DECLINE IN SHIPPING SAFETY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2015 :: RMTnews 6 A fter the 18 months of negotiations with P&O Ferries, Dover Shipping branch has managed to get 37 people promoted out of zero hours contracts and into full time jobs. Union EC shipping member and Dover branch secretary Lee Davison said that the branch had been campaigning against these contracts since the company first introduced them and had made it a top priority to put an end to them and to prove to the shipping companies region that these contracts are not beneficial to them as a business or to members. “There are plenty of positions to be filled out on the vessels and we need to ensure that these are done with contract of guaranteed hours for not on the scourge of zero hours. “We as a team feel this is a great step forward for us and our members and will keep applying pressure at every opportunity to gain secured hours and contracts for those who had no choice but to take a zero hours contract,” he said. The waters around the British Isles have seen the most shipping casualties since 2005, according to a new report by the insurance company Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). The British Isles, North Sea, English Channel and Bay of Biscay has been the location of the most shipping casualties since 2005 with over 4,380 incidents. Nearly one in five of all incidents around the world have occurred in this region. It was also the scene of the second highest number of casualties during 2014 with 465 injuries, up 29 per cent year- on-year. Over reliance on electronic navigation aids has caused a number of incidents in 2014. Captain Rahul Khanna said in the report: “Inadequate training at grass roots level is to blame for this overdependence on e- navigation tools. The minimum standards have been met, but this is not good enough. We need to go above and beyond them to give robust training”. The stability of car carriers has also been a focus of the International Maritime Organisation since the catastrophic capsizing of the passenger/car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise in March 1987. Movement of cargo on these types of ships can affect their stability and a large superstructure means that they are more susceptible to wind and bad weather. RMT national secretary Steve Todd said that the union was very alarmed at the huge rise in casualties in UK waters which comes following massive cuts to the MCA and to UK SAR/firefighting at sea capabilities as well as a steep decline in ship inspections. “Regulatory bodies clear need more powers to enforce higher safety standards and, as the report points out, more robust training is needed,” he said. DECLINE IN SHIPPING SAFETY ENDING ZERO HOUR CONTRACTS AT DOVER Shipping casualties in UK waters soar by nearly 30 per cent, making this country second most prone to shipping injuries in the world