Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-24-Speech-2-276"
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"en.20070424.46.2-276"2
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"Madam President, recent events, such as the sinking of the vessel ‘Sea Diamond’ in Santorini, the stranding of ‘Napoli’ off the UK coast, the collision of two vessels in Messina, Italy and others, confirm our view that the safety of human lives at sea is the biggest political and social problem of the maritime industry.
The legislative framework of international treaties and regulations, unfortunately, does not contribute towards the solution of the problem and proves ineffective. The main cause of the problem is the fact that shipping companies as well as public and private bodies controlling seaworthiness and commercial activities of vessels operate based on profit. Therefore they violate safety regulations, having at the same time the political support of the European Union, but also of governments and Member States.
Safety is more of an issue when it comes to vessels flying flags of convenience in second registries. Living and working at sea in undermaintained and desolate vessels has become modern slavery for sea-workers. The view put forward by the Commission, the governments of Member States and ship-owners that the main factor behind sea accidents is the human factor is extremely dangerous. It downplays the importance of vessel conditions, the consequences of inadequate maintenance and increasing years of use. In this way, the responsibilities of ship-owners are downplayed, as well as of all the bodies involved in the issuance of seaworthiness certificates to vessels. The proposed plans with regards to the adoption of multiple duties increase the responsibilities of crews – especially of the captain and the engineer – and pose greater dangers for human lives at sea.
These plans must be refuted at the next general IMO meeting on sea safety next October. Public maritime education must be upgraded, the operational composition of vessel crews must be determined according to essential needs and the reduction of working hours as well as the improvement of working conditions of sea-workers must be promoted. A solution cannot be found on the basis of policies that in the interest of profit sacrifice human lives and the environment and use sea-workers as scapegoats for their crimes.
EU guidelines and regulations of a bureaucratic and technocratic nature cannot essentially protect human lives, the environment and the workers’ rights in an effective manner. We support the requests of the sea-workers movement for the upgrading of maritime education, the improvement of working conditions, the control – with the workers’ participation – over regulations, construction and seaworthiness of vessels and the creation of emergency stations."@en1
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