UN Ocean Summit Tries to Prevent Seas From Becoming ‘Wild West'
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Today's newsletter looks at some of the highlights from this week's United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.
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Vermont rural council welcomes climate innovators
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Hamilton Spectator
11 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Who's Looking Out for the Seafarers?
As Nathan Smith reached the deck of the freighter Sakizaya Youth, a bulk carrier as long as two football fields, two crew members came to greet him. The ship was docked at the Alliance Grain Terminal in Vancouver, and the crew — 'seafarers' in the language of shipping — would soon be on their way to the next port in Panama. They are part of a global workforce keeping some 50,000 freighters — and the goods they carry — going from port to port. Life at sea offers steady employment and, for workers from many countries, above-average wages. But it also brings the risk of exploitation and abuse. Seafarers are far from home, dependent on the shipping company and often unaware of their few legal protections. That's why Smith was climbing onto the Sakizaya Youth. 'We're just here to talk about a few things, make sure everything's in line,' Smith told waiting ship's officers. 'We're here for you. We're not here to cause any trouble; we just want to find out if everything's OK.' Smith worked on tugboats in Canada for more than a decade before becoming an inspector for the International Transport Workers' Federation, or ITF, in 2018. On this surprise visit he brought seven others — inspectors from the United States, union officials and longshore workers. Smith is British Columbia's sole inspector for the federation and is used to visiting ships alone. The group visit was part of a plan to reach out to longshore workers and raise their awareness of the world of seafarers. 'I just want to open up their eyes to what's going on, so they can also keep an eye out for seafarers when they see problems,' he said. The ITF is a global federation of about 700 trade unions, representing about 20 million transport workers across the world. International organizations including the United Nations and the World Economic Forum recognize the federation as a representative and advocate for seafarers. The April 25 inspection of the Sakizaya Youth marked the start of the ITF's first North American week of action to raise awareness about the working conditions of seafarers. Smith said the industry is rife with systemic exploitation, violence and extreme working conditions. Workers go where the ships take them and have little control over when they return home to their families. 'These are among the most exploited workers in the world and Canada is not helping,' he said. That Friday morning, Smith and eight others gathered at the Maritime Labour Centre in East Vancouver. In attendance were ITF inspectors Ryan Brazeau and Sam Levens from the U.S. west coast, plus members and officials of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. ILWU Canada president Rob Ashton spoke to the group. 'You all know the severity of the conditions of these workers. As we go onto these vessels, remember that you have their lives in your hands,' Ashton said. 'I'd say you're doing God's work today, but I'm not religious. Instead, I'll say you're doing the good work of the labour movement.' First, the group would head to the Flying Angel Mission to Seafarers at the Port of Vancouver hoping to catch up with some seafarers. Then they planned to conduct a surprise inspection of the three ships docked at Vancouver grain terminals. The International Transport Workers' Federation has agreements with many employers of unionized workers giving representatives authority to board and inspect ships. By industry estimates, the ITF represents more than half of all seafarers. By the federation's own estimate, it represents approximately one million seafarers. The International Chamber of Shipping, a shipowners association, in turn estimates approximately 1.9 million people serve on international merchant ships. Seafarers play a critical role globally and in Vancouver's economy. According to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the port receives about 3,000 ships each year, enabling $300 billion worth of trade with 170 different countries. On board these ships, seafarers are responsible for a wide range of duties including navigation, ship maintenance, cooking and handling cargo. But the job can be risky. At the group's morning gathering, the inspectors and union members swapped stories about problems. ILWU Local 400 president Jason Woods pulled out a black and white picture from 1976 of then-ITF inspector Tom McGrath surrounded by mouldy potatoes in a ship's kitchen. Smith said bad food is still an issue. Food is expensive in Canadian ports, he said. 'Because the company gives crews a budget, they prefer to hold off until they go to places where they have cheaper food,' he said. 'There's always problems with rotting food, rotting vegetables and not enough food.' And then there are visa issues. Seafarers don't need a visa from Canada if they're passing through the port, or even visiting the city during their brief time here. But for workers nearing the end of their contracts — or any seafarer hoping to go home — visas and travel approvals can become critical. They don't need a work permit to leave Canada, but the worker who arrives to replace them might. Smith said that earlier this year, a cook from the Philippines learned his wife was suffering from a terminal illness. But his path to flying home was complicated. The shipowner wanted someone to take over his responsibilities as cook before buying him a ticket home. Emails between the ITF, the employer and a seafarer charity obtained by The Tyee corroborate the story. In April, the cook reached out to the Mission to Seafarers, a charity, for help. According to a chaplain at the mission, the cook's wife was terminally ill with days left to live. The cook wasn't sure he could go home until the ship could bring in another cook to replace him — a process that can often take more than a week while the replacement worker waits for a visa. The chaplain reached out to the ITF for help getting the cook home. The next day, the company agreed to fly the cook back and another seafarer stepped up to take over the cook's duties until it reached the next port. 'Canadian visa restrictions make arrangements on short notice impossible,' the ship manager said in an email to the Smith. 'We are presently in progress to arrange... to sail without a cook to next port, where a reliever can join.' It's a common issue in Canada, according to Smith. If a seafarer's contract is up and they need to head home from Canada, their ship needs replacement workers — called relievers — to take over their roles. But instead of getting visas for relievers to fly into Canada, shipowners will often pressure fatigued seafarers into staying on board past the length of their contract. In an email to The Tyee, Mary Rose Sabater, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, said relievers aren't required to get a Canadian work permit — a document separate from a visa that grants foreign nationals the right to work in Canada — but it's recommended they apply for a temporary resident visa. She said seafarers do need to have a valid passport and paperwork proving they have a contract to work on an international vessel. However, IRCC says on its website that foreign workers may need a visa or special travel documents to enter Canada before joining a vessel as a crew member, depending on their country of origin. Sabater added the department recommends seafarers apply for temporary resident visas anyway, 'to avoid any delays or complications upon arrival.' 'IRCC recommends that seafarers submit their applications a minimum of four weeks in advance of their planned travel, where possible,' Sabater said. IRCC says on its website it takes 27 days to process visas for relievers from the Philippines, 19 days for workers from India and 24 days for workers from China. Smith said it often takes longer in practice. He said it usually takes workers from India three months to get the paperwork they need to come relieve workers, and workers from the Philippines one month. Smith said most companies try to plan ahead to relieve crews. But some ships press workers to stay on board until they can reach another port. Transport Canada and the ITF check some seafarers' contracts to see if they have already expired, but Smith said shipowners would rather gamble on having an inspector catch them keeping seafarers on board past their tenures during a random inspection than go through the visa process. 'Seafarers cry out to us, saying that they want to go home, that they feel like a prisoner on board,' Smith said. At sea, shipowners and captains have near-absolute control over sailors' lives. Seafarers' working environment is predominantly male, physically tough and isolated. The conditions often breed violence and exploitation, and sailors frequently struggle with mental health and suicide, said Brazeau with the International Transport Workers' Federation. A study published last year in the journal International Maritime Health surveyed 788 seafarers in France and found about 66 per cent of female respondents and 38 per cent of male respondents said they had been sexually harassed while at sea. One-fifth said they had been victims of sexual harassment in the past 12 months. Then there's the risk of abandonment, when companies end the employment of seafarers in a foreign port without providing any way for them to get home. And often without paying the wages owed. While abandonment is sometimes because of a bad-faith employer, it often happens when a shipowner goes out of business or becomes insolvent, according to the ITF. The International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization run a database tracking cases of abandonment worldwide — the vast majority of which were reported by the ITF. Once workers are abandoned at foreign ports, it's up to workers' groups, port authorities and state governments to bring them home. So far this year, the online database lists 70 cases of abandonment — 37 of which are still unresolved. Last year, there were 308 cases of abandonment, with 54 cases being unresolved. That's a sharp rise from fewer than 20 cases per year between 2011 to 2016. The last case of abandonment at a Canadian port was reported in 2014, when 12 crew members were stranded when the ship's owner suddenly stopped contacting crew. The case was resolved when the City of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, held a fundraiser to send the seafarers home to Turkey and an airline donated the tickets they needed. The ITF's Smith said many cases never get reported because seafarers' workplaces are isolated and precarious and their access to labour law and complaint processes is limited. Transport Canada spokesperson Sau Sau Liu said in an email that Canada is a signatory to the Maritime Labour Convention, which sets out the labour standards for seafarers. Lui added the department inspects vessels arriving from international ports based on complaints, risks or vessel profiles to ensure they comply with the convention. 'If non-compliances are observed, the inspector can order the detention of the vessel until the matter is resolved,' Liu said. Back in Vancouver, Smith and the other campaigners headed to their first stop, the Mission to Seafarers at the Vancouver port. The mission has been offering services to seafarers visiting Vancouver since 1973. Its blue wood heritage building was built in 1905 as a showpiece for BC Mills Timber and Trading Co. and has been used as the headquarters for the Vancouver Harbour Commissioners and the National Harbours Board. Now it's home to a tuxedo cat named Archie, with a foyer that features a makeshift shop offering low-priced snacks, drinks and warm clothes for seafarers passing through Vancouver. There are tables, chairs and couches where they can relax, although most show up just looking for a place to nap, said senior port chaplain Peter Smyth. The inspectors and union members arrived with stacks of pizza and pamphlets about mental health, hoping to connect with ship workers. But the seafarers who do come to the mission decide they would rather use the time to explore the city. One sports a blue 'Vancouver' hoodie, a souvenir of his first visit to the city. The Tyee agreed to protect his identity because he feared retribution from his employer. Last year, the sailor, who is from the Philippines, worked on a small cargo ship that only travelled the Baltic Sea. In March, he signed on for a nine-month contract on a container ship operating on the Pacific Ocean. He says he's looking forward to returning home to his family by Christmas. 'Since this is my first container ship, it's a little bit more of an adjustment,' he said. 'But I can adapt to any kind of work.' Work at sea can be challenging, he said. 'If we encounter some bad weather, it's very difficult to work because you feel dizzy, you feel like vomiting,' he said. 'It's good to work on a big vessel like this. You get less seasick.' The sailor said he previously worked at an airport in the Philippines. But working at sea paid better. 'I can earn some big money — more than working on land,' he said. Last month in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Labour Organization — a United Nations agency that establishes international employment standards — set the 2026 global minimum wage for seafarers at US$690 per month — approximately C$954. That's more than double the minimum wage in the Philippines. And it's a solidly middle-class salary, by international standards. According to the International Labour Organization's global wage report, the median wage of lower-middle-class workers internationally was US$448 per month in 2021. But money isn't the only reason people are attracted to the work, said Helio Vicente, director of employment affairs at the International Chamber of Shipping. 'It's exciting,' he said. 'If you want to explore the world, that is one of the big attractions of seafaring.' The chamber is a trade association representing more than 80 per cent of the shipowners and employers that make up the world merchant fleet. Vicente said the International Chamber of Shipping has 'worked incredibly hard' with the International Transport Workers' Federation to address some of the systemic issues facing seafarers. Visas for relievers are a priority, according to Vicente. He said the employer association participated in discussions about how to improve visa processes at the annual International Labour Organization meeting in April and it will be a topic of discussion next year. 'What we want to do ahead of that meeting is really take stock about how we can help... and find ways to address the need for seafarers to be moving around in a way that's much freer,' he said. He added the association is working to reduce abandonment cases alongside the International Labour Organization, which established a task force to address the issue in April 2024. 'Abandonment is a complete scourge on us as an industry and it gives everybody a bad reputation,' Vicente said. 'We are meant to look after our workforce.' He said the task force's first priority is to organize data on abandonment, so trends can be identified and addressed. Vicente added that to ensure instances of violence and harassment on ships can be addressed, the employer association participated in conversations last year about ways to make it easier for employees to report misconduct. He said the reporting framework is evolving and he hopes it creates reliable channels for sailors to report breaches of their rights. 'We're doing absolutely everything we can to address the issue,' he said. 'The ability for seafarers to report in the comfort and knowledge that they will not be retaliated against is important.' Tiny particles of grain dust blew off the Sakizaya Youth into a westerly wind as the labour campaigners walked on board. The bulk carrier ship was docked in Vancouver for a few days to fill with grain before starting the two-week trip to Panama. The vessel was owned by Wisdom Marine Group, a Taiwanese shipping company that did not respond to The Tyee's requests for comment. It flew a Panamanian flag and had a crew of 21 workers of Chinese nationality. Smith explained to the captain — the only crew member in plain clothes — that he was with the International Transport Workers' Federation and planned to do an inspection. The first priority was to check the provisions locker where the ship stored its food. An officer in blue coveralls led the way downstairs to the provisions locker. The ship's storage room for food was kept cold. It was filled with produce that looked fresh and unspoiled, though it had not been restocked since April 7 — more than two weeks prior. 'How long is it going to last for, that's my concern,' said Sam Levens, one of the U.S.-based ITF inspectors. 'This is a lot of fresh stuff.' The cook, who did not offer his name, explained the ship planned to restock provisions when it reached Panama in two weeks. The ship budgeted US$8.50 per crew member per day for provisions — a budget that would go much further at its next port. Back upstairs, Smith pored through a binder of paperwork including collective agreements and time cards. He had noticed the crew's time cards were filled in uniformly, reporting each member had worked exactly 44 hours per week with no overtime. The crew had all been on board for about nine months. According to the captain, the plan was to send the crew home when they arrived in Panama. That was in line with the crew's contracts, which said they would stay on board for nine months — plus or minus one month. The International Labour Organization standard for seafarers is that the maximum period of service on board is 11 months. A couple of hours after arriving, Smith announced the inspection had come to an end. But before he left, the captain asked for a picture. The captain, crew and labour campaigners all headed back to the deck, where they posed for a shot with the black flag of the International Transport Workers' Federation. One crew member held up an ITF pamphlet about managing mental health. The group planned more inspections and crew engagement over the next few days in Surrey and Delta before taking the campaign south of the Canadian border. Smith said he plans to turn the awareness campaign — and the practice of bringing longshore workers along for inspections — into an annual event. He said he hopes that by building connections between seafarers and port workers, he can strengthen seafarers' access to labour rights here in Canada. 'The more we talk to these seafarers, the more we can grow this,' he said. 'Hopefully, seafarers can start to feel more and more comfortable.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. 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New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
When Myth Is the Message
This personal reflection is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: What is history? You can read more by visiting The Big Ideas series page. We in the modern world tend to understand the word 'myth' as a synonym for 'falsehood.' But that is not how our ancestors understood it. Indeed, the ancient mind did not draw the same line between myth and fact that we do. Whether we are speaking of Zeus forcing his father to vomit up his siblings or Jesus being born in a manger, these tales were never meant to be read as factual reports. They were meant to fire the imagination, to illuminate hidden truths and, most of all, to bring about transformation. The power of myth lies in its capacity to move a listener from one state of being to another — from confusion to clarity, from despair to hope, from disorientation to meaning. Myths are the packaging for truth. They are the language of religion. Scripture deals in what might be called 'sacred history,' a narrative realm that blends fact and fiction to convey timeless truths. The authors and transmitters of these sacred texts were not seeking facts; they were seeking meaning. Our modern conception of history — the critical analysis of observable and verifiable past events — is only a handful of centuries old. It arose alongside the Enlightenment and the scientific method in the 1600s, and while immensely valuable, it is not the lens through which sacred texts were written. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
