The commanding officer of USCGC James (WMSL 754), has been temporarily relieved of duties following an onboard mishap, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Friday.
Vice Adm. Kevin Lunday, commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, effected the relief due to a loss of confidence in Capt. Marc Brandt’s ability to command the cutter in wake of the mishap, in which no personnel were injured. Brandt has been temporarily assigned to Coast Guard Atlantic Area.
Lunday appointed Capt. John Driscoll to assume temporary command of the cutter pending the results of an investigation into the incident.
James is a Legend-class national security cutter (NSC) homeported in Charleston, S.C., with a crew of 148 officers and enlisted personnel. NSCs are the Coast Guard’s most technologically-advanced cutters in the fleet.
South Korea issued weather advisories and raised its typhoon alert level on Monday as typhoon Hinnamnor neared, with heavy rain and strong wind already lashing southern parts of the country.
The typhoon, travelling northward at a speed of 19 km per hour (12 mph), is expected to land 90 kilometres southwest of the port city Busan early on Tuesday, after reaching waters off Jeju Island around Monday midnight.
“Very strong winds and heavy rains are expected across the country through to Tuesday due to the typhoon, while there will be places where very high waves cross breakwaters and coastal roads along with storm and tsunami,” the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.
Warnings have been issued across the southern cities, including Gwangju, Busan, Daegu and Ulsan, following that in the southern island of Jeju, while the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Sunday upgraded its emergency response posture to the highest level for the first time in five years for typhoons.
The port city and its neighbouring area have received rain throughout the weekend, with more rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday.
On Sunday, President Yoon Suk-yeol held a meeting with the authorities to review the response system, while promising to put all efforts in minimising damage from the typhoon.
Local media reported on Sunday that the country’s three South Korean shipbuilders – Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries – are expected to halt operation on Tuesday.
Other businesses such as steelmaker Poscoare also expected to suspend operations, while major airlines such as Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines have reportedly cancelled some of its flights departing after 1 p.m. Monday (0400 GMT).
Kongsberg Digital (KDI) launches a maritime digital twin with Höegh Autoliners as its first pilot customer. This is the beginning of a new transformation journey for ship operations.
As a market-leading developer and vendor of digital twins for the energy sector, KDI is now adding digital twin for maritime to its portfolio. Digital twins allow new ways of working and interacting with data and operational insights. The first areas the maritime twin supports are trim advisory, 3D visualization of the vessel, and situational awareness around it, including weather conditions. The twin is powered by real-time data from the Vessel Insight data infrastructure and its eco-system of applications.
“The maritime industry is facing huge challenges to meet the new standards for increased transparency and reduced carbon footprint. As a response to this, we have developed a dynamic digital twin that provides a holistic view of the vessel and its surroundings, where data from the vessel is merged with other relevant data sources and presented in one common work surface for operators and shipowners. This will be the first step of enabling advanced integrated workflows in shipping,” says Andreas Jagtøyen, Executive Vice President of Digital Ocean in Kongsberg Digital.
The objective of KDI´s holistic digital twin is to support partners in utilizing advanced simulations to troubleshoot operations, make predictions of future performance, and over time, enable condition-based maintenance to reduce cost and operational downtime. The digital twin for maritime will build upon the Kognitwin® framework, KDI’s digital twin for the energy market.
“Utilizing twin technology on an area of most importance, fuel reduction, is the first step in building a new family of technology and applications, component by component.”, says Jagtøyen. “Furthermore, working towards risk assessment, twin technology can help ship owners and operators understand risk and make better decisions.
Among other things, visualization to understand risk is critical. When you’re assessing the situation of a vessel in the middle of the Atlantic, you must understand the real risk, for example, in the case of severe weather or side waves, and make decisions based on that understanding. Twin technology can achieve that better than any other tool.”
Digital twin technology allows new ways of working and utterly new interaction possibilities and transparency between different stakeholders in the industry. Höegh Autoliners is KDIs partner for the pilot with their car carriers, supported by Delta Marine.
“We are pleased to partner with Kongsberg Digital on this pilot for digital twin for maritime,” says Chief Operations Officer of Höegh Autoliners Sebjørn Dahl. “Like us, our customers and partners focus on sustainability, electrifying their products, and decarbonizing their supply chains. Our fleet is one of the most environmentally friendly car carriers ever built.
The additional insight and more rapid and cost-effective vessel management provided by KDI’s digital twin will supercharge their environmental performance and enable future benefits faster. We already see benefits on trim optimization, but when we add the data around other facets of vessel operation, along with training and maintenance, we expect further benefits and savings to come thick and fast.”
In the coming months, KDI will reinforce this digital twin for maritime development by adding new components for visualization and performance.
As part of efforts of federal government to boast maritime security, Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, over the weekend commissioned two patrol boats (PB – Gusau and PB – Jalingo) as well as a 32- Seater Passenger Ferry Boat to enhance operational efficiency and encourage water transportation at the National Inland Waterways Authority’s (NIWA) Area Office in Port Harcourt.
A statement by the Eric Ojiekwe, Director of Press and Publicity in the ministry reported that The Minister who was former General Manager at NIWA further disclosed that while he was at the helm of affairs there, he did not only maintain the amount of revenue target set by his predecessors, but surpassed it.
He said, “When I came here, a lot of people were wondering if we are going to succeed. But I did not only sustain the level of revenue that was sustained by my predecessors, but I even surpassed them,” he said.
He commended the Managing Director NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu, for the giant strides attained, saying: “Seriously, MD, l am happy I came here today. If didn’t come, I would not have known the strides you have achieved. Without doubts, I think you have made the greatest impacts of all the Managing Directors that have served the Authority”. “Your tenure has moved the Authority from level 5 to Level 9”.
He described inland water way transportation as the cheapest and safest means of moving goods and persons and key to development of any country, especially that endowed with water.
Furthermore, the Minister observed that Nigeria is blessed in that regard as 28 States of the Federation can be accessed by water, hence the need to develop the sector.
While promising to provide support in any capacity, he called on the MD to quickly operationalize the Marina Area Office in Lagos which has been identified as a hub for trans- shipping cargoes from Lagos through the Intercoastal routes like Warri and Onitsha.
Earlier, the Managing Director, NIWA, Dr. Moghalu, informed that in less than a year, the Agency commissioned more than twenty patrol boats, as well as a house boat, tugboat and water ambulance for distribution to various Area offices of the Authority.
According to him, the act is part of the Agency’s vision to ensure that the nation’s Inland waterways provides a truly safe, efficient, cost effective and alternative mode of transportation of goods and persons as well as become competitive and attractive.
Speaking further, Moghalu said: “the huge opportunities that abounds in the nation’s Inland waterways can only be maximized if concerted efforts are geared towards the development of infrastructure and proper funding to make the waterways attractive and competitive to players”.
Also, he disclosed that the Authority has licensed several companies for the transportation of cargoes across the waterways in Nigeria, especially from Lagos so as to decongest it and open up other Inland ports.
Launched at the SMM event in Hamburg, Germany, a new guide from ABS explores emerging onboard carbon capture technology. The guide, Insights into Onboard Carbon Capture, examines the various methods of onboard carbon capture as well as carbon handling and storage and downstream considerations, as well as regulatory issues.
Although there has been increased interest from the industry, the technology and its associated value chains have a long way to mature, and there are many factors to consider such as onboard power supply, fuel types, exhaust characteristics and onboard storage,” said Georgios Plevrakis, ABS vice president, global sustainability. “This Insights document is an important step in moving the conversation forward, supporting shipowners and operators with the latest information from ABS engineering and joint development projects,” said Georgios Plevrakis, ABS vice president, global sustainability.
Although onboard systems are sill being piloted, investment is expected to increase over the course of the next decade, especially as discussions on global carbon markets advance.
A federal judge in Los Angeles on Friday dismissed the criminal indictment against a dive boat captain charged with manslaughter in the deaths of 34 people when the vessel caught fire and sank off the California coast three years ago.
The 75-foot (23-meter) Conception caught fire while most of those onboard were sleeping, killing 33 passengers and a crew member. It is considered one of California’s worst maritime disasters.
U.S. District Judge George Wu said in a ruling that the indictment, handed down on December 2020 against captain Jerry Nehl Boylan by a federal grand jury, must be thrown out because prosecutors had failed to accuse him of gross negligence.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, said prosecutors would seek authorization from the Department of Justice to appeal Wu’s ruling. An attorney for Boylan, 68, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
The indictment accused Boylan of causing the deaths through “misconduct, negligence, and inattention to his duties.”
The U.S. District Court grand jury cited three federal safety violations – failure to assign a night watch or roving patrol aboard the boat, to conduct sufficient crew training or to conduct adequate fire drills.
The victims had been sleeping below deck when the boat went up in flames while anchored near Santa Cruz Island, off the Santa Barbara coast, during a sport diving expedition. They included a family of five, a teacher and his daughter, a diving instructor and marine biologist.
The five surviving crew members, including Boylan, had been above deck in berths behind the wheelhouse and escaped by leaping overboard as the burning boat sank into the Pacific.
They told investigators that flames coming from the passenger quarters were too intense to save anyone trapped below. Coroners investigators determined the victims died of smoke inhalation.
The ship recycling market could be set for a revival in the coming days and weeks, as more dry bulk vintage tonnage could be sold for demolition. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “with China implementing new lockdown regulations, the dry freight market was sent into further negative spins and therefore, we may now see more vintage dry units circulated into the market. A capesize bulker achieved a very impressive number this week, as per the sale listed below, with a good quantity of bunkers RoB. However, there are rumours the buyer may attempt to fix on a short trade, despite the poor sentiment in the dry sector, which could then justify the premium paid. If the sale is aimed towards a resale into Bangladesh and the hope of the Government once again allowing larger L/C’s to be opened (from the current limit of USD 3.0 mill), then unfortunately information obtained from Bangladesh towards the latter part of the week will not aide the Buyers resale structure.
Source: Clarkson Platou (Hellas) ltd
The shipbroker added that “information became apparent that new taxations may come be implemented as the Government aim to set reasonable prices of nine products, including flour, edible oil, lentils, sugar, rice, flour, coarse flour, cement and rods, within the next 15 days in an effort to bring stability to the country’s economy. There are even discussions of lawsuits being filed against anyone disregarding the designated prices. Pakistan is currently undergoing horrific flooding from the monsoon rains and the industry is really at a standstill for the time being. Our thoughts and prayers go to those currently suffering from these tragic floods. With the country still suffering from their currency woes, and the current flooding, little activity is expected for the foreseeable future”, Clarkson Platou Hellas concluded.
Meanwhile, GMS (www.gmsinc.net), the world’s leading cash buyer of ships, said in its latest weekly report, that “activity and availability of sales candidates seem to be finally starting to increase as we enter the month of September and the fourth (and final) quarter of the year. Dry bulk (and particularly Capesize bulker) rates have declined noticeably of late, and this is seeing an increasing number of enquiries on dry units starting to come forth for a potential sale for recycling. This increase couldn’t have come at a better time as local demand for tonnage has been gradually ramping up again, after an extremely quiet summer / flooded monsoon. Of course, after the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy earlier this year, difficulties persist in the sub-continent markets as both Pakistan and Bangladesh have been teetering perilously close to the brink as well”.
Source: GMS,Inc
According to GMS, “Pakistan has been beset by catastrophic flooding over the past week, with thousands of people losing their lives and millions displaced. In fact, some international media have been reporting that nearly one-third of the country is currently underwater. As such, calls for urgent humanitarian aid have reached the international community this week, with the situation becoming increasingly dire. Bangladesh is still struggling with L/Cs with any transaction valued at over USD 2 – USD 3 million needing Central bank approval, which is ensuring that most large LDT / higher value candidates are being diverted to competing markets and even the lower placed India, as Cash Buyers and Ship Owners both do not want to run the risk of getting stuck there, especially when levels have already fallen so much. India remains the most resilient market and is now becoming the go to destination (albeit at lower prices) for shipowners wishing to get their vessels delivered comparatively hassle and headache free, be it at a lower price. Finally, the Turkish market remains marginally changed from last week, as import steel and the Turkish Lira both report decreases during the week, all while local sentiments remain in the doldrums”, GMS concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
The Royal Navy has taken the unusual step of responding to media speculation by issuing a detailed statement on the damage to HMS Prince of Wales. One of the two largest ships of the fleet and only having recently been placed into service, the carrier suffered an embarrassing failure as she departed for what was being called a “landmark mission” in cooperation with the Americans.
Speaking in a videotaped statement, Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse said, “Our focus has been on understanding the nature and extent of the damage and the safety of her crew. We will repair her and get her back on operations, protecting the nation and our allies, as soon as possible.”
HMS Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth on Saturday, August 27, for what was to be a nearly four-month program to sail to the United States for joint training exercises and a visit to the Caribbean. Observers noted as she departed that she seemed to only be showing a wake on the portside leading to rampant comments of a problem with possibly the starboard propeller.
Shortly after sailing, the carrier anchored with the Royal Navy admitting there had been an “issue” after her departure. She was later moved to a more sheltered position while a survey was ongoing.
“Royal Navy divers inspected the starboard shaft and adjacent areas,” says the Rear Admiral. “We can confirm there is significant damage to the shaft and the propeller and some superficial damage to the rudder. There is no damage to the rest of the ship.”
The initial assessment of the carrier also shows an “extremely unusual fault,” in the starboard shaft. The coupling that joins the final two sections of the shaft has failed.
According to the reports, the Royal Navy is currently trying to stabilize the situation before they can return the vessel to Portsmouth. They are also investigating repair alternatives, but are admitting that it is likely the Prince of Wales will need to dry dock to undertake repairs. No estimates were offered on how long it might take to complete the repairs.
In an effort to save the mission, the Royal Navy reports that they have reassigned HMS Queen Elizabeth to undertake a portion of the training exercise with the United States. The first carrier of the class is due to stand in for her younger sister ship departing this week for the United States. However, she will return to Europe earlier than planned to undertake her fall exercises which were scheduled for the Mediterranean.
So far, the Royal Navy has not offered any explanations as to how the damage occurred to the Prince of Wales. It is just the latest in a series of high-profile failures of the multi-billion-dollar carrier. Commissioned in December 2019, she spent most of 2020 and 2021 sidelined with a series of problems. Finally, in October 2021, the Royal Navy declared that she was fully operational and would be fully ready for frontline deployment by 2023.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/hms-prince-of-wales-has-significant-damage-likely-requiring-dry-dock
Nautilus International played a prominent part in UK Maritime Safety Week 2022. Taking place from 4-8 July with support from the UK Department for Transport, the focus this year was on safety best practice. Jon Parkin and Rob Coston report
A 2021 study of seafarers published in the British Medical Journal found that, over a four-year period, 6.31 out of every 1,000 seafarers were affected by occupational injuries and diseases. The study’s conclusion – that ‘workers at sea have high mortality, injuries and illnesses and work in a hazardous environment compared to ashore workers’ – will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever found themselves in a maritime workplace.
This year’s Maritime Safety Week aimed to do something about the grim statistics by bringing together a range of organisations to share knowledge and learn from each other, from government bodies to maritime employers, charities and membership bodies – including Nautilus of course.
Nautilus speaks at safety week
Port Skills and Safety (PSS), the UK’s professional ports health and safety membership organisation, scheduled its annual conference to be part of Maritime Safety Week on 5 July – with panels and speeches from members of the maritime community. Representatives from the Department for Transport and the British Ports Association were present, and UK maritime minister Robert Courts MP said that safety should be at the core of the country’s maritime strategy alongside education/upskilling and the government’s objectives as laid out in the Maritime 2050 strategy.
Nautilus was represented by general secretary Mark Dickinson, who took the opportunity to stress the importance of proper training and investment into the maritime workforce in order to ensure safe practices.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson
In his speech he also talked about the need for communication between unions and employers, so that maritime workers have a secure channel of communication to share safety issues they have identified. This point was echoed during the week by UK Chamber of Shipping CEO Sarah Treseder, who agreed that good safety practice can only be achieved if shipowners, the MCA and unions work together and share information openly,
‘Our industry, while strategically vital, remains hazardous,’ Mr Dickinson told attendees. ‘Workplace injuries are all too common and sometimes tragically lives are lost. We must commend Port Skills & Safety for its work in bringing together unions, employers and safety experts to tackle these issues. Only through constructive dialogue between stakeholders can we ensure our ports are safer workplaces for our people.
‘Our maritime professionals must be given the opportunity to train and learn new skills, so they can be active participants in the future of the maritime industry, an industry they already know, and many will have worked in for their entire lives. Investing in our workforce so more seafarers can transition from sea to shore and vice versa, that allows for all workers to upskill and reskill, is in all our interests.’
The dangers of fatigue
During his speech, Mr Dickinson also flagged up an issue of note: who should be allowed to carry out lashing on containerships?
‘Lashing by seafarers creates another safety issue. Nautilus believes that this should be carried out by trained stevedores, not overworked and fatigued seafarers. Cargo work, lashing and unlashing, is dockers’ work.’
Lashings by seafarers creates another safety issue. Image: Danny Cornelissen
Shortly after the speech, a Dutch court ruled in favour of unions including Nautilus International over a collective bargaining agreement clause around the lashing of vessels. The clause, which applies in all ports worldwide and came into force on 1 January 2020, stipulates that lashing must be done by qualified dock workers. If dock workers are not available, then seafarers may only lash on a voluntary basis and in return for additional pay. Nautilus’s Netherlands branch and other trade unions had brought the case after employers, shipowners and charterers refused to comply, but the court has now ordered them to comply in the port of Rotterdam and elsewhere or face hefty fines.
This is an important victory in the greater struggle against seafarer fatigue – which is dangerous as it increases the risk of accidents, as well as being detrimental to mental health.
However, this is a multi-front war. There are, of course, the traditional causes of fatigue – for example, the ever-increasing crew workload which was identified as a serious risk in the latest Seafarers Happiness Index report from the Mission to Seafarers. There are also new issues such as the proliferation of ‘safety’ paperwork, which some commentators believe can get in the way of actually improving the situation by creating extra work and a tick-box .
Nautilus has long identified overwork and low-cost crewing models as unsustainable and a threat to safety, and can present credible research to back up its case.
The Telegraph has previously covered the Culture of Adjustment report from World Maritime University (WMU), released in 2020, which found widespread malpractices in the recording of work and rest hours with a culture of adjustment – both on and off ship – normalising fatigue among seafarers that could lead to serious casualties, loss of life and environmental damage
Following on from this, WMU is expanding the scope by launching a new survey of seafarers covering crewing levels plus work and rest hours, developed in cooperation with IFSMA, the Nautical Institute, IMarEST and ISWAN and tying in with conversations at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Any Nautilus International members that have worked on a commercial ship after 1 February 1997 are encouraged to take part by visiting the WMU survey. The survey should take around 20 minutes to complete and all responses are confidential. The quantitative data that will be collected about seafarers’ practices regarding work and rest will be used to strengthen ongoing research, with the ultimate aim of enhance provisions on seafarers’ work and rest hours.
Mental health still a key concern
Maritime Safety Week was focused on the practical aspects of safety onboard, but outside of the event itself, charities, employers, unions and governments are continuing to work on the issue of seafarer mental health.
Earlier this year, the UK government collaborated with the Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB) in launching a £2.4 million investment in seafarer training, wellbeing and support – something that maritime minister Robert Courts tied to the government’s post-Covid-19 Maritime Recovery Route Map, since the pandemic put a significant strain on seafarers and drew public attention to the fact that even in ‘normal’ times crew are often expected to endure mental strain.
Mental health in focus. Image: Getty Images
Maritime charities are now able to apply for a share of this funding to create projects that benefit seafarer wellbeing. MNWB chief executive officer Stuart Rivers welcomed the move: ‘This significant investment in the maritime charity sector is both timely and extremely welcome. The maritime charities sector has been supporting seafarers through multiple crises over the past two years, despite the difficult fundraising conditions. The Department for Transport’s funding will provide a real boost to seafarers’ welfare and enable improvements in skills and diversity for the wider sector.’
MAIB involvement
As the UK body which is responsible for investigating maritime incidents, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) was keen to communicate key messages during Maritime Safety Week.
‘Maritime Safety Week 2022 an important moment when the marine industry comes together to focus on how we can collectively continue to improve safety across the sector,’ said MAIB chief inspector Andrew Moll. For that reason, the MAIB took the week as an opportunity to write about current key safety topics: the dangers of work onboard fishing vessels; mooring deck safety; pilot ladders; and CO2 fire extinguishing system blockages that could prevent seafarers from extinguishing an engine room blaze.
During the year, the branch raised 1,530 reports of marine accidents and commenced 22 investigations, 14 of which involved loss of life. This represented a significant increase on previous years – with 1,217 reports in 2020 and 1,090 in 2019, for example – which the MAIB attributes to a rise in leisure craft and small commercial craft notifications and its industry request to report sub-standard pilot ladders.
Pilot ladder safety essential. Getty Images
MAIB inspector of marine accidents Bill Evans said that the 200 reports received by MAIB regarding pilot ladders show that even though serious accidents have been rare, ‘the potential for injury and even loss of life clearly exists.’
Mr Evans added: ‘Marine pilots play a critical role in the safe operation of any harbour, where they guide almost every vessel in and out of the port. However, while the size and technological complexity of ships has increased, marine pilots still embark and disembark moving vessels by using a rope pilot ladder. The pilot transfer is a hazardous operation, so it is absolutely essential that these ladders are correctly rigged and their use properly supervised by the crew.’
During Maritime Safety Week, the MAIB also highlighted incidents where seafarers have been struck by mooring lines, sometimes resulting in serious injury or death. Sadly, such incidents continue to occur. Crew should therefore make sure the right equipment is used and kept in good condition.
Planning – including risk assessments, control measures and ensuring there are neither too few nor too many crew to conduct the operation – is important when trying to conduct mooring deck operations safely. Areas where mooring deck operations take place need to be kept tidy, and mooring lines should be closely monitored on all berths.
As with all dangerous operations, crew communication is of the utmost importance when working on mooring decks, because it has the potential to be extremely hazardous if people are not able to interact clearly.
A more positive outlook?
Seafarers may be relieved to hear, however, that there are some signs that a greater emphasis on safety in recent years has improved matters and undoubtably saved lives.
According to Allianz’s Shipping and Safety Review, the global fleet was losing 200+ vessels a year in the early 1990s but now this has dropped to between 50 and 75 per year, despite a significant growth in the number of vessels. Annual shipping losses have declined by 57% since 2012, while 2021 represents a significant improvement on the rolling 10-year loss average – something that Allianz attributes to ‘the increased focus on safety measures over time, such as regulation, improved ship design and technology and risk management advances’.
This is good news for seafarers as well as shipping companies. When the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) released its Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents 2021, it found a reduction of 18% in the total number of casualties compared with 2019 plus a reduction in the number of lives lost by 48% and the number of injured persons by 36% – an incredibly positive finding given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the shipping industry. This continued an ongoing positive trend since 2014.
As with the MAIB’s advice, EMSA’s report highlights for seafarers the most common causes of injury and death. Fishing vessels remain the most dangerous. The main causes of death were vessel collisions and slipping/falls (nearly 10% of which involved someone going overboard). It also shows when to be most vigilant: from 2014 to 2020, the departure phase was the safest segment of a voyage and the en route portion the most unsafe, but 41% of casualties occurred in port areas.
However, while many of the threats to life and limb onboard are traditional ones, seafarers will need to remain vigilant. In the 2022 Emsafe report, also from EMSA, researchers identified a number of growing issues that will require different solutions, including fire safety on ferries plus the carriage of battery-powered vehicles on ships, the increased use of potentially hazardous alternative bunker fuels and the novel risks of automation.
More than 560 dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool, one of Britain’s largest container ports, will go on strike from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 over pay, the Unite union said on Friday, adding to a summer of industrial unrest caused by soaring inflation.
“Workers across the country are sick to death of being told to take a hit on their wages and living standards,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement.
“MDHC needs to think again, table a reasonable offer and fulfil its previous pay promises,” she added, referring to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.
The planned Liverpool strike follows an eight-day walkout last month by workers at Felixstowe, Britain’s largest container port, which clogged supply lines but fell short of causing widespread disruption in an industry already facing supply chain issues.
The strike will “severely disrupt” shipping and road transport in Liverpool and surrounding areas, Unite said.
The workers, comprising port operatives and maintenance engineers, are striking over a 7% pay offer they say amounts to an effective “pay cut” with inflation reaching double digits. They also say MDHC has failed to honor a 2021 pay deal.
MDHC parent Peel Ports said it had offered a pay package of 8.3% on top of a 4.5% pay increase last year and other improvements to shifts, sick pay and pensions.
“Our pay offer is well above the national average and represents a sustainable position for the business, taking into account stagnation in the container market, worldwide economic pressures, the conflict in Ukraine and global shipping disruption,” Peel Ports Chief Operating Officer David Huck said in a statement.
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