Shortage of seafarers seen as major coreTHE 25TH ASIAN SEAFARERS’ SUMMIT MEETING

Delegates discuss, exchangeopinions on current state andproblems of FOC vessels

The 25th Asian Seafarers’ SummitMeeting took place at theJSU/AMOSUP Mariners Home

in Manila, the Philippines, on Feb. 26with 55 delegates from 17 unionsattending. The JSU was representedby a seven-man delegation, led byPresident Yoji Fujisawa.

Present at the summit as an observerfor the first time was a delegation fromthe ITF Secretariat comprising Gener-al Manager Stephen Cotton, ITF SSD;General Secretary Brian Orrel, NAU-TILUS UK; and National SecretaryPaddy Crumlin, Maritime Union ofAustralia.

The meeting adopted a ResolutionSeeking to Establish and Organize anAsian Seafarers’ Ad Hoc Committee toexchange information, data, know-howand technology for the professionalcareer development of Asian seafarers,submitted by AMOSUP.

It was decided to name the ad hoccommittee members, in charge withspecific activities for the committee, assoon as possible.

At the opening ceremony of the sum-mit, speeches were delivered by Adm.Eduardo Ma. R. Santos, president,Maritime Academy of Asia and Pacific(AMOSUP-MAAP); Capt. Gregorio S.Oca, president of AMOSUP; and JSUPresident Yoji Fujisawa; followed by akeynote speech by Hon. Jose L. Atien-za, secretary, Department of Environ-ment & Natural Resources of the

Philippines.At the meeting, the delegates dis-

cussed and exchanged opinions on thecurrent state and problems of flag-of-convenience (FOC) vessels of the res-pective countries, based on the latestdata on shipbuilding trends, preparedby the secretariat.

Concerning the promotion of Asianseafarers’ education and training, itwas announced that the serious shor-tage of seafarers and the joint govern-ment/labor/management efforts toresolve such a shortage differ fromcountry to country.

In this regard, ITF delegate Cottonproposed that the ITF Seafarers Sec-tion meeting, scheduled for June thisyear in Stockholm, Sweden, shouldtake up the ITF’s more positive in-

volvement in the research and study ofthe latest information on the trends ofthe world’s merchant fleet and theshortage of seafarers.

Concerning the FOC campaign reviewas well, it was agreed to have Asianvoices focused on the review committeemainly through its members in AMO-SUP, the JSU, the SMOU and the SUR,since the committee is slated to under-take a phased debate toward the 2010ITF Congress, which will reach a finalconclusion on the matter.

The delegates also agreed to hold thenext Asian summit meeting in Taiwanand invite seafarers’ unions in Malay-sia and Sri Lanka to attend the meet-ing. The ITF is assisting the twounions as part of its effort to organizeseafarers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vol. 5 No. 2 March/April 2008

Can’t sleep?Try quittingsmokingPage 3

INSIDE

JSU President Yoji Fujisawa (seated third from right), join fellow delegates of the25th Asian Seafarers Summit Meeting in Manila on Feb. 26, 2008.

Yoji Fujisawa

The Norwegian/Asian Sea-farers’ Committee (NASCO)held its 18th meeting atMariners Home in Manila onFeb. 27.

The meeting was attendedby about 35 delegates from20 seamen’s unions and theNorwegian Shipowners’ As-

sociation, including JSU’sITF Coordinator Shoji Yama-shita.

The meeting first approvedthe secretariat’s three agen-da items on (1) ITF-relatedactivities, (2) various activi-ties aimed at FOC vessels,and (3) the current state of

collective agreements.Then, the Norwegian Sea-

men’s Union reported on theresults of its FOC campaignin 2007. Of the 176 vesselsinspected, almost all of themhad concluded ITF-approvedcollective agreements, butthe union took protest

actions, such as refusal ofcargo handling, against 12vessels and organized theircrewmen.

As of December 2007, FOCvessels with organized crewsnumbered 754, up 120 from

NASCO, see Page 3

The JSU president andother executive membersattended the Philippines-Japan Manning CooperativeForum 2008, held at theinternational assembly hallin Manila on Feb. 28 and 29.

After a grand opening cere-mony in the presence of Phi-lippine President GloriaMacapagal Arroyo, andattended by about 2,500 per-sons, including Japanese andPhilippine dignitaries fromthe shipping industry, fami-lies of seafarers and mar-itime academy students.

At the forum, Japanese andPhilippine panelists gave pre-sentations. JSU PresidentYoji Fujisawa in his presenta-tion said “Thus far, the JSU,in response to the wishes ofunions in seafarer-supplyingcountries in the Asia-Pacificregion, has taken the leader-ship in having Asian voicesreflected in the internationalcommunity of seafarers.

“Above all, considering thatthe Japanese merchant fleetrelies heavily on the Philip-pines for the supply of crew-men, the JSU has strength-ened its partnership with thePhilippine seamen’s union inan effort to protect seafarers’employment and rights.

“Henceforth, the JSU alsointends to take an active partin seafarer education andtraining programs, involvinggovernment authorities aswell, and strive to establishan adequate system for rein-forcing qualitative competi-tiveness and strengtheningits voice in the internationalcommunity with a view tofurther improving the livesand working conditions ofboth Japanese and Philip-pine seafarers.”

The other presentationmade it clear that the Japan-ese merchant fleet will beexpanded to more than 3,000vessels within five years, giv-ing rise to a shortage of morethan 10,000 seamen for their

JSU, see Page 2

JSU strengthensties with Manila

AWARE of the continuing shortage ofmarine officers and skilled ratings, whichthe 2005 BIMCO/ISF Manpower UpdateReport estimated to reach 27,000 officersby the year 2015;

MINDFUL that the duties and respon-sibilities of marine officers and skilled rat-ings are increasingly assigned to and carriedout by Asian seafarers;

INFORMED that many Asian officers andratings do not have the opportunity or themotivation to qualify and/or be licensed toadvance to the next higher rank or posi-

tion;CONSIDERS that all seafarers, whether

officers or ratings, by the physicaldemands and the technical nature of theirwork, is such a tremendous humanresource that should be constantly devel-oped;

BELIEVES that the seafaring professionmust offer clear and effective ways forcareer advancement, to be able to harnessthis tremendous human resource potentialthrough proper education, training, licens-ing and certification;

NOTES that during the Experts Meetingon Improving the Quality of Seafarers inAsia, one of the concerns on seafarers’ edu-cation and training was the need to increasethe sharing of information about seafarermatters;

SEEKS to establish and organize, undersuch terms and conditions to be agreed bythe members, an Asian Seafarers’ Ad HocCommittee to exchange information, data,know-how and technology for the profes-sional career development of Asian seafar-ers.

Summit resolution at a glance

Norwegian/Asian seafarers hold 18th meeting in Manila

(2) MARCH/APRIL 2008MARITIME NEWS/WARNINGS

Illegal immigration to theU.S. and Europe from Asia,particularly China, continuesto cause concern, according toa joint statement from Japa-nese shipping line NYK andthe UK Club.

“Shippers, slot charterersand some terminal personnelcontinue to collude in suchcrime,” it adds.

The P&I club’s Peter Lausays that the UK Club wasinvolved in 120 stowawaycases last year, costing about

US$2 million.While numbers and total

costs have fallen compared to1998-2003, average costs percase hasmore than doubled,to around $14,500, in 2007.

“The impact on individualshipowners was likely to begreater given the rising de-ductibles and non-reportingof small and quickly solvedcases,” Lau said.

Ro-ro and multi-cargo ves-sels accounted for 31 percentof the cases for the 10-year

period from 1998-2007, fol-lowed by bulk carriers (23percent) and container shipsand general cargo vessels(both 16 percent).

The problem was discussedrecently by the club and 50members of NYK senior re-gional management, includ-ing terminal representativesfrom major Chinese ports in-cluding Shanghai and Shen-zhen and UK P&I Club rep-resentatives.

At Lloyd’s Maritime Aca-

demy’s maritime securityconference in London, ship-ping line delegates comment-ed that the only benefit theyhad felt from the ISPS Codewas a drop in stowaways car-ried as their detection hadincreased.

Delegates particularly fromshipping companies were,however, acerbic in notingthat ports in some parts ofthe world were clearly notimplementing ISPS on theshore side, since stowawaysstill managed to reach thequaysides. (Lloyd’s Regis-ter/Fairplay)

Stowaway problem costs shippers hefty sumDelegates blast some ports not implementing ISPS

Seafarers see the minimumsafe manning rules as “ajoke” and a radical overhaulis required to ensure thatthey deal with the problemsof fatigue and excessiveworkloads, Nautilus UK haswarned.

Speaking at a seminar onmanning levels organized bythe Isle of Man Ship Reg-istry, senior national secre-tary Paul Moloney said re-search by the Nautilus Fed-eration had shown that morethan one in five officers fre-quently or always work morethan 91 hours a week.

Moloney, who was among aseries of key speakers at theseminar, said the member-ship survey had shown a con-sistent view that crew com-plements fail to relate to theactual operation of vessels.

“Some companies had res-ponded to the evidence ofoverload by appointing anextra third officer to dealwith paperwork and admin-istration. Other operatorsshould follow this example,”he said.

But, he added, “the autho-rities also need to do more todeal with the serious healthand safety risks presentedby excessive hours at sea.There is random testing ofseafarers for alcohol, whynot random testing forfatigue?”

The Nautilus official toldthe seminar that the issue ofmanning levels could not betackled without measures toaddress the growing globalshortage of skilled officers.

He argued that the indus-try needs to do more to “sell”seafaring careers to youngpeople, emphasising the vari-ety of employment opportuni-ties at sea and ashore.

Improving levels of qualifi-cation, for instance throughthe foundation degreescheme, would also help toenhance the “value added” byskilled seafarers and promotesecure employment.

As well as boosting theirtraining efforts, Moloney sug-gested that employers willhave to take a number ofother measures to “manage”the shortage of officers. Theycould include “pyramid”manning structures, agree-ments with unions on man-ning models and guaranteesof job security.

“We need to see more em-ployers engaging in betterplanning to deal with short-ages, and talking to us aboutthat be stressed,” said Molo-ney.

While regulation is notalways possible, Moloneysaid, “there was a strong casefor measures to protect theEU ferry sector through aframework in which competi-tion can flourish while Euro-pean maritime employmentis protected.” (Shiptalk)

Union callsfor manningshake up

The Japanese governmentplans to double the numberof Japan-registered ships inthe next five years in anattempt to stem the rapiddecline in the number of suchvessels, according to the draftof the Basic Plan on OceanPolicy compiled by the gov-ernment’s Ocean PolicyHeadquarters.

The government also plansto increase by half the num-ber of Japanese-crewed shipson overseas service over thenext 10 years.

The basic plan will statethat the government will for-mulate a development planfor ocean energy and mineralresources in fiscal 2008 toestablish a unified system tomanage the development ofmarine resources such aspetroleum and natural gas.

As of 2006, the number ofships registered in Japandropped below 100, and Ja-panese aboard ships on over-seas service numbered lessthan 3,000.

The basic plan pointed outthat the nation dependsheavily on marine transport,and as such, the presentstate of affairs is problema-tic, as it means it would bedifficult for Japan to securenecessary ocean transporta-tion in the case of an emer-gency.

The government will re-quest shipping companies,which will benefit from thereduced tax rate the govern-ment intends to introduce, toincrease the number ofJapan-registered ships andJapanese crews. (YomiuriShimbun)

Japan to doublenumber of locallyregistered ships

Coast Guard Comman-dant Thad Allen has urgedmembers of his service totreat commercial seafarers“with the utmost profes-sionalism and respect.”

In a communication sentto “all hands,” Adm. Allenacknowledged that he has“received reports fromhighly respected profes-sionals recounting CoastGuard boardings, inspec-tions and investigations notdisplaying professionalism.

“Additionally, some havesaid they lost the completetrust they once had in theCoast Guard and are fear-ful of retribution if theychallenge the CoastGuard.”

Allen wrote, “We mustchange this perception,”noting that licensed anddocumented mariners are“professionals who shareour interests in a safe, se-cure and environmentallycompliant industry.”

He recalled the words ofAlexander Hamilton (thefirst U.S. Secretary ofTreasury who launchedthe Revenue Cutter Ser-vice) that free men areimpatient of “everythingthat bears the least markof domineering spirit” andsaid that applies “as muchtoday as it did in 1790 andequally to internationalmariners and our tradingpartners.” (Lloyd’s Regis-ter/Fairplay)

USCG boss urges seafarer respect

Japan grants aid to Melaka securitySecurity is one of the major

concerns of the InternationalMaritime Organization (IMO).Based on the facts from theIMO, ISPS Code was imple-mented due in part to theterrorist attack in the UnitedStates of America on Sept.11, 2001.

In Feb. 25, 2008, the Japa-nese government granted aidto the Malaysian governmentfor the upgrading of mari-time security in MelakaStrait, which is known for itspiracy incedents.

Sources said that aboutYEN473 million was ap-proved by the Japanese gov-ernment to improve the Ma-laysian maritime security inMelaka Strait.

Japanese Ambassador Ma-sahiko Horie and MalaysianMinistry of Foreign AffairsSecretary-General Tan SriRastam Mohd Isa signed andexchanged the notes for thegrant aid.

“Straits of Melaka isoneof the most important ship-ping lanes from the eco-

nomic and strategic per-spectives, carrying one-third of the world’s seatrade” Horie said.

Additionally he told repor-ters that, “Maritime securityis an obvious and vital ele-ment for Japan’s internation-al security and critical in itsrelations with key partners,particularly the littoralstates in the Straits of Mela-ka,” after signing the notesat Wisma Putra.

Japan noted that highanticipation of internationalusers, increased volume ofmaritime interchange placedconsiderable demands and afinancial burden on the Ma-laysian government.

In addition, the entry ofChina, India and other coun-tries emerging economies tothe globalization would re-sult in a continued growth ofthe maritime trade whichadds additional security im-plementation on the Malay-sian government in MelakaStrait.

According to Horie, “Japan

remains committed in pro-viding impetus for a funda-mental transformation ofMalaysia’s maritime securitythrough the developmentand improvement of essen-tial capabilities.”

Maritime security enforce-ment agencies had a key rolein the protection of the vitalsea lane to prevent disrup-tion to the global supplychain, ” he added.

Moreover, the effectiveresponses against threatsrequire cross-agency, cross-boundary and cross-territo-rial cooperation and effort.

The Japanese governmenttogether with other organiza-tions will be continuing tosupport the program of theMalaysian government toensure safe navigation on theMelaka Strait protecting themarine resources and to ad-vance prosperity and free-dom as well as controllingterrorist attack by improvingtheir existing Malaysian Sea

Aid, see Page 3

JSU, from Page 1

operation. It was confirmedthat the government, laborand management organiza-tions concerned of both coun-tries, will cooperate closely inpursuit of solutions to this

problem, based on a commonawareness that the anticipat-ed sharp increase in merchantships will bring about anacute shortage of seafarers.

On March 1, a ceremony forthe new “JSU-IMMAJ Cam-pus” was held at MAAP, withmany people attending from

the quarters concerned,including Philippine Vice Pres-ident Manuel Noli de Castroand other government offi-cials, JSU president, Japaneseshipping firms’ representa-tives and families of students.

The confirmation that allgraduates of the campus will

be assigned to the Japanesemerchant fleet has made itpossible to build a campuslarge enough to accommodatea maximum of 1,000 students– 250 at each level. The newcampus is scheduled for com-pletion at the end of thisyear.

(3)MARCH/APRIL 2008 SEAFARERS’ CORNER

VOICES from SEAFARERS

The present high wagesbeing enjoyed by the seafarersis long overdue. Being at sea,away from the family and soci-ety, we deserve high wages.

However, as we are beingprovided high wages, we arealso experiencing a lot of stressdue to additional work andresponsibilities. With so manymaritime regulations beingimplemented, the seafarershave less time for rest andrecreation. We hope maritimeauthorities and shipping com-panies realize the stress beingexperienced by seafarers anddo something about it.

Good Day.

I thank you so much for com-ing to my vessel spending yourprecious time explaining to mycrew regarding some new bene-fits and privileges that we aresupposed to have and enjoy.

The important informationthat you have relayed havegiven us something to dependand rely on, which could possi-bly help us in our time of need.

As we are working onboard aPCC vessel, the crew don’t haveeven just a few minutes to visitthe Seamans’ Club in Yoko-hama even though it’s so near tous.

And we are so glad that youare the ones coming to us torelay some important informa-tion like the free training, sea-

mans’ home that are for us toenjoy.

I’ll send your message to mycompany regarding the freshwatermaker for lifeboats, DVDplayer with CDs, and the auto-

mated external defibrillators, inorder for them to request toJSU; but I hope the companywill provide us with the comput-er to have free e-mail access,which if given will surely benefitus all especially this type of ves-sel which normally doesn’t stayat port for more that eighthours.

With free e-mail onboard, wecan communicate with our fami-lies 24 hours a day. I’ll expectyour visit to my ship again tocheck these items that we aresupposed to have. The crew onthe other ships I met werealready enjoying this free e-mailaccess onboard.

See you again.God Bless You All.Best Regards,Capt. Willy Doruelo

Crewmembers of M/V KEN UN thank theJSU for the regular ship visitation by its staff.

The crew of M/V LILAC told the JSU thattheir wages should be in compliance with thepresent IBF agreement.

I propose that the JSU &AMOSUP consider those fu-ture members, like cadets onboard the JSU AMOSUP cov-ered vessels, to be allowedthe benefits being enjoyed bythe regular seafarers.

Jo Ann BantuanaDeck Cadet

M/V BALTI HIGHWAY

A shipping manager was given the task of hiring a captain tocommand a newly built vessel. After sorting through a stack ofresumes he found four captains who were equally qualified...AnIndian, a Korean, a Chinese and a Filipino.

He decided to call the four in and ask them only one question.Their answer would determine who would get the job. The daycame and as the four sat around the conference room table theinterviewer asked, “What is the fastest thing or action you knowof?”

Acknowledging the Indian captain on his right, the man replied,“A THOUGHT. It just pops into your head. There’s no warning thatit’s on the way; it’s just there. A thought is the fastest thing I knowof.”

“That’s very good!” replied the interviewer. “And now you sir,” he asked the Korean captain. “Hmm...let me

see. A blink! It comes and goes and you don’t know that it everhappened. A BLINK is the fastest thing I know of.”

“Excellent!” said the interviewer. “The blink of an eye, that’s avery popular cliché for speed.”

He then turned to the Chinese captain who was contemplatinghis reply. “Well, at my dad’s factory, you step inside and on thewall there’s a light switch. When you flip that switch, across therooms and workshops the lights come on. Yep, TURNING ON ALIGHT is the fastest thing I can think of.”

The interviewer was very impressed with the third answer andthought he had found his man. “It’s hard to beat the speed of light”he said. Turning to the Filipino captain, the fourth and final man,the interviewer posed the same question. The Filipino replied,“After hearing the three previous answers, it’s obvious to me thatthe fastest thing known is Diarrhea.”

“WHAT!?” said the interviewer, stunned by the response. “Oh, I can explain sir,” said the Filipino. “You see sir, the other

day I wasn’t feeling so good and I run soo fast to the toilet, but be-fore I could THINK, BLINK, or TURN ON THE LIGHT, shit, Ialready had it in my pants.”

The Filipino is now in command of the new vessel.Submitted by: Hero

JOKE CORNER

Capt. Rajiv SainiMaster of M/V AZUL CIELO

NASCO, from Page 1

year before (812 Norwegianseamen and 13,051 nonresi-dent special union members),while organized crews of Nor-way’s international vesselsconsisted of 930 Norwegiansand 9,954 nonresident special

union members, according tothe report.

The committee also heard areport that collective agree-ments had been revised for atotal of 11 unions, includingAMOSUP, the PSU, theNUSI/MUI and the KPI. Thenext session will be held inTaiwan.

Aid, from Page 2

Surveillance System.The upgrading of the pro-

gram includes the installationof a Radio Direction Finder(RDF) System and Electro-Optronics System (laser cam-era) on Malaysia’s remotesensor sites, thus allowinglong-range visual surveillancein the vicinity day and night.

The IMO Maritime Secu-rity as implemented throughISPS Code in relation to thegovernment is well support-ed by the Japanese govern-ment, helping other nationsin developing their maritimesecurity, promoting a safernavigation to neighboringcountries is a big help to themaritime industry. (Berna-ma, Malaysian NationalNews Agency)

By J.M. CASTILLOJSU ISS Trainee

S mokers are not used to agood night’s sleep, scientistsaid. Researchers who study

the brain activity of smokers whilethey slept found out that smokershave less deep sleep than the non-smokers. Smokers also complainthat their sleep did not leave themwell rested.

Nicotine from cigarettes seems tobe bad dreams for sleeping smok-ers. Because it can act as a stimu-lant, that’s why they hardly to fallasleep, the researchers said. Andminor withdrawal of symptomsthat occur as the night drags on

can further disturb a smoker’ssleep, they added.

Researchers led by Dr. NareshPunjabi of Johns HopkinsUniversity of Medicine set out tostudy more about the sleep prob-lems of smokers. “Smokersundoubtedly, have sleep-relateddifficulties. They have difficultyfalling asleep and maintainingsleep.” The question is why theyhave these difficulties?

“The issue was whether sleepproblems could be blamed on themedical complications brought onby smoking, or whether smoking

itself was the culprit,” Punjabisaid.

Researchers identified a group of40 middle-aged smokers who hadnone of the many medical condi-tions associated with smoking, andcompared to equal numbers of non-smokers of the same age and physi-cal type.

They were hooked up to electro-encephalogram or EEG machine,while sleeping in their homes,which record the brain’s electricalactivity. Compared to non-smokers,smokers spend less time in deepsleep and more time in light sleep.

The biggest differences took placejust before after falling asleep, sup-porting the idea that nicotine’seffects are more acute in earlystage of sleep, according to thestudy.

“In addition to that, about 23 per-cent of smokers reported that theyhad not had restful sleep, comparedto 5 percent of nonsmokers. Thesefindings were published in the jour-nal Chest, published by theAmerican College of Chest physi-cians. This study provides yet onemore reason to stop smoking or tonever start,” said Dr. AlvinThomas, president of the AmericanCollege of Chest Physicians, in astatement.

Good night’s sleep: Is it possible for smokers?Studies show more reasons to quit puffing

Capt. Willy DorueloM/V ANDROMEDA SPIRIT

To catch up with thegrowing global demand formarine officers, the Over-seas Workers Welfare Ad-ministration has set asidePHP50 million (US$1.2 mil-lion) for skills training andupgrading of Filipino seafar-ers.

Mechanics of the programis still being ironed out,including partner agenciesfor its implementation,according to OWWA admin-istrator Marianito Roque,who had been concurrentlydesignated as acting secre-tary of labor.

“We want to give assuranceto our global employers thatwe have competent officersand that we are addressingthis shortage of officers,”Roque told reporters at thesidelines of the signing of thememorandum of agreementwith industry leaders and theDepartment of Labor andEmployment (DoLE)-Estab-lishing a Maritime IndustryArbitration System.

Based on a recent study,the shipping industry has ashortage of 10,000 marineand deck officers.

Roque said the governmentwants to keep the country’s

status in the global maritimeindustry as top supplier ofcompetent seafarers and offi-cers because of threats fromother countries supplyingseamen, such as China,Vietnam and Cambodia.

The program is aiming toattract graduating highschool students, graduates ofother engineering coursesand seafarers across thecountry to upgrade theirskills for better employmentprospects.

“We are assessing the situ-ation kaya ang ating tiniting-

nan sa program na ito ayiyong the next five years.Gusto nating ipakita na ngay-on ang focus naman natin ayang ating seafarers,” Roquesaid.

A “study now, pay later”plan is being considered forthe program, according toOWWA deputy administratorNoriel Devanadera.

An interested student mayinitially avail of up to PHP-30,000 loan under the pro-gram to finance his studies.

“We have no full details yetbut we are planning to tie upwith shipping companies sothat our students will beemployed immediately uponcompletion of the program sowe could be able to recoverour investment,” Devanadera

explained.The PHP50 million allot-

ment comes in the heels ofallegations of mishandlingthe OWWA trust fund thathas been estimated at $10 bil-lion, generated from the $25contributions of overseasFilipino workers (OFWs) forevery two-year contract.

A committee of the Houseof Representatives is conduct-ing an audit of the OWWAfunds. (Source: GMANews)

OWWA places emphasis on training Filipino seafarers

(4) MARCH/APRIL 2008INFORMATION/ADVISORIES

ALL JAPAN SEAMEN’S UNION

15-26, Roppongi 7-Chome,Minato-Ku, Tokyo 106-0032

Tel.: (03) 5410-8320Fax: (03) 5410-8336E-mail: iss@jsu.jpInternet: http://www.jsu.or.jp

Publisher: Takashi Miyake

Send inquiries to the attentionof Mr. Masanobu Makizoe,Director, Foreign Trades Dept.

Lifeboat accidents resulting from on-load release hooks

For the last 20 years, accidentsduring mandatory lifeboatdrills have been an ongoing

issue in the discussions of the safetyof seafarers.

BackgroundThe lifeboat accidents are associ-

ated with the on-load release func-tions of the lifeboat hooks which aremandatory under IMO regulationsfor all ships built after June 1,1986. On ships built before this datethere are generally off-load hooksthat cannot be released unless thelifeboat is fully supported by thewater.

The number of accidents and thenumber of people killed or injuredruns into the hundreds. However,there are no official records for thetotal numbers and the lack of suchrecords may be one of the reasonswhy the regulators have not man-aged to change the situation. Theend result is reduced confidence indavit launched lifeboats.

During 2007, Gard registered twoaccidents resulting in one death andsix others being injured. Comparedto other types of accidents on boardships and in relation to the 6,200vessels entered with Gard, one mayconsider these figures are low.

The dilemma is, however, that theaccidents with lifeboats do not occurin normal work situations on board,but during mandatory drills withthe vessel’s lifesaving equipment.

Due to many accidents withlifeboats, IMO regulations no longerrequire people to be on board thelifeboats during lowering and hoist-ing. The crew members can beplaced into the lifeboats by othermeans after launch, such as lifeboatladders or taxi-boats in port.

Accidents with on-load releasehooks are found to occur due to lackof maintenance, lack of knowledgeor poor design. When complyingwith the IMO requirements forhooks to have both off-load and on-load capability, it has proved diffi-cult to design sufficient barriersagainst the effects of poor mainte-nance and human error.

General adviceDue to the increased attention to

the problem of on-load releasehooks, we have received many ques-tions from members about what todo. While Gard cannot recommendone manufacturer over another, wewill in the following attempt pro-vide some general advice.

1) It is very important to knowthe type of hook release systemwhich is installed on your lifeboats.While it would be natural in a shorebased industry to have such animportant item standardized, theGard Conference last autumnrevealed that there were 72 differ-ent systems in use, and the numberis still growing.

2) Ensure you have clear and cor-

rect manuals and instructions abouthow to handle the hook release sys-tem on board and that such materi-al is made available to the crew.Ensure that anyone who operatesthe lifeboat release gear has beentrained on that particular system.

3) Do not allow anyone nottrained in the operation of your ves-sel’s particular hook system to oper-ate it. If your crew is not trained inthe operation of the system, sendthem for specific training or ask aspecialist in that particular systemto conduct training on board. Up tillnow, most seamen have onlyreceived mandatory shore-basedtraining in the launching oflifeboats during their education andvery rarely any training on theexact type of release gear found onboard.

4) Give priority to the mainte-nance of lifeboats. Use strong hang-ing off pendants to secure the boatto the davit arm before any work isdone on the hook release system.For instance, the Australian Mari-time Safety Authority (AMSA) nowrequires such restraints to be pre-sent before their surveyors canenter a lifeboat. For the mainte-nance of hook release systems,engage service people from orapproved by the manufacturer.

5) Do not have any people onboard the lifeboat during loweringand hoisting, unless you know yourhook release system is well main-

tained and that the crew on boardboth understands the mechanismsof the system and the risks repre-sented by human error. The IMOregulations require the hook systemto be capable of releasing the boatwith the total load of boat, equip-ment and a full crew. However, ifthe boat is released before reachingsea level, people on board may beseriously injured or even killed.

6) Free-fall lifeboats should beconsidered for newbuildings. Ifdavit launched lifeboats are select-ed, review the hook release systemsavailable in the market and insiston the safest system available.

SummaryA lot has been learned from 20

years of accidents, and there aretoday on-load release hooks in themarket which are far safer than thefirst generation of hooks. We sug-gest that the old hook systems arereplaced with new improveddesigns.

Since lifeboats with modern on-load release hook systems are stillcapable of being accidently releasedbefore they are lowered on thewater, Gard strongly recommendsthat all owners and shipmanagersaddress this issue within theirrespective companies and ensurethat adequate training is providedto the crew on the specific hook sys-tems within their fleet. (Source:Gard)

The U.S. Coast Guardissued a notice stating that,effective March 20, it will im-pose conditions of entry onvessels arriving in the UnitedStates from Syria.

With the exception of ves-sels arriving from certainnamed ports, any vesselarriving in the United Statesthat called in Syria during itsprevious five port calls mustdemonstrate the following:

(1) that it implementedmeasures in accordance withthe ship’s security plan equi-valent to Security Level 2;

(2) that each access point tothe vessel was guarded andthat the guards had total vis-ibility of the exterior to theship while in the Syrian port;

(3) that it attempted to exe-cute a Declaration of Security;

(4) that it logged all securi-ty actions in the ship’s log;

(5) that it reported suchactions to the USCG Captainof the Port (COTP) prior toarrival in the United States;and

(6) that each access point tothe vessel is guarded andthat the guards have totalvisibility of the exterior to theship during U.S. port calls.

Similar conditions of entryhave been imposed on shipsarriving in the United Statesfrom:

• Cameroon• Equatorial Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Indonesia • Liberia • Mauritania

Events &Advisories

The resolution states thateffective Feb. 1, 2008, all OICof Navigational Watch apply-ing for STCW Certificates formanagement level must havecompleted and duly certifiedof at least any one of the func-tion of the prescribed MLC

course for Marine DeckOfficers.

OIC of an EngineeringWatch applying for the up-grading of his certificates ofRegistration/ProfessionalLicense from E4 to E3, in ad-dition to the 12 months

seagoing service must havecompleted and duly certifi-cates in Function 1 and 4 ofthe MLC for Marine Engi-neer Officer.

Effective July 1, 2008 , allOIC of Navigational Watchand Engineering Watch ap-

plying for Management LevelSTCW certficates must havecompleted and duly certificat-ed in Functions 1, 2 and 3 ofthe MLC course for Deck Of-ficers and Functions 1, 2, 3 and4 for Engineer Officer respec-tively. (Source: Harbor Scope)

Management level course upgraded

The program is aiming to attract seafarers

across the country to upgrade their skills for

better employment prospects.