FINLANDS SJÖFART J SUOMEN MERENKULKU 31
US$4.792 in 2011 to $19.607 in
2016.
The vast majority of
seafarers (97%) said they
took their own mobile phone
to sea with them – and the
mean number of days per
month that they were unable
to get a signal rose from
15.23 days in 2011 to 17.51 in
2016.
Researchers said there
appears to have been little
change over the five-year
period in the provision of
equipment and facilities such
as computer terminals,
karaoke machines, and
games. Two-thirds of
seafarers in 2016 reported
access to a gym onboard,
27% had access to a basket-ball
court and 22% had
swimming pools.
The report says that while
there have been some very
important improvements in
areas such as contracts and
communications, there has
been much less progress in
reducing the ‘institutional
nature’ of living arrange-ments
and recreational
provision onboard.
‘This is particularly
serious given the concerns
about seafarers’ mental
wellbeing that have been
raised by industry bodies
such as the UK P&I Club and
also in the context of
declining opportunities for
shore leave whilst serving
time at sea,’ it concludes. •
The Working and Living
Conditions of Seafarers
on Cargo Ships in the
Period 2011-2016 is
available to download free
of charge
from the SIRC website:
www.sirc.cf.ac.uk.
P&O master is
fined for breach
of sulphur rules
Nautilus has expressed concern about a
French court’s decision to fine a P&O
Cruises master for a breach of the fuel
sulphur content rules.
US national Captain Evans Hoyt,
master of the Bermuda-flagged Azura,
was fined E100,000, with the judge
ruling that the Carnival Corporation
should pay E80,000 of the penalty.
Prosecutors said the 115,055gt ship
had been caught in the port of Marseille
in March 2018 using fuel with a 1.68%
sulphur content -- 0.18% above the limit
– and claimed that the company had
wanted to save money ‘in defiance of
the lungs of everyone’.
Defence lawyers argued that the
regulations unfairly distinguished
between cruiseships and cargoships,
creating a lack of ‘equality before the
law’. They also contended that the 1.5%
limit did not apply to Azura, because the
vessel was not a regular visitor to
European ports.
Charles Boyle, director of Nautilus
legal services, commented: ‘This case
shows how seriously the authorities and
courts are taking breaches of the new
limit on fuel sulphur content. Even after
the court ordered the company to pay E
80,000, the master is still left with a
hefty E 20,000 to pay.
‘Masters should take steps to
ensure that the fuel complies with
sulphur levels, and resist any pressure
from the company to do otherwise,’ he
added. ‘Those who are members of
Nautilus can contact the Union for
advice.’
Carnival said it had lodged an appeal
against the ruling. ‘We were very
disappointed to be prosecuted for this
offence, which was based on a
European law the French environment
ministry had explicitly informed the
cruise industry would not be applied to
cruiseships and which, in any event, has
still not been properly implemented,’ it
added. ‘The captain was using the fuel
in good faith, as directed by us, based
on our understanding of the law.’ •
/www.sirc.cf.ac.uk