The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) launched a series of vessels inspection under 4 international registries. The inspection which runs on over 1000 ships aims to emphasize crew welfare, safety, and maintenance issues. ITF will be conducting the inspection over the next eight weeks for ships under the flags of Palau, Cook Islands, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Purpose of the inspection
The target was selected based on the increased case of crew abandonment cases reported of the flagship owners. In the past 2 years, ITF reportedly handled more than 200 cases from the area. And in most cases, crews are left unpaid wages up to millions of dollars. Some are not provided with basic needs and no way to reach their home.
“Substandard shipping in the Mediterranean Sea is driving down seafarers’ wages and conditions, it’s endangering the lives of crew and risking our environment,” said ITF Inspectorate Coordinator Steve Trowsdale. “Many are old vessels and the owners maintain them poorly. Many of these ships are dangerous and should not be trading.”
Furthermore, ITF reports their efforts to bolster in France because agencies based in France are targeting those ship owners. They publish White, Grey, and Black lists tracking the performance and adherence to regulations and inspections.
More than 5200 detentions in 2 years
European Port State Control enforcement agencies issued more than 5,200 detentions against ships sailing under these flags.
“Our goal is to expose the substandard shipping examples that we see regularly in our ports. If we are able to spread word of the abuses experienced by crew, then we will send a strong message that substandard shipping is unacceptable.” Said Seddik Berrama, ITF Vice President for the Arab World region.
The vast ship abandonment cases began last year in the mediterranean sea after the Russia-Ukraine war. Many ships had no way home for months, and many owners abandoned their crews leaving hundreds of crew members.
