POEA issued an announcement in early October regarding proliferation of employment seafarers’ job scams in the internet. More applicants use the internet to find jobs and with the popularity of internet-ready gadgets, and job search and social networking websites, they become easy victims of illegal recruiters and job scammers.
Last September 19 Filipino manning agents have been charged with illegal recruitment activities. Among these companies where names affiliated with well known ship managing companies. POEA’s Operations and Surveillance Division, assisted by detectives, sent personnel at Luneta Seafarer’s Center in Ermita, Manila pretending to be jobseekers in order to discover if illegal recruitment activities were being conducted in the area.
A cargo ship with a total of 13 Chinese and six Philippine crew members while heading to Singapore, asked for help after the ship started taking on water. South Korean coast guard responded to their calls and rescued all crew from the sinking cargo ship. Unfortunately the coast guard vessel capsized after rescuing the crew in distress and as a result three Filipino and two Chinese seafarers died.
Ship officer qualifications should be regarded as the equivalent of a university degree in the opinion of InterManager president Alastair Evitt. That would help a great deal in improving the public image of shipping and encouraging more young people to choose a career at sea. The industry’s reputation has taken a dent as a result of the Costa Concordia caualty, Mr Evitt acknowledged, with the fact that 99% of all cargo arrives safely never making the news.
Cargill, one of the world’s leading international transporters, producers and marketers of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products, Huntsman Corporation, the global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals and UNIPEC UK Company Ltd, trader of crude oil and oil products, have earlier this month that they will only charter the more efficient vessels operating in the shipping market.
U.S. Navy has confirmed that the guided missile destroyer USS Farragut emitted radiation from its radar that injured crew members on board the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Nordkapp while both were taking part in exercises in the Arctic in August.
The US Coast Guard is searching for a missing 26-year-old Turkish crewmember approximately 230 miles south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning. The second mate was last seen walking the deck of MT AQUA, a Maltese-flagged 248 m tanker vessel, wearing a green and brown shirt with no life jacket. He was reported missing after he did not report for his watch.
BOURBON announced today that 7 crew members, 6 Russians and 1 Estonian were kidnapped during the boarding of the Bourbon Liberty 249, which occurred on October 15, 2012 in Nigeria. The other 9 crew members are still onboard the vessel, safe and in good health, heading for the Port of Onne.
This year’s NKK annual Port State Control (PSC) report summarizes deficiencies identified by PSC inspections carried out in various countries around the world. Last year due to several new conventions or amendments such as the ISPS Code, the Bulk Carrier Safety initiative, and air pollution prevention, etc. have come into force, the extent of PSC inspections has been further increased.
The US Coast Guard is searching for a missing 37-year-old Filipino crewman who might have fell overboard from a container ship off the coast of Mobile, Monday. Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island watchstanders received a call from the Mobile Pilots reporting a missing crewmember aboard the Singapore-flagged MSC Tokyo at approximately 2:30 a.m.
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Officer of the Watch 