04 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | December 2016
NAUTILUS AT WORK
shortreports
Welcome for new Thames Clipper boats
CALMAC DEAL: a 2% pay offer has been overwhelmingly accepted by members employed by Caledonian MacBrayne Crewing (Guernsey) for the 2016 pay and conditions review. Almost 80% of respondents voted to accept the offer, which also includes incremental increases to watchkeeping engineers’ pay scales in years one, two, three and six. Additionally, members will get a 1.5% bonus in November 2017 if the company achieves in excess of £1m on operator return. SHEERNESS POSTS: two liaison officer posts have been filled to represent Nautilus members employed as VTS officers by the Port of Sheerness and serving in the Medway Navigation Service. Nautilus members Richard Fearn and Paul Smith have been appointed to the roles, which commenced on 1 November 2016 and will run until 31 October 2019.
that MBNA Thames Clippers has A placed the largest fast passenger ferry
Nautilus has welcomed the news
Nautilus International officials from London and Rotterdam are pictured above and below meeting Holland America Line representatives from Seattle at the company’s office in the Netherlands last month. The meeting discussed a number of issues raised by members during a series of Nautilus ship visits to Eurodam, Oosterdam and Koningsdam, pictured below. Two Nautilus members also attended the meeting in Rotterdam ‒ a first officer and an environmental officer.
PNTL PARTNERS: nine members employed by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (INS) have been nominated to form a new PNTL Partnership at Work membership committee. The members are Brett Forth, Gary Howarth, Elliot Layfield, David Pears, Jamie Edge, Rob Newsham, David Elliot, Tom Calderbank, and John Anderson. LCT POSTS: liaison officer roles representing members employed by LCT Support Services (Newhaven) have been filled. James Harrison is the security officer representative and Billy Joe Stace has taken the post for shore gangs. Patricia Johns has taken up the role as passenger services liaison officer.
Princess talks on conditions F
Nautilus has meet Princess Cruises’ management to discuss a number of issues ahead of the next pay review for members employed by Fleet Maritime Services (Bermuda) on Princess Cruise Line and P&O Cruises Australia vessels, which is due in January 2018. The meeting — which was held at the company’s offices in Southampton — discussed subjects including the consolidation of overtime payments, expansion of the Nautilus agreement, amended seafarer employment agreements and proposals for Nautilus representatives onboard vessels. National organiser Jonathan Havard said the Union has made a formal request to bring Princess pay methods in line with those of Holland America Line and Carnival UK.
WINDSTAR CALL: a claim seeking a 4% pay increase, a 2% pension contribution rise and two and three-year contracts for second engineers and chief electricians has been submitted by Nautilus on behalf of members employed by Windstar Management Services. SERCO SETTLES: members employed by Serco Ferries (Guernsey) Crewing have voted overwhelmingly to accept a revised terms and conditions offer. The Union is also consulting on a 2% pay offer from the company, effective from 1 October 2016. SMM PAY: a pay claim seeking an above-inflation increase has been made on behalf of members employed by Stena Marine Management on ro-ro and ro-pax ferries and also for those on protected terms from Maersk. WOMEN’S TUC: requests for nominations and motions for the Women’s TUC Conference in March 2017 are being sought by Nautilus. Contact industrial organiser Lisa Carr for further details. MERIDIAN CALL: Nautilus has presented a claim for an above-inflation pay rise for members employed by Meridian Shipping Services on ro-ro and ro-pax ferries.
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order at a UK shipyard for more than 25 years. Two new 170-passenger capacity vessels will be built at the Wight Shipyard on the Isle of Wight, with delivery due in summer 2017. The £6.3m order will boost Thames Clippers’ capacity by 14% and follows the addition of two other boats last year. Nautilus industrial organiser Lisa Carr described the order as ’fantastic news’ and said it would lead to improved employment and promotion opportunities for members serving with the company. The Union is presently consulting Thames Clippers members on a pay and conditions offer which would see a 1.25% pay increase on basic salary, with a bonus of up to 3% awarded if key targets are met. The offer also states that sick pay entitlement will remain unchanged.
Crew wages are set to increase by 1.8% Survey finds that pressure on salaries has been reduced by trade downturn
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Ship owners and managers are expecting to see a 1.8% increase in crew wage costs next year, according to a new report. Research by the shipping accountancy firm Moore Stephens shows that operators anticipate that 2016 will see crew salaries up by 1.3%, with other crew-related costs rising by 1.2% this year and 1.4% next year. Moore Stephens partner Richard Greiner described the predicted increases in crew wages as ‘arguably lower than anticipated’ — with feedback from its survey
showing that salaries might stabilise or even go down as a consequence of reduced global trade ‘and wider recourse to cheaper, less experienced manning alternatives’. The survey showed that overall vessel operating costs are expected to increase by 1.9% in 2016 and by 2.5% in 2017, with repairs and maintenance and spares being the cost categories judged most likely to increase most significantly in each of the two years. Moore Stephens said the survey showed many of the own-
ers and managers — who were mainly from Europe and Asia — speaking of the need to address such familiar problem areas as over-tonnaging, excessive competition, a paucity of finance and rising fuel costs. The cost of meeting new rules for reduced emissions and ballast water management was high on the list of concerns cited in the survey. Asked about the three factors that would most affect operating costs over the next 12 months, 20% of respondents identified finance costs as the most signifi-
cant factor, followed by competition at 19% and crew supply at 18%. Mr Greiner pointed out that the predicted increases follow a 2.4% reduction in average operating costs across all main ship types in 2015 and are not a surprise, given the increasingly tight regulatory requirements. Some of the survey respondents had highlighted the need to maintain quality operations, Mr Greiner noted. ‘Above all, shipping needs safe ships and safetyminded crews to stay afloat, and both come with a heavy price-tag,’ he added.
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