War bonus agreed
The shipping industry's International Bargaining Forum has designated the Gulf of Aden a “high-risk area” with double pay for crews sailing through “hijack alley”.
Crews on ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and covered by a global labour agreement are now eligible for a war bonus of double pay.
The agreement reached at the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) follows last month’s request from the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) for an emergency meeting to tackle the issue of seafarers risking kidnap in the pirate-infested waters.
Seafarers serving on ships with IBF agreements will also qualify for double death and disability payments.
Crews on ships that use the recently-established Maritime Security Patrol Area will be expected to continue to serve but if on ships that do not use the corridor they will be allowed to sign off and be flown home at the owner’s expense and without prejudice to their employment.
The IBF covers some of the biggest names and employers in shipping from oil majors (Shell, BP, Exxon and Chevron) to shipmanagers (V.Ships, Wallem, Bernhard Schulte and Anglo-Eastern), as well as the major Japanese lines and Greek shipowners including Tsakos and Thenamaris.
Over 100,000 seafarers crewing flag-of-convenience ships are covered by IBF agreements, with Filipinos the biggest nationality, followed by Indians and east Europeans.
Brian Orrell, general secretary of officers’ union Nautilus UK and ITF spokesman, said after the IBF meeting in Singapore, “This agreement is breaking new ground in recognising that seafarers face serious risks at sea besides just the possibility of being asked to sail into areas where wars are in progress.”
The “major step forward for the IBF” will also provide Orrell’s union with extra ammunition in its fight to get shipowners in the UK Chamber of Shipping to discuss a similar agreement for crews on British-controlled ships outside the IBF.
The decision means an area not technically a war-zone, but dubbed “hijack alley” by seafarers, has been granted equivalent status, a significance noted by Takao Manji, the spokesman for the employers’ Joint Negotiating Group (JNG), who said, “We appreciate that the IBF has not designated a ‘high-risk area’ before, but the special factors in this situation justify this measure.”
The JNG has turned down previous requests for similar decisions to be taken on Nigeria and part of the Black Sea in the wake of the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia.
The IBF’s warlike operations committee recognised the “growing effectiveness” of the Gulf of Aden corridor but Manji urged governments to increase the number of naval units in the area and to strengthen the rules of engagement.
The IBF’s move follows pressure from unions and governments in key labour-supply countries like the Philippines and India.
The Philippines, which recently had around 100 of its seafarers being held hostage in Somalia, has declared the Gulf of Aden a “hazard zone”, enabling Filipino crews to either sign off or to claim danger money.
The ITF-affiliated National Union of Seafarers of India has also threatened to call on its members to boycott ships transiting the area unless more is done to stop the hijackings.
The ITF has also called for a new international “war-risk” form to replace the existing patchwork of the IBF and individual countries.
The IBF covers some of the biggest names and employers in shipping from oil majors (Shell, BP, Exxon and Chevron) to shipmanagers (V.Ships, Wallem, Bernhard Schulte and Anglo-Eastern), as well as the major Japanese lines and Greek shipowners including Tsakos and Thenamaris.
Over 100,000 seafarers crewing flag-of-convenience ships are covered by IBF agreements, with Filipinos the biggest nationality, followed by Indians and east Europeans. |
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