The Hindu Business Line : Union to oppose move to allow foreign seafarers on Indian vessels

The CITU-affiliated Forward Seamen's Union of India (FSUI) will oppose tooth and nail any Government move to curb jobs for Indian seafarers on board Indian flag vessels, according to its General Secretary, Mr S. Kanjilal.

Reacting to the report that the Union Government would allow foreign seafarers on board Indian vessels, Mr Kanjilal told Business Line that he was yet to receive the full text of the Government order in this regard but expressed the view that the Government move would not succeed without the amendments to the relevant provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act.

He particularly referred to Section 99 of the Act. Also, new legislation might have to be enacted, he said.

Unemployment

The level of unemployment among seamen, particularly ratings, was staggering, Mr Kanjilal said pointing out that the jobs currently available were enough to absorb barely 10 per cent of the total number of seafarers available. The problem had been compounded by the mushrooming of training institutes which every six months produced hundreds of seamen with hardly any job in sight.

"At the recent national convention of the FSUI, a resolution on the closure of all these institutes was adopted," he said.

The on-board manning scale too had been drastically reduced from around 27 ratings per vessel even a couple of years ago to around 10/12 and this was being done under the garb of ISPS Code and certain other international conventions. He emphasised that there were certain types of on-board jobs, which could not be replaced irrespective of the type of vessels, modern or not-so-modern.

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