At the latest meeting of the Nautilus Professional and Technical Forum on 6 May, we took a close look at the security crisis in the Middle East from a P&T angle.
I gave a presentation – with input from my colleague Marcel van den Broek – to get to grips with the scale of the crisis and explain how we at Nautilus have been using our contacts and influence to raise awareness of the plight of seafarers in the region and support our members there.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that approximately 20,000 seafarers aboard 2,000 vessels have been affected, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz meaning that most of these vessels have not been able to leave the Persian Gulf.
Worse are the attacks against innocent civilian seafarers. As of early May, 41 incidents had been reported, including 29 verified strikes on commercial vessels. At least 10 seafarers have lost their lives and 12 more have been injured.
To address the situation, we at Nautilus have been negotiating protections for crews such as the right to refuse entry into conflict zones – and to receive double pay, insurance protections, and repatriation rights if you do choose to continue. Marcel and I explained how have been working with UK and Dutch shipowners, as well as maritime authorities, to achieve the best outcome for our members.
Nautilus has also been intensifying media pressure to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get the stranded seafarers out of the Gulf, and I gave a round-up of the publications and broadcasts where we have appeared.
There was a lot more to say on the day, so we've put an edited version of the presentation onto our YouTube channel NautilusTV for members to catch up on if they couldn't be at the Forum on 6 May. You can also watch the presentation by scrolling down to the end of this page. There are some interesting statistics there and a rundown of all the bodies we've been working with to address the Middle East crisis.
Members' questions answered
We always give members the opportunity to ask questions and raise issues at the P&T Forum, and on 6 May one member highlighted the case of a seafarer stranded in the United Arab Emirates whose visa has elapsed and is concerned about having to pay fines.
We noted that this issue has been discussed at the IMO, where it was agreed that states should be doing what they can to facilitate repatriation, similar to what happened during the Covid crisis. Discussions were due to be held at the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee later in May on measures to extend the validity of certificates and the like.
Our advice in the UAE case would be to approach the authorities there to see what the procedure is, and if the IMO principles aren't being followed, this is something that could be taken up via the International Transport Workers' Federation.
Another issue raised was whether yacht crew in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz were protected by the warlike area agreements negotiated with shipowners and bodies such as the International Bargaining Forum.
So while it's true that yacht owners and operators aren't members of bodies we negotiate with such as the UK Chamber of Shipping, yacht crew do have rights under the Maritime Labour Convention.
They may also be covered by laws in their own countries, as in the case of Filipino seafarers, whose national government has come out strongly in favour of their rights to refuse entry to the Gulf war zone and to receive double pay if they continue.
And of course, Nautilus is here to fight for members' rights, so if you're a superyacht seafarer and you haven't joined the Union yet, sign up today right here on our joining pages
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