Are Rest hour violations not serious enough?

The USCG used to (and still do) penalise ships officers and the owner / manager for MARPOL violations. They used to reward handsomely the whistleblowers who reported such violations (they don’t reward them as easily now). Ships officers used to be handed personal fines in thousands of dollars and fines used to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the managers / owners. Everyone who has sailed on the ship now know what a magic pipe is. Trainings are conducted to raise awareness. Bilge holding and pumping systems are made more efficient. No one tells the Chief Engineer to pump his bilges out anymore. No one spares any effort at keeping the OWS operational. The OWS is what the Chief Engineer has a look at as soon as he takes over. All this mainly because the USCG was eager and took it on themselves to check for and penalise violations.

But the fact is that most of these violations happened in international waters and the US had no jurisdiction over them. It was a matter for the vessel’s flag states to take up. The US took it up for reasons they know best. And because they did there are not as many MARPOL violations; this despite the fact the no port states showed as much vigour as the USCG.

How then did the US take this up?  Falsification of records and Obstruction of justice were the main charges.  Tampering with evidence, lying to investigators, Coercing the juniors to lie to investigators, tampering with logs were all brought in to add to the counts.

I saw this after I blogged and I think you should also listen to George M Chalos who thinks the USCG is worse than the pirates.

It wasn't very difficult to prove when they find could discharges in excess of stated capacity, conflicts between sounding log and the ORB entries, flexible hoses, fresh paint , malfunctioning incinerators, lack of familiarity with the OWS etc.,

And with each count, the quantum of fine and punishment went up. It was upto US$ 500,000 per count upto 5 years imprisonment for individual defendants. And if they jury could prove that the individual was acting within his scope of employment ( this is liberally interpreted), then criminal liability is brought upon the owners / managers.

I often wondered why the US resorted to such affirmative action. It couldn’t have been just to prevent pollution in their waters. They used all available enforcement tools to make sure such violation that hadn’t even occurred in their waters were prevented and eliminated in the future. But whatever be the reason, OWS got into everyone’s mind and its misuse prevented.

Why  such a long and winding prologue before I actually get down to hours of work and rest? Because I am wondering why is there no such affirmative action by the Port state control inspectors or USCG  when it comes to enforcing WRH provisions?

Everyone knows how a passage up the Mississippi is. Shuttle tankers that do 5 operations in 3 days is not an anomaly any more. And most of us would agree that the pressure is on the Master to manipulate record of hours worked.

I agree that with planning most Non Compliances can be reduced if not eliminated in normal operations with a normal crew ( I am not venturing to define normal, but leave it to the experienced readers judicious interpretation). But a shuttle tanker’s operation is not normal so long as its manning is not enhanced. But if after planning, the actual operation deviated from it for reasons beyond the control of the Master and his crew, then such hours worked should be recorded truthfully.

The MLC as a convention has come to help the seafarer without unduly burdening the owner. And the provisions of hours of work and rest must be looked at in the same way – as not burdening the owner.

MLC has an enforcement mechanism. I believe it is time that the enforcement mechanism supports the seafarers. It is time that the PSC inspectors look into falsification of records that can be easily proved with an interview or checking associated logs and records.

Many masters and crew do it for fear of losing their jobs. Even in this age of MLC, most seafarers work on contracts that last the duration of time spent at sea. A mal intentioned owner / manager conspire against the Master (or seafarer) who is not as pliant as they would have liked. The seafarer could sign off and not find another contract to sign and no recourse. (What can the managers do if there is “no suitable vacancy”)  If not the PSC, atleast the USCG should show the same vigour and initiative as it did in enforcing the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

It is time that accurate records are made. And such records will paint the picture for the world to see. If a ship is fined / detained, then that day will not be far when a ship is properly manned and operated. When the seafarer can comply properly with the provisions of the MLC requirements. Why are PSC inspectors and USCG inspectors not showing as much interest in looking for rest hour violations and falsification of rest hour records? Who will bell the cat?

Read http: //mylifeatsea.blogspot.in/2008/03/seafarer-fatigue-where-next.html

http://san-nytt.se/english/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/fatigue_at_sea_english.pdf

image courtsey : http://gcaptain.com/crew-fatigue-addressing-problem/ and http://www.researchperspectives.org/rcuk/BD22FCE5-0590-4B9E-B80B-10076EE44BA1_Producing-A-Video-To-Disseminate-Research-On-Seafarers--Fatigue