Marine Engineering, Navigation and Maritime Law Developments
On 23rd March 2021, the 20,000 TEU Ultra-Large Container ship, Ever Given, was transiting the Suez Canal when it got stuck cross-ways across the canal with its bulbous bow jamming itself on one bank of the canal and the stern only around 4 metres from the other bank effectively closing the canal for transit.
The Seamen’s Provident Fund Organisation looks after the Seamen’s Provident Fund Scheme which was framed under the Seamen’s Provident Fund Act, 1966 ( 4 of 1966 ). The Act was introduced retrospectively w.e.f. 1st July, 1964 to provide for the institution of a Provident Fund for all Seamen. To administer the Provident Fund Scheme, the office of the Seamen’s Provident Fund Commissioner was established on the 9th July , 1966.
In the 1950s, the concept of an universal identification document was brought up before the ILO and accordingly the International Labour Organisation (ILO) put forward the ILO Convention C108 on the seafarers Identity Document. India is a signatory to this convention and accordingly issues a Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) – cum – Seafarers Identity Document to its seafarers.
Continue reading “What is the Seafarer Identity Document?”I finally got home in end-July even though I had completed my contract in mid- May only because the company I work with decided to divert the ship in order to effect a change of crew. Some of the crew members who got off the ship with me had completed 13 months onboard.
Continue reading “Sailing during the COVID-19 pandemic”
On 02nd July, DG Shipping issued a circular regarding Maritime Training Institutes charging exorbitant fees via agents, issuing certificates to candidates who do not have the requisite attendance or those candidates who just pay the fees for the course and ask for the certificate.
Continue reading “DG Shipping issues circular about fraudulent course certificates”
Maritime Outlook 