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InterManager to tackle scourge of seafarer criminalisation
John McLaughlin - 金曜日 6 3月 2009
INTERMANAGER is preparing to launch a major, industry-wide initiative aimed at confronting head-on the scourge of seafarer criminalisation.
V.Ships president Roberto Giorgi (pictured), who was recently elected to head the international shipmanagers’ grouping, argued strongly that criminalisation could be the issue on which the industry finds a voice loud enough to match its economic weight.
He said a major lesson of the Hebei Spirit affair was “how powerful this industry is when it comes together around an issue.”
South Korea’s Supreme Court bailed the master and chief officer of the vessel on January 15 after an unprecedented and concerted campaign on their behalf across the maritime industry. Perhaps most
significantly, the campaign included threats that South Korean ships would be boycotted at ports around the world, and potentially severe implications for the country’s trade with India.
Mr Giorgi added: “When everyone is aligned, this industry has the ability to stop a nation’s trade. If it is intent on proving its case, it can back its argument with muscle.”
That was a powerful asset, particularly in a recession, he said.
V.Ships’ industrial relations manager Brian Martis is to set up a working group on criminalisation within Intermanager. He hopes to have it up and running within 10 days.
It is likely to address a number of key issues, including the need for a single, watertight international legal standard for the treatment of seafarers in such cases.
This is a crying need. Mr Martis cited the disparities between the new European Union directive on ship-source pollution and prevailing regulations under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“The EU directive uses phrases like ‘serious negligence’, which is open to wide interpretation by member states. It has to be remembered that seriousness of pollution and seriousness of negligence do not always go hand in hand,” Mr Martis said.
Securing agreement on a common approach from the P&I clubs would also be critical. Clubs had been very supportive in individual cases, he said.
“In the Prestige case, they advanced funds to bail the captain. This is not yet standard practice.”
He said that agreement from the clubs was necessary before Intermanager approached the IMO with this initiative, but he was hopeful they would participate.
“The clubs are also mindful of unfavourable precedents being set. This is in everyone’s interest.”
As for the Hebei Two, who are now awaiting an appearance before South Korea’s supreme court, Mr Giorgi said the court made “the right move” in allowing them out on bail.
“We believe the court will come out with a judgement that is fair and right,” he said.
However, he warned that if the two seafarers were not released, “the show of muscle will be unprecedented.”
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