January 27th, 20200As the official numbers of Wuhan coronavirus infections in China rise and the virus starts to spread globally, shipping is being urged to prepare on several fronts. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has issued advice to seafarers, asking ship crew to familiarise themselves with guidelines on how to protect...
January 20th, 20200The crew abducted from Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker last month have been released, however one of the crew members died shortly after the incident. "Following the attack on tanker Duke and abduction of 20 crew members on December 15, we can confirm that 19 of the crew members taken hostage were today released by the...
January 8th, 20201The families of the disaster have told Splash about the massive cover-up they believe has taken place in one of the worst shipping accidents of the past decade, and they are adamant many survived the inferno and have since been jailed. The fully laden National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) suezmax tanker collided with the Chinese...
December 18th, 20193With the second anniversary of the disaster three weeks away, the family members of the victims of one of the worst tanker accidents of the decade have headed to America and filed a lawsuit against the ship's owner, National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and two Iranian government officials in a district court in Washington DC, alleging...
December 10th, 20195Fellow maritime scholars Carolyn Graham and Ralph Buiser got together to contemplate how to address the day-to-day work concerns of seafarers. Their thoughts are carried below. It is widely accepted among industry experts and maritime scholars that working conditions for seafarers around the world can be variable and substandard. In...
November 28th, 20191Smartphones have a new use onboard ship - ensuring a sober crew. Japanese shipping major Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) strict alcohol policies onboard have been supplemented by issuing breathalysers linked to smartphones. The system, developed by tech firm Pai-R, is being installed across the K Line fleet. The alcohol detector...
November 21st, 20194Contrary to many recent reports carried by Splash, shipping is not struggling to attract the next generation into the industry, but more needs to be done to retain talent, asserted the HR panel at the Maritime CEO Forum in Hong Kong this week. “For me, I don’t think there is a big problem. There’s a lot of people who are dying...
November 21st, 20193Anglo-Eastern’s Captain Pradeep Chawladiscusses the need to re-focus on human factors to prevent accidents. The approach is to investigate the eco-system in which the seafarer takes decisions rather than blaming the seafarer. He discusses how to encourage mutual respect for the seafarer and use positive re-enforcement and co-operation...
November 20th, 20190A new study by Yale University has identified dangerous levels of depression, anxiety and suicide risk among the world’s seafarers. Commissioned by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust charity, the survey of the state of seafarers’ mental health exposes risks and proposes actions that can be taken to address the problem. The study drew on a...
November 19th, 20190Shipping companies should be aware that it is not only salary levels that determine which employer a seafarer selects – fringe benefits are playing an important role in attracting and keeping senior staff, a crew survey has revealed. Access to the internet (both free or paid) tops the list of must-haves for today’s seafarers,...
