This is the first episode where Even Keel had two guests. Joanne Rowley and David Hammond. Jo is on the advisory board of Human RIghts at Sea, of which David is the founder and CEO.
In this episode, Jo discusses Sexual Harassment at sea while David discusses Abandonment.
Human Rights at Sea is a civil society advocacy for human rights founded in 2013. Jo calls upon everyone who has the privilige and resources to speak up for seafarers who don't. David mentions that it took a civil society group to bring attention to human rights at sea. Curiously human rights find a no mention in either the MLC or the UNCLOS
URL: https://www.humanrightsatsea.org/
https://www.humanrightsatsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HRAS_Abandonment_of-Seafarers_REPORT_APRIL21_SP_LOCKED.pdf
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/Intro_Guiding_PrinciplesBusinessHR.pdf
Seafarers are often placed in situations where they have to make difficult choices. In this episode, I speak to Capt. Vivek Menon on Mairitime Anti Corruption Network to understand what seafarers can do and what MACN does.
https://macn.dk/
MACN works towards its vision through three objectives that are elaborated in the MACN Mission: Capability Building, Collective Action, and Culture of Integrity
What are the outcomes on MACN's collective action
What are the outcomes?
MACN’s collective actions have generated major outcomes, including for example: reductions in demands for facilitation payments in the Suez Canal; new regulations in Argentina that make it more difficult for officials to demand bribes (www.youtu.be/leWE3ebfuLE); and improved ease of operations in Nigerian ports, with the implementation of standardized operating procedures and grievance mechanisms.
MACN Strategy: https://macn.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MACNStrategy.pdf
MACN Impact Report: https://macn.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MACN-2019-impact-report-1.pdf
Container ships sizes have increased dramatically without any change in number of crew. The ports may have spent billions of dollars to optimise existing infrastructure to enable these very large vessels to enter. The ships may not get any larger but the changes may already have stretched the crew to their limits of adaptability. While the size kept increasing, there has not been any significant change in the number of crew. Almost a similar number of crew have to manage lashings on a vessel that carries 10000 container or 20000 containers. Something will have to be compromised somewhere and this could show up in another 10 or 15 years when the ships get older.
The just-in-time nature of the container shipping industry has ships optimising to arrive at Suez just before the 2300 LT deadline. That is a time when there is a large number of vessels arriving causing traffic concerns. And then they have the Suez Canal Authority boarding. And then they have to pick up the lineboats. And by the time they think they can catch up sleep, it is time to weigh anchor and embark the pilot.
Nyari is a second engineer who has written "Anchor My Heart". She has a sequel lined up. She is writing a third book which she descirbes as a Nautical Fantasy.
In this podcast, we speak about writing. We also pick up bits from her book and link that to life at sea. Nyari is also a TEDx speaker. The link to her TEDx talk is in the show notes below. She speaks of how seafarers are generally reluctant readers. We touch upon patriarchy and how life at sea for a woman seafarer generally is.
TEDx : https://www.ted.com/talks/nyari_nain_move_it_s_necessary_nyari_nain_tedxcvs?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
You can buy Anchor My Heart here: https://read.amazon.in/kp/embed?asin=B07KNYZT7X&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_95E9ZN1BT0RCVHNK826W
In this episode, we discuss what P&I Clubs do, what it takes to make a career in a P&I Club and even discuss Mental Wellness.
Helen is a chiefofficer on container ships. She in interested in mental health and here she shares her own experience seeking professional help.
Resources
Having a knowledge of these health stipulations for your own country is probably a very good idea – just to know where you stand. The UK ones can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-approved-doctors-manual
Resources available to seafarers for mental health:
1. Mission to Seafarers: https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/about/our-issues/mental-health
2. ‘The Mission to Seafarers launched the Seafarers Happiness Index in 2015 as a way to
gauge the thoughts and feelings that seafarers have about their lives at sea. Our aim is to
get the opinion of the overall seafaring community to help us understand the good and bad
aspects of this challenging career path to help us build a case for change in the industry.’
Link to the Seafarers Happiness Index survey: https://www.happyatsea.org/survey/
3. Here is a fact sheet from the university of Cardiff with some recommendations on how to improve the mental health of seafarers: https://iosh.com/media/6307/seafarers-mental- health-wellbeing-factsheet.pdf
4. Where do we go from here? https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/news/2020/mental-health-of-seafarers-what-has-the-industry-done-to-tackle-this-what-else-is-needed
5. Good mental health resources from ISWAN (charity! donate!)
https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/seafarer-health-information-programme/good-mental-health
6. the support hotline for good mental health: https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/our-work/seafarerhelp
7. Uk government is aiming to develop guidelines for training in mental health management at
Sanjam is dynamic and perserverant in her cause. She founded MaritimeSheEO and is on her mission to increase the presence of women in leadership positions in the maritime industry. She feels this is what could provide equal opportunities for women at all levels, specially at the entry level. An unwritten rule to not take women in can only be negated with women in leadership positions. She also runs Sita shipping or the Ladies compartment where she walks her talk
In this conversation, she takes us through dinner table conversations at home, her inspiration to set up the WISTA in India and also what led her to take up a study to make a business case for gender diversity.
She also talks of a very interesting MaritimeSheEO conference coming up on 23rd November. You could register for it here: https://myonvent.com/event/maritime-she-eo
https://www.maritimesheeo.com/
Sanjam can be reached on twitter @SanjamSG. MaritimeSheEO : https://twitter.com/MaritimeSheEO
This week on Even Keel, I talk to Capt. Rahul Varma. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-varma-57a09589) about Criminalisation and what seafarers could do about it. He speaks of procedural rights and why it is a everyday concern and how seafarers should be empowered to deal with it.
There are enough guidelines out there. The IMO is working on improving their current guidelines for fair treatment of seafarers in an accident to include the treatment of seafarers suspected to be involved in maritime crimes. There is the casualty investigation code. The UNCLOS and MLC. These in itself maybe sufficient protective measures that are already available to deal with the criminal sanctions on seafarers. But the conventions, rules, guidelines, regulations, codes, in themselves cannot ensure fair treatment. The reality is more complex. Political. Emotional. A lot depends on the willingness of individual states - port states, coastal states, flag states, seafarers states - to recognise and implement and give full effect to the various conventions, guidelines and codes. It is more important for Industry organisations and seafarers organisations themselves keep the matter always burning. Not just smoldering.
References
In this Episode, we have a conversation with author, trainer and Master Mariner, Capt. Vincent Fernandes. We speak about his book and touch upon some features of the ECDIS. And we speculate!
Listeners, please send in your voice messages telling us how we could improve and what you would like to hear. And if you think you have a story to share, we could have a conversation.
