The vulnerability of sea workers. Rules and problems in the Mediterranean area
| Autor | Andria Alexandrou |
| Cargo del Autor | Ph.D. Candidate. Queen Mary University of London |
| Páginas | 391-412 |
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Sea workers constitute an essential element within the maritime world. They have acquired a global significant position, because they can control a substantial part of the maritime supply chain which can adversely affect not just that industry, but world economies in general. Thus, sea workers, constitute an important, and hold a valuable, position in the industry. Considerable emphasis has been placed to this position, in the last few decades, through various stakeholder interventions such as trade union campaigning923 and reforms introduced by the International Labour Organisation, via especially Tripartite Committees924(consisting of government, owners’ and seafarers’ representatives). These, have been designed to create and enforce the Maritime Labour Convention 2006925(MLC 2006), which was ratified in August 2013926. This Convention is, however, seen to be limited in its application and scope, as it excludes fishing vessels927. Alternatively, with regards fishing vessels, the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
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has created the Work in Fishing Convention 2007 (No. 188)928. However, not much can be written regarding the latter Convention as it has not yet been ratified, thus application to it has not yet been tested. The Fishing Convention 2007, similarly to the MLC 2006, aims to ensure that the fishing industry needs to have respectable working and living conditions on board of all fishing vessels. A handbook929has been introduced by the ILO, to enable States to examine the discussion of the Tripartite Committee930and to encourage States to take tangible steps to ratify and implement the Convention.
Regulations, which provide some protection and stability with regards to crew conditions for seafarers, are of major importance within the global market. Approximately 90% of all goods are traded via ships931; there remains little doubt that the shipping industry is placed at the very heart of trade. The problem of relaxed regulation932or lack of enforcement933with regards to appropriate crew conditions, constitutes an ongoing discussion for the last few decades, which can be justified by a number of arguments. Predominant amongst them has always been the concept of Open Registers or Flags of Convenience934(a term created by the International Transport of Worker’s Federation). Trade Unions tend to shift the criticisms towards the owner’s perspective, and that relates to substandard shipping. They treat them as responsible for the lack of protection for better crew conditions due to the preponderance to use poor registration countries. Now, a Tripartite Committee (namely consisted by the government bodies, the shareholders and the stakeholders, i.e. seafarers / trade unions), has been set up in order to tackle this problem of substandard shipping935. A frequently
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raised argument, which is been supported by seafarer organisations, shifts the burden of blame for the flexible enforcement of regulations to these Open Registries936. Legal evasion, thus constitutes the route of decreasing costs. However this is questionable in various situations after a careful examination of the ship performance registered in various Open Registries; when examining the Paris MOU Flag Lists937.
There are over 30 million fishermen worldwide and at least 15 million of these are working full time on board of fishing vessels938. The fishing industry is a vulnerable industry with regards the labour aspect, since it places people working on board of these vessels in great difficulty, due to conditions of bad weather, difficult occupation or negligent causes of accidents. "The objective of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) is to safeguard that fishers have decent conditions of work on board fishing vessels, regarding minimum requirements for work on board; conditions of service; accommodation and food; occupational health and safety protection; medical care and social security. The Convention provides flexibility with respect to certain Articles, for example where member States cannot immediately implement all of the measures provided for in the Convention."939 This aims in ensuring that more States will be willing to ratify the Convention, due to the motivating argument of less stringent enforcement mechanisms. "The adoption of the Work in Fishing Convention in 2007 was a step forward in achieving decent work for all people working on fishing vessels. Early and wide ratification is supported by employers, trade unions and other professional organizations in the sector"940.
During the past years, no uniform regulation has been mandatorily implemented by Member states setting out the rights and obligations of both ship owners and seafarers. According to Professor Lane, if there has been one, then either IMO (International Maritime Organisation) or ILO (International Labour Organisation) would need to change and specify the fittest practice required for FOC (Flag of Convenience) states
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on labour questions. This is not the case at the moment. Stability in the labour market, is a vital requirement in the developing globalised market in order to ensure protection of the employees and an excellent move of trade. It is not up until August 2013, when the MLC 2006 has been concluded and ratified upon. Therefore, it has been the first time when a consolidated Convention, encapsulates aspects of maritime labour, and provides unified minimum standards to be applied within the industry whilst ensuring flexibility; however, it excludes the labour conditions within the fishing sector. Therefore, the Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), is the legal tool which has been created in order to support the crew conditions within the fishing sector. It aims to preserve the decent working and living conditions on board of fishing vessels.
The fishing sector, is a vital financial economic element within countries, since fishing greatly impacts economic growth. It is generally known that the shipping industry is used to function within its own rules without generally been compatible with the labour rules applicable to the rest of the economy. Indeed, in the shipping industry, labour protection rules have been for many years "absent" or rather not been complied by substandard owners. Alternatively, they have started to apply within the industry at the beginning of the twenty first century, especially with the newly enforced MLC 2006; which constitutes the starting point within this chaotic discussion of labour conditions.
A ship, once acquired by a ship owner, needs to be flagged so as to acquire nationality and become a useful tool used in navigation. A ship owner has various options with regards to registration of his vessel, these are the various different models of established registration regimes; namely closed registers/traditional registers or open registers/ FOCS. This paper will not touch upon the various discussions with regards to the differences between FOCS and Open Registers, but will consider them the same. Research shows that the distinction, between open and closed registries, is based on the concept of "genuine link". Therefore the dilemma that a ship owner is faced is whether to register the vessel into a country with which he has a "genuine connection by way of national or economic ties941", or to register the ship into an open registry, where the beneficial interest is a non-existent require-
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ment, even though some benefits may occur. Thus registration will come to exist when the owner who is financially responsible for the vessel, is linked to the country of registering the vessel, via the means of holding the same nationality. According to Coles & Watt, economic factors, influence ship owners when choosing a flag for their vessels. The countries which operate as Open Registries, levy minimum taxes "on profits arising from the operation of vessels under their flags942".
Since 1963 Cyprus has acknowledged the socio-politico-economic importance of its flag state. With a determined, and towards the years, political stance through various governments, Cyprus has managed to attract many shipping companies. Over the years, Cyprus has become one of the most important shipping centers943, particularly on ship management, with excellent quality and security insurance services. Cyprus continues to evolve into a major shipping center. This is achieved through the upgrading of the fleet and the services offered and through the systematic ratification of all major international maritime conventions. This has achieved the exit from the blacklist of the Paris Memorandum for the control of ships944; thus resulting to an integration in the white list, which led to the improvement of the image of Cyprus as a serious and reliable maritime power.
The power of Cyprus in shipping is not confined to the register, but also extends the field of ship management. Limassol, constitutes one of the largest ship management centers worldwide, with more than 60 ship management companies based in Cyprus, amongst them some of the largest and most globally renowned945. Cyprus flag has traditionally been large due to the conjunction of a good level of service and the favorable environment, therefore ship management companies have found fertile ground to grow. This today, results, in Cyprus to be regarded as a ship management centre946, where the ship...
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