A Sri Lankan second officer on board the Maersk-owned, Singapore-flagged containership Patras fell overboard while undertaking dangerous lashing of containers on the vessel in the Saint Lawrence River, Canada. The seafarer was the only crew member not wearing fall protection during the operation. His body has not yet been recovered.
The ITF, which has long raised concerns about the practice of using untrained crew members for such operations rather than trained and experienced dockers, called on Transport Canada to ban foreign crew from undertaking dangerous lashing work on vessels moving through the Saint Lawrence River.
ITF Canadian coordinator Peter Lahay said that: “The ITF has previously met with Transport Canada and advised of our concerns and given evidence of the risks to seafarers lashing vessels underway on the Saint Lawrence … It’s an undeniable fact that lashing is dangerous work, made more dangerous by terrible weather conditions and serious questions of crew fatigue.”
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