Ships are majestic – carry thousands of tons of cargo from place – are the
economic bone of many trades – they are big in size – their sailing and calling
at Ports as per schedule may never make news !
.... some accidents and some strange incidents would !!!!
The Bay of Plenty is a
large indentation in the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island stretching
from the Coromandel Peninsula. The Bay of Plenty was the first part of New
Zealand to be settled, by the Māori the name originated with James Cook during
his exploration of New Zealand, who noted the abundant resources in the
area. Tauranga is the most populous city
in the Bay of Plenty region. This fast
growing fashion city has a booming harbour. Earlier I had posted something
about this as it was here MV Reena got struck….
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is an International Labour
Organization convention established in 2006 embodying "all up-to-date standards of existing
international maritime labour Conventions and Recommendations, as well as the
fundamental principles to be found in other international labour Conventions”. The convention entered into force on in Aug
2013, a year after registering 30 ratifications of countries representing over
33 per cent of the world gross tonnage of ships. As of August 2014, the
convention has been ratified by 64 states representing 80 per cent of global
shipping.
The Maritime Labour Convention establishes minimum working and living
standards for all seafarers working on ships flying the flags of ratifying
countries. It’s also an essential step forward in ensuring a level-playing
field for countries and ship owners who, until now, have paid the price of
being undercut by those who operate substandard ships. Widely known as the “seafarers’ bill of
rights,” the MLC, 2006 provides uniform
standards globally. It is unique in that it aims both to achieve decent work
for seafarers and to secure economic interests through fair competition for
quality ship owners.
~ and the news is about a container
ship banned from entering Australian ports over welfare breaches has had its
arrival in Tauranga delayed by heavy seas.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority prohibited container vessel ‘Vega
Auriga’ from using or entering any Australian ports due to repeated breaches
relating to seafarer welfare and maintenance of the ship. The authority had
earlier detained Vega Auriga three times since July 2013, with repeated
concerns about crew welfare including improper payment of wages, inadequate
living and working conditions and inadequate maintenance resulting in an
unseaworthy and substandard vessel. The ship which had been banned for three
months can re-enter only after the authority is satisfied it has met its
standards. The minimum international
standards the Australians enforce include standards for the welfare and
treatment of crew, and ships that don't meet the crew standards are deemed to
pose an increased risk to seafarers, safe operations and the marine
environment.
“Seafarer welfare is just
as important as the proper maintenance of ship equipment, and an integral part
of safe operations. A failure in either system could lead to serious
accidents,” says general manager of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's
ship safety division. The container
vessel had been found deficient including faults with fire doors, detection and
alarm systems, availability of fire-fighting equipment, chart and compass
issues, cleanliness in food storage areas and the operational readiness of life
rafts.
The container vessel built in 2006 with 11809 DWT Container Carrier is Liberian flagged but German-owned Vega Auriga
was due to dock today at Tauranga but is now expected tomorrow, a Maritime New
Zealand spokesperson is quoted as saying. It had sailed from Brisbane, where it
had been inspected and banned, and headed to Noumea and is now in the Tasman
Sea. Like the Rena, which ran aground and sank off Tauranga in 2011, Vega
Auriga is Filipino-crewed. Seafarers live a tough life under even the best of
circumstances, spending many months at sea away from family and friends and
they certainly deserve some basic level of safety if not comfort. Before it sank the Rena was also detained
several times in Australia. The Vega Auriga listed agent in New Zealand is the
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the same company that chartered the
ill-fated Rena. It is stated that the marine watchdog In New Zealand was aware the ship was heading to Tauranga and
would inspect it on arrival.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
Photo credit :
stuff.co.nz.
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