SWANLAND TRAGEDY TEN YEARS ON

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2022 :: RMTnews 14 The UK has a strong tradition in improving maritime safety standards, from the Plimsoll Line to hosting the International Maritime Organisation. That record has undoubtedly saved countless seafarer and passenger lives over time, as well as facilitating a rapid pace in economic growth and security. But, as the tenth anniversary of the Swanland tragedy reminds us, this progress has not been without great cost to seafarers and their families. And my trade union, the RMT is concerned that the pandemic will further undermine rather than improve maritime and seafarer safety standards that were already under commercial pressure before the coronavirus struck. RMT recently remembered the loss of six Russian seafarers on the Cook Islands registered cargo ship MV Swanland who lost their lives in the Irish Sea en route to the Isle of Wight on November 27 2011. In response to the serious regulatory failures that contributed to the loss of the vessel and six of the eight crew, RMT called for a public inquiry in the wake of this awful incident. Sadly, that inquiry did not happen, despite the official findings of the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch. The anniversary of the Swanland tragedy should always be a time to reflect on its causes and the official response to the deaths of Leonid Safonov, Yury Shmelev, Genadiy Meshkov, Mikhail Starchevoy, Sergey Kharchenko and Oleg Andriets. The fatal decision to re-classify the ship as a bulk carrier in order to avoid a full safety inspection is a fact that continues to cause deep unease amongst seafarers and their trade unions. The case of the Swanland also reminds us of the direct relationship between seafarer employment conditions and maritime safety. On July 20 this year, the bosun on the Clipper Pennant tragically lost his life during cargo operations alongside in Bootle. Seatruck has now had three seafarer deaths in the last three years. This dreadful record points to broader problems around crewing levels and the safety culture at low-cost operators in the Irish Sea and at Flags of Convenience like Cyprus, who routinely ignore the concerns of seafarers and their unions. In our view, the coronavirus pandemic threatens to seriously accelerate the sort of regulatory infringements that proved fatal for all but two of the Swanland crew. It may feel like we are at the tail end of a crew change crisis that has affected some of the lowest paid workers in our logistics supply chain whilst profits at container lines boom but the shipping industry cannot return to business as usual. Under half of the world’s one million ratings and 857,000 officers have received a Covid vaccine. Coupled with seafarer fatigue and regulatory uncertainty at port level, the risk to maritime safety in UK and international waters is growing. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency revealed last month the extent of Covid-19’s impact on maritime safety regulation – in 2020-21 surveys and inspections of UK ships were down by 43 per cent and 30 per cent respectively; and inspections of foreign flagged vessels, including Flags of Convenience for compliance with core safety and labour standards were down by an alarming 69 per cent. We fully support and SWANLAND TRAGEDY TEN YEARS ON On the anniversary RMT general secretary Mick Lynch pledges to campaign for more powers for onboard safety reps, risk assessments and training MEMORIAL: MV Swanland memorial at St Hywyn Church, Aberdaron, Gwynedd, Wales