Wainwright Marine Services Ltd.’s “Ingenika” tugboat went missing in the Gardner Canal area south and east of Kitimat on Feb. 11, resulting in two deaths and the rescue of a third man. (Wainwright Marine Photo) The union which represents tug workers on Canada’s West Coast has asked Transport Canada to require formal safety management …
By Michael Grey* Nearly a year into the wretched pandemic and it is difficult to determine any real cheer amid the winter snow. Some fifty odd flag states have queued up to declare their allegiance to the Neptune concord that defines seafarers as “key workers” but it is clearly a lot easier to sign …
Wainwright Marine Services operate seven tugs and ten barges from Prince Rupert. (Photo: Wainwright Marine Services Ltd./Facebook) Two mariners drowned and one was rescued after a tugboat capsized early last Thursday morning in the Gardner Canal, 35 nautical miles south of Kitimat, northern British Columbia. Very windy conditions reportedly caused the incident. Owned by …
Two mariners drown after tugboat capsizes off BC coast Read More »
The Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (SIU) has called on officials from the Provinces and Territories across the country to include marine sector workers in their ‘Phase 2’ plans to vaccinate essential workers against the COVID-19 virus. Up to this point, there has been no direct mention of seafarers and marine sector workers in …
SIU Canada urges inclusion of seafarers in ‘Phase 2’ vaccinations Read More »
Transport Canada has issued a Ship Safety Bulletin stating that it will apply the provisions of the 2016 Maritime Labor Convention (MLC), to which Canada is a signatory, over the duration of the contract and repatriation. The statement underlines that a seafarer that has completed 11 months onboard, he or she has the right to get …
Transport Canada reaffirms its intention to enforce MLC rules on crew changes Read More »
Transport Canada has issued a Ship Safety Bulletin stating it will be enforcing the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) provisions on duration of contract and repatriation. The statement underlines that a seafarer that has completed 11 months onboard, he or she has the right to get off and be repatriated at the owner’s expense. “Issues of fatigue …
Transport Canada intends to enforce MLC rules on crew changes Read More »
Crew changes are once more becoming difficult as much of the world locks down again following the emergence of several new and more transmissible variants of Covid-19, warns crew specialist Danica. With travel corridors being closed and new travel restrictions imposed, airlines are once again cancelling or reducing flights which poses a problem for crew …
As it stands, crew changes will get worse before they get better Read More »
Widely regarded as the senior statesman of world shipping journalism, Michael Grey* offers in our FORUM section, another impassioned commentary and an urgent suggestion for the intervention of BIMCO on seafarers so inhumanly treated during the mounting COVID crisis. Do seafarers have souls? Are they sentient human beings, with natural rights, or, as the last …
The ongoing seafarer crisis: do charterers have hearts? (FORUM) Read More »
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has spoken out against “no crew change” clauses in charterparties, pointing out that such clauses exacerbate the dire situation of stranded seafarers and undermine the efforts undertaken to resolve the ongoing crew change crisis. So-called “no crew change” clauses, which are demanded by certain charterers, state that no crew changes can occur whilst the charterer’s cargo is onboard – hence not allowing the …
According to a CBC report, two crew members on the Panamanian-flagged 78,819 DWT bulk carrier Blue Bosporus, were seriously injured in English Bay, Vancouver. The 12-year-old vessel was conducting a routine drill when the lifeboat unexpectedly released. The Coast Guard’s Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) issued a mayday. The Canadian Coast Guard responded, along …
Lifeboat drill accident injures two crew members in Vancouvers’ English Bay Read More »
