‘MARPOL at 50 – Our commitment goes on’ is the theme for this year’s World Maritime Day. Steven Jones, the founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, has this take on crews getting caught in the pollution crosshairs in US waters.
It is great to see MARPOL being celebrated and lauded for World Maritime Day 2023 today. It is truly a vital tool for the industry, and while the seas could of course be cleaner, they would likely be even dirtier if it wasn’t for the rules and regulations which shape the way we manage pollution.
That said, it is not all plain clean sailing. There are some aspects of the application which can all too easily sacrifice seafarers on the altar of convention. Indeed, in US waters and ports, crews caught in pollution crosshairs can find themselves languishing without proper support or assistance awaiting court cases for alleged infringements.
I was recently in discussions about the role of whistleblowing in US cases, and the impact that relationships onboard vessels can make in driving a schism onboard that can all too easily turn to crew on each other, against the owner and into the Whistleblower hotline to the US Coastguard.
This is a big problem from many perspectives, not least financial. So, let’s put some numbers into the calculator. In crunching insurance data for the development of a new MARPOL Detention Costs Insurance (MDCI), I was astonished to see not just the scale of fines being meted out in the US, but the fees being paid to disgruntled...
The lawsuit alleges the CCRB’s online database, 50-a.org, unfairly harms officers by listing serious accusations including sexual misconduct, racial profiling and making false official statements ...