securities Investment Trusts 1,168,047 590,872 Overseas Trusts 697,826 884,034 Equity Holdings 2,325,824 2,204,590____________________________________________________________________ 6,792,318 6,216,156____________________________________________________________________

Market value of quoted investments at 31 December 8,765,469 7,601,160____________________________________________________________________Unquoted Equity holdings 176,007 176,007____________________________________________________________________ Total of quoted and unquoted investments held at cost at 31 December 6,968,325 6,392,163____________________________________________________________________

4. CREDITORS 2013 £ 2012 £Legal Defence Fund costs 141,900 141,900Corporation tax 30,810 5,925VAT 1,215 2,169Other creditors 865,081 762,804____________________________________________________________________ 1,039,006 912,798____________________________________________________________________

5. REVALUATION RESERVE 2013 £Balance at 1 January 2013 368,042Transfer of realised profits to the General Fund -____________________________________________________________________Balance at 31 December 2013 368,042______________________________ ______________________________________

This represents the excess of the revaluation of the Union’s freehold properties over the net book value.

6. TAXATION 2013 £ 2012 £Current year taxation UK corporation tax at 23.25% (2012: 20%) 30,810 5,925Adjustment for prior year underprovision 12,001 (2,804)____________________________________________________________________ 42,811 3,121____________________________________________________________________Reconciliation of tax charge Operating surplus 348,994 762,948____________________________________________________________________Corporation tax at 23.25% (2012: 20%) 81,141 152,590Effects of: Non-taxable activity (55,736) (140,588) Charitable donations (8,377) (6,077) Chargeable gains 18,154 - Marginal relief (4,372) - Prior year adjustments 12,001 (2,804)____________________________________________________________________UK corporation tax 42,811 3,121____________________________________________________________________

The above charge is disclosed in the accounts within the figures for:- Profit on sale of investments 17,981 nil____________________________________________________________________Interest received on general investments 5,565 2,247____________________________________________________________________Other income 19,265 874____________________________________________________________________

7. GENERAL FUND 2013 £Balance at 1st January 2013 5,280,219Surplus for the year 331,310Actuarial losses on pension scheme (559,000)Transfer of realised profits from revaluation reserve -____________________________________________________________________Balance at 31 December 2013 5,052,529

8. LEGAL DEFENCE FUNDThis represents a provision against payments for certain legal costs and provident benefits incurred in accordance with the Rules of the Union. 2013 £Balance at 1st January 2013 1,700,031Surplus for the year 262,099____________________________________________________________________Balance at 31st December 2013 1,962,130______________________________ ______________________________________

9. WELFARE FUNDThe Balance Sheet and Statement of Financial Activities of the Nautilus Welfare Fund, which operate under a Charity Commission Scheme, are published separately.

10. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTSAt the balance sheet date, the Union had the following commitments in respect of non-cancellable operating leases: 2013 £ 2012 £Land and buildings Expiring after more than 5 years 106,995 106,995____________________________________________________________________

11. PENSION COMMITMENTS The Union operates a defined benefit pension scheme, the MNAOA Supplementary Pension Scheme (SPF) for certain members of staff. This scheme is now closed to new entrants. It is funded by the payment of contributions to a separately administered trust fund. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of Nautilus International.

The Union adopts the valuation and disclosure requirements of FRS17. The Union includes the assets and liabilities of the SPF in the Union’s balance sheet, with a subsequent effect on reserves.

The pension contributions are determined with the advice of a qualified actuary on the basis of triennial valuations using the aggregate method. The most recent valuation was conducted as at 31st December 2011, the next triennial valuation will be conducted as at 31 December 2014. The principal assumptions used by the actuaries were Discount Rate of 5.3% for Pre Retirement and 3.0% for Post Retirement and salaries would increase by 3.0% per annum. The market value of the assets at 31st December 2011 was £4,233,000.

Nautilus International pension contribution into the MNAOASPF for the year was £175,000 (2012: £125,000). Contributions to the scheme will be £150,000 each year from 2014 to 2022 with a final balancing payment in 2023.

The most recent valuation and has been updated to reflect conditions at the balance sheet date. The key assumptions were as follows: % per annumMain assumptions 2013 2012Rate of return on investments 3.80 3.50Increase in earnings 3.35 3.00Increase in pensions 3.35 3.00Increase in MNOPF pensions - post April 1997 service 3.35 3.00Inflation rate 3.35 3.00Discount rate 4.30 4.30

Value at Value at 31 December 31 December

£’000 2013 2012Market value of assets 4,456 4,551Present value of scheme liabilities (5,045) (4,684)__________________________ __________________________________________Net pension scheme deficit £(589) £(133)____________________________________________________________________

Analysis of scheme assets £’000 2013 2012Equities 426 456Bonds 3,851 3,963Cash and other asset types 179 132__________________________ __________________________________________ £4,456 £4,551____________________________________________________________________

Reconciliation of FRS 17 actuarial valuation of scheme liabilities: FRS 17 Actuarial valuation of scheme liabilities at the start of the period 4,684 4,378Current service cost 34 35Interest on scheme liabilities 196 211Employee contributions 1 1Loss/(gain) on change of assumptions 525 (127)Experience (gain)/loss on liabilities (92) 278Benefits paid (303) (92)_______________________ _____________________________________________FRS 17 Actuarial valuation of scheme liabilities at the end of the period £5,045 £4,684______________________________________________________ ______________

Reconciliation of fair value of scheme assets: £’000 2013 2012Fair value of scheme assets at the beginning of the period 4,551 4,266Expected return on assets 158 177(Loss)/gain on assets (126) 74Employer contributions 175 125Employee contributions 1 1Benefits paid (303) (92)____________________________________________________________________Fair value of scheme assets at the end of the period £4,456 £4,551_______________________________________________________ _____________

£’000 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009Fair value of scheme assets 4,456 4,551 4,266 3,901 3,511Present value of scheme obligations (5,045) (4,684) (4,378) (4,231) (4,304)____________________________________________________________________Net liability recognised in the balance sheet £(589) £(133) £(112) £(330) £(793)____________________________________________________________________

Experience gains/(losses) on scheme liabilities £92 £(278) £Nil £(579) £Nil____________________________________________________________________Experience gains/(losses) on scheme assets £Nil £Nil £Nil £Nil £Nil____________________________________________________________________

In the opinion of the actuary the resources of the scheme are likely in the normal course of events, to meet in full the liabilities of the scheme as they fall due. The next actuarial valuation is to be carried out as at 31st December 2014.

In addition Nautilus International has financial commitments to pay employer contributions and as laid down in legislation and the trust deeds and rules, to two multi employer pension schemes — the MNOPF, a defined benefit scheme, and the MNOPP, a defined contribution scheme.

The actuarial valuations in March 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 of the MNOPF identified significant deficits in the New Section of the industry wide scheme. This is now being funded by the relevant employers. In 2013 Nautilus International paid off the balance due (£154,815) from both the 2003 and 2006 deficit. The 2009 deficit was paid off in full during 2011. A further deficit of £415,424 as disclosed in the March 2012 Valuation was fully paid off in 2013. These contributions are charged to the income and expenditure account when they become payable.

The Trustees of the pension scheme cannot identify the Union’s share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the MNOPF defined benefit scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis. As explained above, the Union’s pension contributions are assessed in accordance with the advice of a qualified independent actuary whose calculations are based upon the total scheme membership of the MNOPF.

In accordance with FRS17 the scheme is therefore included in the accounts as if it was a defined contribution scheme.

ACCOUNTS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 37

wWe have audited the fi nancial statements of Nautilus International for the year ended

31st December 2013 set out on pages 36 to 37. These fi nancial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out on pages 4 and 5.

This report is made solely to the members of the Nautilus Council, as a body, in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Union members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Union members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditorsAs described on page 36 the Council and General Secretary are responsible for the preparation of fi nancial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting

Standards.Our responsibility is to audit the fi nancial

statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK & Ireland).

We report to you our opinion as to whether the fi nancial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. We also report to you if the Union has not kept proper accounting records, or if we have not received all the infor-mation and explanations we require for our audit.

Scope of the audit of the fi nancial statementsAn audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the fi nancial statements suffi cient to give reasonable assurance that the fi nancial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the charity’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of signifi cant accounting estimates made by the trustees; and the overall presentation of the fi nancial statements.

Opinion on fi nancial statementsIn our opinion the fi nancial statements:zgive a true and fair view of the state of the Union’s affairs as at 31st December 2012 and of its surplus for the year then ended;zhave been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; andzhave been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:zproper accounting records have not been kept; orzthe fi nancial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns.

haysmacintyre, Chartered AccountantsRegistered Auditors, Fairfax House, 15 Fulwood Place, London WC1V 6AY

3rd April 2014

Income and ExpenditureThe total income of the union for the period was £7,565,947. This amount included payments of £5,969,896 in respect of membership of the union. The union’s total expenditure for the period was £7,531,538. The union does not maintain a political fund.

BenefitsThe only person covered under the Act is the General Secretary of the union who was paid £86,723 Gross salary; Employers National Insurance Contributions £10,985; Employers Pension Contributions £12,469; Telephone rental £300; Use of Vehicle £2,061.

Irregularity statementA member who is concerned that some irregularity may be occurring, or have occurred, in the conduct of the financial affairs of the union may take steps with a view to investigating further,

obtaining clarification and, if necessary, securing regularisation of that conduct.

The member may raise any such concern with such one or more of the following as it seems appropriate to raise it with: the officials of the union via Olu Tunde, director of finance, the trustees of the property of the union, the auditor or auditors of the union, the certification officer (who is an independent officer appointed by the Secretary of State) and the police.

Where a member believes that the financial affairs of the union have been or are being conducted in breach of the law or in breach of the rules of the union and contemplates bringing civil proceedings against the union or responsible officials or trustees, he should consider obtaining independent legal advice.

Auditors’ Report from Statement of Accounts

36-37_accounts_july14.indd 3736-37_accounts_july14.indd 37 18/06/2014 17:4518/06/2014 17:45

NAUTILUS AT WORK

38 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

Democracy, expertise and networking...UK Nautilus members invited to September conference in Belfast

wThe threats to members’ jobs, pay, and working conditions in the ferry sector have never been greater than

they are today.In response to concerns voiced by mem-

bers during the Union’s 2013 UK branch conference, Nautilus has launched a major campaign to fi ght for decent employment in the EU ferry trades and to combat unfair competition.

This campaign will form the centrepiece of discussions at this year’s Nautilus UK branch conference. The meeting will not only include progress reports on the work being done to defend jobs and services, but will also feature presentations by key industry fi gures — including UK Chamber of Shipping chief executive Guy Platten, DFDS vice-president HR & crewing Gemma Griffi n, Discover Fer-ries director Bill Gibbons, and Serco North-link Ferries managing director Stuart Garrett.

The special seminar will be hosted in con-junction with the Union’s 2014 UK branch conference, which is being held at the Holi-day Inn, Belfast on 30 September.

Registration for the conference and semi-nar will be open from 0930 on 30 September. The formal part of the day, which will begin at 1030, is reserved for full members only, and will include discussions on the UK branch activities report and any motions submitted by members.

After lunch there will be an industry semi-nar on the ferry sector which will be open to invitees from across the maritime industry. The day will conclude around 1600.

A limited amount of fi nancial assistance is available for those UK–based full members wishing to attend and who otherwise would not be able to make the journey. This will be allocated across the various categories of membership to ensure appropriate repre-sentation for each category of membership of the Union.

The UK national committee is particularly keen to ensure a good turn-out from mem-bers residing in Northern Ireland and Eire (which is why the meeting is being held in Belfast) and is encouraging young and female members to attend. Arrangements will be

made with the hotel for a discounted room rate for members who are not eligible or suc-cessful in securing fi nancial assistance from the Union.

wMotions for debate and decision at the conference need to have the sup-port of four full members and reach

the Nautilus head offi ce by 1700 on 29 August 2013. A pro forma is available right and will also appear on the website www.nautilusint.org. Forms are also available on the website to apply for a place and to apply for fi nancial assistance — these must also be submitted before 29 August.

The conference is open to a maximum of 100 full members in benefi t (all subscrip-tions must be up to date) so UK members need to apply for a place now. Those who have requested, and are approved for, fi nancial assistance will be notifi ed as soon as possible after 29 August.gContact Adele McDonald on +44 (0)20 8989 6677 or email amcdonald@nautilusint.org

WERE YOU AWARE that following the successul outcome of a judicial review in respect of two Seatax clients, (brought before the Courts by Nautilus in collaboration with Seatax Ltd as expert advisors on the Seafarers Earnings Deduction), it was deemed that the two Seatax clients did have a legitimate expectation in applying the only published Revenue Practice with regard to the application of a day of absence in relation to a vessel sailing between UK ports. HMRC did not want to accept this practice (although referred to in their very own publications) but have now accepted that expectations of a claim based on such practice would be valid until the published practice is withdrawn. Following on from this, HMRC have now confi rmed that this Practice is withdrawn as of the 14 February 2014. Seatax was the only Advisory Service that challenged HMRC on this point.

WHY TAKE CHANCES WITH YOUR TAX AFFAIRS?Let Seatax use their knowledge and 35 years experience to

ensure you do not fall foul of the rulesPlease visit our website for full details of the case.

Write, or

phone now

for more

details:

Elgin House, 83 Thorne Road, Doncaster DN1 2ES. Tel: (01302) 364673 - Fax No: (01302) 738526 - E-mail: info@seatax.ltd.uk

www.seatax.ltd.uk

OUR FEES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Annual Return ...................................................................................................... £215.00 inclusive of VAT at 20%

NAUTILUS members in the UK sailing under a foreign fl ag agreement on gross remuneration can obtain a 10% reduction on the above enrolment fee by quoting their NAUTILUS membership number and a 5% reduction on re-enrolment.

Titanic shipyard, Belfast Picture: Thinkstock

2014

Motion proposal formTo General Secretary, Nautilus International Head Office, 1 & 2 The Shrubberies, George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1BD (to arrive no later than 1700 Friday 29 August 2014).

We, as full members, wish to submit the following motion for discussion at the 2014 UK Branch Conference of Nautilus International:

This UK Branch Conference

(Continue on separate sheet if necessary)

1. Name

Mem. No.

Company

Address

Postcode

Signature

Date

2. Name

Mem. No.

Company

Address

Postcode

Signature

Date

3. Name

Mem. No.

Company

Address

Postcode

Signature

Date

4. Name

Mem. No.

Company

Address

Postcode

Signature

Date

38_branch conf.indd Sec2:38 18/06/2014 17:40

APPOINTMENTS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 39

9 July 2014 is the closing date for the August 2014 issue.

You can still advertise online at anytime.

NOTICE TO READERSNautilus International advises members that

some crewing agencies may not be advertising specific positions, but instead may be seeking

to develop their databases of job hunters.

NOT A MEMBER OF NAUTILUS INTERNATIONAL?

Join now on our website Fill out the online application at: www.nautilusint.org

If you have moved recently, your home copy may still be trying to catch up with you — particularly if you gave us a temporary address such as a hall of residence.

To let us know your new address, go to www.nautilusint.org and log in as a member, or contact our membership department on +44 (0)151 639 8454 or membership@nautilusint.org.

Where’s my Telegraph?

Shore-based: +44 (0)23 8020 8840shipping-uk@faststream.com

Seagoing: +44 (0)23 8020 8820seagoing-uk@faststream.com

Search for ‘Faststream Seafarers’

@faststreamsea

www.faststream.com

SHORE BASED

Marine SuperintendentAberdeen - £60K + Car

Technical Superintendent (Offshore Vessels)Switzerland - Competitive pkg

Marine SuperintendentGlasgow - £50-55K

Project ManagerMonaco - €60K

Tanker Technical Superintendent x4Glasgow - £60K

LNG SuperintendentGlasgow & London - £60-70K

Crewing ManagerCyprus - Attractive Salary + Bens

Vessel Manager LNGLondon - £63K + Bens

Offshore Marine SuperintendentAberdeen - £60K + Car Allowance

Vessel ManagerAberdeen - £65-75K

YACHTSChief Engineer Y3 - 75m+ M/Y - €120K

2nd Officer - 55m+ M/Y - €55K

2nd Engineer - 55m+ M/Y - €60K

Chief Engineer - 80m+ M/Y - €120K rtn

IT/AV ETO - 75m+ M/Y - €80K rtn

2nd Officer - 60m+ M/Y - €50K rtn

Chief Officer - 60m+ M/Y - €90K

IT/AV Engineer - 55m+ M/Y €72K rtn

Purser - 70m+ M/Y - €78K rtn

Chief Stew/Beautician - 60m+ M/Y - €42K

FERRY/CRUISEEnvironmental Engineer - Cruise -$80K

2nd Engineer - Cruise - £40K

Chief Engineer - Ferry - £55K

2nd Engineer - Ferry - £40K

WORKBOATSChief Engineer - Dredger - £50K

2nd Engineer - Dredger - £40K

Chief Engineer - Tug - £250/day

OOW - Tug - £170/day

Master - Workboat - £250/day

DEEP SEAETO - Shuttle Tanker (Bra Visa) - $60K

3rd Eng - Shuttle Tanker (Bra Visa) - $60K

Chief Engineer - LNG - $115K

Master - LNG - $120K

Electrical Engineer - LNG - $55K

4th Engineer - LNG - $52K

3rd Officer - LNG - $52K

Chief Officer - LNG - $97K

2nd Engineer - LNG - $97K

Master - Oil - $120K

OFFSHOREMaster - AHTS - £68K

Chief Officer - AHTS - £54K

ETO - AHTS - $45K

Chief Officer DPO - PSV - £350/day

Stage 3 Crane Op - DSV - £350/day

2nd Officer DPO - DSV - £350/day

1st Officer SDPO - ROV - £375/day

Stage 3 Crane Op - ROV - £350/day

Master - DP2 Jack up - £90K

Chief Engineer - DP2 Jack up - £75K

SHIPPING CONNECTIONS SHIPPING CONNECTIONS

4-PT MOORING DSV / NON- DP AHTS/ PSV MASTERS, CHOFF, 2nd OFF, CHENG, 2nd ENG, DP ENG, ETO JACK UP BARGE/ RIG - OIM, CH/ENG, 2ND/ENG, ETO

4-PT MOORING DSV / NON- DP AHTS/ PSV MASTERS, CHOFF, 2nd OFF, CHENG, 2nd ENG, DP ENG, ETO JACK UP BARGE/ RIG - OIM, CH/ENG, 2ND/ENG, ETO

CONTACT DETAILS T E L: +44 (0) 1 9 1 5 4 8 8 8 5 9 F A X: +44 (0) 1 9 1 5 4 88 425

EMAIL:office@ryan-shipmanagement.co.uk,http://www.shipping-connections.com www.ryan-shipmanagement.co.uk RYANSHIP: - P.O.BOX–1282, SUNDERLAND,

SR5 9HX, UNITED KINGDOM

CONTACT DETAILS T E L: +44 (0) 1 9 1 5 4 8 8 8 5 9 F A X: +44 (0) 1 9 1 5 4 88 425

EMAIL:office@ryan-shipmanagement.co.uk,http://www.shipping-connections.com www.ryan-shipmanagement.co.uk RYANSHIP: - P.O.BOX–1282, SUNDERLAND,

SR5 9HX, UNITED KINGDOM

RYAN OFFSHORE LTD RYAN SHIP MANAGEMENT LTD

RYAN OFFSHORE LTD RYAN SHIP MANAGEMENT LTD

DP3/ DP2- DSV/ DP- AHTS/ DP- PSV/ DP3 PIPELAYER/ DP2 CLV DP VESSELS: MASTERS-DPOs, CHOFF-SDPOs, 2nd OFF–DPOs, CHENGs,

2NdENGs, 3rd ENG, ETOs, CRANE OPTRs, HLO

DP3/ DP2- DSV/ DP- AHTS/ DP- PSV/ DP3 PIPELAYER/ DP2 CLV DP VESSELS: MASTERS-DPOs, CHOFF-SDPOs, 2nd OFF–DPOs, CHENGs,

2NdENGs, 3rd ENG, ETOs, CRANE OPTRs, HLO

SHORE BASED FOR OFFSHORE FLEET TECH MANAGER, MARINE SUPT, COMPETENCE ASSESSOR/TRAINER

SAUDI ARABIA - PORT CAPTAIN, PORT ENG, QHSE, DPA/CSO

SHORE BASED FOR OFFSHORE FLEET TECH MANAGER, MARINE SUPT, COMPETENCE ASSESSOR/TRAINER

SAUDI ARABIA - PORT CAPTAIN, PORT ENG, QHSE, DPA/CSO

NGs, ,NGs, ,

RR

88 425425

TECHTECH

To register with us for all marine sectors, please send CV to:C P Marine UK Ltd, PO Box 314, Hull HU10 7WG United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0) 1482 650279 Fax: +44 (0) 1482 671341info@cpmarineuk.com www.cpmarineuk.com

C P Marine UK Ltd are specialists in worldwide shipand shore based marine recruitment.

We provide a professional, dedicated and quality personal servicein connecting seafarers to shipping companies and also placements

to shore based marine positions.

Temporary and permanent vacancies are available worldwide for:

• Captains• Chief Engineers• Deck Officers• Driving Mates• DPO’s• Engineering Officers

• ETO’s• Crane Operators• Deck and Engine Room Ratings• Cooks• Offshore Personnel• Shore based Personnel

CV ProfessionalsMaritime

& o shore specialists

www.cvprofessionals.co.uk

ANGLIAN MARINE

RECRUITMENT LTD Marine Placement Agency

Ongoing vacancies for all offi cers and ratings deep sea, coastal, st.by,

supply, ahts, etc. To register send cv and copies of all

certifi cates to: 6 Birch Court, Sprowston,

Norwich NR7 8LJ Tel/Fax: 01603 478938

Email: malcolm@anglianmarine.co.uk www.anglianmarine.co.uk

Contact Paul Wade on 020 7880 6212

or email paul.wade@redactive.co.uk

to find out how the Telegraph can work for you.

39-45_rec.indd 39 18/06/2014 08:24

40 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

APPOINTMENTS

Other courses: BTMT, GMDSS, NAEST, BRM, CPSCRB, EDH, PST, PSSR, LICOS, Security Awareness, Advanced Ship Handling, Tanker Fam, Specialised Gas, Freefall Lifeboat and for further Marine enquiries please contact Alison Bryce (as above).

STCW, MCA & SPECIALISED MARINE SHORT COURSESECDIS: 30/06/14, 11/08/14, 22/09/14, 06/10/14, 27/10/14, 10/11/14HELM Management: 30/06/14, 28/07/14, 04/08/14, 15/09/14, 29/09/14, 20/10/14, 10/11/14, 24/11/14Specialised Oil Tanker: 13/10/14, 17/11/14, 12/01/15

Shipboard Security Officer: 27/10/14, 15/12/14Safety Officer: 29/09/14, 15/12/14 Specialised Chemical Tanker: 07/07/14, more tbcDesignated Security Duties: 01/09/14, 06/10/14, 10/11/14

Contact: Alison Bryce 0141 565 2700 - Marine.Short.Courses@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

DECK COURSES START DATESClass 1 Orals Preparation Course 18/08/14, 03/11/14 & 02/02/15Chief Mate Full Reg II/1 11/08/14 & 05/01/15 Chief Mate Post HND 11/08/14 & 19/01/15OOW Post HND 29/09/14, 19/01/15 & 30/03/15Contact: Senior.Marine@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

MERCHANT NAVY OFFICER TRAINING COURSES

City of Glasgow College SC036198

ENGINEERING COURSES START DATESChief and Second Engineer (III/2) Motor EK Prep Course: 22/09/14, 12/01/15, 05/05/15Contact: Engineering@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

EOOW (III/1) & IAMI Prep Course: 18/08/14, 03/11/14, 09/02/15Contact: Mervyn.Adams@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

For other Engineering enquiries please contact: Caroline Alderdice 0141 565 2665/2713 Caroline.Alderdice@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

Based in Glasgow city centre, the college has a long standing reputation as one of the UK’s leading providers of nautical courses.

www.cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

Petrofac, the international Oil and Gas service provider, has exciting opportunities in the Irish Sea.

Let your ambitions take you further

OIM/MasterBased on-board the Irish Sea Pioneer (ISP)2 week on, 3 week off rota

– Ref 006003

As the most senior Petrofac representative on-board, the OIM has ultimate responsibility for providing a safe vessel for jacking and transit operations in accordance with regulations.

Shift Coordinator x 2

Based on the Oil Storage Installation (OSI)2 week on, 3 week off rota

– Ref 005980

Reporting to the Offshore Operations Supervisor, the successful candidates will be responsible for safe and efficient import of crude oil from the Douglas Platform and export to off take tankers.

Operations EngineerBased onshore

– Ref 005193

Reporting to the Rig Manager, the successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring the self-propelled jack up Irish Sea Pioneer and its systems and equipment are available to meet operational demands.

For more information and to apply please visit: www.petrofac.com/careersClosing Date: 25 July 2014

HARBOUR MASTER … WITH A DIFFERENCE

to £95,000 + excellent pension

It's a fair bet that you won't find a Harbour Master role quite as broad or distinctly different as this. With its modern commercial services, Jersey’s busy lifeline port handles 99% of all the goods consumed by the island. So it’s hardly surprising the island’s community sees the port’s fast, efficient and safe operation as ‘mission critical’. And it doesn’t stop there. With our thriving and rapidly growing leisure market, a number of outlying and historic harbours around the island, and responsibility for the Coastguard in territorial waters that can involve international liaison, the variety and scope of this high-visibility role is immense.

Providing the strategic vision and day-to-day management for our marine operations, you’ll need to understand the organisational drivers and get to grips with the complexities pretty quickly. Of course you’ll be immersed in all the normal aspects of running a commercial port, yet as a member of the senior management team within a fully integrated Ports of Jersey business, you’ll be adding value way beyond the norm. Energetic, enabling and inclusive, you lead from the front, take accountability and inspire your diverse team of specialists to get things done brilliantly. You're an upfront confident communicator who networks and builds trust and strong relationships with a wide range of customers and stakeholders.

Whether your technical competence stems from a Harbour Master qualification or equivalent port marine operational experience, you’re on top of your game and the depth and breadth of your expertise give you the edge. You think commercially and creatively, act proactively, decisively and compliantly, and always deliver what you promise. If you’re looking to build on your achievements and are excited by the huge potential this role offers and want to know more, talk informally to Stephen Driscoll our Group Operations Director on 01534 446096 or Barry Goldman our soon to be retiring Harbour Master on 01534 447710.

To apply, go tohttp://www.gov.je/Working/JobCareerAdvice/Pages/JobDetails.aspx?JobID=40354

PILOT/MARINE MANAGER … STEER A BROADER CAREER DIRECTION

Salary range £49,700 - £55,400 + allowances + excellent pension

If you’re looking for more and something different than a pure piloting role, you’ll find it here in Jersey. Of course with the modern commercial services of our busy lifeline port and a thriving and rapidly growing leisure market, our small piloting team plays a crucial role in providing safe and efficient pilotage within our coastal waters. Which is why you must have a certificate of competency as a deck officer STCW Reg 11/[2] and proven ship handling experience.

Yet it’s the broader and varied marine management activities that will demand more of your time and bring your broader talents and experience to the fore. Working closely with the Harbour Master and fully involved in all aspects of managing the main port and a number of outlying and historic harbours around the island, you’ll be ensuring operations are all shipshape, legally and regulatory compliant and deliver customer service excellence. And, your span of influence and ongoing expansion of responsibilities can add real tangible value within the fully integrated Ports of Jersey business.

Positive, proactive, hands-on and results driven, you take pride in what you do, always deliver what you promise and enthuse everyone around you to get things done brilliantly. You plan in detail, adapt with ease, persist with what’s important and challenge constructively what isn’t. And you're an upfront confident communicator who networks and builds trust and strong relationships with a wide range of customers and stakeholders. If you’re excited by the broader career direction this role offers and want to know more, talk informally to Barry Goldman our Harbour Master on 01534 447710. To apply, go to http://www.gov.je/Working/JobCareerAdvice/Pages/JobDetails.aspx?JobID=40353

The Port of Jersey in the Channel Islands is a vibrant and professional operation focused on managing and maintaining the island’s commercial and leisure activities comprising the

busy lifeline port of St Helier, 10 outlying ports, 3 marinas and approx 825 square miles of territorial waters.

We have two really exciting and unusually varied opportunities within our team. Please apply by going to the

link shown at the bottom of your selected role as soon as possible as we’re expecting to hold interviews

during August.

Both roles are permanent and carry residential status. Away from work, Jersey offers a great quality of life and low rates of income taxation, and relocation expenses will also be available to help you settle in.

39-45_rec.indd 40 18/06/2014 08:24

APPOINTMENTS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 41

Viking House, Beechwood Business Park,Menzies Road, Dover, Kent, CT16 2FG T: +44 (0) 300 303 8191 F: +44 (0) 130 482 7710vikingrecruitment.com

Discover where our new ships could take you…

Join us in welcoming our newest stars to the fleet, commencing with the Star Pride in 2014 and the two additional vessels in 2015.

With the fleet doubling in size, Windstar Cruises are currently looking for suitable candidates for the following positions:

· Captains and other Deck Officers

· Engineering Officers of all ranks

· Electricians and ETO’s

· Hotel Officers, Guest & Destination Service Professionals

Benefits package includes:

· Competitive wages paid in GBP and USD

· One for One Rotation for Staff Officers

· Retirement Savings Plan / Pensions

· Annual & Return Bonuses (dependent on rank)

· Company Sponsored Study Leave Programme

· Officer Cadet Training

· Excellent Spouse Policy

Prospective candidates need to complete our online candidate database via our website or email us at applicants@vikingrecruitment.com quoting reference WSC 07/14

Soon to be sailing alongside our current luxury sail assisted yachts, our fleet will sail worldwide taking our passengers to some of the most unique and exotic ports there are to be found.

www.windstarcruises.com

Maersk Line Container Fleet are recruiting Senior Engineers for immediate vacancies

Maersk Line, the global containerized division of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, is dedicated to delivering the highest level of customer-focused and reliable ocean transportation services.

Our vision, built from a strong heritage of uprightness, constant care, and innovation, remains the cornerstone of our business operations. The Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 220 owned vessels manned by 7,600 Seafarers.

Due to continued fl eet expansion Maersk Line are recruiting Senior Engineers to fi ll immediate vacancies.

As the right candidate you will benefit from a competitive salary, voyage lengths of 90 days plus or minus 30 days with a back to back agreement, second-to-none training facilities, internet access on all vessels, and the opportunity to develop your career within an industry-leading container shipping company.

Apply online at www.seacareers.co.uk or contact Liam Lockhart on 0191 269 3154 to discuss these vacancies

39-45_rec.indd 41 18/06/2014 08:24

42 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

APPOINTMENTS

Chief Engineers2nd Engineers

Lafarge Tarmac is a new leader in the UK construction materials and services sector composed of two well known and respected brands. Managed by a small team of marine specialists based in Chichester, West Sussex. Lafarge Tarmac Marine operates 4 UK agged marine aggregate dredging vessels delivering regularly to some 20 locations

around the coast of the UK and near continent.

A number of vacancies have arisen as a requirement to provide greater depth of resilience with our of cers to cover planned retirement, training and development.

We are seeking motivated, disciplined and competent senior of cers who wish to use their marine skills in a challenging but rewarding environment that provides predictable and frequent home contact.

The company has a long track record of promoting internally where possible and also continues to support cadet training. We will provide the study leave and sponsorship if you have the drive and ability to further your career and achieve promotion.

In return we offer a salary re ecting your quali cations and experience, a consolidated 2 week on / 2 week off rota with paid travel, and a competitive contributory company pension scheme, and the support of a company fully committed to the safety, health and well being of its employees.

Lafarge Tarmac Marine maintains a high standard of operations, driven by the calibre and professionalism of its staff. If you would like to nd out what we have to offer you please contact us as below.

We welcome online applications. Please email: andy.jones@lafargetarmac.com or call: 01243 817221Alternatively, please apply in writing, including full CV.

LTM Crewing Services Ltd. Lafarge Tarmac Marine Ltd. UMA House, Shopwhyke Road Chichester, West Sussex PO20 2AD

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, it has, for over 60 years, undertaken the majority of Britain’s scientifi c research on and around the Antarctic continent. It now shares that continent with scientists from over thirty countries. In order to carry out ground-breaking science we are now recruiting for the following marine posts which are vital in the support of our science and logistical operations in the Antarctic and Arctic.

Chief EngineerRef: BAS 78/14Salary: £50,027 - £63,415

Fourth EngineerRef: BAS 77/14Salary: £29,717 - £32,101

ETORef: BAS 76/14Salary: £40,952 - £48,735

Closing date for all posts: 20th July 2014

In order to be considered please contact the Maritime & Coastguard Agency in order to gain advice on tickets required to work on our vessels: http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/

For further information please call: 01223 221508 or email: employment@bas.ac.uk

Or visit our website: www.antarctica.ac.uk/employment

Alternatively, follow us on Twitter: @BAS_Jobs

You will need to be physically capable and medically fi t to work in Antarctic conditions

39-45_rec.indd 4239-45_rec.indd 42 18/06/2014 08:2418/06/2014 08:24

APPOINTMENTS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 43

Catering Superintendent

Maestro Shipmanagement LimitedWe are currently inviting applications to join the on-board management team for the following positions onboard our Ro-Ro vessels

Chief Engineer1AE Engineer

The terms and conditions offered are competitive & commensurate with the vessel type & trade. Relevant medium speed experience is required. The vacancy is from July 2014.Please submit your application to us in the strictest con dence, preferably via e-mail, to:

Maestro Shipmanagement LimitedP.O. Box 50718Limassol 3608

E-mail: recruitment@maestroshipman.com

CAERNARFON HARBOUR TRUSTApplications are invited for the post of

HARBOURMASTER AND GENERAL MANAGER

The Caernarfon Harbour Trust is the maritime authority for the western half of the Menai Strait and competent harbour authority with responsibility for pilotage through the Menai Strait. It provides a management service for the Victoria Dock and has land and property interests managed on a commercial basis.

The Harbourmaster/General Manager will be expected to assume full responsibility for the technical and commercial aspects of the Trust’s operations, including the management of staff. The postholder is a full member of the Board of Trustees.

Applicants will need to demonstrate appropriate management capability together with relevant experience. MCA, Port Authority or RYA qualifi cations will be advantageous. Fluency in Welsh will be a distinct advantage.

The salary is negotiable, but is not expected to be less than £30,000 p.a. for the right candidate.

Further details of the job and application process are available by e-mail from john@caernarfon-hbr.demon.co.uk

The closing date for applications is 15 July 2014.

Caernarfon Harbour Trust, Slate Quay, Caernarfon LL55 2PB

01286 672118 • www.caernarfon-hbr.demon.co.uk

MARINE SPECIALIST – FULL TIME ONSHORE - The position is full time based onshore in Aberdeen and will include a variety of marine assurance duties including vessel inspections, auditing / veri cation, training, workforce presentations / consultation and a variety of marine projects, etc. Candidates will be required to work an out of hours on call rota (circa 1 week in 8) and undertake some weekend and offshore work earning additional overtime payments. Candidates should possess a Master Mariner’s Certi cate of Competency and have a good working knowledge and experience of the offshore oil and gas industry. Candidates will have experience in a senior rank onboard offshore support vessels. Supply vessel experience is essential.

MARINE SPECIALISTs – AD HOC – Seacroft require to boost their current pool of Marine Consultants who are able to work on an ad hoc day rate basis subject to their availability. Candidates should possess a Master Mariner’s Certi cate of Competency and have a good working knowledge and experience of the offshore oil and gas industry. Candidates will have experience in a senior rank onboard offshore support vessels of any type.

SAFETY ADVISORs – FULL TIME & SHORT TERM CONTRACT – The positions will be supporting an oil company marine department and vessel operators based in Aberdeen with incident investigations, tracking, closure and general safety management, predominantly with offshore support vessels. Candidates should have experience in a safety role in the offshore industry and incident investigations.

Very competitive rates of pay will be offered along with bene ts such as pension, life insurance and private medical care.

Candidates are invited to apply by e-mail, enclosing a CV, to recruitment@seacroftmarine.com indicating the position they are interested in.

(Further details of the Company can be found on Seacroft’s Website – www.seacroftmarine.com)

SEACROFT MARINE CONSULTANTS LTD require Marine Specialists and Safety Advisors within their expanding marine consultancy company.

OFFSHORE MARINE CONTRACTORS LTD

MARINERS REQUIREDDue to further expansion and to complement our current team we require Mariners and Staff

Towmasters for both onshore and offshore positions. Candidates will have either Class 1 Certifi cate of Competency or Class 2 and towing / anchor handling experience.

Please send your CV quoting reference OMC/06/14/R to:

Captain Nick Lees / Miss Sabrina LongOffshore Marine Contractors LimitedCollingwood House28 Abbotswell RoadWest Tullos Industrial EstateAberdeen AB12 3AB

Tel 01224 898478 | Email aberdeen@omcon.co.uk | Website www.omcon.com

To advertise your vacancy

contact Paul Wade on +44 20 7880 6212 or paul.wade@redactive.co.uk

39-45_rec.indd 43 18/06/2014 08:24

44 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

APPOINTMENTS

Nautilus Internationalhas produced a 100%silk TIE to enablemembers to show offtheir membership withpride and celebrateseafaring traditions.Available for just £9.50 or €13.

Also on offer are enamelbadges of the Nautilus logofor £1 or €1.50.

Please send in acheque for items to our Central Servicesdepartment at headoffice and let themknow how many you need.

Call Central Services on

+44 (0)20 8989 6677 or email

centralservices@nautilusint.org

Get knotted with a Nautilus Tie

NOT A MEMBER OFNAUTILUS

INTERNATIONAL?Join now on our

website Fill out the online

application at:www.nautilusint.org

Your First Port of Call

Address: First Floor Unit 7, Hythe Marine Park, Shore Road,

Southampton, SO45 6HE UK Telephone: +44(0)23 8084 0374

Email: recruitment@seamariner.com

www.seamariner.com ISO9001:2008 accredited

and KvK and MLC compliant Reg Co number: 2745210

Leading Marine Recruitment Specialists We are seeking all ranks of seafarers, offshore and shore based personnel and in particular:

Deck and Engineering Of cers - All vessels Engineering Of cers and ETO’s - MOD Support vessels All Of cers and Crew - ERRV All DPO’s/SDPO’s (Unlimited DP Cert.) Various offshore personnel - Drill ships, Jack-ups and Rigs

If you would like further information in registering with Seamariner or you would like to discuss your crewing requirements, please contact one of our experienced consultants

Minimum Qualifi cation: STCW III/3 + DCE (Oil) 2nd Engineer up to 3000kW Advanced Tanker Training (para’ 2)Also required: Designated Duties Security Certifi cation Unrestricted ENG1 (or equivalent)Leave / Work: 4 weeks on / 4 weeks offDesired Experience: Relevant experience on coastal oil tankers preferably handling fuel oils / heated cargoesArea of Operation: UK (principally south coast)Salary: £25.6k to £42.6k depending on experience & qualifi cationStart Date: Immediate

Remarks:-• Please note that Shipowner’s policy dictates that a pre-employment drug & alcohol test will be required.• Appropriate training will be provided to suitably qualifi ed applicants.

2nd Engineer

Please send your CV in the fi rst instance to Mrs. Elaine Wilson.Post: Crown Crewing (UK) Ltd. Crown Dry Dock, Tower Street, Hull, HU9 1TY, UKEmail: crewing@whitaker-tankers.co.ukFax: 00 44 (0)1482 226270

Sealion Shipping manages a eet of platform supply, anchorhandling tug supply, o shore construction/ROV support/saturation diving

and well testing vessels.

We are now recruiting for various positions across this modern,

mainly DP2, eet.

If you have valid STCW Certi cation and recent seagoing experience, and would like to apply for a position on one of the above vessels, please register your application via our new website.

www.farnhammarineagency.co.uk

To advertise your vacancy contact Paul Wade on +44 20 7880 6212 or paul.wade@redactive.co.uk

39-45_rec.indd 44 18/06/2014 08:25

APPOINTMENTS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 45

OFFSHOREAdvanced Fire Fighting – 26 May, 2 June, 30 June, 14 July, 21 July, 28 July | Basic Training for

Seafarers – 28 April, 12 May, 19 May, 23 June, 4 Aug | Deck Ratings (Apprenticeship) – 5 May, 10 NovEfficient Deck Hand – 28 April, 19 May, 23 June, 21 July | Medicare – 28 April, 23 JuneMedical First Aid – 26 May, 23 June, 7 July, 28 July | NEBOSH General – 7 July, 6 Oct

NEBOSH Oil/Gas – 12 May, 11 Aug | PSC&RB – 28 April, 19/May, 23 June, 4 Aug

E offshore@blackpool.ac.uk T 01253 779 123 W blackpool.ac.uk/offshore

Facebook/FleetwoodNauticalCampusOffshoreOperations

MARITIMEECDIS – 14 July | NAEST (O) – 1 Sept | NAEST (M) – 14 July, 21 July, 28 July

HELM (M) – 14 July, 21 July, 28 July | Bridge Team Management – 22 Sept, 10 Nov

For more information E maritime@blackpool.ac.uk T 01253 779 123

W blackpool.ac.uk/nautical

If you are interested in working at Fleetwood Nautical Campus, call 01253 50(4760) to register your interest or for information on current vacancies.

Fleetwood - a top UK Nautical College with a long established reputation for being a leading provider of

training to the Maritime industry.

Commended

WWW. BLACKPOOL. AC.UK

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Quiz answers1. Greek owners account for just over 12% of total deadweight tonnage in the global orderbook. In ship number terms, it equates to a share of just over 6%.2. A total of 1,461 bulk carriers in the world fl eet are of 120,000dwt or above.3. Some 68% of the total bulk carrier fl eet falls into the Handysize to Panamax segment.4. China’s share of global container activity is 31.4% — more than double that for all of Europe.5. A total of 2,710 Liberty Ships were built during the Second World War.6. Queen Mary crossed the Atlantic in two days, 20 hours and 42 minutes — an average speed of 31.69 knots.

Crossword answersQuick AnswersAcross: 8. Malvolio; 9. Ironic; 10. Skin; 11. Ticker tape; 12. Addled; 14. Resigned; 15. Snowman; 17. Receipt; 20. Mournful; 22. Skewer; 23. Half nelson; 24. Toes; 25. Public; 26. Vertical.

Down: 1. Packed in; 2. Even; 3. Elated; 4. Concert; 5. Licensee; 6. Portuguese; 7. Tipple; 13. Low profi le; 16. Al fresco; 18. Plebeian; 19. Elusive; 21. Opaque; 22. Sundry; 24. Twin.

This month’s cryptic crossword is a prize competition, and the answers will appear in next month’s Telegraph. Congratulations to Nautilus member Arfon Williams, who has won the prize draw for the June cryptic crossword.

Cryptic answers from JuneAcross: 1. Celtic; 5. Bleach; 9. Untwine; 10. Stolon; 12. Durham Cathedral; 13. Noah; 14.Intoxicate; 18. Run through; 19. Etch; 21. Chapter and verse; 24. Truant; 25. Servile; 26. Glider; 27. Diesel.

Down: 2. Entertain; 3. Tribal; 4. Crescendo; 5. Beset; 6. Esoteric; 7. Choir; 8. Pudding race; 11. Blue cheeses; 15. Organised; 16. Afterlife; 17. Shetland; 20. Averse; 22. April; 23. Rotor.

M-Notices, Marine Information Notes and Marine Guidance Notes issued by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency recently include:

MGN 506 (M) — Navigation: deep-sea pilotage in the North Sea, English Channel and the SkagerrakIn 1981, the IMO adopted resolution A.486 (XII) on the use of deep-sea pilotage in the North Sea, English Channel and the Skagerrak. This contained recommendations on when and where to use deep-sea pilots in these waters, and gave details of the relevant pilotage authorities. In December 2013, the IMO acknowledged the need to update the recommendations in the 1981 resolution, and replaced it with a new one, numbered A.1080 (28).

MGN 506 gives guidance on the use of pilots along the lines of the 2013 resolution. It says that the following factors should be taken into account when considering the use of a deep-sea pilot:

zthe familiarity of the ship’s bridge team with the congested waters of the North Sea, English Channel and the Skagerrak

zthe existence and proliferation of navigational hazards, such as oil/gas installations and off shore renewable energy installations

zthe available depth of water in relation to draft, under keel clearance, vessel’s intended route and speed over various legs of the route

zthe possibility of adverse weather conditions and/or poor visibility

zthe port rotation schedule requirements

zthe availability and reporting requirements of Vessel Traffi c Service coverage in the areas to be transited

zany other exceptional circumstances

Masters should always satisfy themselves as to the credentials of deep-sea pilots off ering their services. Ideally, a deep-sea pilot should carry a card similar to that shown in Annex 2 of MGN 506.

Owners or masters of vessels intending to make use of the services of a deep-sea pilot in the North Sea, English Channel or the Skagerrak are strongly advised to use only a pilot certifi cated by a competent authority. In the UK, the competent authorities are:

zThe Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond

zThe Corporation of Hull Trinity House

zThe Corporation of the Newcastle upon Tyne Trinity House

The competent authorities in other IMO member states bordering on the North Sea, English Channel

and the Skagerrak are listed in Annex 1 of MGN 506.

MIN 478 (M) — Amendments to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, as modifi ed by the Protocol of 1988This note provides information on an amendment made to the International Convention on Load Lines. It relates to adjustment of the Southern Winter Seasonal Zone off the coast of South Africa.

The amendment is the result of a combination of a traffi c separation scheme, coastal proximity restrictions and local hazards off the coast of South Africa. These restrictions were encouraging tankers to enter potential close quarters situations rather than exit the Summer Seasonal Zone. The desire to remain loaded to their summer marks also encouraged westbound tankers to exercise their right to relax the coastal proximity restriction, bringing them closer to the shore and thus more vulnerable to the strong Agulhas current which is a feature of the area.

Concerned about the likelihood of a serious incident in these waters, South Africa proposed to the Maritime Safety Committee at IMO that the Winter Seasonal Zone be moved south by 50nm off the tip of Africa, allowing tankers to re-route further out from the coast without freeboard penalty and to round the Cape of Good Hope on their summer marks year round. In support of the proposed amendment, South Africa provided wind and wave data that showed that the conditions in the new zone were compliant with the load line criteria for summer zones — not more than 10% winds of force 8 Beaufort (34 knots) or more. The data further demonstrated that conditions in the new zone were not substantially diff erent to those in the existing zone. It was also noted that the Summer Seasonal Zone extends considerably further south around New Zealand. After discussion at IMO the proposed amendment was adopted.

The amendment means that the text has been changed in Regulation 47 (Southern Winter Seasonal Zone) located in Annex II of the Load Line Convention. MIN 478 sets out the new text and points out that this wording has also been applied to MSN 1752 (M), schedule 1, paragraph 7.

MIN 480 (M) — New requirements for security training for shipboard personnelThe STCW Convention and Code as amended by the Manila amendments (2010) contains new requirements regarding security training. This MIN

clarifi es how to obtain the following certifi cation:

zsecurity related familiarisation

zprofi ciency in security awareness

zprofi ciency in designated security duties

This topic was also covered in MIN 472 (summarised in February 2014 Telegraph), but readers are advised that MIN 480 updates and replaces the earlier note.

MIN 483 (M) — Written examination dates 2014/15: deck and engineer offi cers (Merchant Navy)This note gives the written examination dates for the UK academic year commencing September 2014. It covers the following certifi cates:

zOffi cer in Charge of a Navigational Watch <500gt near-coastal (STCW Reg. II/3)

zOffi cer in Charge of a Navigational Watch unlimited (STCW Reg. II/1)

zChief Mate > 3000gt near-coastal (STCW Reg. II/2)

zMaster or Chief Mate unlimited (STCW Reg. II/2)

zOffi cer in Charge of an Engineering Watch (STCW Reg. III/1)

zSecond Engineer Offi cer < 3000 kW (STCW Reg. III/3)CW Reg. II/2)

z Second Engineer Offi cer unlimited (STCW Reg. III/2)

zChief Engineer Offi cer unlimited (STCW Reg. III/2)

MIN 484 (M) — Written examination dates 2014/15: engineer offi cers (yachts and sail training vessels)This notice sets out the written examination dates for engineer offi cer certifi cates of competency (limited to yachts and sail training vessels) for the UK academic year commencing 1 September 2014.

Only the dates for the Yacht 2 General Engineering Science I and II examinations are set. All other papers will be on demand at the request of a training provider giving a minimum of 14 days’ notice.

zM-Notices are available as electronic documents or as a set of bound volumes.

zA consolidated set of M-Notices is published by The Stationery Offi ce. This contains all M-Notices current on 31 July 2009 (ISBN 9780115530555) and costs £210 — www.tsoshop.co.uk

zIndividual copies can be electronically subscribed to by emailing a request to mnotices@ecgroup.co.uk or downloaded from the MCA website. Go to www.dft.gov.uk/mca and click on ‘Ships and Cargoes’, then ‘Legislation and Guidance’.

M-Notices

Quiz and crossword answers ACDB

SHIP TO SHORE

46 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

g Professional & Technical ForumMonday 8 September 2014at 1300hrs for 1330hrsat the Nautilus northern offi ceMariners’ Park, Wallasey.The forum deals with a wide range of technical, safety, welfare and other professional topics of relevance to all members, including training and certifi cation.The meeting is open to all members (UK, NL & CH).Contact Sue Willis:+44 (0)20 8989 6677protech@nautilusint.org

g Women’s ForumSaturday 20 September 20141100hrs to 1400hrsat Nautilus head offi ce in London (TBC)The forum provides guidance to Nautilus Council on the challenges facing women in the industry and encourages female participation in Union activity.Open to all female members.

Contact Lisa Carr:+44 (0)20 8989 6677women@nautilusint.org

g Young Maritime Professionals’ ForumMonday 29 September, 2014TBCat Holiday Inn, Belfast.The forum provides guidance to Nautilus Council on the challenges facing young people in the shipping industry and on the issues that matter to them.Open to all young members (UK & NL).Contact Paul Schroder:+44 (0)20 8989 6677ymp@nautilusint.org

Member meetings and seminarsNautilus International organises regular meetings, forums and seminars for members to discuss pensions, technical matters, maritime policies and legal issues. Coming up in the next few months are:

College contactsInduction visitsSee www.nautilusint.org/news-and-events for dates of upcoming college visits by the Nautilusrecruitment team (scroll down to ‘latest events’).

For further information, email recruitment@nautilusint.org or call Garry Elliott on +44 (0)151 639 8454.

Industrial support for cadetsAn industrial offi cial is appointed to each of the main nautical colleges. In addition the industrial depart-ment is responsible for representing

trainee offi cers in line with all members that we represent;please contact the union on+44 (0)20 8989 6677. Your enquiry will then be directed to the relevant industrial organiser for youremployer/sponsoring company.The union also facilitates a YoungMaritime Professionals’ Forum toprovide an opportunity for young members to engage in discussions on the specifi c challenges facing young workers in the maritimeprofession.For further information members/ trainee offi cers should contact Paul Schroder at ymp@nautilusint.org.

Contact Nautilus International Nautilus International welcomes contact from members at any time. Please send a message to one of our department email addresses (see page 17) or get in touch with us at one of our offi ces around the world.

For urgent matters, we can also arrange to visit your ship in a UK port. Please give us your vessel’s ETA and as much information as possible about the issue that needs addressing.

Maritime & Coastguard Agency+44 (0)23 8032 9100www.dft.gov.uk/mcaImplements the UK government’s maritime safety policy and works to prevent the loss of life on the coast and at sea.

Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport+ 31 88 489 00 00www.ilent.nlDutch maritime authority (separate from Dutch coastguard).

Swiss Maritime Navigation Offi ce+41 (0)61 270 91 20www.smno.chSwiss maritime authority.

International Transport Workers’ Federation +44 (0)20 7403 2733www.itfglobal.orgA federation of over 700 unions representing over 4.5 million transport workers from 150 countries.

Merchant Navy Training Boardwww.mntb.org.ukUK organisation promotingmaritime education and training,and providing careers guidance. Administers the Careers at Sea Ambassadors scheme, underwhich serving seafarers canvolunteer to give careers talks inUK schools.

Merchant Navy Welfare Boardwww.mnwb.orgUmbrella body for the UK maritime charity sector, promoting cooperation between organisations that provide welfare services to merchant seafarers and their dependants within the UK.

Seafarers UK (formerly the King George’s Fund for Sailors)+44 (0)20 7932 0000www.seafarers-uk.orgSupports and promotes UK charities helping seafarers from the Merchant Navy, Royal Navy and fi shing fl eets. Often organises places for maritime fundraisers to enter marathons and other charity challenges.

International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network +44 (0)300 012 4279www.seafarerswelfare.orgGlobal organisation providing a24 hour, year-round multi-lingual helpline for all seafarers’ welfare and support needs, as well as an emergency welfare fund.

SAIL (Seafarers’ Information and Advice Line)08457 413 318+44 (0)20 8269 0921www.sailine.org.ukUK-based citizens’ advice service helping seafarers and their families with issues such as debt, benefi t

entitlements, housing, pensionsand relationships.

Seamen’s Hospital Society+44 (0)20 8858 3696www.seahospital.ukUK charity dedicated to thehealth and welfare of seafarers. Includes the Dreadnought health service.

Seafarers’ Link+44 (0)20 7643 13856www.csv-rsvp.orgTelephone friendship project connecting retired UK seafarers at home through a fortnightlytelephone conference service.

Seatax Ltd+44 (0)1302 364673www.seatax.ltd.ukCompany providing specialist tax advice for merchant seafarers.

Marine Society+44 (0)20 7654 7050www.marine-society.orgUK charity dedicated to thelearning and professional development of seafarers.Off ers 120,000 books to ships through its library service, plus distance-learning programmesand scholarship schemes including the Nautilus-administered Slater Fund.

Useful organisations To suggest an organisation which could appear here, email telegraph@nautilusint.org

UK Head offi ceNautilus International1&2 The Shrubberies, George LaneSouth Woodford, London E18 1BDTel: +44 (0)20 8989 6677Fax: +44 (0)20 8530 1015enquiries@nautilusint.org

Northern offi ceNautilus InternationalNautilus House, Mariners’ ParkWallasey CH45 7PHTel: +44 (0)151 639 8454Fax: +44 (0)151 346 8801enquiries@nautilusint.org

Off shore sector contact pointMembers working for companies based in the east of Scotland or UK off shore oil and gas sector can call: +44 (0)1224 638882

THE NETHERLANDS Postal AddressNautilus InternationalPostbus 85753009 An RotterdamPhysical AddressNautilus InternationalSchorpioenstraat 2663067 KW RotterdamTel: +31 (0)10 477 1188 Fax: +31 (0)10 477 3846infonl@nautilusint.org

SWITZERLANDGewerkschaftshaus, Rebgasse 14005 Basel, SwitzerlandTel: +41 (0)61 262 24 24Fax: +41 (0)61 262 24 25infoch@nautilusint.org

SINGAPORENautilus International10a Braddell Hill #05-03Singapore, 579720Tel: +65 (0)625 61933Mobile: +65 (0)973 10154singapore@nautilusint.org

FRANCEYacht sector offi ce in partnership with D&B Services3 Bd. d’Aguillon06600 Antibes, FranceTel: +33 (0)962 616 140nautilus@dandbservices.comwww.dandbservices.com

SPAINYacht sector offi ce in partnership with dovastonC/Joan de Saridakis 2, Edifi cion GoyaLocal 1A, Marivent07015 Palma de Mallorca, SpainTel: +34 971 677 375recruitment@nautilusint.orgwww.dovaston.com

46-47_info+join.indd 4646-47_info+join.indd 46 18/06/2014 17:5218/06/2014 17:52

gTon Smit is a captain with Danser Switzerland, taking containerships up and

down the Rhine from Basel to Rotterdam and Antwerp, then back again.

‘I started working on the Rhine when I was 16 years old; my grandfather and father were also Rhine captains so it was natural for me to follow them — although I never worked on the same boats as them.

‘I studied onboard and took a correspondence course where I sent my work into the college and that way I became a captain.’

Mr Smit has a wife and two children, and unlike some Rhine captains, they do not travel with him. However, at least one of his children is keen to keep the family tradition going.

‘My eldest son is 14 and he has already said that he wants to work on the Rhine as well,’ he says.

‘I enjoy my work and I would be happy for him to follow me. I hope he will work with me one day, although I think it is important for him to also work with somebody else so he gets a good all round experience.’

Mr Smit says that the work of a Rhine boatman has changed signifi cantly in the time he has been working, and some of the changes will be familiar to members across the Union.

‘When I started I was moving normal cargo — no containers — now it is all containers. The amount of technology onboard has slowly increased over the years, and with it the amount of paperwork. It has become very bureaucratic, way

too much so.‘The working hours have also changed. We have

fi ve crew and we used to sail for 14 or 18 hours, now we have to have two captains and we sail for 24 hours a day, so I work eight hours on and eight hours off , four weeks on and four weeks off .

Mr Smit joined the predecessor of Nautilus in Switzerland when he started work because it is ‘better to be organised’. His route onto the branch committee will also be familiar to many.

‘Somebody had to do it and no one else came forward,’ he admits. ‘We discussed it on the ship and everybody said I would be good so I agreed to do it.

‘And since we have become part of Nautilus it is more organised!’

The face of NautilusTon Smit, Swiss Branch Committee

JOIN NAUTILUS

July 2014 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 47

Pay and conditionsNautilus International is the fi rst truly trans-boundary trade union for maritime professionals, refl ecting the global nature of the industry. We negotiate with employers on issues including pay, working conditions, working hours and pensions to secure agreements which recognise members’ skills and experience, and the need for safety for the maritime sector.

Legal servicesNautilus Legal offers members a range of legal services free of charge. There are specialist lawyers to support members in work related issues and a number of non-work related issues. The Union also has a network of lawyers in 54 countries to provide support where members need it most.

Workplace support Nautilus International offi cials provide expert advice on work-related problems such as contracts, redundancy, bullying or discrimination, non-payment of wages, and pensions.

Certifi cate protectionMembers are entitled to free fi nancial protection, worth up to £116,900, against the loss

of income if their certifi cate of competency is cancelled, suspended or downgraded following a formal inquiry.

Extra savingsMembers can take advantage of many additional discounts and benefi ts organised at a local level. These include tax advice, insurance discounts and advice on pension matters. In the Netherlands, discounts are organised through FNV, and trade union contributions are mostly tax-friendly, entitling members to receive a signifi cant part of their contributions back.

International representationNautilus International represents members’ views on a wide range of national and international bodies including the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations (IFSMA). We work at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on key global regulations covering working

conditions, health and safety and training. The Union is affi liated to the TUC in the UK, FNV in the Netherlands and SGB/USS in Switzerland.

In touchAs a Nautilus International member, help is never far away — wherever in the world you are. Offi cials regularly see members onboard their ships and visit cadets at college. Further support and advice is available at regular ‘surgeries’ and conferences. The Union has offi ces in London, Wallasey, Rotterdam and Basel. There are also representatives based in France, Spain and Singapore.

Your union, your voiceThe Union represents the voice of more than 21,000 maritime professionals working in all sectors of the industry at sea and ashore — including inland navigation, large yachts, deepsea and offshore.

For members, by membersNautilus International is a dynamic and democratic trade union offering members many opportunities to become actively involved and have your say — at a local, national and international level.

It’s never been more important to be a Nautilus member and it’s never been easier to apply for membership. You can now join over the phone, or online at www.nautilusint.org. If you can’t get online or to a telephone, post us this form to start the joining process. A member of the recruitment team will contact you as soon as possible. Please note that membership does not begin until subscriptions are paid.

FIRST NAMES

SURNAME

ADDRESS

POSTCODE

EMAIL ADDRESS

MOBILE (INCLUDING DIALLING CODE)

HOME TELEPHONE

GEN DER DATE OF BIRTH

EMPLOYER

SHIP RANK

DISCHARGE BOOK NO (IF APPLICABLE)

COLLEGE OF STUDY (CADET APPLICATIONS ONLY)

COURSE (CADET APPLICATIONS ONLY)

Please post this form to:Membership services departmentNautilus InternationalNautilus House, Mariners’ ParkWallasey CH45 7PH, United Kingdom

Join today so we can be there for you too!

Wherever you are, we are

CALL NOW TO JOIN NAUTILUS ON:UK: +44 (0)151 639 8454 NL: +31 (0)10 477 11 88 CH: +41 (0)61 262 24 24

46-47_info+join.indd 47 18/06/2014 17:08

48 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2014

NEWS

PNautilus has condemned UK government plans to revoke four maritime

safety regulations introduced in response to recommendations made by the formal investigation into the loss of the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has opened an eight-week public consultation on the pro-posals to remove the mandatory requirements of the regulations as part of the government’s Red Tape Challenge to remove ‘unnec-essary’ legislation.

If approved, the move will mean the scrapping of the requirements for ro-ro passen-gerships to be fi tted with on-deck emergency equipment lockers containing such material as axes, crowbars, lifting gear and ladders.

It would also end the require-ment for goods vehicles and items of cargo over 7.5 tonnes to be weighed in ports before loading.

The MCA says it remains com-mitted to maintaining ‘appro-priate safety standards’ — and said the requirements could be revoked ‘because of the effect of other regulatory requirements that have been introduced in the intervening years’.

It points to measures such as

the fi tting of hull door indicator lights, fl ood alarms and cameras on the bow doors, together with fi ve-yearly lightweight checks and inclining experiments, as well as improved ship stability information and new regulations governing design and stability.

‘MCA safety experts are satis-fi ed that the requirements con-tained in the regulations pro-posed for revocation have now been superseded by more mod-ern and effective measures and as such revocation would not cause a deterioration of safety require-

ments,’ it adds.Nautilus senior national sec-

retary Allan Graveson said the Union is strongly opposed to the proposals and is urging the MCA not to go ahead with the revoca-tion of the regulations.

‘We have always believed

that the fi ndings of an inquiry should be upheld unless they are overtaken by any major techno-logical advance,’ he explained. ‘In this case, we do not believe those conditions have been satisfi ed. Indeed, there is no evidence that ro-ro vessels have improved in safety, and this has been demon-strated by the MCA itself in papers submitted to the IMO’s maritime safety committee.

‘No acceptable argument has been put forward to justify the removal of equipment lockers,’ he added. ‘The importance of such equipment — or the lack of it — was demonstrated in the recent Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea.

‘Just because they may not have been used doesn’t mean they won’t be used in future,’ Mr Graveson added. ‘The statistical evidence suggests a major inci-dent is overdue and it would be wrong to take away anything that could improve the chances of sur-vival for passengers and crew.

‘We believe these proposals have been driven by commercial greed, and the MCA needs to be aware that those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past,’ he said.

Alarm at threat to ro-ro safety laws Union opposes MCA plans to revoke regulations brought in after Herald of Free Enterprise loss

Training courses for the maritime and offshore industriesMerchant Navy Operations (Deck)Certificate of CompetencyOfficer of the Watch (Unlimited) Jan, May & Sept intakesChief Mate/Masters (Unlimited) Jan & Sep intakesMaster Mariner (Unlimited) Orals Prep Mar & Oct intakesMaster Mariner (200Gt) Orals Prep (2 weeks)

STCWSafety5 day STCW Basic Safety TrainingPersonal Survival TechniquesPersonal Safety & Social ResponsibilitiesElementary First AidFire Prevention & Fire FightingAdvanced Fire FightingEfficient Deck HandMan Over Board / Rib Capsize DrillsIMDG awareness

Shipboard Safety OfficerShipboard Security Officer

Medical and First AidMedical First Aid Onboard ShipMedical Care Onboard Ship (and Refresher)HSE Offshore First Aid (and Refresher)HSE First Aid at Work (and Refresher)HSE Emergency First Aid at Work

RadioGMDSS GOC/ROC/LRC/CAAVHF Short Range Certificate

NavigationNAEST (O) & (M)ECDIS generic and type specificBridge Team ManagementPre ARPA and ARPASVNR

TankerTanker FamiliarisationSpecialist Tanker Training (Oil)

Dynamic PositioningDP InductionDP SimulatorDP Introduction

Offshore Oil & GasOIM Management of Major EmergenciesCRO Controlling EmergenciesCommand & Control for ERRVs Masters & MatesOil Spill Crisis Management (OPRC)COMPEX EX01 to EX04

Offshore Wind5 day Wind Energy Safety TrainingWorking at Height & Rescue (RUK)Advanced RescueClimbing AwarenessMarine TransferConfined Space Entry & Rescue

Facilities for HireEnvironmental Pool (wave, wind, rain)Marine Transfer LadderFull Mission Ship’s Bridge SimulatorDynamic Positioning SimulatorOffshore Control Room Simulator

Lowestoft College, St Peters Street, Lowestoft,Suffolk NR32 2NB United Kingdom

Tel: 00 44 1502 525025Email: maritime@lowestoft.ac.ukWeb: www.lowestoft.ac.uk/maritime.asp

Accredited by

AThe Cunard cruiseship Queen Victoria is pictured last month making the fi rst

overnight call to Liverpool by one of the company’s vessels for almost 50 years.

The 90,049gt vessel made a two-day call to Liverpool to mark the 100th anniversary of the

maiden voyage of Aquitania from the city on 30 May 1914 and had a rousing send-off , with an estimated crowd of 20,000 people lining the Mersey to see the ship sail.

Cunard will mark its 175th anniversary in 2015 and all three Cunard Queens will

sail together on the Mersey for the fi rst ever time on 25 May 2015 as part of the year of celebration.

Queen Victoria’s master Commodore Christopher Rynd said: ‘Having now had the privilege of bringing all three ships of

the current Cunard fl eet into Liverpool I can say that the overnight visit and the send-off given by the people of that great city to Queen Victoria was truly fi rst class and will live long in the memory.’Picture: Chris Fearnehough

FLiverpool played host to a range of events last month as

maritime, logistics and energy formed a major theme for the International Festival of Business 2014.

One of the events saw a panel of experts including BP Shipping chief executive John Ridgway and Bibby Line managing director Sir Michael Bibby debating the skills shortage.

Sir Michael told the audience of over 100 people that it was diffi cult to encourage young people to choose a life at sea these days. ‘The DNA of the country has changed so much that when you talk to an 18-year-old about going away to sea — being away from home and unconnected to the internet and social media — it’s just too much of a culture shock for them.

‘We can tell them that the money is fantastic and the education is fantastic,’ he argued, ‘but it is so diff erent from their friends that they won’t take the risk.’

Sir Michael said that connectivity at sea was something that cruise or off shore companies could aff ord to address, but for other companies the cost was just too great.

‘A bulk carrier, tanker or containership is hardly earning enough to pay for its crew costs and operating costs, let alone other overheads,’ he said. ‘In that scenario you cannot aff ord to put more money in than you absolutely have to.

‘Shipping owners have to go to third party crew suppliers to have people available and rely on them to provide a quality service. All of this makes it diffi cult to invest in the future.’

The Bibby boss called on the industry to come together, with support from the government, to fi nd a solution to the skills shortage and develop a skills cluster which could be ‘the best in the world’.

Mr Ridgway said BP employs 700 offi cers and chooses to train about 20% in-house to avoid having to look to lower cost crew supply countries.

‘This is a high-risk activity and you need smart people to work for you. When you have a $100m ship and $300m cargo you don’t want to trust it to a low cost operator,’ he added.

But he claimed the problem lies with UK offi cer training, which needs to change. ‘In the old days seafaring was very mechanical and very manual, but the reality today is that ships are very automatic and seafarers do not need the same manual skillset,’ he added.

‘The nature of education needs to change to become far more about system management, with people who understand the technology.

‘It is all our responsibility to change the way we promote the industry and change the career structure’.

Owners call for training changes

On-deck emergency lockers were introduced in response to the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987, but now the MCA is planning to revoke the regulations requiring their fi tting to ro-ro passengerships

48_news.indd 48 18/06/2014 18:02