Sooner or later the agreement will be signed

The crew of the m / v “Global Harmony” (Liberia flag, IMO 9473573, year of construction 2010) consisting mainly of the Philippino seafarers expressed a wish to work under the ITF collective agreement. They asked the inspectors of the Seafarers Union of Russia who visited the ship in the port of Nakhodkato provide assistance in that matter.

- It cannot be said that there are any significant violations found on board the vessel as we could seeall the necessary documents including the Declaration of maritime labour compliance, part II. The insurance certificates on the financial guarantees of the shipowner are posted on well visible place where everyone can familiarize with them,-says NikolaySukhanov, chairman of the Far Eastern Regional Organization of the SUR - However the working conditions of the crew members (20 Filipinos and one Indian) are still far from ideal. For example the basic rate of the AB is only $ 465 which is significantly lower than$ 618 set up by ILO.

The captain receives $ 8,500 per month; meals are organized at $ 7 per day per person. We can say with confidence that the ITF collective agreement on board would significantly improve the working conditions of seafarers. In response to the crew’s request our organization sent a notice of warning to the shipowner  (the Greek company GLOBAL CARRIERS LTD)  with a proposal to sign a collective agreement. But the company in response to the request referred to Philippine law mentioning that since Filipino seafarers were manned through the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) they work under the legal provisions of this country. Sothere is no any violation it terms of payment of wages for the crew.

«Indeed the Philippines through the state-owned crewing company POEA supplies their seafarers to foreign shipowners under the conditions of Philippine national law, - explains NikolaySukhanov. “And everything would be legal if seafarers were sent to the vessels flying the flag of the Philippines. Then everything would be all right. But when seafarers join the vessels under the flags of Panama, Liberia or Cyprus for example, the laws of the Philippines do not apply there because it is the jurisdiction of other states. This means that Filipino seafarers cannot in factbe protected by Philippine law as it simply does not work on the vessels under flags of convenience.Therefore we will insist and require the shipowner to sign an ITF collective agreement.

If the company fails to meet the request  sooner or later  the ship will be visited by the ITF inspectors in any other port in the world and then it is possible that Global Harmony will be boycotted and in the end the shipownerwill sign a collective agreement.