With vessel attacks, hijackings and huge ransoms stealing the headlines in todays news, some flag states are concerned that acts of violence against seafarers by pirates is going unnoticed and underreported, perhaps causing piracy to lose its human element with the general public.  To address this concern, three of the world’s largest flag states have met in Washington to sign a declaration condemning these acts of violence, with a promise to pool information and report incidents to the International Marine Bureau.  Read below for the press release from the IMB:

Three of the largest flag states, accounting for around 40% of the world’s commercial shipping tonnage, have signed an agreement condemning the acts of violence against seafarers by pirates. The flag states agreed to pool information on the mistreatment of seafarers at the hands of pirates.

The flag states signed a Declaration in Washington on 3 August 2011, condemning the acts of violence against seafarers.  The  Declaration recognised that the increasing use of violence against captured seafarers was underreported and noted that there were significant sensitivities associated with such information.

The Declaration affirmed their commitment to provide  information on the levels of violence faced by seafarers to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) from reports received by them in accordance with their internal procedures.

The IMB will collate and disseminate aggregated data of the levels of violence. The reports will omit their names, the names of the vessels, owners, operators and flag states to protect identities and privacy.

The project is supported by the One Earth Future Foundation (OEFF) and the TK Foundation.

So far in 2011, there have been 176 attacks on vessels by suspected Somali pirates which resulted in 22 successful hijackings with 378 crew taken hostage. Taking into account those vessels hijacked in 2010 which remain unreleased, there are presently 20 vessels still held off Somalia with a total of 398 crew still held to ransom.

IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan commented: “This new initiative will help to publicise the human cost of piracy, which at times can go unnoticed amongst reports of hijacking and huge ransoms. Current figures for 2011 suggest that the number of worldwide piratical incidents is on course to match or surpass those for 2010- though currently, attacks off Somalia account for a greater percentage of worldwide attacks than in previous years.”

This agreement is a result of the OEFF’s Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) working group, which in June 2011 produced the Human Cost of Piracy Report. The OBP report found that thousands of seafarers were subjected to gunfire, beatings, confinement and in some cases torture, though these cases were underreported and misunderstood by the public.

Mr Mukundan continued: “Attacks reported off Somalia this year have been characterised by a greater degree of violence against crew than before. Also, there have been worrying reports of violent attacks on crew during hijackings of vessels in the Gulf of Guinea. These intimidating and sometimes brutal attacks on crew must end – hopefully we can bring these instances to wider public attention as a result of this Declaration.”

The total number of attacks worldwide stands at 304, with 31 successful hijackings.

IMB strongly urges all shipmasters and owners to continue to report all worldwide actual, attempted or suspicious piracy and armed robbery incidents to the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre.

Source: International Marine Bureau

Take the time to watch the research film below, and read the report in full HERE.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let us know what you think of the above video in the comments, or by joining in on the discussion started in the gCaptain forum HERE.

More info at http://www.seafarersfatigue.com

The following video was produced by the Seafarers UK, a charity that helps seafarers, ex-seafarers and their families, and gives us a look at what the world, or at least the UK, would be like if the world’s seafarers just up and vanished.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Commissioned by Seafarers UK for Seafarers Awareness Week (6-12 June), ‘The Vanished’ video is intended to shock viewers into understanding how dependent the UK is on ships and seafarers to supply essential food, fuel and goods.

In celebration of the world’s seafarers, the International Maritime Organization is urging the public to turn to their facebook and twitter accounts to help spread the word of this years inaugural “Day of the Seafarer”.  From the IMO website:

People everywhere are being urged to voice their support for seafarers by using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, by posting videos on YouTube, discussing seafarer issues on LinkedIn, or even writing a blog about life at sea, to mark the first ever international Day of the Seafarer, on 25 June, 2011.

Last year, the Diplomatic Conference which met in Manila to adopt milestone revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (the STCW Convention) and its associated Code, also agreed that the unique contribution made by seafarers from all over the world to international seaborne trade, the world economy and civil society as a whole, should be marked annually with a ‘Day of the Seafarer’.

IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has reached out to seafarers worldwide in an open letter distributed today via shipping and seafarer organizations.  The reviews some of the achievements made under last year’s World Maritime Day theme “2010: Year of the Seafarer”, pointing to increased public awareness of seafarers and their work; the adoption of major amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention) and its associated Code; and the creation of an annual “Day of the Seafarer.”

The letter also re-assures seafarers that IMO’s 2011 theme “Piracy: orchestrating the response”, and its associated action plan, aim to encourage a decisive and effective global response to piracy; and urges seafarers to play their role in implementing best management practices when sailing through piracy-infested areas.

The full text of the letter can be downloaded HERE (click to download PDF).

Photo: IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos courtesy IMO

The year 2010 has been designated as the “Year of the Seafarer” by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to give the organisation and the international maritime community at large the opportunity to pay tribute to the world’s seafarers for their unique contribution to society and in recognition of the risks they shoulder in the execution of their duties in an often hostile environment. BIMCO attributes much importance to the human element of shipping and considers that IMO’s decision will further support global measures aimed at safeguarding seafarers and recognize their work. The fact, however, that a number of maritime incidents in recent years continue to show examples of unfair treatment of seafarers – and perhaps even more significantly that these incidents appear to demonstrate a drifting towards a stricter liability regime – underlines the importance of maintaining this issue high on the agenda.

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The International Maritime Organization has decided to dedicate next year to you by choosing, as the theme for World Maritime Day, “2010: Year of the Seafarer”. Our intention is to pay tribute to you, the world’s 1.5 million seafarers – men and women from all over the globe – for the unique, and all too often over-looked, contribution you make to the wellbeing of all of us….

At IMO, we are ever-conscious of the important role you play in helping us achieve safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans – the goals that we, as the United Nations specialized agency charged with the regulation of international shipping and as a member of the global maritime community, have set ourselves.

And so, we will celebrate next year’s World Maritime Day theme with much pride in your contribution to our objectives, to the facilitation of more than 90% of the world’s trade, and to sustainable human development.

You can read the full message from the IMO to the world’s seafarers, HERE.

The impact of proposed changes to the Jones Act and the use of foreign flagged vessels in the US offshore sector is already being felt by seafarers according to international shipping recruitment agency Faststream, with companies rushing to replace their non-US crews.

Should the proposals by the US Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) first issued in July 2009 be implemented, they would radically change the interpretations of rules for vessels transporting specialised equipment used by the offshore oil and gas industry and revoke foreign flag exemptions to the Jones Act including pipe and cable-laying, diving support work.

“Some of our offshore service companies that we work with are already making moves to man their vessels with US crews in anticipation of the proposed changes,” said Fort Lauderdale based Craig Johnson, President of Faststream’s US operations.

“Foreign crews are being shifted away from the US and replaced with American citizens. We think that around 70 vessels could be affected by these proposals, but there still remains a good deal of uncertainty as to how far these proposals will go. We haven’t as yet seen a jump in salary expectations from crews with salaries remaining relatively stable thus far.”

He added: “There are more than enough qualified US seafarers available to man these vessels should the proposals become a reality. Whilst there is a limited pool of qualified personnel for this sort of specialist work, we have around 4,000 US mariners on our books and can crew up these ships with ease.”

The deadline for submissions to the CBP proposals passed on 17 August and a decision is expected soon.

While the proposed changes may be all good for U.S. seafarers, they obviously do not come without opposition from the international community, particularly from the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA).

Support and opinions have come from far and wide,” said Hugh Williams, Chief Executive of IMCA. “Collective opinion is that if the changes, as written, are adopted, they could have a potentially devastating impact on the US offshore oil and gas industry.

US companies involved in deepwater oil and gas exploration rely on sophisticated, highly specialised vessels for subsea installation construction support, pipe-umbilical laying, as well as maintenance of seafloor facilities. US-flagged vessels represent less than 20 per cent of such capability, and almost none of the top-of-the-range vessels, so foreign-flagged vessels are essential to maintain operations at their current levels. Indeed, at least five years could be needed to develop a fleet of U.S. vessels to meet the demands of the CBP’s proposal if adopted as proposed. Read More

Let’s hear your opinions on this issue…

The National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (The primary industry advisory committee that provides security policy guidance to the US Coast Guard) has recently engaged in the issue of seafarer’s access to shore leave.

NMSAC was tasked to research the issue and provide guidance to the USCG on the issue. You can read a review of the detailed report they issued here .

In addition, at their May 4 meeting, the Committee passed the following resolution:

“The National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC),

Having received, a Task Statement from the United States Coast Guard in June, 2008, requesting NMSAC to examine and quantify the problem of seafarers’ access to shore leave and to provide comments by September 18, 2008,

Convened a Seafarers’ Access working group consisting of representatives that consisted of representatives from Seafarer’s Unions, Seafarer’s Welfare Organizations, Facility owner/operators, Facility Security Officers, and Shipowners Associations,

Having met on September 18, 2008 to discuss, among other items, the findings of the working group,

Recognizing that, several international instruments, listed in the working group’s report, affirm seafarers’ rights to shore leave, visitors, and representatives of seafarers’ welfare and labour organizations,

Noting that, seafarers work and live on ships involved in domestic and international trade and that access to shore facilities and shore leave are vital elements of seafarers’ general well-being and, therefore, to the realization of safer seas and cleaner oceans and the free flow of commerce,

Considering that, due to the global nature of the shipping industry, seafarers need special protection, and security needs must be balanced with the rights of seafarers, and

Noting that, the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code), requires that port facility plans address procedures for:
“facilitating shore leave for ship’s personnel or personnel changes, as well as access of visitors to the ship including representatives of seafarers’ welfare and labour organizations.”

Resolves that, the Coast Guard,

1. enforce the obligation of port facilities under the ISPS Code, the Maritime Transportation Security Act, and the relevant provisions of Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations regarding seafarers’ access to shore leave, and access for visitors, representatives of seafarers welfare and labor organization;

2. require each port facility to facilitate access for seafarers by requiring that every port facility security plan facilitate shore leave, crew changes, and access for visitors, in accordance with the ISPs Code and international instruments. Any costs for facilitating such access is a matter for the port facility; and,

3. convene a high-level group consisting of representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Seafarer’s Unions, Seafarer’s Welfare Organizations, Facility owner/operators, Facility Security Officers, and Ship-owners Associations to address all related seafarer access issues.”

The Coast Guard is very interested in soliciting comments/best practices/lessons learned that we can use in developing futher policy to address this issue. In addition, we’re looking for information in trying to quantify how big the issue is.

This is your opportunity to help inform us as we develop comprehensive guidance to the industry.

So, let’s get the conversation started…

This article was originally posted on gCaptain’s YOUblog forum. If you have an interesting maritime related article that you would like considered for this blog please register HERE then add it as a new post on YOUblog.

We recently ran across some interesting statistics from a 2005 joint study on manpower from BIMCO and the ISF.

Q: How many officers are currently employed aboard ships?

A: Approximately 466,000

Here’s a chart of the numbers;

Regarding this chart the study notes:

An updated estimate of global seafarer supply has been produced based on the most recent national statistics provided by authorities in almost all principal labor supply and other maritime countries. The worldwide supply of seafarers in 2005 is estimated to be 466,000 officers and 721,000 ratings. The OECD countries (North America, Western Europe, Japan etc.) remain an important source of officers, although Eastern Europe has become increasingly significant with a large increase in officer numbers. The Far East and South East Asia (the “Far East”), and the Indian sub-continent remain the largest sources of supply of ratings and are rapidly becoming a key source of officers.

Here is the age structure of officers from OECD countries;

The study tells us:

The world fleet continues to rely heavily on officers from Europe, North America, Japan and other OECD countries However, over 25% of these are over 50 years old, and well over50% are over 40. Most are in senior positions such as Masters or Chief Engineers. The impact of their retirement, without adequate numbers of well trained and experienced replacements, could be severe.

The study itself discus, in depth, manpower issues facing the industry. You can download the report summary, including more information on the above charts HERE or the full report HERE.