Nautilus Telegraph February 2018

HEALTH & SAFETY

INDUSTRY

NL NEWS

NAUTILUS AT WORK

Report blames master for El Faro loss

French unions warn over ‘FoC’ ferry

Increased threat of action at Kotug Smit

Record year for Nautilus caseworkers team

Volume 51 | Number 02 | February 2018 | £3.50 €3.70

NO HANDS ON DECK? Maritime professionals question prospects for ‘robo-ships’

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CONTENTS

telegraph Volume 51 | Number 02 | February 2018

WELCOME

28

05 General secretary Mark Dickinson reflects on new year developments

W E L FA R E

22 22

09 ITF Seafarers’ Trust support for new facilities at Mariners’ Park

N AU T I L U S AT W O R K

12 Industrial action begins at Orkney Ferries in long-running pay dispute

H E A LT H & S A F E T Y

Cover image Rolls-Royce

14 ‘Human factor’ blamed for auxiliary engine incidents

N AU T I L U S AT W O R K

Rise of the robots?

21 Legal department secures more than £1m compensation for members in 2017

32 STAFF

editor: Andrew Linington chief sub-editor: Sarah Robinson reporter: Steven Kennedy Dutch correspondent: Hans Walthie production editor: June Cattini-Walker design: Craig Bowyer

Display adverts: Philip Johnston tel: +44 (0)20 7324 2727 email: philip.johnston@redactive.co.uk

ADVERTISING

Recruitment adverts: Paul Wade tel: +44 (0)20 7880 6212 email: paul.wade@redactive.co.uk

Redactive Media Group 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL

website: www.redactive.co.uk

Although the Telegraph exercises care and caution before accepting advertisements, readers are advised to take appropriate professional advice before entering into any commitments such as investments (including pension plans). Publication of an advertisement does not imply any form of recommendation and Nautilus International cannot accept any liability for the quality of goods and services offered in advertisements.

Organisations offering financial services or insurance are governed by regulatory authorities and problems with such services should be taken up with the appropriate body.

Incorporating the Merchant Navy Journal and Ships’ Telegraph ISSN 0040 2575 Published by Nautilus International Printed by PCP

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CONTENTS

36 H I S T O RY

22 Liverpool launches fund for Battle of the Atlantic memorial

PEOPLE

WHERE'S MY TELEGRAPH?

28 Now is the time to nominate someone for the 2018 Merchant Navy Medal awards

If you have moved recently, your home copy may still be trying to catch up with you.

N AU T I L U S AT W O R K

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

32 Survey shows what maritime professionals think about autonomous shipping

IN MY OPINION

36 Technology must take account of the human element, former seafarer argues

E D U C AT I O N & T R A I N I N G

The membership team can also cancel your print copy if you prefer to read the paper on the Telegraph app.

38 Official opening of new Warsash Maritime Academy facilities for officer cadets

AT W O R K

40 App aims to take the guesswork out of recording working hours

REGULARS

38

IN THIS MONTH'S DUTCH PAGES p52

48 50 63 64

Maritime book reviews Ships of the past The face of Nautilus Crossword

• NAUTILUS ADVICE ON SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS • P&T SERVICE FOR NAUTILUS MEMBERS • NAUTILUS COLLEGE VISIT IN ZWOLLE • HEEREMA SOCIAL PLAN ACCEPTED BY MEMBERS • INDUSTRIAL ACTIONS AT KOTUG SMIT? • NAUTILUS SEEKING TO MAINTAIN EMPLOYMENT FOR DUTCH FAIRMOUNT CREW

GENERAL SECRETARY Mark Dickinson MSc (Econ) DEPARTMENT EMAILS general: enquiries@nautilusint.org membership: membership@nautilusint.org legal: legal@nautilusint.org telegraph: telegraph@nautilusint.org industrial: industrial@nautilusint.org young members: ymp@nautilusint.org welfare: welfare@nautilusint.org professional and technical: protech@nautilusint.org Nautilus International also administers the Nautilus Welfare Fund and the J W Slater Fund, which are registered charities.

• CBA AND PENSION DEAL FOR INLAND WATERWAYS • NO CBA YET FOR VT GROUP EMPLOYEES • SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYABILITY MEETING • NAUTILUS/FNV TAX SERVICE FOR MEMBERS • SELLING OFF OF SHARES ROYAL DIRKZWAGER • SAVE THE DATE: NAUTILUS DUTCH BRANCH ANNUAL MEETING

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FOREWORD

Welcome Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson considers the impact of the UK government’s cabinet reshuffle, welcomes international cooperation at Shell and looks forward to closer working with the Croatian union SPH…

hank you to every member who gave their views on the new-look Telegraph which we launched last month. I am pleased that most of them were positive, and members understand and have embraced the reasons for the changes. There will always be teething problems with this type of exercise and we hope to have ironed out most of the issues that were brought to our attention with the first edition. Please continue to send in your thoughts and feedback – this is the magazine of your Union and your industry, so it must reflect the issues and information you want to read about.

The start of a new year is always a good time for a refresh and a change, and in the UK, the prime minister took the opportunity to bring about some changes to her government.

We were sorry to lose shipping minister John Hayes, who represented the sector in three spells from July 2014. I have had many meetings with Mr Hayes, and he seemed to understand and have a passion for the sector. Unusually for a politician, he was willing to have his mind changed by sensible argument, and one of his last acts as minister was to agree to call for a review of the system for issuing Certificates of Equivalent Competency. This was something we have been calling for since the launch of our Charter for Jobs at the UK branch conference in October 2016, but which Mr Hayes initially didn’t feel was necessary. Thanks to the persistence of our

T

There has never been a more important time for the UK and European maritime sector

February 2018

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members, who contacted their MPs in droves to explain the realities of their work, Mr Hayes changed his mind and agreed to the review.

In the reshuffle, the Department for Transport gained two new MPs – Jo Johnson and Nusrat Ghani – with the latter being confirmed as the new shipping minister.

We have welcomed her into the post and have sought an early meeting. With just over one year to go until the UK leaves the European Union, there has never been a more important time for the UK and European maritime sector.

Further afield, I spent some time abroad meeting representatives from Shell International Shipping Services. In 2017 Nautilus International and other Nautilus Federation members were among the unions who signed a ‘milestone’ collective agreement covering the terms, conditions and salary scales for all officers serving with Shell Ship Management.

This agreement represents the truly international nature of our members’ work, and I hope to be able to replicate it with more employers in the future to provide job security and good standards of employment for even more members.

I also had the pleasure of welcoming Neven Melvan, general secretary of the Seafarers’ Union of Croatia (SPH) to the Nautilus International Council meeting held in Rotterdam at the end of December. Nautilus and SPH are currently investigating ways of working more closely together, and you can read more about the union in an interview with Neven on pages 30-31.

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LETTERS

INBOX Your space to join the debate on the issues that matter to maritime professionals

What’s on your mind?

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 identified – 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, email telegraph@ nautilusint.org or fax to +44 (0)20 8530 1015.

Thought-provoking article or poorly-researched rant? r Ulrich Jurgens’ intemperate rant against a perceived miscarriage of justice (January 2018 Telegraph) makes for uncomfortable reading. None of us wants to see two of their own prosecuted and sentenced for crimes that may ordinarily, and in previous times, have been considered mistakes. But to rail against a duly constituted legal process in this way is to set a very dangerous course.

The stark truth is that sailors are no more above the law than any other citizen of this country. If it is deemed we broke it, we must be held accountable. Notwithstanding that, if a wrong has been committed, perhaps an appeal will be lodged and we’ll have to await that outcome.

Making judgements on the basis of partial information is deplorable. So when Mr Jurgens says he’s writing on the ‘basis of scant information’ (p. 35) and that ‘[he hasn’t] seen any files…been present at the trial…[and does] not know what the MCA submitted’ (p. 36) it’s

D

fairly clear that his conclusions are heavily biased by an instinctive, defensive, emotional (and on one level, understandable) response as opposed to any rational process.

Just for the record, I’m no longer a practising seafarer, nor a lawyer, and I haven’t seen any of the trial’s submissions. Good reasons why holding fast before making self-indulgent claims is the prudent course of action and why we (as a society) depend on people with those attributes, to act on our behalf.

As a footnote, Mr Jurgens’ use of initially unattributed quotes on pp 35 and 36 (before at the end revealing their source in a sort of linguistic legerdemain) is a dubious strategy which left me feeling manipulated. It’s a tawdry, journalistic tactic which violates the normal rules of academic writing, flirts with plagiarism and is not something in which the Telegraph should be complicit.

Dr Chris Haughton EdD MA BA CertEd PGCC QTLS Master Mariner FNI FSET

The View From Muirhead www.thefreakywave.com

I read with great interest the article ‘Mistakes are not crimes’ in the excellent first edition of the Telegraph (January 2018).

This was a very thoughtprovoking discourse by Dr Jurgens, but I found myself bemused by the comment that apparently the surveyor in charge of the Hull MCA office ‘is an engineer’ and what he implied by this comment.

John Cooper mem no 108354

Supporting shipboard reading I was interested to see Jason Zuidema’s piece, ‘The Need to Read’, in January’s new-look Telegraph. The Marine Society, as providers of brand-new nonreturnable paperback libraries, shares many of Jason’s views and has long been convinced of the benefits of reading for pleasure and how it can contribute to seafarer welfare and stress reduction.

As an addendum, it may be useful to know that during 2017 the Marine Society has been working with a leading digital library provider to create a costeffective, multi-lingual digital

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library for seafarers. We launched a prototype in the autumn at Crew-Connect Global in Manila and have been demonstrating it to customers and interested parties since then.

Feedback has been good and we are looking to launch in 2018.

For any further information or to see a demo please get in touch.

Caroline Buckland Book services manager Marine Society

The new Telegraph – readers’ verdicts Easier to hold Congratulations on the production of the new format of the Telegraph magazine. Much easier to hold, read and enjoy. Forward looking, like the union.

Captain Kevin Riddick

Cheap-looking

Bigger captions, please I have been a member of Nautilus NL and its predecessors since 1976. Though retired from seafaring since 1994, I still read the Telegraph from cover to cover in both English and Dutch. At my age of 83, with glasses I can still read the very fine print captions under the photographs – but only just. Could you have these captions printed in somewhat larger letters, please?

Apart from a few improvements to be made, I can say I quite like the new style and format.

Harry Bakker mem no 1176004

Keep the best bits!

Thank you for the new magazine, I think it looks good. Please try to keep the old feature of book reviews on nautical books and the references to the union in the past. Do give plenty of space to members’ letters.

Follow us on Twitter @nautilusint

Richard Warren memno 998226

The new format Telegraph is akin to a ‘penny comic’ of the 50s/60s. I’d much rather pay for the old glossy broadsheet style than have this for free.

Good, but hard on the eyes es

David Spencer mem no 092283

Nautilus Intl @nautilusint Jan 11 What a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario would mean for key UK industries www.irishtimes.com Nautilus Intl @nautilusint Jan 16 Nautilus members are being invited to help with important new research into loneliness and psychological #wellbeing among #seafarers Neil Nisbet via Facebook Dec 24 Just received a ‘proper’ copy through the post, very smart!

And whilst the new format is better ‘online’ my immediate thought is that the new format is better for reading on a plane, train or in a cramped smoko mess!

Guy Platten @guyplatten Jan 9 Just got hold of my copy of the new look telegraph @ nautilusint ‒ much handier format and looks great!

MC Squibb mem no 111538

Whilst in many ways I approve of the new format, at, there are areas that, in my opinion, need to be addressed. nd For ease of reading contrast between text and background is important, the best is black textt d on a white background (which is why it is used ry in books and newspapers). White on pink is very ures poor, and in the red captions attached to pictures the letter size makes it difficult to read them. Red on pink is not brilliant either. The clarity of the print in the newspaper style never gave me any problems – this new style does. Please remember that not all your readers are young with excellent eyesight.

Whilst I do like the new magazine style and improved contents I was very disappointed for the above reasons.

Tweets of the month

SuperYacht News @SaltySeadog Jan 10 Everyone who works as crew on board Superyachts from the deckhands to stews from Captains to Chefs from ITOs to Engineers should become a member of @nautilusint There really is no excuse not to!

The editor replies: Our thanks to all the readers who gave us their thoughts about the new format.

We appreciate the constructive criticisms and have made a number of changes in response, with further improvements also under consideration.

Mark Dickinson @Mdickinson1262 Jan 3 Given that I believe Daniel Craig’s Dad was a Merchant Navy Officer I think we can claim that James Bond was made in the MN @ DanielCraigOO7

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contained within the budget. Well, we are still here, operating within our constraints and able to sustain most of our charitable aims.

The vessel is due for her next five-yearly out of water survey in 2019 and, not unexpectedly, finance will be tight.

The constraints of maintaining a vessel to the required MCA standards and to those expected of a maritime heritage asset – one of just a few remaining vessels of its class still in operation – are taking its toll on the finances of the POBT. Some extensive work may be required, some of which may be beyond the capacity of the POBT and the volunteers who run it.

In any event, there are several members of the POBT who are ex MN/RFA sea-goers and I thought readers may appreciate an update on what some retired members do with their time.

This month we ask Should cyber-security training be made compulsory for all seafarers? Vote now at: www.nautilusint.org

IMO feature was insulting to staff and delegates

do with good seamanship.

In my opinion, the headlines should be more in line with the contents of his letter. And regarding Brexit, the UK made the decision to leave the EU. I hope that we as Nautilus International stay together, because I do believe in a strong multinational union.

First, let me send you my appreciation of the new Telegraph magazine. I find the layout excellent to follow and the material most interesting and it certainly invites comments and responses.

On that point, I have to say that I found Michael Lloyd’s feature on the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) both inaccurate and misleading.

Having spent 12 years working on behalf of the International Federation of Ship Masters’ IFSMA, Nautilus and the ITF have Associations (IFSMA), it was worked together to insulting to both the IMO make significant changes at the IMO secretariat and the delegates who attend the various meetings and spend long hours trying to achieve a consensus on maritime issues. It is hard work and at times a real struggle to achieve our aims representing the interests of seafarers, but with the support of the ITF and members of Nautilus International, we made some significant changes. Two examples are the hours of work and rest in STCW and the guidelines on criminalisation of seafarers.

He is right that the IMO is a UN body, and by stating that he should acknowledge that IMO can only create and amend the conventions; it is up to flag states to implement them. IMO was never set up with the powers to do so. I fear that many readers of this feature will be misinformed and several readers who have attended or worked in IMO will be insulted.

Capt Johan Kooij mem no 1161048

Rodger MacDonald Retired Nautilus International trustee

Martin Seymour mem no 427406 To donate or volunteer, go to: www.prideofbristoltrust.org Facebook:Pride of Bristol Trust

A misleading tabloid headline unworthy of the Telegraph After reading the letter from Mr RJ Harrop in the December issue, it felt as if I had been reading the headlines from one of the tabloid papers, and not our Telegraph.

His letter dealt with training and working during his sailing days, and in the end he mentioned Brexit. I do not see a connection between ‘Bring back pride in our work’ and leaving the EU, because this has nothing to

Last month we asked: Do you think there is still a valuable role for seafarers’ centres in the 21st century?

Poll results are pictured left.

Yes

In the January 2010 Telegraph the Pride of Bristol Trust (POBT) published a short article detailing the aims of the Trust and those who crew their vessel, Pride of Bristol.

The vessel is the ex-Royal Navy fleet tender HMS Messina and is run by the POBT as a charity which provides opportunities for young people to experience life at sea in the Bristol Channel area. Voyages are provided free of charge where possible, or at heavily subsidised rates which cover just fuel and/or food.

In 2014 the vessel completed a five-yearly out of water survey in Sharpness Dry Dock. All major work was undertaken by the volunteer staff of the Trust with costs

HAVE YOUR SAY

3%

% 97

Help our historic ship

No

LETTERS

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NAU T I LU S AT WOR K

NEWS RECORD FOR CASEWORKERS Welfare Fund service secures £900,000 for ex-seafarers The Nautilus Welfare Fund’s caseworker service has chalked up a record year – helping to secure almost £900,000 in benefits and grants for retired seafarers and their dependents facing financial difficulties.

The charity’s free and confidential service supported more than 300 former seafarers last year, with caseworkers based in Merseyside, Hull, Glasgow and the Southampton/Portsmouth area offering home visits to discuss individual circumstances. They can assist with financial matters and also provide support with housing or health concerns.

Nautilus welfare services manager Mick Howarth said 2017 had been an exceptional year for the service and 2018 will also be a special year.

‘We added a new caseworker in Glasgow last year and now plan to appoint another

caseworker in Belfast or Cardiff,’ he added.

‘We are focusing on ensuring veteran merchant mariners get the support they need,’ Mr Howarth said. ‘Their role In supporting the Armed Forces has often been unrecognised and undervalued and we are particularly keen to ensure those who were involved in conflicts such as the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Falklands War and the Gulf War, including former Royal Fleet Auxiliary staff, secure all necessary assistance.’

Any former seafarers needing support should email welfare@nautilusint.org or contact their nearest caseworker directly.

Merseyside Cathy Wilson 0151 346 8840 Hull/Grimsby John Norris 07841 779234 Glasgow Iain Lindsay 07927 569216 Southampton/ Portsmouth Sandra Silverwood 07841 779237

OBITUARY

Tributes to Bob Elliott Tributes have been paid to former MNAOA/ NUMAST official Bob Elliott, who died shortly before Christmas at the age of 89.

Mr Elliott joined Elder Dempster Lines as an apprentice in 1944 and served with the company until 1958, rising to the rank of chief officer and obtaining his master’s foreign-going certificate.

Following a period working ashore with the Unilever Group, he joined the MNAOA in October 1961 in the role of assistant district secretary in the Liverpool office. He became regional secretary in October 1965 and continued in the post until his retirement in February 1990, after which he continued to provide part-time consultancy assistance to the Union for a further five years.

Mr Elliott had been an officer with the Sea Cadets and also served on a wide range of maritime bodies, including port welfare committees.

Former assistant general secretary Peter McEwen commented: ‘Bob was extremely knowledgeable, very level-headed, and meticulous in his work. I have especially strong memories of the tremendous work he did for the training and education of lay members, and his work with Brian Orrell to produce the lay reps’ handbook.

‘Bob had a great love of the Merchant Navy and a strong desire to help people, and you could not ask more of a union official,’ he added.

W E L FA R E

ITF Trust aid for Mariners’ Park The ITF Seafarers Trust has made a significant donation to the Nautilus Welfare Fund to support its programme to expand and improve accommodation options at the Mariners’ Park Estate on the banks of the River Mersey.

The of £600,000 donation will contribute to the costs of building of 12 new apartments for retired mariners at the 16-acre site in Wallasey.

The new apartments will replace 12 old onebedroomed apartments built in the early 1900s and which were no longer fit for purpose.

The new apartments will be two-bedroomed, and include an en suite wet room. All apartments will also have a patio or balcony.

There will be lift access to the first floor and new landscaped gardens.

Nautilus welfare services manager Mick Howarth commented: ‘We are delighted with this very generous donation from the ITF Seafarers Trust. Its mission is to improve the welfare of mariners, and this contribution to the new accommodation will provide support for retired mariners for generations.

‘We have already demolished the old properties, building work will commence in January, and we expect the new apartments to

be ready for occupation by the year end,’ he added.

Any retired mariners interested in moving to Mariners’ Park can apply for accommodation by emailing welfare@nautilusint.org or by telephoning (0151)346 8840. Further information is also available on the Charity’s website: www.nautiluswelfarefund.org.

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N A U T I L U S AT W O R K

NETHERLANDS

FNV campaign for ‘real jobs’ Unions hit back on the race to the bottom The Dutch trade union federation FNV is launching a major new campaign for ‘real jobs’ – warning of the risks caused by the ‘race to the bottom’ on pay and conditions.

In an address to the December Nautilus Council meeting, FNV policy coordinator Zakaria Boufangacha said unions need to take the initiative to resist the decline in working conditions and help to make the world a better place. ‘If we don’t do it, no one will,’ he added.

The campaign is being launched following a resolution to the 2017 FNV Congress and aims to combat such trends as zero-hours contracts and employment insecurity.

Mr Boufangacha said research showed a marked trend away from fixed contracts and permanent jobs in the

Dutch workplace over the past 15 years. ‘There has also been a big increase in self-employment – not through choice but through companies asking workers to come back on that basis,’ he added.

Agency working and flexible hours have become increasingly common, while the proportion of national wealth going to workers has reduced. Good employers are being forced to compete by cutting their employment costs, Mr Boufangacha added, while deregulation is making it harder for unions to protect workers.

‘We have to stop this race downwards and fight for a decent way of life,’ he said, ‘and our focused campaign will be on big issues that we have to win.’

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson presented a book about modern-day seafaring to FNV policy coordinator Zakaria Boufangacha

FNV will be calling for ‘real jobs’ – with permanent contracts and a 32-hour working week. It is seeking to secure collective bargaining agreements that meet these standards and to put pressure on the government to change policies.

‘It may sound ambitious, but we believe it is not unrealistic,’ Mr Boufangacha stressed. ‘It should not be normal that there should be such insecurity. The money is there and the growth is there.’

E D U C AT I O N A N D T R A I N I N G

N A U T I L U S AT W O R K

Award is extended

NEW SERVICES ARE CONSIDERED

Nautilus is changing the selection criteria for its Bevis Minter Award to honour outstanding officer cadets, in response to a motion to last year’s Nautilus UK branch conference.

December’s Council meeting agreed to a proposal to alter the way in which nominations for the award are sought. This will mean that colleges will now be asked to select worthy candidates from the entire period since the last time they were invited to nominate, to ensure that all potential winners are considered and not just those in the current intake.

General secretary Mark Dickinson said young members had raised concerns that the five-year cycle of college nominations could disqualify some good candidates for the award. ‘We have taken on this concern and the change will mean that no one will fall through the gap,’ he added.

Discounts on phone cards, airport the range of benefits and services lounge access, money transfer provided by Nautilus and arrangements, insurance for considering whether these could be personal effects at sea, and improved on or added to.

Nautilus diaries – these ‘We are seeking to were some of the develop targeted services Full details of suggestions that are specific to the the benefits that membership discussed at the needs of seafarers,’ he brings to Nautilus latest meeting of added, ‘and the members can be the Union’s savings from these found at www. nautilusint.org membership benefits benefits can give deals survey working group. that can save the cost of Assistant general membership.’ secretary Ronnie Cunningham, Mr Cunningham said a report who chaired the meeting, said the on the working group’s findings working group had been examining will be made to the next Council the feedback given by members on meeting. nautilusint.org nautilusint.org 10 18 February Janaury 2018 2018

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nautilusint.org 11 February 2018

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NAUTILUS AT WOR K

Stena pledge RFA officers surveyed on Union services on UK jobs Stena Line has informed the Union that there will be no compulsory redundancies made following the loss of the charter of the UK-flagged freight ferry Capucine.

Members serving on the Harwich route had previously been told that there was a threat of compulsory redundancy, and the Union called for meaningful discussions to take place with management.

Since then, the company requested candidates for voluntary redundancy. In a letter to the Union, Dhananjay Swadi, personnel director with Northern Marine Manning Services – who are acting as agents only – stated: ‘We have now closed the voluntary redundancy process and communicated with all individuals that applied for voluntary redundancy. In relation to ongoing redeployment within the North Sea region we have given verbal confirmation to the affected individuals and will follow this up with a letter to confirm.

‘Further, we are pleased to advise that as it presently stands, there will be no compulsory redundancies in relation to these changes. Furthermore, there will be no secondments or deployment outwith the North Sea region.’

Nautilus national ferry organiser Micky Smyth said this was a positive step for members who wished to remain based at the port of Harwich. ‘It’s good news that the threat of compulsory redundancy no longer exists,’ he added. ‘However, we now need to refocus our efforts on ensuring that discussions continue to take shape and that we are able to ensure that our members continue to get the levels of protection and support that they deserve from their Union.’

Nautilus International is seeking the views of Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) officers on ways in which the Union’s services could be improved to attract more members.

A confidential questionnaire aims to help the Union understand exactly what members require from their membership and what they believe could be improved to attract more new recruits to sign up.

National organiser Steve Doran commented: ‘The vast majority of RFA officers have traditionally maintained membership of Nautilus, ensuring that our voice remains strong and relevant. However, we

have noticed a decline over recent times, as is the case in wider society, regarding individuals who appear to “go it alone”, leaving themselves vulnerable, having no say in matters of significance and denying themselves access to the many services we offer, not least of which is legal representation.

‘To address the issue, we have decided to reach out to members, seeking their opinion,’ he added.

‘Members can be assured that all responses will be treated on an in-confidence basis, and will hopefully help us review how we operate, in order that we can improve.’

Orkney members take action

Nautilus urges transport minister to deliver on ‘fair funding’ Nautilus national ferry organiser Micky Smyth is pictured with RMT regional organiser Gordon Martin during discussions over joint strategy after a ballot of members employed by Orkney Ferries showed overwhelming support for industrial action.

Nautilus members voted 21 to one in favour of taking industrial action short of a strike, and this got underway last month, consisting of an overtime ban, a call-out ban and work to rule.

The action follows a series of meetings between the Union and management, who decided not to increase the final 1.5% offer made to members for the 2017 pay and conditions review. The company said that as it is owned by the Orkney Islands Council its awards are restricted to public sector rates.

Nautilus has written to Scotland’s transport

minister Humza Yousaf to highlight the need to address long-standing concerns over the support for lifeline Orkney Ferries’ services. The Union says the Scottish government needs to deliver on commitments for ‘fair funding’ for routes in Orkney and Shetland.

‘This would not only bring support for internal Northern Isles ferries into line with the Western Isles, but would also safeguard their future and enable the terms and conditions of their seafarers to be brought into line with crews on comparable operations,’ Mr Smyth pointed out.

Members of Unite – who also have members serving on Orkney Ferries – have also balloted for industrial action.

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In brief Subsea talks: a meeting to review the continued impact of pressures on the oil and gas sector during 2017 has taken place between Nautilus and Subsea 7 in Aberdeen. As a result of the discussions, it was agreed that this year’s pay and conditions talks will take place well ahead of the July review date and members will shortly be consulted on the contents of the claim.

REVISED OFFER AT THAMES CLIPPERS Nautilus national ferry organiser Micky Smyth is pictured with Thames Clippers liaison officers Steve Wright and Malkeet Virdi before talks with management on this year’s pay and conditions review.

Following ‘full and frank’ discussions, the

company tabled a revised offer of a 3% increase, with a KPI-related bonus of up to 1%. Nautilus has advised that the offer is the best that can be achieved through negotiations and strongly recommended acceptance.

Foreland rejection: a fiveyear, multi-factored, pay offer has been rejected by members employed by Foreland Shipping (Guernsey) by margin of two to one following consultations. National organiser Jonathan Havard has advised management of the decision and is seeking to arrange further talks.

Maersk offer: members serving with Maersk Offshore (Bermuda) and Maersk Offshore (Guernsey) in the container vessels fleet have received a 2% pay offer, effective from April 2018. Results of a consultation on the offer will be known early in February.

Nautilus national organiser Jonathan Havard meets members onboard Bibby Sapphire

Bid to limit Bibby job losses Nautilus is urging VGG (Singapore) to seek voluntary redundancies in a bid to cut the number of compulsory redundancies arising from Bibby Offshore’s decision to proceed with the cold-stacking of Bibby Sapphire.

The news – which will affect both marine and dive tech crew on the DSV agreement – follows months of negotiations between the Union and the company. Last year, members voted to undertake a formal ballot on industrial action after rejecting cost-cutting proposals made by the company.

VGG has said it will take the Union’s call for volunteers into consideration, but has reiterated that it is its intention to make

any compulsory redundancies from those currently stationed on or assigned to the Bibby Sapphire.

It added that it will work closely with the Union in a bid to mitigate the number of redundancies required. But Nautilus was also informed that the company would be looking to warm-stack Bibby Topaz, which will have an impact on members employed as dive techs.

National organiser Jonathan Havard said the Union is seeking to ensure minimise the number of job losses. ‘I’d strongly urge any member who has concerns to contact the Union and we will try and address any issues raised as best we can,’ he added.

PNTL pay: members employed

by Pacific Nuclear Transport (INS) have been asked to give the Union their thoughts on the contents of this year’s pay and conditions claim, ahead of talks due to start in April.

Abacus deal: members serving with Abacus Crewing Services have voted by a big majority to accept the company’s pay and conditions offer, giving increases varying between 1% and 4%.

DFDS views: members serving with DFDS have been asked for their views on the contents of the forthcoming pay and conditions claim to the company.

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H E A LT H & S A F E T Y

IN NUMBERS: PIRACY IN 2017

The ICC International Maritime Bureau has published its annual report on maritime piracy and armed robbery. It reveals that:

A total of 180 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported last year – the lowest figure since 1995, when 188 reports were received.

CLUB BLAMES HUMAN ERROR FOR AUXILIARY INCIDENTS

16%

Port reception for ballast

Damen has plans to extend the service on a global basis.

‘Our goal is to build up a reliable worldwide ballast water service network,’ said Philip Rabe from Damen

Overspeed alarm caused grounding A 5,065gt containership ran aground and nearly collided with a tanker off the German port of Hamburg after an overspeed protection alarm went off and shut down the main engine.

The German-flagged vessel Hanni was refloated about 12 hours after grounding during a voyage to Bremerhaven in December 2016.

Accident investigators found that the alarm had activated as a result of a defective pick-up – an item of equipment that the manufacturers described as being maintenance-free. A report on the incident recommends that the owner includes the pick-ups and the associated speed sensors in a periodic maintenance plan.

The report also notes that the ship’s master and chief officer were working a six-on/ six-off pattern, and it expressed concern that, on a feeder service, this could quickly cause fatigue. It calls for the underway watch schedule to be changed, so that officers do not work more than 10 hours a day.

Research carried out in response to most cases the damage occurs only shipowner concerns over auxiliary a few hours after start-up.’ engine incidents points to human Its analysis showed that incorrect error as a key factor for a high maintenance and repairs, failure proportion of damage claims. to follow procedures, use of The study, carried out by the incorrect tools, and crew Swedish Club, highlights lacking formal engineshortfalls in training and specific training experience, and stresses are among the key Proportion of total machinery claims the need for managers causes of damage. linked to auxiliary to ensure that crew are Many involve the engine incidents competent to undertake incorrect assembly repairs and overhauls. of vital engine parts The club said auxiliary engine in connection with the incidents account for 16% of all total overhaul – ‘in particular, the machinery claims, with an average assembly of connecting rods, cost of almost US$350,000. bearings and pistons causes severe ‘A key finding is that 55% of and costly accidents,’ the report casualties occur within only 10% adds. of the time between overhaul, Poor lube oil management is also corresponding to the first 1,000 a key factor in breakdowns, the club hours or so of operation after said, with a large number of cases of overhaul,’ the report states. ‘In water or soot contamination.

A ballast water ‘reception and bunkering’ system – which enables ships to offload untreated ballast water – has been launched in eight ports in northern Europe by the Dutch company Damen.

The InvaSave scheme also enables vessels to take on clean ballast water when their vessels visit the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brest, Dunkerque, Vlissingen, Den Helder, Stellendam and Harlingen – and

In 2017, 136 vessels were boarded, while there were 22 attempted attacks, 16 vessels fired upon and six vessels hijacked.

Damen's ballast water reception facilities are available in eight European ports

Green Solutions. ‘Since the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention was enforced on 8 September 2017, some shipowners are already facing delays in ports due to unmanaged ballast water. For example, unmanned barges do not have the capabilities to perform mandatory ballast water exchanges; the D1 Standard.

‘With our ballast water bunkering service we can both accept used ballast water for disposal and fill up ballast water tanks with certified clean water at the port of departure,’ he added. ‘As a result, this eliminates the need for ballast water exchange.’

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91 crew members were taken hostage and 75 were kidnapped from their vessels

Three crew members were killed in pirate attacks last year and six injured

Alarm over ro-pax fire safety rules An investigation into a blaze on the vehicle deck of a Stena Line ferry has called for new fire safety rules for ro-pax vessels.

In a report on the fire on the Bahamasflagged Stena Spirit in August 2016, the Polish State Marine Accident Investigation Commission raised concern about design flaws which resulted in hydraulic lines in the ceiling of the vehicle deck bursting and dripping oil onto the fire.

‘Fire of a single vehicle in the cargo space should not have caused such major hazard to passengers, who had to be evacuated from muster stations to open deck,’ the report states. ‘The extent and size of the damage to numerous critical ship systems by the fire of a single vehicle in the cargo space may indicate faulty design solutions and inadequate protection of ship systems.’

The report recommends changes to the SOLAS Convention to require steel casing for all electrical wires, hydraulic pipes and other cables running under the ceiling of vehicle decks.

Investigators said the blaze began as the 39,193gt was arriving in the Polish port of Gydnia on a regular voyage from Karlskrona, Sweden. The report blames crew members for errors identifying the source of smoke – a refrigeration unit on a truck – which, within 20 minutes, developed into ‘a dangerous fire’ that posed a hazard to the ship and the port.

The Commission said crew members did not have adequate knowledge and experience of fire hazards and ‘multiple omissions’ had been made during the incident, including activating the drencher system too late. The report urges Stena to provide crew with additional fire-fighting training and drills.

There were 10 incidents of kidnapping involving 65 crew in or around Nigerian waters.

Nine incidents were recorded off Somalia in 2017, up from two in 2016

32 crew die in tanker blaze Iranian ship sinks after collision with Chinese bulker

A rescue ship battles the fire on the Iranian tanker Sanchi Image: Chinese Ministry of Transport

Nautilus has sent a message of condolence to the Iranian seafarers’ union, following the death of 32 Iranian and Bangladeshi crew onboard a tanker which caught fire and sank eight days after colliding with a bulk carrier off the coast of China.

The 164,154dwt Sanchi suffered a series of explosions following the collision with the 75,725dwt Cosco bulk carrier CF Crystal in the East China Sea at about 1600hrs local time.

The Panama-flagged Sanchi was carrying a

cargo of condensate from Iran to South Korea, and the Hong Kong-registered bulker was loaded with US grain for China.

Investigations into the causes of the collision have begun. Iranian maritime officials said the tanker’s voyage data recorder had been recovered, but they cautioned that it could take many months to determine why the accident occurred.

Mohammed Rastad, head of Iran’s Ports & Maritime Organisation, said the suddenness and intensity of the explosion, together with the rapid spread of toxic gas, meant that the Sanchi’s crew stood no chance of survival.

Chinese authorities warned that operations to deal with the spill of the 136,000 tonnes of ultra-light crude oil from the Sanchi could last for many months. The area in which the National Iranian Tanker Company vessel sank is described as one of the richest and biggest fishing grounds in the East China Sea.

Fuel spillage blamed on fatigue Fatigue has been blamed for a grounding accident Board report states: ‘It is unknown whether which resulted in a 29,000-gallon fuel and lube the frequent variation between the two-watch oil spill and damage estimated at US$12m. rotation schedules, or other factors, could The incident occurred in October 2016 have impacted his circadian rhythm, in the Seaforth Channel in British influencing his sleep/wake cycles.’

Columbia, when the US-flagged tug However, it notes, he had lost an Estimated costs Nathan E Stewart grounded on a hour of sleep during his second rest of damage caused by fatigue-related reef while en route to the port of period of the day. grounding Vancouver with an empty barge.

The NTSB said safety management Investigations revealed that the procedures were not being second mate had missed a waypoint implemented onboard the vessel, with no some 20 minutes before the grounding, at evidence that an additional watchkeeper had 0108hrs, and he told investigators that he had been posted while it was operating in pilotage fallen asleep. A National Transportation Safety waters.

$12M

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I N D U S T RY

In brief Danish boost: Denmark has launched its new Ahead of the Curve strategy in a bid to increase the national-flagged fleet by more than 10% in tonnage and ship numbers over the next three years. The programme also seeks to maintain at least a constant number of Danish seafarers, while increasing shorebased maritime employment to 7,000 people. The strategy commits owners to the recruitment of at least 350 cadets a year, but also seeks to cut the costs of flying the Danish flag by removing the registration fee for ships and through ‘more competitive collective bargaining agreements in order to make it more attractive to employ Danish officers’.

Malta backed: following a fiveyear investigation, the European Commission has given conditional approval to Malta’s tonnage tax scheme. The official backing by Brussels came after Malta agreed to restrict the scope of the scheme and to remove shareholder tax exemptions from the regime.

Swedish rise: Sweden’s maritime unions have welcome the first growth in the country’s merchant fleet for 16 years – with owners opting to put eight ships onto the national register. The unions are working with politicians and shipowners to develop the Swedish Blue Growth initiative to improve the tonnage tax scheme and provide further incentives to use the country’s flag.

Dredging dispute: Indian seafaring unions have opposed their government’s move to sell its 73.47% stake in the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI). The Mumbai-based National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) and The Maritime Union of India (MUI) say privatisation is not in the national interest and could jeopardise jobs.

T E C H N O LO GY

'Drone' tugs The Dutch operator Kotug is seeking to pioneer the use of drone technology to improve the safety and efficiency of tug operations.

It has applied for a patent to use drones to deliver a messenger line to a pre-determined location using object recognition software – replacing the need to pick up a ship’s heaving line in front, and close to, the vessel.

‘This pioneering invention will drastically improve the safety margin of tug operations as this will avoid the need for manoeuvring in the so-called

Kotug is trialling the use of drones to pick up heaving lines from assisted ships Image: Kotug

danger zone,’ the company said.

Trials of the system are being arranged and Kotug said standard operating procedures will be developed in conjunction with relevant authorities and stakeholders.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

BRITTANY FLAG ROW French seafaring unions have accused the crossChannel operator Brittany Ferries of ‘social dumping’ by using a flag of convenience vessel to launch a new service.

They have voiced concern at the company’s decision to charter the Cyprus-registered vessel Connemara from Stena Roro to operate the route between Roscoff, Cork and Santander from April this year.

The ship – which can carry up to 500 passengers and 195 cars – has been operating between Italy and Greece, and will be the first Brittany Ferries vessel not to fly either the main French flag or the country’s RIF international flag.

The CFDT union said management had pledged to return to the French flag within three years. ‘But we will be vigilant on the nationality of seamen embarked,’ the union warned. ‘We will not allow sailors from neighbouring countries like Spain or Great Britain to be hired to the detriment of French sailors.’

Management told staff that the decision to use a non-French registered ferry for the service was ‘exceptional’ and did not call into question the company’s commitment to the national flag.

Brittany Ferries chairman Jean-Marc Roué said the company ‘did not want to take too many risks’ in the ‘very uncertain context’ of Brexit, and had decided to use a non-French vessel for the start-up phase of the twice-weekly service.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

No blame in ferry probe Twenty-six years after 75 passengers and 65 crew died onboard the ferry Moby Prince, following a collision with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo outside the Italian port of Livorno, an inquiry has finally concluded that no one was to blame for the disaster.

Criminal charges against the ferry company’s owner, some tanker crew members and port officials involved in the worst maritime catastrophe to occur in Italian waters in peacetime were dropped – but the victims’ families’ association is calling for a fresh inquiry in the light of new evidence.

The accident occurred in April 1991 when the ferry – which used to operate on the Harwich-Hook of Holland service – struck the anchored tanker shortly after departing for a regular voyage to Sardinia. The inquiry found numerous contributing factors – including the possibility of localised fog and missed distress calls from the Moby Prince – but the cause of the disaster has never been fully explained.

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In brief

FRENCH FIRM ORDERS LNG POLAR SHIP The French cruiseship company Ponant has ordered a hybrid electric LNG-powered vessel, pictured above, to take passengers to ‘never-explored polar destinations, such as the true geographic North Pole, the Weddell Sea, the Ross Sea and Peter I Island’.

To be built by the Norwegian firm Vard at a cost of some US$320m, the Polar Class 2 ice-breaking ship has been developed in cooperation with Aker Arctic and Stirling Design International and will carry up to 270 passengers and 180 crew. Delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2021.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

SINGAPORE SHOWS THE WAY WITH NEW STRATEGY FOR ITS MARITIME SECTOR Nautilus is urging the UK and the Netherlands to take note of an ambitious new strategy unveiled by Singapore last month – which aims to boost its role as a global maritime centre and to create more than 5,000 new jobs in the sector by 2025.

Developed by Singapore’s Maritime & Port Authority, in partnership with the industry, unions and other government agencies, the policy programme includes measures intended to drive innovation, increase productivity and enhance the skills of the local maritime workforce.

The maritime industry already accounts for 7% of Singapore’s GDP and employs more than 170,000 people, and the policy seeks to grow the

sector’s added value by S$4.5bn (€2.8bn) and to harness new technologies to cut shipping industry costs.

Singapore will also extend the existing ‘earn and learn’ programme for seafarers and will enable shipping companies to tap into a Maritime Cluster Fund to help up-skill employees.

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘Singapore is once again leading the way in making solid and structured commitments to the future of its maritime sector. The UK and the Netherlands urgently need to adopt the same sort of vision and strategy to ensure that there is a sound future for their maritime industries.’

W E L FA R E

ITF welcomes UAE clampdown The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has welcomed a move by authorities in the United Arab Emirates to clamp down on exploitation of seafarers in the country’s waters.

With effect from 18 February, all UAE-flagged ships and all ships over 200gt operating in UAE waters will be required to have a contract of insurance to protect seafarers in the event of

abandonment, death or serious injury.

ITF seafarers’ sector chair David Heindel described the new rule as a huge step forward.

‘Basic rights are being violated on a daily basis by companies operating in this region who not only fail to pay wages, but also fail to provide safe working conditions and enough food and clean water for their seafarers,’ he pointed out.

Japanese jobs: the Japanese owner Meiji Shipping is to take on 300 senior officers and engineers this year as it expands its current 47-ship fleet of tankers, bulkers, LPG ships and vehicle carriers. The Tokyo-based operator, which uses MMSI India for much of its ship management, aims to expand its fleet to 200 vessels by 2020, putting it among Japan’s top eight owners.

Italian improvement: Italy’s maritime authority has reported a 22% decline in shipping accidents in the country’s waters over a past decade. The statistics show a spike in fatalities between 2011 and 2013, largely attributed to the Costa Concordia and Norman Atlantic accidents.

Smuggling seafarers: following a three-day trial at Marseilles criminal court, three seafarers have been jailed for smuggling cigarettes onboard ferries operated by Algeria’s national flag carrier, Algérie Ferries (ENTMV).

Ferry aid: French operator Brittany Ferries is the first shipping company to get support from the European Union’s new Green Shipping Guarantee scheme. It will receive financing totalling €142.5m towards the cost of building the LNGpowered car ferry Honfleur, which is due into service in April 2019 on the company’s Caen-Ouistreham and Portsmouth route.

Coastguard concern: three Spanish unions have expressed concern over inadequate Coastguard staffing levels for vessel traffic supervision and security in the Strait of Gibraltar. They warned that numbers have fallen while more than 115,000 ships transited the area last year, many of them carrying large numbers of passengers or dangerous cargoes.

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NAU T I LU S AT WOR K

In brief Training tie-up: some of the UK’s best-known names in maritime training and recruitment have teamed up to provide a comprehensive package of services under the umbrella of Azimuth Nautical Solutions. The partnership with Chiltern Maritime, Clyde Marine Training/Clyde Training Solutions, Ship Safe Training Group, Viking Recruitment/Maritime Skills Academy, and Warsash Maritime Academy/Superyacht Academy will offer courses ranging from degreelevel education to sector-specific training and short STCW courses.

Master fined: a Polish shipmaster was fined £1,000 after being found to be four times over the alcohol limit in the port of Belfast on Boxing Day. Magistrates heard that Captain Patryk Tetzlaff had admitted drinking half a bottle of vodka while in charge of the UKregistered tanker Keewhit.

RFA praised: the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Fort Rosalie has been praised for playing a key role in a US$142m drugs bust in the Arabian Sea last month, helping to seize 11.5 tonnes of hashish and 69kg of heroin from a suspect dhow.

Rigs warning: Nautilus and other members of the Offshore Coordinating Group of unions have expressed concern over the lack of a North Sea decommissioning strategy. They described moves to scrap three old semi-submersible drilling in India and Bangladesh as ‘scandalous’.

LNG boom: the use of LNG as a marine fuel has moved beyond the tipping point, with 11% of all new ships ordered last year set to be LNG-powered, according to a new report from the Dutch company Titan LNG.

CEMEX UK STARTS FLEET RENEWAL CEMEX UK Marine has ordered its first new dredger in 20 years – a specially-designed ‘future-facing’ vessel capable of dredging from depths up to 55m, including in the ‘challenging’ conditions of the North Sea. Company director and Laurence Dagley is pictured onboard Sand Heron in Southampton signing the contract for the new vessel, which will be built at Damen Shipyards Galati, in Romania.

The new ship will replace the 1990-built Sand Heron, and will offer an additional 20% of aggregates capacity per trip. With an overall length of 103.5m and a deadweight of just under 7,000

tonnes, the ship will have a maximum loaded speed of approximately 12 knots. Damen said the MAD 3500 design vessel will have Lloyd’s Register ECOnotation, as well as a CAC-3 notation to reflect a high standard of crew comfort. The ship is designed to offer exceptional seakeeping behaviour and the capability to work in heavy weather conditions, with an enclosed bow protecting deck equipment and reducing green water ingress into the cargo hold.

Mr Dagley said the new vessel ‘represents the start of our ambition to modernise our fleet over the coming years’.

UNITED KINGDOM

New shipping minister A new shipping minister has been appointed as part of the cabinet reshuffle by UK prime minister Theresa May. Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, becomes the second woman to hold the post and has replaced John Hayes, who served two spells in the job: from July 2014 to May 2015; and from July 2016 to January 2018.

Nautilus has written to Ms Ghani (pictured) to seek an early meeting to discuss ‘the case for urgent government action to avert a forecast shortage of domestic maritime expertise and safeguard the future of the British shipping industry’.

General secretary Mark

Dickinson said it was disappointing that the post had changed once again. ‘If ever there was a role that required some continuity, it is that of the shipping minister, and it is a shame that it is so often subjected to a revolving doors approach. Recent experience suggested the government understood that, with John Hayes being given a prolonged stint,’ he noted.

‘We had time to establish a very positive relationship with Mr Hayes, and we hope we can quickly establish a constructive dialogue with the new minister,’ Mr Dickinson added. ‘She is taking over at a critical time

for British shipping and is inheriting an extremely full in-tray – with important decisions outstanding on the action points of the Maritime Growth Study, the application of the National Minimum Wage in UK waters, the introduction of the SMarT Plus improved training and employment support scheme, and the review of the current tonnage tax regime and CEC system, to name just a few.’

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UK FALLS SHORT ON MINIMUM WAGE Guidance on seafarer pay rates lacks legal teeth, Nautilus tells government ministers Government moves to extend the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to all seafarers working in UK waters do not go far enough, Nautilus is warning.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has published guidance to the shipping industry on the application of the NMW and Living Wage in UK waters, warning employers that failure to comply could result in fines of up to 200% of the underpayment, public naming and, for the worst offences, criminal prosecution.

Ministers said the guidance had been

developed in response to concerns about exploitation of seafarers around the UK coast.

They said UK Border Force officers will be handing out the material – translated into 50 languages – to seafarers and employers, stressing that the minimum wage law applies to seafarers when they are working on: ships within UK waters and ports, regardless of where the ship is registered or where the worker ordinarily works or lives; on a foreign ship for work performed outside the UK if they ordinarily work in the UK; on UK-registered ships if some of their work is in the UK and they live in the UK.

Charles Boyle, head of Nautilus legal services, said the guidance falls short of what is needed and does not reflect the measures sought by the maritime unions during an expert working group on the issues. ‘There is no mention in the guidance of changes to the law, so while this may put pressure on some owners to comply with the NMW it is persuasive rather than binding,’ he said.

‘While concentrating on “visiting ships”, the owners are dodging the issue of non UKflagged vessels trading between UK ports and conducting one-port voyages,’ he added.

MINISTER BACKS UK CEC REVIEW

TASK FORCE AIMS TO BOOST WOMEN IN UK SHIPPING

Nautilus has welcomed confirmation that the government has agreed to the Union’s calls for a review of the UK’s system for issuing Certificates of Equivalent Competency (CECs).

In a letter to the Union, recently-departed shipping minister John Hayes said he had asked Sir Alan Massey, head of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), to undertake a review of the way in which CECs are given to foreign officers seeking work on UK-flagged ships.

Sir Alan told Nautilus that the review will be treated as ‘a matter of priority’, and the MCA will work with the Union, other social partners and industry experts to progress it. General secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘The case for such a review is a key objective in our Charter for Jobs strategic campaign, and the positive responses from the minister and the MCA are most welcome.

‘We hope that we can secure rapid progress on the review – something that is increasingly important ahead of Brexit,’ he added. ‘We must ensure that there is a level playing field for UK-resident seafarers and that CECs are not used by shipowners as a way of creating a pool of cheap labour.’

Nautilus is also calling for top-level assurances that UK seafarers’ certificates will continue to be recognised within the European Union during and after the Brexit process. The call came after the European Commission warned shortly before Christmas of ‘certain legal repercussions’ for the mutual recognition of seafarers’ certificates arising from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and its consequent move to ‘third country’ status.

Nautilus is part of a special new task force which has been launched to find ways of increasing the number of women in the UK maritime sector.

Established in response to a call from former shipping minister John Hayes for action to address the industry’s gender imbalance, the Maritime UK working group will draw up a series of recommendations and assess best practice from other sectors.

Only 3% of the UK’s 14,350 officers are women, and a recent Merchant Navy

Training Board seminar heard concerns that the number of female cadets has dropped in recent years.

The working group – whose members include representatives from shipping companies, classification societies, ports and maritime law firms – will come up with recommendations to tackle equality and inclusion, with a key aim of boosting the number of women in senior roles within shipping, ports, marine and business services industries. It is expected to complete its work in the summer.

Image: Maritime Photographic

SHIP SUFFERS CARGO SHIFT A major emergency operation was staged when the Russian-flagged general cargoship Mekhanik Yartsev, pictured above, developed a dangerous list following a shift of its timber cargo in heavy seas off Portsmouth just after Christmas. The 2,489gt vessel was taken to a dry dock in Southampton for repairs before resuming its voyage to Northern Ireland last month.

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N A U T I L U S AT W O R K

LEGAL

ORGANISING

£1m+ won for members

‘POSITIVES’ IN PAY AWARDS

The value of being a Nautilus member has been demonstrated once again by the work of the Union’s legal department over the past year.

During 2017, the department dealt with 30 new personal injury, accident or disease cases and recovered more than £590,300 for UK branch members in compensation for work-related illnesses or injuries.

The department also handled 47 new employment-related cases, which included such problems as unfair dismissal, unpaid wages/benefits and breach of contract.

More than £622,000 was secured for UK branch members in compensation for employment issues.

The legal department continues to provide advice and representation to members who have been involved in maritime incidents, and during the year the Nautilus 24/7 service – which provides round-the-clock support to members

wherever they may be – dealt with 305 cases, assisting 395 seafarers. Problems dealt with were wide-ranging and included unfair dismissal, bullying and harassment, unpaid wages, maritime incidents, legal issues, welfare matters and enquiries about joining the Union.

The legal helpline operated by the Union’s lawyers, Bridge McFarland, is handling an Total number of cases average of 30 cases on handled for members behalf of members and their by the Nautilus 24/7 service over the families, with casework past 12 months including dispute resolution, wills, conveyancing, medical negligence, family law and personal injury.

‘It’s been a busy year for the department, and the figures speak for themselves,’ said head of legal services Charles Boyle. ‘They show the very real benefits of being a member, and the specialist protection that we can provide in times of trouble.’

305

ORGANISING

NAUTILUS LEADS SHELL TALKS Unions meet on SISS Fleet Officers Handbook autilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson is pictured with Shell Ship Management director Richard Turner and Vladimir Svalina of the Croatian seafarers’ union, during talks last month on the ‘trailblazing’ terms and conditions agreement which covers around 1,000 officers from 40 different countries who serve in the Shell International Shipping Services fleet.

The Fleet Officers Handbook agreement covers core terms and conditions for all officers over a three-year period, with local-level negotiations continuing on an annual basis. For this year’s claim on behalf of its members, Nautilus has urged the company to ensure it provides ‘market-leading salaries’ that reflect their

N

experience. The Union is also seeking an increase in death in service benefit, a review of the company’s sickness absence policy and its maternity policy.

Nautilus has also asked management to improve the work-life balance by allowing SMT officers to do trips of two to four months.

Last year saw Nautilus secure more than 30 one-year pay deals for members, as well as a range of other improvements such as better pensions and more leave.

The first month of the new year saw seven new deals concluded by the Union, and a number of improved offers being made.

Settlements within the ferry sector include a 4% pay rise for members employed by Manx Sea Transport on Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessels, while members employed by Seatruck Ferries received a 3% increase. A 3% rise has also been agreed for members employed by Red Funnel.

In other sectors, members serving with Global Marine had a 3% increase across all ranks, whilst cable engineers saw an 8% pay hike. Members employed by PG Tankers received a 2.5% increase.

It’s a positive start to the year in some areas, but not within the offshore sector where Nautilus is continuing to fight to save jobs and maintain pay and conditions. One recent example is the pay freeze imposed on members serving with Deeside Crewing Services. Senior national organiser Garry Elliott says the Union will continue to fight for the best deals for its members and recover terms lost as a result of the downturn in the price of oil.

‘We have discussions ongoing with a number of companies at the moment, and we will continue to push for pay increases – where appropriate – and ensure that our members continue to enjoy the benefits that Union members brings,’ he added.

Left to right: SSML contracts manager Tony Whittaker; SSML manager Richard Turner; Globtik Express Agency MD Denis Vukusic; Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson; and Vladimir Svalina of the Croatian seafarers’ union

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H I S T O RY

New Atlantic memorial planned headquarters was based, and where so many of the merchant and navy ships were built, based and repaired and – critically – from where so many of the seafarers came.’

Vice-Admiral Gretton said the memorial will reflect the international nature of the battle, recognising the efforts of British and Allied Merchant Navies and Armed Forces including the United States, Canada, Norway, Liverpool memorial will the Netherlands, Belgium, France, have international Poland, Brazil, Australia, New focus, recognising Zealand and Russia, and the contribution of all thousands of seafarers from Allied countries around the world who served in the will serve as a conflict. fitting memorial The 15-ton memorial (artist’s to all who served in the impression pictured) has been designed crucial conflict at sea. ‘Despite by sculptor Paul Day, who produced the the immense significance of the Battle of Britain Monument on the Battle of the Atlantic, it does Thames Embankment in London, and not have a dedicated national will incorporate the existing statue of memorial in Britain, so the U-boat hunter Johnnie Walker. purpose of this campaign is to fill that gap,’ he added. ‘We believe For more details, visit: the memorial is best situated in www.battleoftheatlantic.org Liverpool, where the campaign

£2.5m monument to be dedicated to WW2 seafarers n appeal has been launched to raise £2.5m for an international memorial dedicated to the estimated 100,000 people who lost their lives during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War, as well as those who served and survived.

The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial (BOAM) – the charity

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leading the fund-raising campaign – wants to site the 28m bronze sculpture, in the shape of a merchant ship split in two, on Liverpool Pier Head. BOAM hopes the monument will be unveiled in 2019, marking the 80th anniversary of the start of WW2.

BOAM chairman Vice-Admiral Mike Gretton, whose father served as an Atlantic Escort Group commander, said the monument

Tribute to Chinese seafarers lost on Dutch merchant ships A ceremony has been staged in Liverpool’s Anfield Cemetery to pay tribute to 31 Chinese seafarers who died more than 70 years ago while serving on Dutch merchant ships during WW2.

The special dedication service marked the culmination of a project to provide proper recognition to the men after their unmarked graves were discovered several years ago by Bob Halliday, from the Friends of Anfield Cemetery.

The seafarers had been killed while working on Dutch vessels during the Battle of the Atlantic and had been buried in Liverpool

because the Netherlands was occupied by the Nazis at the time.

Following research into the cemetery deeds, Mr Halliday contacted the Netherlands War Graves Foundation and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to design and produce headstones to be placed on the graves.

They also worked with Moira Kenny and John Campbell, from the Liverpool organisation The Sound Agents, to arrange the commemoration ceremony for the headstones. The event was attended by representatives from Liverpool’s Chinese community,

as well as Roel Broer, from the Dutch war graves organisation.

Reverend William Addy led the ceremony, with Lord Mayor Malcolm Kennedy reciting the Dylan Thomas poem ‘And Death shall have no Decorum’.

The deputy Lord Lieutenant Pamela Brown read a eulogy written by Walter Fung, from the Society for Anglo-Chinese

Understanding, which noted that the seafarers had ‘lain here for 70 years or more, largely forgotten, and their sacrifice unacknowledged’.

‘It is great that after so long these brave men have been remembered for their actions in what must have been one of the most terrifying battle grounds of the war,’ Ms Kenny said.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

A computer-generated image based on side-scan sonar images and photographs, showing the wreck of El Faro at a depth of 15,000ft Image: NTSB

El Faro report released by NTSB Nautilus warns against scapegoating shipmaster he loss of the ro-ro officers to alter the passage plan to avoid containership El Faro – the the storm, and the report also highlights deadliest shipping the use of non-current weather disaster involving a information, the late decision to muster US-flagged vessel in more than 30 years the crew and ineffective bridge resource – has been blamed on the management. master, with an investigation But investigators also pointed The El Faro sank ruling that he failed to to the company’s inadequate in 35ft seas prevent the ship from safety management system and 100mph sailing into a hurricane.

– including gaps in training winds However, the for shipboard operations in during National Transportation heavy weather, its failure to Hurricane Joaquin Safety Board (NTSB) monitor the ship’s position in October 2015 report on the accident – in relative to the hurricane, and which all 33 people onboard the lack of support for the master for died – reveals a long list of management storm avoidance and heavy weather failures, technical and design issues, and preparations. shortcomings in official oversight of safety ‘Although El Faro and its crew should standards. never have found themselves in such Nautilus senior national secretary Allan treacherous weather, that ship was not Graveson said he was disappointed that destined to sink,’ said NTSB chairman the master had been singled out for Robert Sumwalt. ‘If the crew had more causing the accident. ‘When the regulator information about the status of the fails, seafarers will pay the price – hatches, how to best manage the flooding sometimes with their reputation and often with their lives,’ he added.

The 35,515gt El Faro sank NE of the Bahamas in 35ft seas and 100mph winds during Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015. The NTSB said the ship’s master had failed to heed suggestions from junior

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The stern of El Faro, taken when the vessel was first located on the ocean floor Image: NTSB

El Faro before the accident Image: NTSB

situation, and the ship’s vulnerabilities when in a sustained list, the accident might have been prevented.’

The report described how, in the last few hours of the voyage, the crew struggled to deal with a cascading series of events, any one of which could have endangered the ship on its own.

Seawater entered the vessel through an undetected open watertight scuttle and vehicles in the hold broke free of lashings, probably rupturing a fire main pipe. Propulsion was lost as a result of low lube oil pressure to the main engine following a sustained list.

The report includes more than 50 recommendations aimed at the International Maritime Organisation, the US Coast Guard, the International Association of Classification Societies, El Faro operator TOTE Services, and a number of other companies and authorities.

The NTSB wants to see new IMO rules requiring open/close indicators on the bridge and locally for all watertight doors and access hatch covers normally closed at sea, together with bilge high-level alarms, impact protection for seawater pipes below the waterline, and improvements to onboard damage control plans and documentation.

The report warns that the US Coast Guard’s Alternate Compliance Programme – which streamlines classification society inspections and surveys – fails to ensure that ships meet required standards. ‘Many vessels enrolled in the programme are likely to be operating in substandard condition,’ it adds.

Recommendations also seek to address issues around angles of inclination – including improved standards to increase the margin of safety for abandoning ship after machinery failure.

USCG head Admiral Paul Zukunft described the report as ‘a call to action for the entire maritime community’ that highlighted ‘the need for a strong and enduring commitment at all elements of the safety framework’.

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NAUTILUS AT WOR K

STRONGER TOGETHER As part of a series profiling the Union’s senior management team, Nautilus senior national organiser Garry Elliott explains why trade union representation is so important for maritime professionals at a time of considerable change... aken at face value, my principal job title as ‘head of the organising department’ really reflects why I do what I do at Nautilus International. With responsibility for activities related to union membership, recruitment, retention, servicing members and training, my role is predominantly about people – about you, your teams, your colleagues.

My role as head of organising means I am responsible for the Union’s organising activities in the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands, in accordance with the strategic plan which covers members in all our branches.

It was my seafaring background, from a childhood living by the sea, home and abroad with my father serving in the Royal Navy, to my own brief period of service, which attracted me to work for a union specialising in the maritime industry.

I have worked in trade unions for 35 years, gaining my first 17 years’ experience with the Communications Workers Union, before returning to my seafaring roots – for a union that represents maritime professionals of all ranks, qualifications and backgrounds.

Since joining Nautilus in 1999, I’ve seen first-hand how technological, economic and political changes have affected the landscape of seafaring. With both exciting and challenging times ahead for the sector, particularly

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as the UK looks to exit the EU, and predictions of national and international seafarer shortages by 2021, we need to do our bit to boost recruitment, improve employment conditions, and attract the workers of the future.

That’s why representation by a dedicated trade union can assist our members and the profession as a whole.

We ensure that maritime professionals can do what they do best, secure in the knowledge that Nautilus is fighting your corner on vital issues of welfare, skills and economic security.

To do this, we must keep pace with a changing industry. This includes exploring the opportunities presented by new greenfield sites and new strategic sectors. We are determined that maritime professionals get good, decent jobs and working conditions in these new sectors, which present both exciting career prospects for the next generation and the chance to replace jobs lost in more traditional areas that have declined over time.

Nautilus is fighting your corner on vital issues of welfare, skills and economic security

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GARRY ELLIOTT CV

Has worked in trade unions for 35 years

Head of the organising department

This includes the offshore sector which, as it contracts and large employers start to amalgamate, is now expanding into windfarm operations. The large yacht sector has also seen a rapid growth in recent years and again provides a new potential growth sector for our members entering the industry.

We will continue our work campaigning for jobs in the ferry sector, which has become increasingly exposed to tough competition from low-cost operators using flags of convenience and cheaper foreign crews.

This began in 2014 as the ‘fair ferries campaign’, under which Nautilus has called for local labour to be used wherever possible, but the relevance of this campaign is greater than ever in the UK as it looks to leave the EU. Significant success has been seen after two years of negotiations with a multinational employer operating on the Irish Sea, to make sure that local jobs are retained, which we have managed to achieve with

Nautilus has been increasing its presence in the yacht sector. As part of this work, Garry's team have run seminars informing yacht members how the Maritime Labour Convention applies to them and their vessels

Joined Nautilus in 1999

the support of members and activists.

A key aspect of what my department does is the recruitment of new members and retention of existing members. This is an everyday occurrence; wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, we’d hope that we can increase our membership. We have recently signed an agreement with Shell where we are the lead union representing members in different ranks and nationalities. We are looking to replicate this with a number of other global employers.

Dedicated initiatives such as ‘recruit a colleague’, which began in November 2017, support this focus on recruitment. We’d heartily encourage existing members to get involved, by encouraging others in their workplace to sign up. Once a new member joins and retains their membership for over three months, the member who made the referral receives a £25 voucher. More details on ‘recruit a colleague’ can be found on the Nautilus website.

I have also overseen the development of our commitment to the yacht sector. Nautilus has been working hard over the last few years to improve the working conditions for large yacht officers and crew, in line with the sector becoming more professional.

This is an expanding industry which offers attractive employment opportunities – but sadly there is evidence to show problems of bullying, harassment and insecurity, with many seafarers routinely denied the rights that shore-based staff would be entitled to.

It will be a challenging time ahead for the maritime industry as a whole – but, with a strong strategy, growing membership base, and sustained focus on emerging new sectors, we will keep on course and continue to represent our members, their jobs and futures to the best of our ability.

We’d heartily encourage existing members to get involved in the Recruit a colleague campaign

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

CRACKING THE CODE Failure to properly implement the International Safety Management Code could allow some shipping companies to get away with murder, says an expert involved in a new initiative to assess its impact on the industry…

British academic is involved in a Norwegian Parliamentary Commission project to assess the adequacy of global shipping safety regulation – including the effectiveness of the International Safety Management Code (ISM).

Craig Laverick, from Northumbria University, has submitted evidence to the commission as it considers whether safety has improved since more than 150 people died in a fire onboard the ferry Scandinavian Star during a voyage between Norway and Denmark in April 1990.

‘Norway, and some other major maritime nations, are realising that the ISM Code is not having the impact that it should, and the Commission is examining what more could be done to make it more effective,’ Craig explains.

Craig was invited to contribute to the investigation following his extensive research into the ISM Code, which began when he was following a maritime law module as part of his law degree studies.

‘I didn’t want to do marine law at first, because it is a bit of a niche area,’ he admits. ‘But I became increasingly interested in it, and chose to do my dissertation and my

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The Scandinavian Star ferry disaster in 1990 was one of the catalysts for the development of the ISM Code and its introduction in 1994

PhD on the ISM Code because the more I studied it, the more I decided that it needed changing.’

Craig’s research – which included a Nautilusbacked survey of seafarers – examined the industry’s experiences of the Code since it was adopted in 1994.

This showed that while a big majority considered that it had delivered a positive impact on safety, it could be given greater legal force by linking it to individual liability under corporate manslaughter legislation. ‘It was clear that while the international maritime community is aware of the ISM Code and its benefits, enthusiasm for it among seafarers is waning – with the older generation seeing it as a paperwork burden – and it is not being used to its full potential,’ says Craig.

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Clouds of smoke pour from the ferry Scandanavian Star as it sits in dock in Lysekil a day after it was hit by a fire on the North Sea which killed at least 146 people Image: Getty

Skagerrak Safety Foundation, which has argued that the way in which Costa Concordia’s master, Captain Francesco Schettino, shouldered the bulk of the blame for the accident was in direct contravention of the Code.

Similarly, Craig adds, the treatment of the master of the South Korean ferry Sewol failed to match the principles set down by ISM. Craig – who is now a lecturer at the Northumbria Law School – believes such trends are undermining the original intentions of the Code. ‘Shipowners will question how much they need to invest in it and will just do the bare minimum in the current climate if they perceive that ISM is not being properly implemented or enforced,’ he suggests.

Craig’s research is looking at how national criminal law can potentially be used to ensure better implementation of the ISM Code and not only serve to punish offenders, but also to provide an improved deterrent to substandard practices. ‘The Code is an important legal instrument, and maybe it is time to look at how it can be better implemented, better enforced and better used,’ he adds.

‘The starting point of the Code was to try and harmonise safety standards around the world,’ he notes.

‘When I first started my research I though it needed changing because it wasn’t strong enough. But now, in my opinion, it is not so much an issue with the Code but rather with the implementation and enforcement.’

Port state control authorities rarely detain vessels – and cruiseships in particular – when major ISM nonconformities are discovered, he argues. Combined with the lack of legal action around ISM failures, this has allowed complacency to creep in.

Craig says national courts need to incorporate ISM within their rulings on maritime safety, and there should be a much stronger focus on the role of the designated person ashore (DPA). ‘If the courts use the law correctly, they should start with the DPA and see what they have done,’ he argues.

‘Once we have a few convictions of both the company and the individuals concerned, we will start to see a return to the continuous improvement of safety. It really should not have to take another big shipping disaster for people to think about why things go wrong’.

"The ISM Code

sought to make us proactive about safety, but we still have reactive responses to disasters"

‘Courts very rarely look at the ISM Code, especially because it is an international instrument, and often when something goes wrong the Code is not used to establish whether the master or the company of a vessel were to blame,’ he points out.

‘As a consequence, we always get a reactive response after a disaster rather than taking the proactive approach to safety which ISM sought to establish,’ Craig argues.

‘Using national legislation can lead to issues such as companies plea-bargaining within the legal process and removing themselves from the full scrutiny of an investigation,’ he points out. ‘If all the blame is put on a ship’s master following a disaster, then important information about the corporate role and any culpability can be overlooked. We see this in Italy and the Costa Concordia where any mistakes made by the company cannot be properly considered or addressed.

This is not in the interest of safety.’

Craig is also working with the Norway-based

Northumbria University Law School lecturer Craig Laverick warns that support for the ISM Code is waning

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PEOPLE

Recognising exceptional work Do you know someone who deserves a medal? Now is the time to put forward candidates for the 2018 Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service. Captain Matthew Easton, chairman of the MNM Consultative Committee, explains how to make a nomination… nce again the Department for Appropriately, the names of the recipients Transport (DfT), supported by are announced each year on Merchant Navy the Merchant Navy Honours Day, 3 September, and presentations are Consultative Committee, is made shortly thereafter in the prestigious seeking nominations for the annual Merchant surroundings of Trinity House, whose Brethren Navy Medal for Meritorious Service. have given huge support.

This prestigious state award is for those In summary, nominees should have shown who have served at sea in the Merchant Navy devotion to duty and exemplary service, or fishing fleets, normally for at least 20 years, which has been of particular value and has and have made a significant contribution – constituted an outstanding example to some of which can be in a shore-based others. All nominations should ideally be capacity. accompanied by at least two letters of All those involved are anxious that support. individuals, ships’ crews and organisations, The DfT guidelines and nomination forms ashore and afloat, give consideration to can be downloaded from the website people who they feel might be deserving of www.merchantnavymedal.org, which this award. Nominees should have achieved also lists all recipients of both medals. something that makes him or her stand out against others, either in an ongoing capacity, or as the result of some recent specific initiative or event.

This year, 2018, will mark the third year of this award, which succeeded the former Merchant Navy Medal presented by the industry between The Merchant Navy 2005 and 2015.

Medal is now a UK state honour Over the last two years the medals have been presented by The Princess Royal to men and women who have contributed towards areas such as maritime safety, improved efficiency, training, welfare and the saving of life at sea.

In certain cases, if it is felt appropriate, names may be put forward, by the DfT, for higher state awards – including those for acts of courage.

The award is a significant achievement in finally gaining formal recognition of the Merchant Navy by the state. It was achieved largely due to the efforts of the Merchant Navy Honours Consultative Committee, whose members represent the widest possible spectrum of the industry – including the Chamber of Shipping, the maritime trade unions, professional bodies and maritime charities.

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The Merchant Navy Medal has been awarded to honour such service as dedication to seafarer training, services to marine engineering, devotion to welfare work and fundraising support for maritime charities and young seafarers

The Princess Royal presents the 2017 Merchant Navy Medal to Nautilus member Captain Jamie Wilson, in recognition of his humanitarian work rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean

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^ŚŝƉ ,ĂŶĚůŝŶŐ ^ŝŵƵůĂƚŽƌƐ ,ŝƌĞ ŽŶĞ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ƚǁŽ ϯϲϬΣ ĨƵůů ŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ďƌŝĚŐĞ ƐŝŵƵůĂƚŽƌƐ ĨŽƌ ƐŚŝƉ ŚĂŶĚůŝŶŐ ƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ Žƌ ƵƐĞ njŝƉŽĚͬsŽŝƚŚ ^ĐŚŶĞŝĚĞƌ ƉƌŽƉƵůƐŝŽŶ ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ ĨŽƌ ƚƵŐ ŚĂŶĚůŝŶŐͬĞƐĐŽƌƚ ƚŽǁĂŐĞ ƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ͘ KƵƌ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞĚ ƐƚĂī ǁŝůů ďĞ ƉůĞĂƐĞĚ ƚŽ ĨĂĐŝůŝƚĂƚĞ ƐĞƫŶŐ ƵƉ ĞdžĞƌĐŝƐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ĂƐƐĞƐƐŵĞŶƚƐ ĨŽƌ LJŽƵ͘ tŚĞƚŚĞƌ LJŽƵ ŚŝƌĞ ƚŚĞ ĨĂĐŝůŝƚLJ Žƌ ĂƩĞŶĚ ĂŶLJ ŽīͲƚŚĞͲƐŚĞůĨ ƉĂĐŬĂŐĞƐ͕ ǁĞ ǁŝůů ďĞ ƉůĞĂƐĞĚ ƚŽ ĨĂĐŝůŝƚĂƚĞ ƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ ƚŽ ƐƵŝƚ LJŽƵƌ ƐƉĞĐŝĮĐ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞŵĞŶƚƐ͘ &Žƌ ĚĞƚĂŝůƐ͕ ǀŝƐŝƚ

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Basic and Advanced Ship handling for ship’s officers

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Bespoke Pilot Training for Ports and Pilotage authorities

Superyacht OOW and Master <3000gt

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NAUTILUS AT WOR K

NATION OF SEAFARERS Nautilus is cementing its Croatian connections with an increasingly strong relationship with the country’s seafaring union SPH. Its general secretary tells Andrew Linington why he welcomes the bonds…

e’re a traditional seafaring country – since the 14th century it has been the first choice of profession for many people – and there’s certainly no shortage of young people wanting to carry on that tradition.’

So says Melvan Neven, a former radio officer who is now general secretary of the Croatian seafarers’ union SPH. Elected to the post last year, he attended the December 2017 Nautilus Council meeting as part of a programme of increasingly closer links between the unions.

‘It has been great to see how Nautilus works. We’ve been part of the Nautilus Federation for the past four years and we recognise Nautilus International as a “big brother” as we are still a young union, only 27 years old,’ he says.

‘We like the way Nautilus works, and we are looking to follow the same path to provide the best service for our members, wherever they are,’ Melvan adds. ‘Many Croatian seafarers are already members of Nautilus, and have been for some time, and there is every logical reason for us to work more closely together in future.

We have started the process, and how it will finish is too early to say.’

Based in the port city of Rijeka, SPH also has offices in Split, Dubrovnik and Zadar, run by 11 staff and three ITF ship inspectors. ‘We’ve got a very good crew, all passionate about their work and almost all under the age of 40,’ Melvan says.

SPH holds a congress every five years and has an executive board which meets at least three times a year.

‘We are trying to make our systems more democratic,

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SPH general secretary Melvan Neven, centre, with Nautilus International Council chair Ulrich Jurgens and general secretary Mark Dickinson

not just for good decision-making but also to bring in new ideas,’ Melvan explains.

Melvan first went to sea in 1983 as an apprentice with the Croatian shipping company Jadroplov. ‘It was a completely different period then,’ he recalls. ‘It was probably the golden age for my profession. I was working on a service between Europe and Australia and you really did see the world. The wages were good and you had time to go ashore in every port.

‘I was pretty unique in my family in deciding to go to sea, but school was not my thing and I have definitely no regrets in my choice – the profession of radio officer was very interesting, even though it was more or less finished by 1992.’

As the post of radio officer disappeared from ships, Melvan moved ashore to work in a coastal radio station. ‘It’s very important in Croatia, where we have

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Simulators in action at the Diverso Impex training centre in Split. There’s no shortage of young Croatians keen to go to sea Image: Diverson Impex

a long coastline and 1,200 islands and very many nonSOLAS vessels,’ he points out.

There are some 25,000 seafarers in Croatia – not bad for a country with a population of 4.2m – and the country’s four maritime colleges and five maritime high schools take on some 500 new entrants every year.

‘The numbers have remained very stable and the seafaring profession is seen as a very interesting one by young people,’ Melvan says. ‘When the economic situation in the country is not very good, seafaring is seen as a job which will provide you with a decent life for you and your family.’

Croatian shipping hasn’t fared so well, however. ‘We lost a lot of the fleet in the 1990s and it is now about 20% to 25% of the size it was then,’ Melvan notes. ‘There are about 60 ferries and about 60 deepsea vessels under the Croatian flag now, and that means many of our members are serving under foreign flags.

‘Croatian seafarers are well recognised and respected in the international market and they are working for good companies,’ he points out. ‘We have a good educational system and our members are regarded as quality personnel.’

A lot of Croatian seafarers work in the cruiseship and gas tanker sectors, Melvan says. There is also a high concentration of membership in the offshore support vessel industry – but the downturn has seen more than 500 jobs lost.

Although the maritime colleges are full, some Croatian cadets can struggle to get the seatime to finish their training, and SPH is in negotiations with

Passengers and crew disembark the 10,154gt ro-pax ferry Marko Polo in the port of Spilt. The ship is owned

by Jadrolinija, Croatia’s largest liner shipping company, with a fleet of more than 100 vessels Image: SPH

There are some 25,000 seafarers in Croatia – not bad for a country with a population of 4.2m – and its maritime schools take on 500 entrants a year the country’s government on proposals that would improve their international competitiveness.

Other discussions with the government concern improvements to the Croatian ‘183-day rule’ scheme for income tax concessions for seafarers, to address problems that can arise as a result of death or illness.

SPH is also talking with ministers on ways to boost the Croatian shipping industry and increase tonnage under the national flag.

‘We have got a good number of quality seafarers, but what is missing is the tonnage,’ Melvan points out.

‘It would be great if we could get it back to the sort of numbers that we had in the 1980s.

‘There has been a huge black hole for the last 10 years, but the current government is sympathetic and there are now some signs of progress in changing maritime law and opening the doors to the industry.’

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NAU T I LU S AT WOR K

What is the future for humans in the world of ‘smart’ shipping?

Image: Rolls-Royce

LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE The 21 unions in the Nautilus Federation have come together to give a voice to seafarers in the debate over automated shipping. Andrew Linington reports… he potential for ‘smart’ ships to improve working lives and safety in the maritime industry could be wasted if the human factor is ignored in the drive to introduce new technologies, a new report from the Nautilus Federation of unions has warned.

Drawing on a survey of almost 1,000 maritime professionals from more than a dozen different countries, the report argues that important social and human issues have so far been neglected by manufacturers and authorities as the introduction of autonomous ships comes closer.

The Nautilus Federation – which is composed of 21 unions in 16 countries, together representing more than 90,000 maritime

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professionals – conducted the research in an attempt to shift attention to the impact of ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ upon seafarers.

The report points out that some major maritime nations and leading technology equipment manufacturers are investing huge amounts of time, energy and money into researching and developing products and systems to enable the deployment of autonomous or remote-controlled vessels. The first fully autonomous ship is expected to be brought into commercial service by 2020, and the Federation argues that it is essential that the human perspective on these developments is taken into consideration before radical changes to shipping operations take place.

of maritime professionals see automation as a threat to their jobs

Nautilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: ‘Properly introduced, automation and digital technologies could transform shipping in a positive way – eliminating some dirty and dangerous tasks, cutting paperwork and bureaucracy, and generating significant productivity gains. Managed poorly, however, it could undermine safety and dangerously erode the essential base of maritime skills, knowledge and experience.’

Mr Dickinson said he hoped the survey would ‘help to shape a future in which new technologies are used not simply as a crude substitute for seafarers, but as a tool to improve the safety and efficiency of the shipping industry and the working lives of all within it’.

Key findings in the survey include: • 84% of maritime professionals see automation as a threat to their jobs • more than 85% consider that unmanned, remotely-controlled ships present a threat to safety at sea • 83% consider that new technologies have the potential to improve the quality of life at sea and more than 60% believe they have the potential to improve safety • 80% believe that radical changes in training and certification are required as a result of the rapid advances in shipping technology • more than 60% believe seafaring unions should resist automation • fewer than 40% believe that commercially viable unmanned ships will be in widespread service within the next 20 years • almost 90% believe that shipowners will only introduce autonomous ships if they are cheaper than using seafarers Respondents said the introduction of autonomous shipping operations was most likely to be made in deepsea services and least likely within ports and pilotage areas.

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Many questioned the economic viability of autonomous ships – pointing out that crew costs have been driven down to very low levels through increased recruitment of seafarers from low-cost labour supplying countries and through sustained reductions in crewing levels. Other obstacles to the adoption of autonomous ships were felt to be cyber-security, the reliability of communications, legal and liability issues, software quality, risk assessment and public acceptance, opposition from seafarers and their unions, regulatory issues, and training and reskilling.

The survey revealed significant concerns about the safety of autonomous or remotely-controlled ships, such as pump and pipe failures leading to unpredictable and complex chains of failures.

Respondents warned of: • problems in conducting routine and corrective maintenance • equipment and system failures • redundancy and reliability of shipboard equipment • software bugs • IT and communication problems • sensor failures as a result of heat and vibration • piracy and cyber attacks

• cargo security • unpredictable sea conditions • on-the-spot decision-making in dynamic environments • the relationship between autonomous ships and conventional vessels during the transition period However, the survey also showed that very few maritime professionals are completely opposed to automation at sea. A substantial proportion consider that new technologies could improve safety and working conditions by reducing workloads, easing administrative burdens, improving predictive and preventive maintenance, and providing improved standards of information to officers.

There was significant support for a more ‘hybrid’ approach to operations – in which ‘smart’ systems work in a supporting capacity alongside trained seafarers who remain in control.

There was also strong support for improved training to ensure that seafarers are able to take full advantage of the benefits that new technology could bring, and to ensure the safe operation of onboard electronic and IT systems.

Respondents expressed mixed views over the development of

Auto pilot scheme French offshore support vessel operator Bourbon has launched a pilot project to use advanced automation technologies with the aim of reducing crew levels.

The company – which operates more than 500 ships – has entered into a strategic partnership with the classification society Bureau Veritas to develop and deploy a number of new automation

consider that new technologies have the potential to improve the quality of life at sea and more than 60% believe they have the potential to improve safety

and real-time monitoring applications within the fleet.

The pilot scheme was implemented onboard the 3,147gt supply vessel Bourbon Explorer 508, which is operating off Trinidad.

Developed in conjunction with Konsberg Maritime, the project involves the collection of data from the DP system to ‘drive the development of novel decision-making and verification applications for both offshore crew and onshore support teams’.

Bourbon said the pilot forms part of its ‘smart shipping’ programme to provide realtime advisory tools for bridge operators and remote support for onshore teams. The company said it is aiming to streamline onboard organisation, leading to a potential reduction in manning, and to cut fuel and DP maintenance costs.

shore-based fleet operations centres. There were many calls for the International Maritime Organisation to urgently develop training and operating standards for personnel working in such facilities.

Many of the survey participants also called for the shipping industry to pay appropriate attention to the experiences of other industries – such as aviation – which have already embraced high levels of automation and IT. Much greater focus should be placed on the way in which seafarers will be expected to interact with new technology, the report adds, warning that accidents linked to Electronic Chart Display & Information Systems (ECDIS) demonstrate the dangers presented by inadequate training and poor ergonomics.

The report says seafarers should be given a proper say in the introduction of new technologies – at shipboard, company and regulatory levels. There should be a strong commitment to finding ways to use new technologies to improve the working lives of seafarers by eliminating dirty, dangerous or tedious tasks, and by ending excessive hours and fatigue – as well as enabling earlier retirement for those who want it. Retraining and upskilling programmes should be introduced for those who face redundancy as a result of technological change, it adds.

Work should also be carried out to examine ways in which new technology can be used to enhance maritime skills and to create new roles in operational oversight and control, analysis, and research and development.

‘People are – and will continue to be – critical to the safe and efficient operation of the shipping industry,’ the report concludes. ‘Maritime skills and experience should remain an essential component of the way in which shipping works, regardless of the scale of technological change.’

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NAUTILUS F E AT U AT RE WOR K

OUR SURVEY SAID...

84%

Following the analysis on pages 32-33, here’s a breakdown of the key figures from the Nautilus Federation survey on automation

Yes

16% 1. WILL COMMERCIALLY VIABLE UNMANNED/ REMOTELY-CONTROLLED SHIPS BE IN SERVICE BY 2020?

No

3. DO YOU CONSIDER AUTOMATION TO BE A THREAT TO SEAFARING JOBS?

83% No

Inland waterways and/or coastal trade

Yes

No

5. DO YOU CONSIDER UNMANNED REMOTELY-CONTROLLED SHIPS TO BE A THREAT TO SAFETY AT SEA?

85%

7% International trans-ocean trade

67%

4. ARE NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT REPLACE SEAFARERS BENEFICIAL TO SHIPPING?

73%

20%

2. IF AUTOMATION IS INEVITABLE, WHERE IS IT MOST LIKELY TO HAPPEN?

33%

Yes

15%

Harbours and pilotage areas

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6. IF UNMANNED REMOTELY CONTROLLED SHIPS ARE A THREAT TO SAFETY, WHERE DO THEY POSE THE GREATEST DANGER?

59% 19% 12% 38% 39%

7. IS AN INCREASED LEVEL OF AUTOMATION AND THE REMOVAL OF SEAFARERS A POSITIVE FACTOR FOR IMPROVED SAFETY?

Everywhere Offshore services International waters

82%

Coastal waters, including ferries

No

Harbours and pilotage areas

8. WHAT LEVEL OF AUTONOMY PROVIDES THE OPTIMUM LEVEL OF SAFETY FOR FUTURE SHIPS? SELECT FROM THE FOLLOWING AUTONOMY LEVELS (AL) CURRENTLY RECOGNISED BY LLOYD'S.

2%

3%

23% 44% 17% 29% 16%

AL 6 Fully autonomous totally unsupervised and decisions made by the system

AL 5 Fully autonomous, rarely supervised and decisions made by system

AL 4 Human in the loop – operator/ supervisory onboard ship or based ashore

AL 3 ‘Active’ human in the loop onboard ship

AL 2 On and off ship decision support

AL 1 On-ship decision support

AL 0 Manual – no autonomous function

10. HOW COULD AUTOMATION MAKE SHIPPING SAFER?

20%

61%

Through using unmanned remotely-controlled ships

80%

Through using autonomous shipboard systems on manned ships

Yes

39% 9. DO YOU THINK AUTOMATION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY SAFER?

No

11. ARE RADICAL CHANGES IN TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRED TO REFLECT THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AT SEA, AND TO BETTER EQUIP SEAFARERS TO WORK WITH AUTOMATED SYSTEMS?

80% 20% Yes

No

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AT W O R K

To realise the full potential of digitalisation, the maritime sector must focus on behavioural change by the human element, argues former seafarer Frank Coles, now CEO of the marine equipment firm Transas…

n all the excitement surrounding the digitalisation of shipping it is easy to overlook the human element. Failing to appreciate and understand properly how people – and by extension organisations – interface with new technology can lead to poor implementation and unnecessary exposure to risk.

Technology has sometimes been described as an ecosystem. This analogy from the natural world is rather apt in a shipping environment struggling to adapt to digitalisation, where at least three species are thriving.

First are the ostriches with their heads in the sand who refuse to acknowledge that change is inevitable.

Second are the bees buzzing around demanding change but satisfying themselves with the nectar of new technological clichés. Third are the headless chickens that, confused and irritated by the bees, are running around without purpose or direction.

What these creatures have in common is an unwillingness to evolve. In the digital context, this might be described as the CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) mentality. The enlightenment needed to find a way out of the CAVE will need the background noise to be turned down, so that attention can focus on why and how industry must change through practical application.

I

Transas CEO Frank Coles

The creatures dwelling in this maritime ecosystem are stressed by increasingly stringent regulations, unremitting cost pressures and a need to co-exist with more advanced species, which populate the neighbouring habitats of logistics and the global supply chain.

Oil majors are loath to charter poorly operated or maintained vessels that may imperil their reputations, while the giant retailers that fulfil consumer desires demand evergreater reliability and transparency.

Furthermore, our CAVE-dwellers have begun to worry themselves sick over new viruses – in the form of cyber risks – to which they haven’t developed immunity.

To evolve, maritime organisations must adapt. However, the new, digitalised order will call for more than simply ‘physical’ adaptations in the shape of updated assets – for example, the development of safer, greener and more

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Intelligent tech trial An ‘intelligent awareness’ system that gives seafarers ‘an enhanced understanding of their surroundings’ is to be trialled onboard a Japanese passenger ferry in a joint project between Rolls-Royce and Mitsui OSK Lines.

The system fuses data from a range of sensors with information from existing ship systems, including AIS and radar, and has been designed to provide crew with a deeper awareness of the ship’s operating environment, as well as an improved decision support tool, ‘in an accessible and user-friendly way’.

The system will be tested on a 22nm route between the Japanese ports of Kobe and Oita – described as some of the most congested waters in the world – ahead of its likely commercial launch later in 2018.

Rolls-Royce director of marine digital and systems Asbjørn Skaro said the trials were an important step towards the development of remote and autonomous vessels. ‘Pilot projects such as this allow us to see how they can best be adapted to the needs of the customer and their crews, so that our product effectively meets the needs of both,’ he added.

The new Rolls-Royce technology will be tested on a Mitsui OSK Lines ferry

efficient ships. Rather, behavioural changes will be necessary to evolve new operational or business models, shared decision-making and greater traffic monitoring and control. These activities interact with and are influenced by technology, but strictly speaking they fall in the domain of ‘the human element’.

For one thing, behavioural adaptations among this human element will be critical to deal with cyber threats, because today it is simply a fact that most attacks are facilitated by personnel, whether on ship or land, being duped into allowing rogue code to compromise a vessel or office network.

Companies must tackle the problem head on by providing robust training on how to identify the tell-tale signs of an attack – and staff, once trained, must exercise vigilance at all times.

The US military is a natural target for cyber-attacks, attracting millions of would-be infiltrators each month, but its systems are seldom compromised. Drawing from the experience of Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear fleet, it has found an answer in the intense focus on training personnel in risk mitigation.

To quote the man in charge of Cyber Command, Admiral Mike Rogers: ‘It’s about ethos. It’s about culture.

How you man, train and equip your organisation, how you structure it and the operational concepts that you apply.’

The civil aviation, nuclear power and burgeoning space industries have successfully created High Reliability Organisations (HRO) by maintaining a strict culture of excellence and a commitment to correct deviations before disaster as well as developing a deep awareness of their own vulnerabilities.

The maritime industry – whether it knows it or not – currently adopts a higher acceptance risk. This is likely to become less tenable, because no technological fix for cyber risk is fool-proof; the only long-term solution is to re-engineer how companies operate.

Of course, creating an HRO takes time. It also requires wholehearted commitment from the organisation’s CEO and management team down. Everyone in the organisation must be made accountable. Training and adherence to standards is vital. Simply mouthing platitudes about ISM and some guidelines issued by class or BIMCO is not enough.

In summary, digitalisation will provide the maritime sector with a platform to interact with modern e-commerce companies and charterers, which will ensure its survival and continued relevance in the coming decades, at the same time offering the potential to deliver safer, greener and more efficient carrier operations.

We should not allow its limitations – primarily its susceptibility to cyber risk – to frighten us away from technology. By investing in the human element, the risks can be managed and our industry too can join the ranks of High Reliability Organisations, whilst reaping the benefits of digital operations.

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E D U C AT I O N A N D TRAINING

WARSASH RENEWAL It's been a controversial move, hotly debated in the pages of the Telegraph, but Southampton Solent University has pressed ahead with its shake-up of maritime training...

The Princess Royal meets students and staff working on a speciallymodified MaK engine in the new engineering workshops

he first phase of a £33m programme to upgrade maritime training facilities at Southampton Solent University was officially opened by the Princess Royal last month.

The Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering at the University’s St Mary’s Campus is part of a long-term plan to provide world-leading seafarer training at Warsash Maritime Academy.

It features brand new engineering workshops, a welding area, electrical and control laboratories, an ECDIS simulator suite and marine-electro-technical officer (METO) workshops, together with improved accommodation for officer cadets.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Princess Royal praised the university for its ‘brave’ decision to sell part of the Warsash site and concentrate its maritime training facilities in Southampton.

The modernisation programme was a sign of a welcome move away from ‘sea blindness’ and a recognition of the importance of British maritime skills, she added.

Professor Graham Baldwin, the university’s vice-chancellor, said the new campus consolidates a long and rich heritage of expertise associated with Warsash Maritime Academy and would be followed by a series of further investments in The Princess Royal cutting-edge facilities to give seafarers a modern formally opens the new Warsash training environment.

School of Maritime The second and third phases – now underway – Science and include a simulator suite and classrooms for senior Engineering officer cadet training certification courses, while the final phase will see facilities

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The Princess praised the university for its 'brave' decision to sell part of the Warsash site

the redevelopment and extension of the retained lower site at Warsash to include improved fire and survival training facilities.

During her visit, the princess met staff and cadets including Charlotte Astbury, who is completing her OOW Unlimited studies. ‘It was a pleasure to meet Her Royal Highness – she was very well informed. We showed her an exercise in ship simulation collision avoidance,’ Charlotte said.

The Princess Royal then went on to visit the University’s ship handling centre at Timsbury Lake – one of only five such centres in the world – and had time onboard the vessel Challenger, a scale model of a ro-ro ferry.

The Princess Royal talks to officer trainee Charlotte Astbury in the new ECDIS training centre at St Mary’s Campus

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AT W O R K

NO MORE FLOGGING THE LOG

accurately – and individually – keep records of their working hours. Now the developers are looking to make it the go-to resource for the industry.

‘Accurately logging hours on a consistent basis is where the industry should be, and our app is helping vessels do this by giving users a more convenient way to log hours,’ says Tim Fletcher, the co-founder of the WorkRest app. ‘The industry standard is to log hours on a printed spreadsheet, which is time consuming and a real pain. It’s also, often, very inaccurate.

‘WorkRest is better because you can log hours via an app on a personal device in seconds. Crew using the app are, on average, logging their hours every two to three days, which improves the accuracy of the records.’

‘With WorkRest, you get real-time information on each crew member’s recorded hours as and when they’ve logged them.’

Tim, 31, comes from a place of authority on the matter. The Nottingham-born entrepreneur spent five years working in the superyacht industry with his business partner Stuart Willis hipping is a 24/7 industry. Yet it shouldn’t be 24/7 for – the company’s chief happiness officer and chief marketing those doing the hard work at sea. Over the years Nautilus officer – and says it was his experiences of the industry that has campaigned against the overworking of seafarers. sparked the original idea.

The increasingly intensive nature of shipping means that ‘When I was a crewmember, I was required to complete seafarers often work long and irregular hours and – whilst it may not be hours of rest (HoR) logs each month,’ he recalls. ‘Logging 24 hours at a time – it can go beyond what is reasonable to expect of an my hours became an increasingly frustrating process when individual. the only options available to me were a printed spreadsheet In theory, keeping tabs on work and rest periods should be which I could fill in my individual hours of work or an antique straightforward. However, in practice, these records can get muddled software solution found on the bridge computer that made and, at worst, be falsified, especially when an unscrupulous Windows 95 look modern. individual instructs a crew to lower their working hour tally to ‘The original so -called eureka moment came when The WorkRest app is part of a new keep management out of trouble.

I was sat in the crew mess having just sat in front industry trend It’s these issues that have led to the development of a new of the computer, trying to remember my hours for to make better use of app designed specifically for seafarers that allows them to the previous month. I saw everyone on their smart

Logging hours of work and rest is a chore for seafarers, and the process is vulnerable to corruption. Steven Kennedy hears how smartphone technology could help…

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seafarers’ own mobile devices

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phones, and thought, how is there not an app to make thiss process so much easier?’ ts Well aware of the industry‘s shortcomings, he also insists that the app will guard the user against duplicity; helping to m ensure the records are as accurate as those who input them make them. ng ‘Providing crew members with a digital means for logging ered hours actually makes the process far less likely to be tampered with,’ Tim explains. ‘Each crew member enters their hours al on their own (password protected) device via their personal WorkRest account – which is password protected. Once thee end hours have been recorded, only the crew member can amend them.

‘Obviously if those in charge explicitly tell the crew member to change their records to be compliant, there’s unfortunately not much we can do about it. What we’re trying to do is make it as hard as possible for those who wish to fudge the records to do so.’

Provided that the systems are used in the correct manner it could provide a 21st century solution to a 20th century problem.

Once a crew member has submitted their records then the vessel’s administrators, including the captain and heads of departments – can review and approve the entries. They cannot – as Tim is keen to point out – amend them; only the crew members themselves have the permissions to amend their own entries.

And whilst this app may prove more useful for those on long trips, WorkRest is not aimed at any one specific sector of the industry.

‘We are growing in a number of sectors,’ claims Tim. ‘Anyone who is required to keep a track of their work and rest hours will find WorkRest useful. It continues to astound me when users contact us. One in particular – a leader in the towage sector – said their current system is still to use carbon copies; and we are in 2018!’

There is a potential snag: and that’s the cost.

‘Each crew member enters their hours on their own device. Once the hours have been recorded, only the crew member can amend them’

Tim Fletcher, co-founder of the WorkRest app

WorkRest is a paid-for service. It means Tim and Stuart face a continuing challenge to convince companies that this system is worth investing in.

The price of the service for a company varies depending on how many active crew will be using it. For instance, a company with 25 active crew will pay €40 a month, whilst a company with 100 active crew will pay €115 a month.

When budgets are tight, how will WorkRest avoid becoming another great idea that’s cast aside for moneysaving purposes? ‘We would love to offer WorkRest for free but, the truth is, there are costs incurred in the service we offer,’ says Tim, ‘whether it be server costs, wages or development. The app is completely free to download and we offer a no-obligation free month’s trial to every vessel. As an example: for a vessel with 15 crew, it will cost €2 per user per month. If seafarers would like to use the app for themselves, we offer a free tier for them to integrate it into their daily routine, the only restriction being they won’t be able to export the time sheet at the end of the month.

‘We’re really lucky, however, to be working with some fantastic management companies that have rolled WorkRest out to their fleet and we plan to offer WorkRest to more organisations over the coming months.’

For more information visit www.workrest.co

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I N D U S T RY

TOMORROW’S WORLD? The UK marine leisure industry has just posted its sixth successive year of growth ‒ but this year’s annual Superyacht UK technical seminar heard about a range of advances entering the sector. Steven Kennedy reports… elegates attending last year’s annual Superyacht UK technical seminar heard about the huge uncertainty surrounding the implications of Brexit and the impact of the new US president Donald Trump on the sector.

Move forwards 12 months and – for a lot of people – not a great deal has changed, judging from the discussions at this year’s seminar, which was staged

by British Marine as part of the London Boat Show. However, the UK leisure marine industry may be one of the few areas that is starting to see some real benefits from the international indecision.

After all, this is the sector, as British Marine stated, which reported revenues increasing by 3.4% in 2017 – rising to £3.12bn. And it seems that the weakness of the pound had helped to rekindle the British love of water-related leisure activities, as well as supporting more than 33,000 full-time equivalent jobs

D

The 2018 Superyacht UK technical seminar Image: Robert Stanwyck

in the UK’s manufacturing and service industries.

That feel-good factor is not disappearing either. It was clear from this year’s seminar that the industry is looking at ways to ensure that it remains innovative, both in ship design and in technology, and that it remains profitable.

One technological advance discussed during the seminar – and one that regularly crops up in terms of the future of shipping – was automation and its

role on modern-day superyachts. And while the idea of human-less technology taking over many maritime operations is starting to be accepted in the wider industry, it was the prevailing view at the seminar that the luxury leisure marine sector will not follow the trend, and will instead maintain roles for seafarers in a more automated future.

Yet automation cannot be ignored, said Tara Glen of engine-building firm EP Barrus. ‘I know driving boats is fun,’ she acknowledged, 'and I can assure you that there will still be people out there driving boats for pleasure. However, autonomous vessels are a reality and they are here.’

To illustrate the advance of maritime technology, she used the example of the Norwegian vessel Yara Birkeland, which is due to be launched this year and is anticipated by 2020 to be operated entirely autonomously. She also spoke about the 28m tug Svitzer Hermod, which undertook successful remotelycontrolled operations in the port of Copenhagen last year.

The belief that the superyacht sector is slightly different is still there – with a continuing need for humans to be present to make schedule changes at a moment’s notice, or to entertain guests in ways machines are not able to. But the seminar heard that it is unlikely

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Ken Wittamore of Triskel Marine Images: Steven Kennedy

Image: Robert Stanwyck

Winning start to a yacht design career

Ken Wittamore of Triskel Marine Images: Steven Kennedy

Tara Glen of EP Barrus

that operations will remain entirely in human hands. ‘What about perimeter patrol boats around the superyacht at night? Maybe the guests of the owner need protection onboard 24 hours a day,’ Ms Glen suggested. ‘How about the ability to efficiently and accurately survey the seabed of a cove they want to visit for lunch the next day, where the depth or underwater obstacles

may make it difficult? All of these Transport design student Christopher Mobley, options are ways the sector could utilise pictured above, has secured a four-week internship automation,’ she concluded. with the UK superyacht builder and refit specialisat Although nothing appears to Pendennis after winning this year’s annual be beyond this sector in terms of Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition. The technological advances, the seminar runner-up, University of Plymouth student Ashley indicated that more energy may be Scott, was awarded a two-week internship at the Isle going into aesthetic improvements – of Wight-based naval architecture firm Olesinski. such as the latest designs for superyacht Entrants to the competition were tasked with windows, as explained by Trend Marine transforming a 52.12m ex-naval vessel into a bespoke glass specialist Rupert Wilkins – than superyacht for a client wanting to mix luxury and the ecological impact the sector is leisure with research into the problem of plastics having on the planet. in the oceans. Judges said the designs submitted Delegates heard that owners do

by Christopher and Ashley ‘shone out, proving both want hybrid systems, as these can lower their creativity, knowledge, scaling and engineering noise as well as reducing fuel costs. capabilities’.

Yet the meeting was told that, without Superyacht UK chairman Peter Brown commented: appropriate legislation in place, it was ‘It is great to see so much up-and-coming talent from unlikely that owners would choose our British universities. We hope this competition has to take on the financial and logistical helped inspire these students with the diversity and burdens of updating their systems for wonders of a career in the superyacht sector, and that the benefit of the environment. the connections and experiences they have gained ‘Ultimately our experience is that throughout the competition prove fruitful.’ the builder or the owner will primarily make the decision to install a hybrid system based on money,’ explained Ken Wittamore of Triskel Marine. ‘Is it But with great change can come great threat. Cyber-crime worth doing? Does the cost not justify remains a major concern for those in the maritime industry the benefits? and, as Burgess safety and security officer Philip Naylor put it, ‘Money is one of the three ‘cyber security needs to be seen as a safety issue rather than considerations that would be looked just as a security one.’ at before switching to a hybrid To that end, the implications of a full-scale cybersystem,’ he continued.

In the luxury attack could lead to the endangerment of crews ‘The next is legislation. Is leisure marine sector, legislation going to make automation and their vessels, and not just the loss or ransom is not widely accepted of data. And if there is one area that those who me do it or not? I think on as an inevitable concern themselves with the purse-strings will take that one, the legislative development notice of, it’s the potential cost a cyber-attack to environment is going to their business. encourage hybridisation. The The overall view from the seminar was that there is a final consideration I’d put under bright, technologically-advanced future for the sector. “other. Is it going to be quieter and It could be argued that such a future will only arrive if quicker, and do I get bragging rights for legislation and profitability line up. But, as is often the being environmentally friendly? Only case, those with the money often find a way to make things when all these points line up will we see happen. hybrid technology as the norm.’

THERE ARE BETWEEN 5,500 AND 6,000 SUPERYACHTS ON THE WATER TODAY

AROUND 50% OF THESE HAVE HELI-PADS

7% OF THOSE HAVE MORE THAN ONE HELI LOADING AREA

93M IS THE AVERAGE SIZE OF A SUPERYACHT IN BUILD WITH A HELI-PAD

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E D U C AT I O N A N D TRAINING

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE With the 2018 Year of Engineering now underway in the UK, Sarah Robinson hears about a timely project to promote applied science and spread the word about marine engineering careers… nce upon a time, a little engine appeared outside the UK Chamber of Shipping in central London. The grown-ups didn’t know what it was doing there, but many of London’s children did.

It was there to show the grown-ups how children can have fun learning about engines – and how some of those children might end up working on big engines at sea.

That engine was no fairy tale.

It was at London International Shipping Week in 2017 to showcase a major new education and recruitment scheme: the Marine Engineering Project (MEP), which is run by the Sea Cadets youth charity and funded by Seafarers UK. The project has two main aims, says Mark Windsor, director of learning at Sea Cadets: to provide better equipment for engineering training in Sea Cadets units, and to use this same equipment to deliver free workshops in schools.

‘The 14,000 young people in Sea Cadets choose a specialisation when they’re working towards their badges,’ he elaborates. ‘For the marine engineering specialisation, we have good training facilities down in Weymouth, but that’s a long way to go for many of the units, and a few years ago we started to think about how we could

O

better support this training all around the UK.’ The solution Mark and his colleagues came up with was to set up a series of ‘pods’ – trailers filled with scientific materials and engineering equipment – and send these out to UK regions for training sessions within easier reach of the local units.

Mark’s team approached the funding body Seafarers UK for financial support, and an opportunity was spotted for the scheme to have a broader reach. ‘We saw this as an idea for improving public understanding of marine engineering,’ says Nigel Shattock of Seafarers UK. ‘We said, why not focus on schools? It would be a way of recruiting for Sea Cadets as well as inspiring pupils to study STEM subjects [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] and making them aware of careers in marine engineering.’

The extended remit for the scheme would make it more expensive, but it so happened that

'Schools jumped at the chance

of free classes where pupils could see STEM in action'

Seafarers UK was looking to fund three major projects with largerthan-usual grants to mark the organisation’s centenary in 2017.

As regular Telegraph readers will know, one of those projects was to support retired seafarers with new accommodation at the Nautilus Mariners’ Park estate, and Seafarers UK felt that this would be effectively complemented by investment in potential seafarers at the other end of the age spectrum.

With Seafarers UK and Sea Cadets working together, the scheme began to take shape, ready for a pilot in 2016. Each pod full of equipment would cost around £40,000, and there would also be funding to employ science teachers to run the marine engineering workshops in schools. There was immediate interest, says Nigel: ‘Schools jumped at the chance to have free, wellequipped classes where their pupils could see STEM in action.’

One of the teachers taken on by the Marine Engineering Project was Dan Simons, who has a background in secondary school science teaching and outreach work. ‘After I qualified as a teacher, I spent four years teaching chemistry in mainstream schools,’ he explains, ‘and then joined an EU-funded project mentoring 16-19-year-olds who were in danger of falling into

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Sea Cadets members with Admiral the Right Honourable the Lord West of Spithead

WANTED: MARINE ENGINEER VOLUNTEERS FOR SEA CADETS As well as providing better resources for its marine engineering specialism, the Sea Cadets charity is seeking experienced marine engineers to become teachers and mentors. Could you volunteer in your local Sea Cadets unit and share your engineering skills and knowledge with young people? There are regular and occasional volunteering opportunities available, and many Merchant Navy seafarers volunteer during their shore leave.

To find out more, visit: www.sea-cadets.org

Sea Cadets members with one of the Marine Engineering Project pods Images left and top right: Sea Cadets Marine Engineering Project teacher Dan Simons shows an MEP pod to Glenys Jackson of the Merchant Navy Training Board at London International Shipping Week 2017 Image: Sarah Robinson

NEET status [Not in Education, Employment or Training]. We were actually pretty effective, but the funding was only for a fixed term, so when I found myself at the end of my contract, I was pleased to spot a job ad for the MEP. I really like Sea Cadets’ emphasis on lifelong learning and developing an individual’s confidence, so it was a good fit for me.’

Dan is now the Marine Engineering Project’s STEM programme manager for London & SE England. He spends three days a week going into schools in his region to run workshops for children aged 11-14 – a period

known as Key Stage 3 in the English national curriculum. Key Stage 3 pupils study a broad range of material and have yet to choose the subjects they will specialise in for their GCSE and A-Level qualifications. ‘We hope to inspire them to choose more STEM subjects when the time comes,’ Dan says, ‘by showing them how interesting these can be and how they can lead to a good career.’

Dan spends the rest of his time lesson-planning and approaching

individual schools to offer them MEP workshops – either for the first time or as a repeat booking. And as Nigel Shattock predicted, this is not a difficult task. ‘It’s incredibly appealing to schools,’ reports Dan. ‘No wonder, when it’s a free service that complements the Key Stage 3 curriculum.’

Most importantly, the children enjoy the workshops and learn things that may have an impact on the rest of their lives. ‘Marine engineering covers an enormous range, and what we teach varies each time, but we always make sure the workshop is hands-on and shows the context of the science – and we’re very well equipped. I used to struggle teaching hydraulics,

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E D U C AT I O N A N D TRAINING

Schoolchildren in Key Stage 3 taking part in one of the Marine Engineering Project workshops Image: Sea Cadets

The Marine Engineering Project now has six pods full of resources, and aims for over 15,000 UK children to have attended one of its workshops by 2019

but I’m confident now, thanks to the resources offered by the MEP.’ The workshops are two hours long, and the MEP teachers often spend a day at each school running sessions for different groups of children.

As well as providing inspirational teaching, the workshops include discussions about careers, notes Dan. ‘We talk about maths and science as gateways to a number of roles – obviously highlighting marine careers but pointing out other possibilities with STEM too.

Even within the maritime sector, there’s so much variety, from being an engineer officer onboard ship to developing GPS and cyber-security for the industry.’

Dan and his colleagues distribute flyers to the children about how to get into maritime training, making sure the school’s careers advisers also have a good selection of materials and understand the options available. ‘There are great resources within the maritime sector that make it easy to find out about careers at sea, so you just have to point people in the right direction.’

The Marine Engineering Project has big ambitions, aiming for over 15,000 children aged between 11 and 14 to have attended a workshop by 2019. There are now six pods, and Sea Cadets and Seafarers UK are establishing a regional structure with a counterpart to Dan Simons in each district. ‘We already have pods in SW England, London and SE England, NE England, and Scotland,’ notes Nigel Shattock. ‘Coverage of

'At Sea Cadets, we're using

these experiences for our young people to build self-confidence and learn new skills

'

NW England and North Wales will start in April this year, alongside the East Midlands and East Anglia.’

Meanwhile, the original idea of improving the marine engineering resources available to Sea Cadets units has not been forgotten.

Further work is needed to get all the Sea Cadets leaders up to speed with the project, says Mark Windsor, but the aim is to organise regular days where a pod can be positioned in a

central point within a district, to be visited and used for training by local units.

Within Sea Cadets, the MEP resources will be used by volunteer teachers and mentors, and the emphasis will not just be on academic achievement or career progression. ‘Ultimately, as a youth charity, what we’re trying to do is use these experiences to build selfconfidence and learn new skills,’ Mark stresses.

Mark, Nigel and Dan all agree that it’s difficult to measure whether a project like this has been successful. It will be many years, for example, before researchers can even attempt to establish a link between workshops attended early in secondary school and an individual’s choice of career.

But efforts are being made to gather data where possible. Tablet computers are passed round at the school workshops for the pupils and school teachers to rate the workshops, and other shortterm indicators of success include whether schools contact the MEP to request repeat visits.

And Dan has already visited so many schools in London that there really is a good chance that the capital’s children would have been able to identify the MEP pod and its little red engine outside the UK Chamber of Shipping last September. Let’s hope they remember their experience in a few years’ time and we see a bright new generation of marine engineers.

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MARITIME BOOKS

Hands-on history Taming the Atlantic

By Dag Pike Pen & Sword, £25 ISBN: 978 15267 00834

ag Pike was a throughout the ages,’ he notes. young apprentice Pike is very good at onboard the explaining the many reasons cargoship why the Atlantic is quite Marjata when it was caught so dangerous – going into up in a 36-hour struggle the factors which create to survive in a huge storm such severe depressions, while approaching the Bay of huge fields of fog, ‘perfect’ Biscay. ‘It taught me respect storms, rogue waves and and humility for the North unpredictable ice zones.

Atlantic,’ he writes in the The book also powerfully opening pages of this account describes the remarkable of the perils posed to ships navigational and seafaring and seafarers in the achievements made by Atlantic Ocean. the early explorers A recurring theme It’s a fascinating in the face of such is the challenge book, which fuses huge hazards, of running ever-faster ships his personal pointing out that with outdated experiences from up to one in five navigational equipment more than 60 years ships were lost at sea with elements as Atlantic trade of history, geography, began to develop during meteorology, and reflections the 16th century – and how, on ship design and operation as late as 1840, 29 ships in in an ocean which has taken a convoy of 60 merchant a higher toll on shipping vessels and two warships ran than any other. ‘It is easy to aground with heavy loss of see why the Atlantic Ocean life. has established a fearful The book provides sound reputation over the years and context to the strategic and why it has been so respected economic importance of and feared by seamen Atlantic shipping operations,

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describing the changes in trading patterns and varied cargoes over the years. A section looking at the rise and fall of the emigration trade leads into the development of regular passenger services and the incredible levels of competition between packet ships that frequently blurred the dividing line between driving a ship to reasonable limits and sheer recklessness.

A recurring theme throughout the pages is the gap between navigational equipment and the rapid advances in ship design and speed – especially marked during the early 20th century.

Even in the heyday of the ocean liner, Pike argues, it was a struggle for officers to run ships at speeds of 30 knots and more with technology that had changed little for decades – and there’s a quote from an account in 1910 in which a passenger liner officer complains of having worked for up to 40 hours without sleep and rest.

Although things improved with the advent of radio direction-fi nders and echo sounders, the book points out that patchy reliability meant that ‘radar-assisted’ collisions took place into the 1950s.

There’s lots about the often foolhardy attempts to cross the Atlantic in all sorts of craft – some drawn from Pike’s participation in various ventures – and the challenges to crossing records. These stories are accompanied by plenty of stunning illustrations that reinforce the scale of the dangers that seafarers face The closing section warns that the industry may be ‘sleepwalking into disaster’ with the introduction of mega-ships at a time when Atlantic conditions are expected to deteriorate with climate change, and Pike leaves the reader with big questions on whether the ocean can ever be tamed despite the advances in vessel technology.

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Investigation into US naval strategy It's hard these days to provide a fresh perspective on the Second World War, but naval historian Ken Brown is keen to try. After reading another author’s book – Michael Gannon’s Operation Drumbeat – Brown says he wanted to explore some questions this raised in his mind. ‘What were the institutional traditions in the [US] navy that inhibited and propelled innovation?’ he asks in his introduction to U-Boat Assault on America. ‘What was the political context for American naval mobilisation?

The object of the attack was merchant shipping. How was industry mobilised to build the ships (and shipyards and the workforce) that made up the wartime merchant fleet?’

These questions are amply answered in Brown's book, which follows the story of German submarines and their merchant vessel prey from the First World War through the inter-war years and into WW2.

In accordance with the book’s subtitle – Why the US was unprepared for war in the Atlantic – Brown demonstrates the American authorities’ inability in the early 1940s to learn from experience or take advice, and highlights their damaging delay in introducing the system of convoys with military escorts. From a merchant seafaring point of view, much of the

story is grim reading. For too long, it seems that the main strategy for winning the battle off their east coast was for the Americans to try to build replacement merchant vessels faster than the U-boats could sink them – never mind the danger to the unprotected crews.

Thankfully, when the convoy system eventually came into use, it proved effective in cutting the death toll among seafarers and allowing vital supplies in and out of port. In fact, the US navy as a whole became more operationally proficient and strategically competent as the Second World War drew on, but Brown argues that there is no excuse for the failures of leadership that cost so many lives in the early years.

This conclusion will probably not come as a surprise to readers familiar with WW2 naval history, but U-Boat Assault on America has some interesting points to make and is carefully researched. Sources are acknowledged, there is a decent index, and there is an illustrated section with high-quality blackand-white photographs. Worth a look, especially for those coming to the story for the first time.

U-Boat Assault on America

By Ken Brown Seaforth Publishing, £25.00 ISBN: 978 14738 87282

Glossy tribute to a Cunard favourite Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross have specialised in cruiseship books – on Cunard Line in particular – and this new edition of their Queen Victoria title marks a decade of the vessel’s service and its major refit last year.

The book’s 120 pages are packedd with highith hi h quality colour images that take the reader all round the ship – and, the authors claim, to the parts that other books don’t reach. So while there is the usual look at state rooms, bars and public areas, attention is also paid to the bridge, the engineroom, the galley and the store rooms – together with a brief glimpse

at crew areas (which could give the th impression that seafarers enjoy the same luxury as the passengers!).

It’s a book that should open the eyes of passengers, offering an insight into all the hard work that goes into running a cruise. It starts and finishes with contributions from Andrew Hall and Commodore Christopher CCaptain t i A d Rynd, who both give their thoughts on the things that make Queen Victoria a special ship.

Queen Victoria: a Photographic Journey

By Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross The History Press, £19.99 ISBN: 978 07509 85536

Mad about marine engineering Over the years some remarkable work has gone into civil engineering projects that have helped to sustain and expand shipping operations.

In his 192-page book – Voyaging the World’s Civil Engineering Wonders – John Laverick, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers who began his career in the ports industry, looks at a variety of different schemes which have helped to transform waterborne transport.

Based upon lectures Laverick gave on cruiseships and spanning 12 thoughtful and well researched chapters, the book ranges from the construction and expansion of the Panama Canal to the restoration of Nelson’s Waterway in the Norfolk Broads.

The book also takes in the Suez Canal and the Kiel Canal, and ventures onto ‘dry land’ in parts. In one particular chapter, for instance, the author looks at the engineering skills required to build the Øresund Bridge, linking Copenhagen in Denmark to Malmö in Sweden. Another chapter, which focuses on the historic vessels Waverley and Great Britain, also celebrates the role of the civil engineer in ship design and construction.

Accompanying these fascinating stories of often incredible feats are some fine illustrations, beautifully set alongside the text.

The author provides personal insight to many of the projects, and conveys a huge passion for his work.

Published to coincide with the bicentenary of the Institution of Civil Engineers, this book gives a great insight into the work of the Institution's members and will provide those with even a passing interest in the field with considerable enjoyment.

Voyaging the World’s Civil Engineering Wonders

By John Laverick The History Press, £25 ISBN: 978 07509 84362

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H I S T O RY

SHIPS OF THE PAST

By Trevor Boult

n the 8th century, a chronicler who had contemplated the great and often turbulent estuary of the River Humber dubbed it the Humbrian Sea – and until the opening of the Humber Bridge in 1981 its crossing had to be effected by ferries, initiated almost two millennia earlier by the Romans. When they pushed their highway, known as Ermine Street, north from London to York, via Lincoln, the high-tide crossing near Barton earned the title Transitus Maximus – ‘very great ferry’.

In 1300, King Edward I crossed over from Barton to Hessle Haven, establishing what boatmen were pleased to call the ‘Royal Ferry’. The village of Barton ran a ferry service direct to Hull as early as 1316; a journey that took between an hour and 90 minutes. The service was popular, yet hazardous because of adverse winds and tides. It was not unknown for the ferries to ground mid-stream on ever-shifting sand bars. Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, chose to go the long way round the Humber rather than risk the Barton Ferry, when on his celebrated tour of England and Wales.

The service also became something of a battleground in the 1830s. James Acland, a stranger to Hull, challenged the Corporation’s authority to charge one shilling per passenger on their ferry Royal Charter. He set up in opposition using another craft, Public Opinion, and retained the old and much cheaper fare. The two rivals raced across the Humber, jostled at the landing berths and touted flagrantly for custom. The inevitable serious collision occurred, in November 1831, Royal Charter having to be towed away, with hundreds of excited spectators voicing off from Hull pier.

Public Opinion was later boarded by bailiffs brandishing a warrant, and its passengers transferred to the repaired Royal Charter which proceeded to tow Public Opinion astern. However, the latter’s crew soon took advantage of the bailiff’s unwise action of also transferring themselves to Royal Charter. The crew cut the tow and sailed back, bowed but unbeaten, to Hull. Acland had been a local hero to the cheering crowd, but his token triumph was

I

short-lived. Increasing expenses and heavy liabilities compelled him eventually to withdraw from the contest.

Royal Charter reigned supreme once more on the Barton Ferry, but was to come under competition from a new and more direct ferry service between Hull and New Holland.

The steamship Magna Carta began the final era of ferry crossings, culminating in the trio of paddle steamers Lincoln Castle, Tattershall Castle, and Wingfield Castle. They provided comfortable all-weather crossings of the ‘Humbrian Sea’ for passengers and vehicles, with passage times of less than half an hour.

Eventually all three ‘Castles’ were variously acquired for conversion into static floating attractions. Lincoln Castle was scrapped in 2010 despite preservation interests. Tattershall Castle served as an art gallery on the Thames at Victoria Embankment and is currently an entertainment venue at a prime mooring opposite the London Eye. In the Second World War, Tattershall Castle ferried troops and supplies along the Humber.

Due to the fogs which frequent the river she was fitted with radar; one of the first civilian ships to have this facility.

Wingfield Castle (pictured) was built

by William Gray of West Hartlepool in 1934 and began operations on the Humber in 1959. She became reserve ship in 1972 when Lincoln Castle ran a one-ship service.

Withdrawn in 1974, Wingfield Castle then had various owners, with plans for her to be based in stationary use at Brighton, Texas, Cardiff, and operational on the Thames. None of these proposals succeeded.

In a derelict state at Swansea, she was bought by Hartlepool Borough Council and moored at the site of the shipyard where she had been built. Undergoing extensive restoration, Wingfield Castle continues to be a valuable exhibit and facility adjacent to the historic quay of Hartlepool Museum, and as a tangible link to the age-old tradition of ferries across the Humber.

Wingfield Castle survives as a tangible link to a ferry service dating back to 1300

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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.

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NL NEWS

telegraph C A O O N D E R H A N D E L I N G E N VA S TG E L O P E N

Actiedreiging Bij Kotug Smit Neemt Toe De havensleepbedrijven van Smit (Harbour Towage Rotterdam) en Kotug (Harbour Towage Rotterdam) zijn in 2016 samengegaan in één havensleepdienst onder de naam Kotug Smit (Towage Rotterdam). Inmiddels zijn de cao onderhandelingen in december vastgelopen.

Op 9 en 16 januari jongstleden spraken de leden van Nautilus en FNV zich uit voor het stellen van een ultimatum aan de Kotug Smit directie.

Nautilus cao onderhandelaar Carl Kraijenoord doet verslag: ‘Op woensdag 6 december en donderdag 7 december 2017 hebben we langdurig met de werkgever om de tafel gezeten om verder te onderhandelen over die ene CAO die we allemaal graag willen.

Concept CAO Vakbonden hadden hun huiswerk gedaan en hadden een concept-CAO aangeleverd, met

Nieuw rooster een A-deel en daarachter nog vier delen B tot Eind vorig jaar is er ook keihard gewerkt aan en met E. Ons A-deel bestond uit 46 artikelen een nieuw rooster (23/13 zonder flex en met die naar ons idee van belang zijn voor alle 220 verlofuren ingeroosterd) waarin iedereen, werknemers van KSTR, ongeacht de groep van SHTR tot KHTR, zou kunnen worden waar zij uit komen. In het B-deel hebben we ingeroosterd. In grote lijnen is daarover de artikelen gezet die volgens ons alleen van overeenstemming bereikt. Dat resultaat ligt toepassing zijn voor SC en KHTR (en voor nieuw nu voor bij de Ondernemingsraden, die zich aan te nemen collega’s). er binnenkort over uitspreken. De vraag was In het C-deel staat het artikel dat regelt dat natuurlijk of dit rooster daadwerkelijk SC-werknemers (en nieuwe collega’s) zijn kon worden ingevoerd per afgelopen ondergebracht in het pensioenfonds Op tientallen 1 januari. Vakbonden hebben voor de koopvaardij. Het D-deel is punten verschillen de werkgever gezegd dat dit er alleen voor de KHTR-collega’s de meningen.

Soms een klein beetje, kan voor de SC-populatie. Voor en bevat de afspraken over soms behoorlijk en de KHTR-populatie ligt dit het omrekenen van het KHTRsoms fundamenteel volgens ons anders. Hierover salaris in een salaris dat ingepast werd nog geen overeenstemming kan worden in (of boven) de SCbereikt. Daarnaast moest ook over salaristabellen, een hardheidsclausule alle andere CAO-artikelen duidelijkheid (zodat KHTR-werknemers bezwaar kunnen en overeenstemming komen. Alles hangt maken als de gehanteerde regels voor hen uiteindelijk met alles samen. Je hebt niet goed zouden uitpakken) en dat deze afspraken over de rustblokken nodig om werknemers onder het pensioenfonds Rijn en te weten wanneer je overuren maakt. Dan Binnenvaart vallen. heb je afspraken nodig over de betaling of Het E-deel tenslotte compensatie van overuren. Die liggen er vanuit bevat de bepalingen het verleden al wel voor SC, maar nog niet voor die uitsluitend voor de hele groep KHTR/SC. Datzelfde geldt voor de SHTR-werknemers extra opkomsten. En voor de 24-uursdienst. gelden.

Dit concept lag naast Balans opgemaakt een concept van de Vakbonden hebben alle verschilpunten de werkgever, die graag revue laten passeren. Op tientallen punten een A-deel voor KHTR/ verschillen de meningen. Soms een klein SC zou zien en de beetje, soms behoorlijk en soms fundamenteel. complete SHTR-cao als Om te voorkomen dat we maar om de hete deel B had toegevoegd. brij heen blijven draaien, hebben we besloten Het A-deel van de alleen verder te willen onderhandelen over een werkgever was minder nieuwe CAO als onderstaande punten daarin uitgebreid dan het in elk geval zijn opgenomen. Daarmee doen Adeel tot en met D-deel we dus geen afstand van de andere punten van ons.

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waarover we nog moeten praten, maar als de onderstaande punten worden toegezegd, heeft het zin het gesprek over de rest aan te gaan. Dus vroegen we de werkgever of die bereid was om verder te onderhandelen over een CAO waarin in elk geval is opgenomen: 1. een werkgeversdefinitie waarin KOTUG SMIT Rotterdam BV als werkgever en de dochterondernemingen Kotug Harbour Towage Rotterdam BV, SMIT Crew BV en SMIT Harbour Towage Rotterdam BV in één adem genoemd worden 2. de A – B – C – D – E structuur zoals door de vakbonden voorgesteld 3. looptijd tot en met 2020; 4. een indexclausule waarmee de Automatische Prijscompensatie geregeld is 5. een reële loonstijging naast de APC 6. een bonusregeling die gebaseerd is op het aantal reizen 7. dat de vakbondsfaciliteiten (inclusief de werkgeversbijdrage) voor alle werknemers onder de nieuwe cao geregeld in de SHTRcao gaan gelden 8. rustblokkenroostersysteem en afspraken 24-uursdienst 9. afspraak over toegroeien naar één OR

Schamele reactie werkgever De werkgever wilde de punten 1, 2, 3, 8 en 9 toezeggen, maar de overige punten niet.

Wij hebben de werkgever gevraagd deze reactie schriftelijk aan ons te bevestigen, want dan zijn wij uitonderhandeld.

LEDENVERGADERINGEN op 9 en 16 januari Uitonderhandeld zijn, betekent dat we aan de leden toelichting hebben gegeven op de stand van zaken, en gevraagd of zij bereid waren om een (voor) ultimatum (met concrete eisen met betrekking tot de CAO) te stellen aan de werkgever. En indien nodig, actie te voeren om die eisen kracht bij te zetten. De leden bleken hiermee akkoord.

Vlak voor het ter perse gaan van dit nummer stuurden de vakbonden een voorultimatum om de werkgever nogmaals een laatste kans te geven en de termijn te stellen voordat de acties daadwerkelijk plaatsvinden. In de tussentijd wordt er een actiecomité geïnstalleerd. Wordt vervolgd.’

ARBEIDSVOORWAARDEN

Overeenkomst over pensioen en cao in de Rijnen Binnenvaart In de Telegraph van januari berichtten wij onze lezers over een’ bijna-akkoord’ over pensioen en cao tussen de sociale partners in de Rijn- en Binnenvaart.

Inmiddels is er nu een definitieve overeenkomst.

Nog geen echte cao Nautilus onderhandelaar Ton Heijnen: ‘Overigens is er in deze overeenkomst nog geen sprake van een ‘echte’ cao voor de hele bedrijfstak. Wel is het de intentie van de partijen dat er in de eerste helft van 2018 op twee manieren naar toe wordt gewerkt. Enerzijds zal intensief gekeken worden hoe een cao algemeen geldend gemaakt kan worden.

Dat is niet gemakkelijk in deze sector met zijn tamelijk lage organisatiegraad van bedrijven en van werknemers.’

Samen een cao opzetten ‘Anderzijds moet er natuurlijk ook een cao zijn. Het is nu aan de cao-partijen om samen een cao op te zetten die voor werknemers en werkgevers van nut is. Dat wil zeggen dat de cao een pakket standaard-arbeidsvoorwaarden regelt. Het pakket moet de bedrijven werk uit handen nemen. Ze hoeven het niet zelf te bedenken. En het geeft aan de werknemers zekerheid over hun rechtspositie.

In het akkoord is nog niet afgesproken dat de cao in 2018 al algemeen verplicht zal zijn. Dat was nog een stap te ver.’

Meer zekerheid Binnenvaartleden van Nautilus kunnen hun werkgever straks wijzen op de mogelijkheid van aansluiten. Voor de bedrijven waar reeds een cao actueel is, verandert er in eerste instantie niet zoveel. Zij kunnen hun eigen cao blijven voeren. Zij kunnen ook voor de nieuwe centrale cao kiezen en de afwijkingen in een klein contract voor hun eigen bedrijf vastleggen.

Werkgevers en werknemers hebben elkaar nodig Veel werkenden die zijn aangesloten bij het pensioenfonds hebben een voorlopig toegekend recht op extra pensioen.

Dit is door een speciale wet toegestaan tot 2021. Hij lijkt op de oude VUT. Voor de voorlopige (voorwaardelijke) rechten moet je in de bedrijfstak blijven werken. Er is geen terugwerkende kracht mogelijk. Met het akkoord wordt in 2018 een programma gestart om die voorwaardelijke rechten om te zetten in echte rechten. Deze onvoorwaardelijke pensioenrechten worden nu al bijgeschreven op het pensioenoverzicht.

Ton Heijnen: ‘Als de cao er voor juli 2018 daadwerkelijk komt, dan blijft de pensioenpremie constant 22,5% tot 2021. Ook zal dan het programma worden voortgezet om de werkende deelnemers aan het pensioenfonds versneld een onvoorwaardelijke toekenning van pensioenrechten te geven. Komt de cao niet op tijd, dan komt de premie in 2019-2020 hoger te liggen en wordt de toekenning van rechten vertraagd. Werkgevers én werknemers hebben elkaar dus nodig in dit akkoord. Ze hebben samen wat te winnen met een cao, ook al geldt niet de eis dat die cao al voor alle bedrijven verplicht is.’

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R E O R G A N I S AT I E E N W E R K E N A A N W E R K

LEDEN HEEREMA STEMMEN IN MET SOCIAAL PLAN In de Telegraph van januari hebben we u geïnformeerd dat Nautilus en andere betrokken bonden een principeakkoord hadden bereikt over het sociaal plan voor de door de reorganisatie getroffen werknemers bij Heerema.

Op 13 december 2017 heeft Nautilus, samen met het VOC, aan boord van de Thialf twee ledenvergaderingen gehouden waar het sociaal plan Heerema is toegelicht en werknemers in de gelegenheid zijn gesteld om vragen te stellen. Aansluitend is nog een informatiebijeenkomst aan boord van de Aegir gehouden. Het principeakkoord werd door Nautilus en VOC met een positief advies aan de leden voorgelegd. Na de bijeenkomsten konden leden per email hun stem uitbrengen of zij konden instemmen met betrekking tot de inhoud van het plan. Een ruime meerderheid van de leden van Nautilus, die hun stem hebben uitgebracht, zijn akkoord gegaan met het sociaal plan. Ook de leden van de andere bonden hebben Nautilus biedt werknemers bij ingestemd. Op dinsdag 19 (dreigend) ontslag december is het sociaal Plan ondersteuning aan via Nautilus/ door Heerema en bonden FNV ‘Werken-aanondertekend. Om het sociaal plan Werk’. de status van een CAO te geven is het Sociaal plan bij het Ministerie van Sociale Zaken aangemeld. Op 9 januari werden alle werknemers persoonlijk geïnformeerd door • Heerema wie boventallig is en wie mag blijven.

Belangrijkste punten uit het Sociaal Plan: •

Beëindigingsvergoeding: Een financiële vergoeding op basis van de kantonrechter formule A x B x C. Hierin is A gelijk aan het aantal gewogen dienstjaren, B is gelijk aan het bruto maandsalaris. Het bruto maandsalaris is het vaste bruto maandsalaris, inclusief de toeslagen.

C is de correctiefactor die gelijk is aan 1. Daarnaast is afgesproken dat de beëindigingsvergoeding nooit lager zal zijn dan de wettelijke transitievergoeding of een bedrag gelijk aan 3 x het Bruto Maandsalaris. De hoogte van de beëindigingsvergoeding is gemaximeerd tot een bedrag van € 200.000,- bruto of een bedrag gelijk aan 16 maal het bruto maandsalaris indien dat hoger is.

•

•

• Outplacement: Werknemers die dat wensen, worden via bemiddeling ondersteund bij het zoeken van een nieuwe arbeidsplaats buiten de werkgever.

Een tekenbonus: Indien de werknemer de beëindigingsovereenkomst, binnen 14 kalenderdagen nadat deze is aangeboden, accepteert, dan ontvangt de werknemer bij zijn eindafrekening een eenmalige tekenbonus van € 2.500,- bruto bovenop zijn vergoeding.

Kosten juridische bijstand/ financieel advies: Boventallige werknemers hebben recht op een bijdrage van maximaal 1.250 Euro voor juridische bijstand en/of financieel advies.

Plaatsmakersregeling: Een werknemer die niet boventallig is verklaard, kan aangeven zijn arbeidsovereenkomst vrijwillig te willen beëindigen, waardoor een boventallige werknemer in dienst van Heerema kan blijven en zijn functie respectievelijk arbeidsplaats kan behouden.

Persoonlijke begeleiding Nautilus: Werken-aan-Werk Werknemers die behoefte hebben aan persoonlijke begeleiding buiten het outplacementtraject dat Heerema biedt, kunnen een beroep op Nautilus doen.

Nautilus biedt werknemers bij (dreigend) ontslag ondersteuning aan via Nautilus/FNV ‘Werken-aan-Werk’. Hier zijn geen kosten aan verbonden. Deze speciale service staat ook open voor niet leden.

Neem contact op met onze Nautilus trajectadviseur Jelle de Boer: Email: jdeboer@nautilusint.org Telefoon: 06 - 155 39 730 ‘Achter de vraag waar deelnemers mee komen gaan vaak andere vragen schuil.

Daar willen we inzicht in krijgen om de begeleiding zo goed mogelijk vorm te kunnen geven. Als traject-adviseur van Nautilus International en FNV Waterbouw ben ik goed op de hoogte van de maritieme sector.

Dankzij die kennis en ervaring kan ik deelnemers goed begeleiden bij het zetten van nieuwe

stappen in hun loopbaan.’

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S A V E T H E D AT E

Nautilus Jaarvergadering 2018 Op dinsdagmiddag 26 juni 2018, van 13.00 tot 14.30 uur, vindt de jaarvergadering van de Nederlandse Branch van Nautilus International plaats in Rotterdam, nabij het Centraal Station (de definitieve locatie wordt later bekend gemaakt).

Hierna wordt een openbaar toegankelijk symposium georganiseerd, van 15.00 tot 17.00 uur. Nadere informatie over deze middag volgt nog, maar houdt u deze datum vast vrij in de agenda.

Verkiezing Raad van Advies Omdat de zittingstermijn van ongeveer de helft van de Nautilus Raad van Advies leden afloopt, zullen er dit jaar verkiezingen plaats vinden. Vastgesteld is dat de huidige indeling van de kiesgroepen (nog) niet representatief is, afgezet tegen het Nautilus ledenbestand.

Momenteel wordt er gekeken naar de juiste indeling van de kiesgroepen.

Begin maart zal de kiesgroepindeling bekend worden gemaakt.

Voorstellen indienen Het is goed om alvast alle leden te wijzen op de mogelijkheid om voorstellen in te dienen. Deze voorstellen dienen het algemene Nederlandse belang van de vereniging te betreffen. Voorstellen over een specifieke CAO of een specifieke rederij worden verwezen naar desbetreffende ledenvergaderingen.

Eventuele voorstellen dienen uiterlijk 1 mei a.s. schriftelijk of per email door het bestuur te zijn Eventuele ontvangen en zullen voorzien voorstellen van leden dienen van een bestuursadvies uiterlijk 1 mei a.s. aan de vergadering worden door het bestuur te zijn voorgelegd. ontvangen.

In te sturen naar: mschmidt@ nautilusint.org

GEEF UW MENING Vorige maand vroegen wij:

Doel: onderzoeken hoe zeevarenden tot aan hun pensioenleeftijd gezond en plezierig kunnen werken. In hun eigen werk of elders.

Beleid maken Daarom wil Nautilus, mede gebaseerd op de uitkomsten van deze enquête, beleid maken op dit belangrijke onderwerp. De enquête is opgesteld in nauwe samenwerking met de reders en op kosten van Stichting Zeerisico 96. Uitgevoerd door onderzoeksbureau Factor Vijf.

Onderzoekster Aukje Nauta: ‘Behalve plezier in het varen zijn zaken als prettige werksfeer, maatwerkafspraken over taken en ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden en goede arbeidsomstandigheden belangrijke eerste uitkomsten.’

Tijdens het ter perse gaan van dit nummer liep de enquête nog door (tot eind januari).

De definitieve uitkomsten worden in april verwacht.

% 22

Ja 7 8

De overdaad aan administratief werk scoorde tijdens een tussenstand in december 2017 in de enquête Duurzame Inzetbaarheid het hoogst als ‘meest belemmerende arbeidsomstandigheid’.

Dat bleek tijdens een interactieve bijeenkomst begin december met zeevarenden, Nautilus en reders over dit onderwerp.

Sinds deze nazomer staat een enquête over duurzame inzetbaarheid van zeevarenden online.

Ne e

Overdaad aan administratief werk werkt belemmerend

Bent u van mening dat zeemanshuizen een belangrijke functie blijven behouden in de 21e eeuw?

%

DUURZAME INZETBAARHEID

Moet Cyber veiligheidstraining verplicht worden gesteld voor alle zeevarenden? Geef ons uw mening online, op www.nautilusint.org/nl

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FA I L L I S S E M E N T E N W E R KG E L E G E N H E I D

FA I L L I S S E M E N T E N W E R KG E L E G E N H E I D

NAUTILUS STAAT VOOR U KLAAR

Verkoop van uitgekleed Koninklijke Dirkzwager

De vaststellingsovereenkomst uitgelegd Kunt u het zich voorstellen? U bent aan het werk en vanuit het niets wordt u als werknemer door uw werkgever uitgenodigd voor een gesprek. Tijdens dit gesprek krijgt u tot uw verbazing te horen dat uw functie niet meer bestaat en dat u daarom overbodig bent! Ook ontvangt u van uw werkgever een overeenkomst waarmee u akkoord gaat met uw eigen ontslag. Deze overeenkomst moet u, volgens uw werkgever, diezelfde week nog ondertekenen.

U heeft geen idee waar u goed aan doet.

De overeenkomst die u van uw werkgever heeft ontvangen, staat vol met juridische termen. Wat betekent dit voor u en welke consequenties zijn hieraan verbonden?

Heeft u recht op een vergoeding? En bent u überhaupt verplicht om deze overeenkomst te ondertekenen?

Dit overkwam onlangs enkele van onze leden. Zij hebben zich natuurlijk gelijk bij Nautilus gemeld met het verzoek hen hierin bij te staan.

De vaststellingsovereenkomst (artikel 7:900 van het Burgerlijk Wetboek) De hier bovengenoemde overeenkomst wordt ook wel een vaststellingsovereenkomst genoemd. Als een werknemer en een werkgever het met elkaar eens zijn om het dienstverband te beëindigen, worden de afspraken hierover vastgelegd in deze overeenkomst. Uw werkgever hoeft dan geen procedure te starten bij het UWV of de kantonrechter.

U bent echter niet verplicht om de aangeboden vaststellingsovereenkomst te ondertekenen. In bepaalde gevallen kan een vaststellingsovereenkomst gunstig voor u zijn. Dit hangt uiteraard af van de situatie en de reden waarom uw werkgever het dienstverband wenst te beëindigen. Ook staat het u vrij om te onderhandelen over de voorwaarden, zoals de hoogte van de beëindigingsvergoeding. Uw werkgever dient hier wel mee in te stemmen.

belang dat u zich hierover goed laat adviseren door onze Nautilus juristen. Uw werkgever is verplicht u hiervoor de gelegenheid te geven, voordat u de vaststellingsovereenkomst ondertekent.

Inhoud vaststellingsovereenkomst Indien u toch overweegt om akkoord te gaan met de beëindiging van uw dienstverband middels een vaststellingsovereenkomst, dan is het belangrijk dat een aantal zaken goed zijn vastgelegd en goed zijn verwoord.

Er zijn een aantal afspraken die een in vaststellingsovereenkomst moeten worden vastgelegd, waaronder: • Een neutrale reden voor de beëindiging van het dienstverband. Dit om uw WW-rechten veilig te stellen; • De beëindigingsdatum. Hierbij dient rekening te worden gehouden met de fictieve opzegtermijn, zodat u na de beëindigingsdatum aansluitend een WW-uitkering ontvangt; • De beëindigingsvergoeding; • Een eventuele vrijstelling van uw werkzaamheden met doorbetaling van uw salaris; • Het ontvangen van een positief getuigschrift en positieve referenties; • Een eindafrekening met uitbetaling van uw opgebouwde doch niet-genoten vakantiedagen, uw opgebouwde pro rata vakantiegeld en eventuele overige salariscomponenten; • Ontheffing uit een eventueel overeengekomen relatie-,concurrentie-, en/of studiekostenbeding; • Een finaal kwijtingsbeding. Dit houdt in dat een werkgever en werknemer, naast de afspraken gemaakt in de vaststellingsovereenkomst, niets meer van elkaar kunnen vorderen.

Deskundig advies aan onze leden Nautilus International heeft onze leden in deze zaak, naar eigen zeggen, deskundig geadviseerd en heeft namens hen de onderhandelingen gevoerd over de afspraken in

de vaststellingsovereenkomst.

Heeft u van uw werkgever ook een vaststellingsovereenkomst gekregen en wilt Haken en ogen u hierover advies? Neem dan contact op Aan een vaststellingsovereenkomst zitten met ons. Wij staan voor u klaar, via: infonl@ allerlei haken en ogen. Het is daarom altijd van nautilusint.org of, tel: +31 (0) 10 4771 188.

Na eerder afscheid te hebben genomen van een voltallige IT afdeling, is het bedrijf Royal Dirkzwager medio december 2017 overgedaan aan een Rotterdamse partij: Peterson’s Havenbedrijf. Voor de werknemers en voor Nautilus International betreft het hier echter veel meer dan zomaar een simpele verkoop van aandelen…

Na geruime tijd in de etalage te hebben gestaan is de Koninklijke Scheepsagentuur Dirkzwager BV door de aandeelhouders RH Marine Holding BV en Mainport Holding N.V. bijna volledig overgedaan aan Peterson’s Havenbedrijf BV. Via een mondelinge mededeling op 12 december, met aansluitend een adviesaanvraag aan de Ondernemingsraad van Dirkzwager, werd het nieuws gepresenteerd.

Veel spanning en stress onder werknemers Nautilus bestuurder Daan Troost: ‘Onze leden bij beide BV’s binnen Dirkzwager, Dirkzwager Financial Services (DFS) en Dirkzwager’s Coastal & Deep Sea Pilotage (DCP), waren bijzonder ongerust over de werkgelegenheid en de afwikkeling van de cao-onderhandelingen. Daarnaast liep voor DFS ook nog eens een pensioentraject ten einde.

Kortom dat gaf een hoop spanning en stress onder de medewerkers.’

Het gemis van een melding bij de SER en vakbonden conform de Fusiegedragsregels (bescherming van de belangen van werknemers bij overname of fusie) betekende dat vele onderwerpen op het laatste moment, kort voor de Kerstdagen, in plaats van in een vroeg stadium, nu later aan bod kwamen. Eén van de onderwerpen zou natuurlijk de werkgelegenheid moeten zijn. De werkgever bleek echter niet bereid een werkgelegenheidsgarantie af te geven.

‘Niet interessant’ Al rap bleek dat de aandelen DCP niet overgingen naar Peterson’s Havenbedrijf.

Werkzaamheden als Deep Sea Pilotage en Offshore VTS, beiden uitgevoerd door de Noordzeeloodsen, als ook de wettelijk erkende opleiding tot Noordzeeloods, waren ‘niet interessant’ voor de kopende partij…

Daan Troost: ‘Besloten is nu om DCP voorlopig te ‘verhangen’ aan één van de aandeelhouders: RH Marine Holding BV. Dit in afwachting van een mogelijke verkoop van dit onderdeel van Dirkzwager. Gevolgen voor opleidingen, certificering, werk en loon- en arbeidsvoorwaarden zijn niet ondenkbaar. Voor de Noordzeeloodsen betekent dit een hele slechte start in 2018. Duidelijkheid en zekerheid voor de werknemers zijn de zaken waarop nu dringend gewacht wordt.’

nautilusint.org 56 February 2018

ARBEIDSVOORWAARDEN

CAO resultaat VT Group in stemming gebracht Op 2 januari jongstleden heeft Nautilus twee ledenbijeenkomsten georganiseerd in de Rustburcht te Rotterdam. De bedoeling was om zoveel mogelijk leden, werkzaam bij de VT Group, direct te informeren over het bereikte cao-resultaat. Afgezet tegen het grote belang en het aantal leden was de opkomst teleurstellend.

Om toch een zo groot mogelijke respons te krijgen, brengt Nautilus het bereikte caoresultaat schriftelijk in stemming. Dit geeft tevens de gelegenheid om kort te herhalen wat er door de werkgever is geboden:

• vakbonden hebben kennisgenomen van de functieomschrijvingen, zoals deze tussen de werkgever en Ondernemingsraad zijn overeengekomen.

De invoering van de nieuwe loontabel betekent voor ongeveer 13 werknemers een verhoging van het maandsalaris met 200 euro bruto of meer. Voor de anderen is dit een bedrag ergens tussen de 10 en 20 euro bruto. Met het invoeren van de nieuwe loontabel stijgen de loonkosten voor de werkgever met 1,6%.

2. Reparatie 3e WW-jaar en WGA 1. Resultatenlijst Verenigde Tankrederijen: De nieuwe cao kent een looptijd van 1 juli 2017 tot en met 1 juli 2019.

Beloning: • met ingang van 1 januari 2018 wordt een nieuwe loontabel van toepassing en wordt bij vervanging het salaris van de betreffende functie vergoed aan de vervanger.

• de lonen worden tijdens de looptijd niet verhoogd met de APC, maar hiervoor in de plaats blijft artikel 17 lid 2 van toepassing.

• op 1 juli 2018, 1 januari en 1 juli 2019 worden de lonen (en stagevergoedingen) telkens met 0,5% verhoogd. Inmiddels is op 1 juli 2017 het loon al verhoogd met 1,12%.

• artikel 4 van de cao zal worden aangepast zodat het alleen geldt tijdens de looptijd.

Nautilus cao onderhandelaar Carl Kraijenoord: ‘In de ledenbijeenkomsten is de deelname aan de private regeling om het 3e WW-jaar en WGA te repareren toegelicht door middel van een presentatie. De aanwezige leden waren niet zonder meer overtuigd van het nut en de noodzaak van deze reparatie. We hebben dan ook afgesproken om dit onderwerp apart in stemming te brengen. Wanneer de meerderheid van de leden instemt met de invoering, dan wordt het een onderdeel van de resultatenlijst en zal de werkgever de verdere aanmelding en administratieve handelingen faciliteren bij de stichting PAWW (Private Aanvulling Werkloosheidsuitkering en Wga). De premie van de reparatie komt voor rekening van de werknemers, die vallen onder de cao.’

Negatief stemadvies van Nautilus ‘Het bereikte resultaat voelt als een eindbod van de werkgever omdat het tijdens de onderhandelingen niet meer mogelijk was om tot collectieve afspraken te komen, die het eerder afbouwen van werkuren richting het pensioen aantrekkelijk maken en hiermee jongeren meer perspectief te bieden op doorstroming. Hetzelfde geldt voor het instellen van een zogenaamde ‘bovenrol’ (=extra eigen personeel) als instrument om de werkdruk te verlagen bij vervanging (pieken, ziekte, verlof e.d.), waarmee inhuur van externen niet meer nodig wordt. Verder wordt gedurende de looptijd een collectieve loonstijging geboden van 2,62% (1,12 + 3x0,5), terwijl de inflatie misschien wel uitkomt op bijna 4%. Wij leggen het daarom negatief aan onze leden voor.

Mouwen opstropen Indien de meerderheid het stemadvies volgt en het resultaat afwijst, dan zullen wij zo spoedig mogelijk naar de leden terug gaan voor het opstellen van een minimale uitkomst en een ultimatum. Een afwijzing van het resultaat heeft alleen zin als de meerderheid (75% of meer) ook bereid is om de rug te rechten, de mouwen op te stropen en in actie te komen om de druk op de werkgever te verhogen.’

G A S T L E S S E N Z E E VA A RT S C H O L E N

Nautilus te gast op Deltion College Zwolle Op 11 januari brachten Nautilus bestuurder Maarten Keuss en communicatie stagiair Renko Renaud een bezoek aan het Deltion College in Zwolle. In totaal kregen 30 maritieme studenten hier een gastles over de vakbond, het vinden van een stageplaats en het gebruik van social-media. Deze actuele onderwerpen werden op een interactieve manier behandeld.

door elkaar lopen. Van militairen en engineers tot secretaresses en horeca-studenten. In ‘Gebouw Zilver’ worden de nautische- en luchtvaarttechniekopleidingen van het STC-Deltion Hanze Maritiem gegeven. Met twee maritieme opleidingen: Koopvaardij Officier Kleine Schepen (BOL3) en MAROF (BOL4).’

Sollicitatietips Twee maritieme opleidingen Renko Renaud: ‘Leraar Roel de Vegt verzorgde eerst een korte introductie over het Deltion College; een prachtige, grote school, net buiten het centrum van Zwolle. De school heeft twee grote gebouwen. Met 120 opleidingen verspreid over twee gebouwen zie je alles en iedereen

De gastles werd goed ontvangen bij de studenten.

Voor student Jari Hakvoort, die later aan het werk wil in de baggersector, kwamen de tips met betrekking tot stage goed van pas. ‘Ik moet nog solliciteren naar een stageplek en dit wordt de eerste keer. Daarom ben ik blij met de tips uit de les.’ Ook student Yoran Montfroy

February 2018 57 nautilusint.org

solliciteert straks voor de eerste keer. ‘Het is goed om te weten waar ik op moet letten met solliciteren’, stelde hij.

Belang van een vakbond De leerlingen hebben ook les gehad over de vakbond, wat Nautilus voornamelijk doet en wat de bond voor studenten en werkenden kan betekenen. Na de les liet studente Ilona Hogema weten dat ze het belang van de vakbond zeker in zag. ‘Als student heb ik nog niet veel te maken met de vakbond, maar dat verandert zodra je écht aan het werk gaat.’ Veel studenten vinden dat de vakbond nog ver van ze af ligt. Het is dan ook goed dat leerlingen zich zo een beter beeld kunnen vormen van wat de bond is en doet.

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R E O R G A N I S AT I E E N W E R KG E L E G E N H E I D

Overleg met Boskalis over werkgelegenheid Nederlandse Fairmount zeevarenden In de Telegraph van januari deden wij u verslag dat Boskalis alsnog af wil van de Nederlandse Fairmount zeevarenden. Inmiddels is met de directie van Fairmount een afspraak gemaakt voor overleg eind januari, na het ter perse gaan van dit nummer.

Niemand gedwongen de poort uit Nautilus bestuurder Marcel van Dam: ‘Met de werkgever willen wij afspreken dat geen van de zeevarenden in dienst van Fairmount gedwongen de poort uit moet.

Het scheepsmanagement van de Fairmount schepen zal overgaan naar Anglo Eastern. Hierbij komen de arbeidsplaatsen van de Nederlandse zeevarenden te vervallen. Volgens ons moet het mogelijk zijn om voor alle Nederlandse zeevarenden vervangend werk te vinden binnen het moederbedrijf Boskalis. Dit wordt dan ook de insteek van het overleg. Indien Boskalis geen bereidheid toont om harde afspraken te maken over de werkgelegenheid van de Nederlandse zeevarenden, dan zullen we, in overleg met de leden, alle middelen die ons ter beschikking staan, waaronder ook mogelijke acties, aanwenden om het dreigend ontslag te voorkomen.’

Reorganisatie en werkgelegenheid

Stekker uit Tranship/Gardlines Nederland?

Door de slechte omstandigheden van de worden van ‘overgang van onderneming’ en oliemarkt op dit moment is besloten om het daarmee zou voor de werknemers nog een Gardline kantoor in Nederland te sluiten. Voor strohalm bestaan om hun werk te behouden. de medewerkers in Nederland betekent Echter er wordt dan wel een offer gevraagd dit dat zij hun baan kwijt raken, aan de werknemers. Namelijk indien de althans zo werd hen onlangs werknemers zich hierop beroepen, dan meegedeeld… leveren zij hun sociale zekerheid in.

Nautilus wenst op korte termijn een De werknemers wordt Hun arbeidsvoorwaarden zijn dan voor gesprek met de voorgehouden dat het maximaal een jaar gewaarborgd, maar werkgever. kantoor sluit en dat alle zij lopen een ernstig risico op ontslag schepen worden overgenomen na dat jaar. De ontslagbescherming door Gardline Ltd. In feite wordt er in Engeland is namelijk een stuk minder echter geschoven van de ene locatie naar dan in Nederland. Dus dit geeft een dilemma een andere locatie. voor de werknemers van Gardline Nederland.

Belangrijke vraag is dan ook: ‘Kan dit van Overgang van onderneming? werknemers gevraagd worden?’

Omdat er echter gewerkt wordt met Herplaatsing bij Boskalis? verschillende rechtspersonen, kan de werkwijze Gardline Ltd is afgelopen augustus overgenomen zoals deze nu plaatsvindt zonder al te veel opzien door Boskalis en men zou verwachten dat doorgang vinden. Er zou gesproken kunnen

Boskalis haar verantwoording neemt voor personeel dat wordt bedreigd met ontslag.

Waarom wordt bijvoorbeeld met de werknemers niet gekeken naar een andere baan in het Boskalis concern?

Nautilus ledenvergadering De werknemers moeten nu een afweging maken, te weten ingaan op de aanbieding van hun werkgever of bezwaar maken tegen hun ontslagaanzegging? Dit is zoals geschetst een lastige keuze. Maar welke keuze ook gemaakt wordt, zij kunnen te allen tijde een beroep op bijstand doen bij Nautilus. Medio januari werd er door Nautilus een eerste ledenvergadering hiertoe belegd in Den Helder. Tevens wenst Nautilus International op korte termijn een gesprek met de werkgever om inzage te verkrijgen in nut en noodzaak van deze maatregelen.

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M A A K G E B R U I K VA N DE LANDELIJKE

DIENSTVERLENING

Nautilus International en FNV Waterbouw Professionele en technische aangelegenheden Alle drie de Nautilus Branches (NL, UK, CH) zijn al sinds jaar en dag aangesloten bij de Internationale Transportwerkers Federatie (ITF).

Vanuit die Branches spelen een aantal Nautilus collega’s een (pro)actieve rol binnen die koepelorganisatie op een groot aantal dossiers.

Uiteenlopend van loon-en arbeidsvoorwaarden aan boord van Flag of Convenience schepen, campagnes tegen criminalisering en piraterij, het Maritieme Arbeidsverdrag en vele andere ILO gerelateerde zaken, maar ook professionele en technische (P&T) aangelegenheden, die in het belang zijn van de leden van de aangesloten bonden. Het is deze laatste categorie waar in dit artikel wat nader op wordt ingegaan.

Wat wordt eigenlijk onder P&T verstaan?

Wat Nautilus onder P&T verstaat is wellicht het best samen te vatten als vakmanschap en alles wat ervoor zorgdraagt, dat u als werknemer dit vakmanschap op een veilige en goede wijze kan aanleren, behouden en uitbreiden en uitoefenen.

Nationaal: Dit gebeurt in alle Nautilus Branches op nationaal niveau door middel van (pro)actieve participatie in overleggen met het scholenveld, het ministerie en de inspectie, maar ook met werkgeversvertegenwoordigers. Een recent voorbeeld hiervan in Nederland was de discussie over de niet-continue-vaart waarbij Nautilus tezamen met de overheid en de werkgevers tot een veilige, werk- en controleerbare oplossing en implementatie van een nieuw werkgeversvoorstel wist te komen.

dat gebeurt: de IMO in Londen, de ILO in Geneve maar ook in toenemende mate in Brussel.

Als éénling krijg je daar niet veel voor elkaar, maar als je je zoals Nautilus aansluit bij deze organisaties van gelijkgestemden dan wordt die kans ineens wel veel groter. Deze organisaties hebben internationaal aanzien en verkrijgen op basis daarvan toegang tot de discussies, die uiteindelijk leiden tot nieuwe regelingen waar u bij de uitoefening van uw beroep te maken krijgt.

Team van experts De ITF wordt wereldwijd gezien als dé internationale werknemersvertegenwoordiger van de transportsectoren en heeft om die reden o.a. een zogenaamde non-governmental organisation (NGO) status in de Internationale Maritieme Organisatie (IMO) verkregen.

Deze NGO status stelt de ITF in staat om mee te discussiëren over nagenoeg alle IMO aangelegenheden en om, al dan niet gesteund door een vlaggenstaat, schriftelijke voorstellen in te brengen. De delegatie van de ITF in IMO bestaat uit de heer Branko Berlan, aangesteld als zogenaamde ‘ITF Accredited Representative to the IMO’, die bij alle vergaderingen van de IMO Commissies en Sub Commissies wordt bijgestaan door een team in wisselende samenstelling van experts afkomstig uit de kringen van de bij de ITF aangesloten bonden.

Nautilus is een van deze bonden.

De inzet van de ITF op de diverse IMO dossiers wordt bepaald door de aangesloten bonden.

Veelal op aangeven van een ITF stuurgroep met experts van de bij de ITF aangesloten bonden.

U raadt het waarschijnlijk al… ook in deze stuurgroep is Nautilus vertegenwoordigd.

Internationaal: Het is niet voor het eerst dat we u melden dat de nieuwe wet- en regelgeving die u als maritieme professional raakt in bijna alle gevallen niet in Nederland tot stand komt, maar buiten onze landsgrenzen. En dat deze na de totstandkoming vrijwel altijd onverkort in de Nederlandse wetgeving wordt overgenomen.

Wil je als werknemersvertegenwoordiger dan mee kunnen praten over de inhoud van die weten regelgeving, dan moet je ook daar zijn waar

Meepraten Wilt u meer weten over het P&T werk van Nautilus of meepraten, bezoekt u dan ook eens de vergadering van het P&T Forum dat elk jaar in Nederland wordt gehouden. Tevens kunt u vanaf dit jaar van Nautilus weer een tweejaarlijkse P&T nieuwsbrief (voor-en najaar) verwachten, waarmee u op hoogte zal worden gehouden van alle actuele P&T onderwerpen.

BELASTINGSERVICE FNV VOOR UW AANGIFTE 2017 Vaak op korte afstand van uw woonadres wachten invullers van de Belastingservice FNV, waarbij Nautilus ook is aangesloten, op uw komst om gratis en deskundig uw aangiftebiljet vóór 1 mei 2018 in te vullen!

Vanaf 1 maart tot 1 mei 2018 geeft Belastingservice FNV gratis hulp bij het invullen van uw belastingaangifte en het aanvragen van toeslagen.

Vanaf 1 februari kunt u een afspraak maken bij een van de 500 invullocaties in het land. De afspraakgegevens staan dan ook op www. afspraakmakenfnv.nl.

Hoe maakt u een afspraak?

Online: Ga naar www.fnv.nl/ belastingservice of www. afspraakmakenfnv.nl. Daar kunt u online een afspraak maken. Als u dat hebt gedaan, ontvangt u per email een bevestiging en een overzicht van de gegevens die u moet meenemen naar de afspraak.

U wilt uw aangifte door Nautilus laten invullen?

Stuur per post of per email kopieën van al uw gegevens naar Nautilus.

Aangiftebrief, machtigingscode of Digid codes en volledige gegevens moet u aan Nautilus toe zenden: infonl@nautilusint. org Het is dus van groot belang dat u, als u gebruik maakt van deze mogelijkheid, zelf eerst uitstel aanvraagt en dat ook aan ons meldt!

February 2018 59 nautilusint.org

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R E C RU I T M E N T

Fleetwood Nautical Campus signs off its 125 year celebrations “It was fitting that one of our graduates was named the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) UK Officer Trainee of the Year in 2017, becoming the first engineering officer ever to receive the award on the eighth occasion a Fleetwood cadet has been chosen for this honour in the last 11 years.”

Fleetwood Nautical Campus turned 125 years old in 2017 – and it was a year to remember for cadets and staff, past and present.

The college’s first roots were laid as Fleetwood grew into a fishing port of repute in the 1800s.

The town had been created in 1836 and by the time a dock was opened in 1877, Fleetwood boasted passenger steamers, sailing smacks and fishing vessels which would despatch more than a hundred tons of oysters and fish daily by rail.

When the school initially opened, classes were initially held in London Street and at the Fielden Free Library in Dock Street and 130 students attended when the weather was too bad to put to sea.

In 1928, what was now named the Fleetwood Navigation School moved into new rooms in the Orient Building on Station Road – conveniently close to the docks – which would be its home for the next 37 years.

Fleetwood's cargo trade reached its peak in 1892, the year the Fleetwood School for Fishermen – the precursor to the nautical college – was established.

The College celebrated its historic milestone throughout 2017 – with a number of notable of events taking place.

However, by 1986, numbers of deck officers recruited in the UK each year dropped from between 1,500 and 2,000 to just 50. Student numbers followed suit and the College merged with the larger Blackpool and Fylde College of Further and Higher Education in 1987 – becoming known as Fleetwood Nautical Campus.

Since then it has gone from strength-to-strength and today remains one of the British maritime industry’s most respected training institutions.

Captain Atkinson added: “It has been a fantastic year for

us at Fleetwood Nautical Campus and we look forward to continued success in the future.

“I would like to thank my staff and all our industry partners for their part in helping Fleetwood reach such a special milestone.

“I would also like to thank our students – past and present.

We are extremely proud that Old Fleetonians can be found working in high-level positions in industry around the world and they continue to give an excellent impression of what we stand for at Fleetwood wherever they are situated.”

Following the Second World War, the school’s single instructor, Captain Macfarlane, was joined by Captain William Carruthers on return from service.

Captain Neil Atkinson, Head of Fleetwood Nautical Campus, said: “2017 was a very special year for us at Fleetwood. It was 125 years since the School for Fishermen was established, 50 years since the Nautical College officially opened and 30 years since the Nautical Campus was created.

Captain Carruthers would go on to become Principal of Fleetwood Nautical College between 1959 and 1975 and oversaw the move to its current home at Broadwater.

Fleetwood - a top UK nautical college with a long-established reputation for being a leading provider of training to the maritime industry.

(all STCW short courses are offered at Fleetwood Nautical Campus)

“We wanted to ensure we commemorated this appropriately and our year of celebrations was launched at the close of 2016 when we were honoured by a visit from the then Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Justine Greening MP. “To further celebrate this milestone, our new £1.2m Marine Engineering Centre was officially opened in July 2017 by Mr Ashok Mahapatra, Director of the Maritime Safety Division of the International Maritime Organisation, in front of industry partners and invited dignitaries.

“We have also highlighted this auspicious anniversary at the graduation ceremonies of almost 200 students who have completed their studies with us during 2017.

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During his time as Principal at the College, Captain Carruthers commented: “When a youngster looks you firmly in the eye and says he wants to go to sea, he is expressing one of the strongest vocational urges it is possible to conceive. It is just like being in love; the depth of feeling is the same.”

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R E C RU I T M E N T

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R E C RU I T M E N T

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PEOPLE

THE FACE OF NAUTILUS Maarten Keuss, industrial officer

eing able to negotiate in not one students at nautical college to inform them but five languages is a helpful about the work the Union does for seafarers. skill to possess – especially when ‘I am also the leader of our emergency you’re working with a variety of response team in the Netherlands,’ he major shipping companies. continues. ‘Our emergency officers are trained Dutchman Maarten Keuss has just that skill. to give immediate aid in the case of accidents Since joining the Nautilus Rotterdam office back or fire, extinguishing the fire, bringing people in in March 2011, he has been responsible for all Dutch safely and giving first aid.’ ferry and passenger ship collective bargaining However, his favourite part of the job is achieving agreements (CBAs), including Stena Line, P&O North improved terms and conditions for members.

MAARTEN KEUSS Sea Ferries, DFDS and Holland America Line.

During 2016 he was involved with the Fairmount HAS BEEN NEGOTIATING FOR Recently, however, Maarten has seen his and Boskalis disputes, and in 2017 he worked closely NAUTILUS MEMBERS responsibilities grow, and he has taken on some with Stena Line members. ‘It’s very rewarding to see SINCE 2011 more CBAs for the likes of Greenpeace, Maersk and that if members are prepared to start building up Jumbo Shipping, as well as helping recruit members pressure, things change positively,’ he notes. in the Netherlands and the Maarten’s work life keeps him Dutch large yacht sector – while busy, but not too busy to enjoy also coordinating industrial his downtime. He enjoys going action. to the gym and playing sports, ‘I am responsible for and is working towards his recruitment activities in the motorcycle licence.

Netherlands as well as all CBAs,’ And then, of course, there he explains. ‘I am also the Dutch is his love of languages, which contact person for large yachts makes his role working within and I will – if needed – be responsible for industrial action in the the international shipping industry that bit easier. ‘I love to learn Netherlands.’ and maintain a solid level of language speaking,’ concludes Before moving to Nautilus almost seven years ago, Maarten had Maarten. ‘I currently speak English, German, French, Spanish worked in a variety of jobs across a range of sectors, which, as he and of course Dutch.’ puts it, ‘keeps you fresh’. He has since settled into his Union life and ‘Languages do help a lot to communicate with people, says that there are many reasons why he loves his work. ‘I like the especially when they are in distress. If you then can speak to combinations in my job,’ he explains. ‘Negotiation with employers them in their own mother language that helps them to relax a regarding new CBAs and getting in touch with young people and little.’

B

'It's very rewarding to see

positive change achieved when members build up pressure'

BASED IN THE NAUTILUS ROTTERDAM OFFICE, MAARTEN STARTED OUT WITH A FOCUS ON FERRIES AND PASSENGER SHIPS

HIS RESPONSIBILITIES HAVE GROWN, AND NOW INCLUDE RECRUITING MEMBERS IN THE DUTCH LARGE YACHT SECTOR

HIS SKILL WITH LANGUAGES HAS BEEN A GREAT ASSET TO HIS WORK IN AN INTERNATIONAL UNION

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TA K E 5

Telegraph prize crossword The winner of this month’s cryptic crossword competition will win a copy of the book U-Boat Assault on America by Ken Brown (reviewed on the books page). Our apologies for the wrong grid last month.

To enter, simply send us the completed crossword, along with your name and address, 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 Wednesday 14 February 2018.

QUICK CLUES Across 1 View (6) 5 Pantry (6) 9 Relief flights (7) 10 Computer language (6) 12 Priority post (7,8) 13 Go on horseback (4) 14 Shyness (10) 18 Town (10) 19 Volcano (4) 21 Green (15) 24 Packaging (6) 25 European national (7) 26 Grim figure (6) 27 Reach (6) Down 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11 15 16 17 20 22 23

Wave white flag (9) Cause (6) To the sum of (9) Fall (5) Cancels (8) Dodge (5) Make in numbers (4,7) Adhering to stereotype (11) Advance position (5,4) Dietary field (9) Avoid (8) Element (6) Hospital staff (5) Screen (5)

CRYPTIC CLUES Across 1 Be against a small operation when it ends with a stance for the camera (6) 5 Abduct young goat with hairs brushed so (6) 9 Pleased with train as it moved noisily along (7) 10 Keep and tie in knots (6)

50 years ago grounding of the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Braer on the southern shores of the Shetland Isles last month. The disaster ‒ in which the tanker’s entire 84,500 tonne crude oil cargo was lost ‒ has launched a fierce debate over maritime safety standards and provoked demands for tough new controls on shipping — The Telegraph, February 1993

25 years ago NUMAST has called for urgent action to be taken following the

13 14 18 19 21 24 25 26 27

Information protected by Act’s force is life changing (8,7) Crazy about uranium she was asked into the garden (4) Plant set in a pot I arranged (10) Put off and together show no respect for bravery (10) Spoken alternatively by a learner (4) Housebuilders subject to predatory blows (5,6,4) Car amongst deceased’s belongings (6) Assert oldness is par (7) View snake before shocking treatment (6) In Spain the level number in football team (6)

Down 2 Baggies, in addition to rowing teams, for golfers and baggers (4,5) 3 Not on with frozen water at this workplace (6) 4 Cook’s craft to attempt (9) 5 Clump of grass this country turned to great acclaim (5) 6 First third of detainees felt pain when separated (8) 7 Article on bugs for storybook girl (5) 8 Put up house (11) 11 ‘no power in Venice can alter a decree ---: Twill be recorded for a precedent’ (The Merchant of Venice) (11) 15 Talk to agent, i.e. about reshuffle (9) 16 Without former spouse, the Dalek’s catchphrase would end thus (9) 17 Oversee chat so it is just 25 across (8) 20 Concealed part of ride let Evelyn scratch (6) 22 Wars remembered florally (5) 23 Spilled pint around middle of den, utterly useless (5)

Crossword answers are on page 66.

Quick quiz

Back in time MNAOA members are invited to submit their views on suggestions for changing the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea to reflect the very considerable changes that have taken place with regard to the use of radar in merchant ships — MN Journal, February 1958

12

10 years ago Nautilus has expressed concern

at new statistics showing that seafarers on UK merchant vessels are 12 times more likely to be killed at work than shore-based employees. The figures, which were published by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, showed that the fishing industry is even more dangerous, with crew members 115 times more likely to suffer a fatal accident than workers on the land — The Telegraph, February 2008

1. Greece is the world’s largest shipowning country ‒ what is its share of world deadweight tonnage?

2. In percentage terms, what is the UK cruise sector’s share of the total foreign holiday market?

3. In which year did the ro-ro ferry Princess Victoria founder near Belfast with the loss of 134 lives?

4. In which year did the International Code of Signals come into force for major maritime nations?

5. What is the busiest container port in Central-South America?

6. In which year was the British shipping company Overseas Containers Ltd established?

Quiz answers can be found on page 66.

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Nautilus Plus gives you access to a range of special benefits and discounts which have been designed to support members both personally and professionally.

This month’s highlights include: a special webinar offer for Nautilus members wanting to improve their maritime CVs.

If you are looking for a new maritime role in 2018 you’ll need to check that your CV is up to the task. Now’s the time to get started, as having a great CV is absolutely critical if you’re going to stand out from other seafaring candidates for your perfect post in this sector.

Join us for a member-only Nautilus Plus free CV Webinar on 26 February 2018 at 19.15; act on the advice you’ll get there, and you’ll secure more interviews for the maritime roles you’re seeking. The webinar will be delivered by our friends from the CV & Interview Advisors – one of the UK’s leading authorities on career enhancement – and will include some special Nautilus Plus discounts on their services.

The seminar will also be attended by the Union’s professional and technical officer David Appleton, who will provide the ‘voice of maritime’ expertise for any specific industry queries.

In this lively and interactive one hour session, you’ll learn: z how to assess the effectiveness of your current CV z the things that you should NEVER do on your CV z how to transform your CV into a powerful business case that differentiates you from other seafarers

of personnel, whether you are entering the maritime sector for the first time or building your career as a seasoned professional V as this candidate recently confirmed: ‘Interviews are now coming in thick and fast. I had one yesterday and have a further two scheduled for next week.

FYI, I had feedback from an agent this morning that my CV was the only one of six put forward for the role. So, thank you for getting my CV so right!’

If you’d like a chance to replicate this kind of performance, then investing one hour of your life to take part in this webinar is just This webinar is specifically plain good sense. To register, use the link below: designed for Nautilus g Log on to cvandinterviewadvisors.co.uk/nautilus members and is packed with practical advice that To access these and many more benefits, log on to Nautilus really works for all levels Plus by visiting the members area of www.nautilusint.org Nautilus Plus is managed on behalf of Nautilus by Parliament Hill Ltd. February 2018 65

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AT T H E B A C K

Member meetings and seminars

College contacts

In addition, the industrial department is responsible for representing trainee officers, in line with all members that we represent; please contact the Union on +44 (0)20 8989 6677.

Nautilus 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:

Induction visits See www.nautilusint.org event section for dates of upcoming college visits by the Nautilus recruitment team.

For further information, email recruitment@nautilusint.org or call Lee Moon on +44 (0)151 639 8454.

Your enquiry will then be directed to the relevant industrial organiser for your employer/sponsoring company.

Women’s Forum Thursday 8 March 2018 at 1330hrs at Nautilus Head office, South Woodford, London The forum will be followed by a celebratory lunch for International Women’s Day, along with Nautilus staff.

To register your interest call or email Lisa Carr: +44 (0)20 8989 6677 women@nautilusint.org Professional & Technical Forum Tuesday 17 April 2018 at 1330hrs in Rotterdam The forum deals with a wide

range of technical, safety, welfare and other professional topics.

All full members are welcome.

To attend, contact Sue Willis: +44 (0)20 8530 1660 protech@nautilusint.org Young Maritime Professionals Forum 22-24 April 2018 Quorn, Leicestershire For members under 35.

This session will be held in conjunction with the General Federation of Trade Unions youth event.

To attend, contact Danny McGowan: +44 (0)20 8989 6677 ymp@nautilusint.org

Contact Nautilus International Nautilus International welcomes contact from members at any time.

Please send a message to one of our offices around the world (details below) or use the Nautilus 24/7 service in an emergency.

For other 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.

Head office Nautilus International 1&2 The Shrubberies, George Lane South Woodford, London E18 1BD Tel: +44 (0)20 8989 6677 Fax: +44 (0)20 8530 1015 enquiries@nautilusint.org UK northern office Nautilus International Nautilus House, Mariners’ Park Wallasey CH45 7PH Tel: +44 (0)151 639 8454 Fax: +44 (0)151 346 8801 enquiries@nautilusint.org Netherlands office • Postal address Nautilus International Postbus 8575, 3009 An Rotterdam • Physical address Nautilus International, Schorpioenstraat 266, 3067 KW Rotterdam Tel: +31 (0)10 477 1188 Fax: +31 (0)10 477 3846 infonl@nautilusint.org Switzerland office Gewerkschaftshaus, Rebgasse 1 4005 Basel, Switzerland Tel: +41 (0)61 262 24 24 Fax: +41 (0)61 262 24 25 infoch@nautilusint.org

France yacht sector office In partnership with D&B Services 3 Bd. d’Aguillon, 06600 Antibes, France Tel: +33 (0)962 616 140 nautilus@dandbservices.com www.dandbservices.com Spain yacht sector office In partnership with Sovren Crew (formerly Dovaston Crew) Carrer de Versalles 9A, 07015, Palma de Mallorca, Spain Tel: +34 971 677 375 recruitment@nautilusint.org www.sovrencrew.com Nautilus 24/7 Out of European office hours, members of Nautilus International and the Nautilus Federation unions can contact our round-the-clock assistance service by phone, text or online: • Go to www.nautilusint.org and click on the Nautilus 24/7 link to access our Live chat instant messaging service.

You’ll also find a list of freephone numbers from 45 countries that you can use to call us free of charge.

• Send an SMS text message to +44 (0)7860 017 119 and we’ll reply.

• Email us at helpline@nautilus247.org.

• Reach us via Skype (username nautilus-247).

Industrial support for cadets An industrial official is appointed to each of the main nautical colleges.

The union also facilitates a Young Maritime Professionals Forum to provide an opportunity for young members to engage in discussions on the specific challenges facing young workers in the maritime profession.

For further information, members should contact Danny McGowan at ymp@nautilusint.org.

Pensions Nautilus Pensions Association (NPA) forums provide a focal point for members to discuss and ask questions about the cross-industry maritime pension schemes.

NPA pension forums 9 May 2018 – Cardiff 6 November 2018 – Newcastle Coffee is usually served at 1000hrs, with a light lunch served after the meeting.

As the dates of this year’s pension forums approach, further

information about times and venues will be given on this page.

Participants will be asked to register in advance online via the link in the events section of the Nautilus website – www.nautilusint.org – or call +44 (0)1293 804 644 for assistance.

Quiz and crossword answers – from our brain teasers on page 64 QUICK QUIZ

QUICK CROSSWORD

1. Greek firms own almost 17% of the world merchant fleet, in deadweight tonnage terms.

2. The UK cruise sector accounts for 4.2% of the foreign holiday market.

3. The Princess Victoria disaster occurred in January 1953.

4. The International Code of Signals came into force in 1897.

5. The Brazilian port of Santos is the busiest container port in Central-South America, handling a total of 3.39m TEU in 2016.

6. Overseas Containers Ltd was established in 1965.

Across: 1. Aspect; 5. Larder; 9. Airlift; 10. Pascal; 12. Special delivery; 13. Ride; 14. Diffidence; 18. Darlington; 19. Etna; 21. Conservationist; 24. Crates; 25. Italian; 26. Reaper; 27. Extent.

Down: 2. Surrender; 3. Elicit; 4. Totalling; 5. Lapse; 6. Rescinds; 7. Evade; 8. Mass produce; 11. Typecasting; 15. Front line; 16. Nutrition; 17. Sidestep; 20. Cobalt; 22. Nurse; 23. Visor.

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD Each month, the cryptic crossword is a prize competition, and the answers appear in the following Telegraph. Congratulations to Nautilus member Steve Williams, who was first out of the hat in January. Here are the answers to last month’s cryptic crossword: Across: 7. Firehose; 9. Crocus; 10. Tense; 11. Airframe; 12. Woodland burial; 15. Stymie; 16. Medusa; 18. Chase Manhattan; 20. Isotherm; 22. Catch; 24. Petrel; 25. Doldrums.

Down: 1. Virtuous; 2. Dean; 3. Reward; 4. Scar; 5. Tourniquet; 6. Pummel; 8. Operative; 13. Drysaltery; 14. Unethical; 17. Anathema; 18. Cashew; 19. Armada; 21. Eels; 23. Turn.

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Wherev er you are , so are we

Join today so we can be there for you too!

Join now

Pay and conditions Nautilus International is the first truly trans-boundary trade union for maritime professionals, reflecting 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.

International representation Nautilus 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 Ship Masters’ 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 affiliated to the TUC in the UK, FNV in the Netherlands and SGB/USS in Switzerland.

Legal services Nautilus 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 Call +44 (0)151 639 8454 members need it most.

Join us today…

Workplace support Nautilus International officials provide expert advice on workrelated problems such as contracts, redundancy, bullying or discrimination, non-payment of wages, and pensions.

Visit www.nautilusint.org Email membership@nautilusint.org g For the full range of member benefits visit www.nautilusint.org g Speak to our membership team on +44 (0)151 639 8454

Certificate protection Members are entitled to free financial protection, worth up to £122,300, against the loss of income if their certificate of competency is cancelled, suspended or downgraded following a formal inquiry.

Extra savings Members can take advantage of many additional discounts and benefits 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 significant part of their contributions back.

In touch As a Nautilus International member, help is never far away – wherever in the world you are. Officials 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 offices in London, Wallasey, Rotterdam and Basel.

There are also representatives based in France, Spain and Singapore.

Your union, your voice The Union represents the voice of more than 22,000 maritime professionals working in all sectors of the industry at sea and ashore – including inland navigation, large yachts, deepsea and offshore.

For members, by members Nautilus 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.

Call now to join Nautilus: UK: +44 (0)151 639 8454 NL: +31 (0)10 477 11 88 CH: +41 (0)61 262 24 24 February 2018 67 nautilusint.org

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Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service Opportunities exist for Marine Engineering Officers Second Engineer or Chief Engineer CoC with HND/Foundation Degree in Marine Engineering with recent seagoing experience

Systems Engineering Officers/ Electro-Technical Officers HND/Foundation Degree or higher in an Electrical & Electronic Engineering subject (ideally Marine based) or Electro-Technical Officer (ETO) CoC with recent seagoing experience All candidates must hold Unlimited CoCs plus STCW 2010 Manila Amendments Update Training and a current ENG1 certificate

Benefits include • Competitive Annual Salaries • Paid Voyage Leave • Career Average Civil Service Pension Scheme • Industry-leading fully funded Study Leave Programme • World Class Comprehensive Training Programme • Staff Positions Ashore (3 Year Temporary Postings) • 100% UK Registered Seafarers • Diverse and Inclusive employer • IMarEst accredited training provider

royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/rfa navyafsup-mrpmailbox@ mod.uk 0239 262 5979

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