IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENTS BY RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS

by  F R Chowdhury

The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 finally entered into force on 20-August-2013. Despite so much writing in various papers and journals emphasising the importance of becoming a Party to the Convention, The Government decided otherwise. Mean time the Director General of the Department of Shipping held a press conference in Chittagong where he assured the Bangladesh ship-owners that Government would soon become a Party to the instrument and that IMO and ILO had been informed accordingly. He also said that there was nothing to worry about it as it would not affect the operation of Bangladesh registered ships. I wonder if all the Party States have listened to his statement and act accordingly.

I took a copy of the Convention and read it again very carefully. I did not come across any provision for a state to notify ILO that it would soon become a Party and its ships should be allowed to operate freely without any hindrance. I do not know where our learned Director General found this provision. There is provision for acceptance and accession. Now that the Convention is already in force, Bangladesh may merely accede to it. In the mean time it would mean a huge loss if a Bangladesh registered ship is detained in a foreign port for not having MLC certificates.

The big question is why Bangladesh did not sign this instrument on time and ensure labour standards on Bangladesh ships? Has it benefited Bangladesh in any way? The Director General never focused on that matter. Instead to divert attention from the subject he stated many irrelevant things. He said Bangladesh will soon earn through the seafarers far more than what it earns through the garment sector. He also said that he approved operation of 15 more private marine academies. They are all good news indeed. We hope those academies will maintain standard and produce good officers who can understand the significance of compliance of international standards.

There was another press conference where the managing director of the state owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation said that BSC fleet will soon be replaced and modernised. We can understand the urgency. Any procurement before the change of government will be beneficial to all concerned. Definitely it is more important than becoming a Party to MLC-2006. But it is another statement by the MD which is a matter of concern. He said that new IMO rules-regulations are making it difficult for BSC to operate ships to Europe and other places. The question is whether those rules relate to Bangladesh alone. No, he is talking about international treaties and protocols that apply to all ships under all flags. Why BSC ships cannot comply with those requirements when others can? This is nothing other than management failure.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the specialised agency of the UN that looks after maritime safety, security and environmental protection. The employees of the IMO including the Secretary General cannot enforce any new requirement. It is the member states who adopt various conventions on the floor of IMO and then states are at liberty to accept or not. It is certainly difficult for a state to operate globally without complying with provisions of conventions that are in force. Bangladesh is a party to adoption of those instruments we are talking about. It is difficult to understand why Bangladesh does not implement and comply with the standards which it developed with others.

I am sorry to conclude that these officials making irresponsible statements do not have sufficient knowledge of international conventions and protocols. Department of Shipping is national maritime administration and it requires a dynamic leader as its Director General. I have nothing against the Navy but we must understand that every admiral or commodore does not make a successful director general. It could be a career civil servant or even a professional mariner, but got to be a person with knowledge, skill and proficiency. It is time to think afresh.

<fazlu.chowdhury@btinternet.com>

1. 

   CAPT UDDIN says:

   August 21, 2013 at 9:36 am

   Dear all,

   It is obvious that any Bangladesh flag ship trading in foreign country may be detained if there is no “Statement of Compliance” in respect of MLC, as Bangladesh has not signed the MLC Convention. Notably though Hong Kong has not signed the MLC, the Authority has issued a DMLC Part I, the Managers has prepared DMLC Part II and subsequently Class has issued “Statement of Compliance”.

   Some flag state, e.g. Indonesia has not taken any steps towards MLC, but what we, as Managers have done something that gives us a “Statement of Compliance” for Indonesian flag ships. We have approached ship’s Class, who has provided us a “MIMIC DMLC Part I” as per IMO. Based on MIMIC, we have drawn DMLC Part II, Class has carried out On-board verification, thus Indonesian flag ship now have “Something better than Nothing” to comply with though the Flag state is not complying. It may be a temporary but only solution for ships who flag state has not done anything. Hope this helps some of us in the “Company”.

   Regards,
   Capt. M. J. Uddin (13)
2. 

   Qamruzzaman says:

   August 21, 2013 at 6:36 pm

   Fazlur Bhai

   Excellent article. It is short and strong. You have hit the nail on the head as always. But unfortunately there is nobody in the government who will even read this article with any seriousness. Shipping administration of Bangladesh is as immune from transparency and accountability as other sectors if not more. Your relentless efforts to bring changes for the betterment of Maritime Bangladesh is highly admirable. Bangladesh Mariners Community owes a big “thank you” to you for this.

   Qamru Zaman
   11th
3. 

   Abdul Hannan says:

   August 22, 2013 at 1:37 pm

   Greetings from Canberra,

   Thank you Fazlur bhai for the information and others for their comments.

   From my involvement in port State as well as flag Sate control I provide some clarifications on the issue of MLC and DMLC:

   • In accordance with ILO MLC 2006 Resolution XVII, both the Paris MOU and the Tokyo MOU have decided that their members will allow foreign flag ships (including passenger ships and bulk carriers) calling at their ports to continue to operate without Maritime Labour Certificate (MLC) and DMLC Part I and Part II until 20th August 2014, provided that their inspectors are satisfied that there is no evidence that the ships do not comply with the provisions of MLC 2006 (other than certification requirements).
   • Until 20th August 2014, if a ship does not carry a MLC or Statement of Compliance then it may be subject to detailed inspection.
   • No deficiency will be issued for not carrying MLC and DMLCs until 20th August 2014. However, following detailed inspection deficiencies in other MLC matters may be issued or a ship may be detained.
   • A port State would normally expect that ships carry some form of documentation detailing compliance with MLC 2006.

   Best regards

   Hannan
4. 

   Zillur Rahman Bhuiyan says:

   August 22, 2013 at 2:45 pm

   The Bangladesh maritime administration is doing what Capt. Jalaluddin has said – issuance of Certificate of Compliance after preparing the DMLC-I and DMLC-II.

   It is noteworthy that the Certificate of Compliance for Bangladeshi vessels are not being issued by the ROs but by the Principal Officer, MMD, Chittagong.

   As far as I know India has not ratified the Convention as yet. What is happening to their fleets and the seafarers?

   Kind regards

   Zillur Rahman Bhuiyan
   Bangladesh
   Cell Phone: +880 1922 666111, +880 1720 102632
   E-mail: Zillur.bhuiyan@gmail.com