IFSMA SEAFARER FORUM - Manila June 2010

Report by our attending Secretary General, Capt. J. Cuyt


Most PowerPoint presentations of the below listed topics can be viewed HERE

Capt. Rodger MacDonald, IFSMA Secretary General, explained that a conference had been arranged. A Programme had been distributed for the full day Forum being held in Manila on Saturday 26th June, the day after the end of the IMO STW Diplomatic Conference. Although this was IFSMA’s idea it has now become a shared conference together with GLOBALMET, Newslink International, FILSCAPTS, Nautical Institute. The event was divided into four sections with IFSMA chairing the first part. It was anticipated that in the final section, chaired by GLOBALMET that there would be lots of interaction with the seafarers attending where they could tell us what they wanted us to do, the first three sections consisting of the speakers telling the seafarer what we had done and are still doing.

The theme of the Forum “2010 - The Year of the Seafarer” to tell the seafarers that we are in an industry that we can all be proud of and that we should all work together. We don’t want an “us and them” attitude here, they are all the essential element…

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During the Forum, following topics were discussed:

- The ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006: Towards entry into force – by Dani Apaave, ILO Maritime specialist

- Fatigue – by Capt. Bjorn Haave, Vice President IFSMA

- Recruitment and retainment challenge – by Aron F.Sorensen, Chief Marine Technical Officer at BIMCO

- Fair treatment for seafarers – by Capt. Rodger Macdonald, Secretary General IFSMA

- Supporting those in control of seagoing craft – by John Dickinson, Head of the IMO delegation of the Nautical Institute

- Continuing professional development - by John Dickinson, Head of the IMO delegation of the Nautical Institute

- Bulk carriers and maritime labour conventions – by Rob Lomas, Secretary General Intercargo

- Harmonising STCW and the MLC 2006 – by Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General InterManager

- STCW 2010 / MLC 2006 – by Fredrik Larsson, Marine Manager Intertanko

- How IMO is meeting the challenges of dealing with maritime safety and security – an overview

  by Neil Frank R. Ferrer, Ocean Concerns Office, Dept. of Foreign Affairs, the Philippines

- Medical standards – by Natalie Shaw, International Shipping Federation (ISF)

- The Manila amendments STCW 2010 – by Tim Wilson, Director New Zealand Maritime School and Chairman GlobalMET

At the end of the day, following Resolution was adopted:

FORUM RESOLUTION

The participants of THE 2010 YEAR OF THE SEAFARER FORUM, having met in Manila, The Philippines on 26 June 2010,

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The complete article can be read in pdf format HERE

The “2010 – Year of the Seafarer” Forum in Manila was organized by:

— IFSMA, the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations, London – UK (www.ifsma.org)

— The Nautical Institute, London – UK (www.nautinst.org)

— NewsLink Services Limited, Limasson – Cyprus (www.newslinkservices.com)

— Face of  Shipping (www.faceofshipping.com)

— The Global Maritime Education and Training Association (GlobalMET), Kapiti Coast – New Zealand (www.globalmet.org)