2019 is the centenary year of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and it hopes to celebrate the anniversary by achieving 100 member states signing up to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC).
The ITF has condemned the decision by the BHP company to cut the Australian crew from two iron ore shipping vessels and replace them with foreign crew on flag of convenience (FoC) vessels.
The ferry company P&O is set to flag out its entire cross-English Channel fleet to Cyprus following more than 50 years of operating under the United Kingdom flag.
About 170 people are feared to have drowned in two separate shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. In one incident, a dinghy sank off the coast of Libya with 117 people on board, while 53 people were reported missing in a boat lost between Morocco and Spain.
Dozens of migrants and refugees are feared to have drowned off the coast of Djibouti after two overcrowded boats capsized. Two survivors were recovered but at least 38 people were confirmed dead as they tried to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula.
Armed robbers continue to pose a threat to seafarers and shipping off West Africa, despite patrols by local navies. The most recent incidents reported to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) worldwide 24-hour Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) include the following.
Wage theft aboard a BlueScope chartered foreign-flagged ship in Port Kembla has been exposed after intervention from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
“On behalf of the 18 million transport workers of the ITF, I send support and solidarity to the workers of Belgium in their campaign to win a fair share of their countries wealth.
On the back of the recent sacking at sea of Australian seafarers by BHP and BlueScope facilitated by the Morrison government, workers and the Maritime Union of Australia have set up a ‘Save Australian Shipping’ jobs embassy on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra.
