W
Volume 2, Issue 11, April 2004
To r Sea each far ou er r s
avelength centrofin@centrofin.gr
Protecting Masters
CENTRO-NEWS
A
British shipping company (as per a Lloyd's List comment) once suggested that shipmasters should be described as “managers”, a more modern and less anachronistic term. here was a good deal of negative comment about this suggestion, not least because of the unique legal position of a shipmaster; very different to that surrounding somebody who runs a factory or a shore-side installation of any kind. The Nautical Institute is to have taken a good look at the powers, responsibilities, status and legislative background of the modern shipmaster. This is long overdue because of the way in which the master's authority is being constantly eroded and his responsibilities enhanced. ncreasingly illiberal governments constantly multiply the numbers of criminal offences for which masters can be arraigned and increase the penalties for them. In port every official and jack in office thinks he has a God-given right to an instant interview with the master. Every spotty youth in a character's office thinks he has the powers of instant dismissal over the master. One wonders, sometimes, why anyone would want such employment.
T
I
In this issue pg2
Editorial Comment
T
his is a hard and a high-risk job. There are many background elements that increase the vulnerability of shipmasters; conventions standards that aren't been enforced; inadequate manning laws; unreliable certification; questionable qualification of seafarers; commercial pressures; conflicting interests; the various codes - which should help reinforce the master's position but with distinctly mixed messages about their effectiveness and lately the ISPS. asters are vulnerable under pollution legislation, and coastal states think nothing of even holding in prison a survivor of a shipwreck; who in an earlier age would have surely be treated with rather more respect. In short there is a whole lot that is wrong with the position of the modern shipmaster and his relationship with the society. Criminalisation of seafarers will harm this industry. he position of the shipmaster needs to be clarified and also be valued higher; common sense and fairness suggests that. After all would a factory owner hire a total stranger to take charge of a piece of plant worth millions, with potential liabilities of tens of millions?
M
T
Good Regulations Save Lifes pg3-5
The Story of Language pg6
Modern-day pirates take charge of the high seas pg8
The Olympic Anthem
Note. We care for you and are always here to make your life easier. Ed.
CENTROFIN's football team We are pleased to announce that our football (5x5) team has won the third place at the 2003 All-Shipping/Managing-CompaniesChampionships, Super League category, of the greater Athens-Piraeus-Glyfada area. Mind you the team qualified as champions, with flying 'centrofin' colours and a lot of joie-de-vie, at the apresmatch party, and what's more, they even returned later to the….. office, in jerseys and shorts, for more… work. Well done lads!
INSPECTION ALERT MARPOL Annex I The following article was posted in a recent maritime industry periodical. For your information. A US Federal Court in Oregon USA has handed down a $2M fine to the owner of a 46,640 dwt bulk-carrier “Name” for dumping oily waste and falsifying discharge logs the largest fine for ocean pollution by the state. In addition the Japanese owner will be forced to undergo a courtsupervised compliance plan, while the ship's Indian Chief Engineer will serve a month in prison. A US Attorney said the vessel's prosecution was just the latest in the series of “increasingly aggressive” efforts to police compliance with MARPOL regulations. The judge who handed down the ruling was quoted as saying the verdict “intends to send a message” to chief engineers: if they violate environmental laws, they will end up in US jail cells.
TO THE MASTER: Please circulate this Bulletin to the CREW.