Proposal of the EU commission in order to improve the protection of the marine ones in case of desertion of a ship in ports foreign countries



The EU commission today has advanced the proposal that, to the aim to on board improve the conditions of job of marine of ships the clappers flag of the European Union, is included in the communitarian right a specific agreement undersigned to end 2016 between the social parts. Emphasizing that "the marine transport is crucial for the economic development of Europe, the commissioner to the Occupation, social transactions, competences and mobility of the job, Marianne Thyssen, has explained that "the today's proposal sight to strengthen the safeguard of the marine ones and to strengthen the loyal competition in the marine field".

The proposal of Brussels takes note that in the 2006 International Labour Organisation (ILO) has adopted Maritime the Labour Convention (MLC) time to create an only and coherent instrument that incorporates all the updated norms applicable to international the marine job, convention that up to now is ratified by 81 comprised nations all the Member States of the EU except Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Such dispositions are incorporated in the communitarian norm from directive 2009/13. In occasion of the own 103th session held to Geneva the 11 june the 2014 ILO, with the favorable ballot of all the Member States of the EU, has approved of some amendments to convention MLC in order to answer to the problems faced in particular from the marine ones in case of abandonment of their ship in ports foreign countries and on December 5, 2016 the social parts of the field of the marine transports of the EU have concluded an agreement of modification of directive 2009/13 in order to receive these modifications. The proposal introduced today from the EU commission recepisce in the right of the EU this agreement tightened between the ECSA, the association of the shipowners of the EU, and ETF, the European federation of the workers of the transports.

In particular, between the objectives of the proposal there is the protection of marine if of their abandonment on board of firm ships in ports foreign countries, also if the shipowner not satisfied the salaries for a period at least two months or if the shipowner has left marine without the necessary assistance and means for the conduction of the ship. Of this - it has found the EU commission - not only the marine ones will benefit, but also all the harbour authorities of the EU as less cases will happen than desertion of a ship in the ports.

Moreover the proposal has the scope to improve the procedures of indemnification, being profitable faster and simpler the payment of the compensations, and this - it has emphasized the Commission - will contribute to avoid long delays and bureaucratic obstacles that marine or their families often must face in case of abandonment or in case of died or disabilità deriving from incidents or diseases on the job.

The Commission has remembered that, second the data collected from the International Labour Organisation, by 2004 today are abandoned 192 ships, of which 21 clappers flag of the EU, and that in solo 2016 they were the five ships abandoned in the ports of the EU with on board 58 marine ones.