INTRODUCTION
The maritime industry being a unique sector is not exempted from human right violations and abuses. With seafarers spending a greater part of their lives inside the ship after work, some actors have continued to fuel these abuses primarily due to low reportage, for economic gains and exploitation purposes. To improve human sustainability by 2030, this essay seeks to define some terminologies, capture some common maritime abuses, examine a case study, and proffer concrete measures to be taken by maritime stakeholders to address the issues.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.
Human sustainability is one category, which involves specific goals, strategies and methods implemented to preserve and improve the quality of human life.
CASE STUDY
What is the one thing that should be changed to make life better on board?
Capt. Penagiotis Batavanis- Free internet
Dimitrios Liakakos- Free internet access remains crucial for seafarers to improve their knowledge and connectivity with families ashore.
Capt. Dimitrios Giannakis- A greater problem is shore leave. Most of the times, all crew stay on board during port stay , either because the port does not allow short leave, or the time of vessel staying at port is very limited.
Capt. Ioanna Tzovara-Internet should be available and accessible for everybody; It is a necessity not a luxury. Being able to see and hear your loved ones is precious.
Yrhen Bernard Balinis- Colours should only be discriminated in rainbows never on skin. Your race, gender, age, religious belief and political inclination have nothing to do with how ell you should be treated or respected.
Eleni Lykofridi- Something realistic that can be done is free internet at fast speed on all ships.
Capt. James Foong- You’re from Malaysia, so are you a Muslim?
Ikenna Ebin Idika- Poor welfare of crew, which includes providing every basic need. Delay in payment of salaries which can cause depression.
Dimitrios Tsouvalas-Shorter contracts with constant and competitive salaries.
Capt. Dorjan Kopajtic-It should be the length of contract, shorter of course in my opinion.
COMMON HUMAN RIGHT ABUSES IN MARITIME
* Forced labour and slavery: This happens when individuals are trafficked into a crew position without contractual agreements to protect their rights.
* Bullying and harassment: This is often targeted at the vulnerable crewmembers and takes the shade of sexual harassment against women.
* Excessive working hours and low wages: Since seafarers do not leave at the end of the working day like other professions, crews often fall victim of exploitation especially for those with no alternative options.
*Abandonment: Due to financial constraint or escape from wages, some ship owners abandon seafarers at foreign ports without basic needs for survival.
*Piracy: Pirates in high-risk areas often expose seafarers to prolonged captivity and trauma thereby, abusing their right to freedom.
ABCD ACTIONS TO ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHT ISSUES
ABOLISHING ABANDONEMENT
Although the sole aim of operating most businesses is to make profit, the practice where owners of vessels and shipping companies abandon seafarers at foreign ports due to financial constraints or escape financial obligations should be abolished immediately. Stakeholders should keep updated records of such occurrences and revoke the licences of those unwilling to change.
BARRING ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, BULLYING AND PIRACY
Due to the diversity existing in the maritime industry, many subtle human right abuses comes in shades of one’s race, religion, age, etc. Stakeholders should create awareness courses to enlighten seafarers and the public about the need to respect everyone. Those who fail to comply can be given lengthy suspensions to serve as a deterrent to others.
Maritime companies should be encouraged to offer unlimited quota system for the female gender to create some form of equality in the male dominated industry.
In addition, policies that will protect women against sexual harassment should be enforced to protect women rights.
In high-risk areas where pirates operate, maritime forces should pull resources together to curb pirates and reduce exposure to prolonged captivity.
CONSCIENTIZED CONTRACTING
Due to economic insecurity, many seafarers are languishing in forced labour, slavery, excessive working hours and lower wages that is against the fundamental human right tenets. With gleanings from the case study confirming the inhumane working conditions of seafarers, stakeholders should as a matter of urgency adopt a conscientized contract approach. Contracts should be shortened and augmented with competitive salaries to enable seafarers have frequent offshore vacations to refresh. Stricter punishment should be meted to traffickers recruiting slaves into crew positions without formal contracts.
With all crew staying on board during port stay either because a port does not allow shore leave or shortened vessel staying time at port, it is important for stakeholders to relax these rules to enable seafarers express their right for movement and association.
DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE MARITIME INTERNET
This is the process by which, the internet rapidly continues to become available, accessible, and affordable for seafarers. From the responses captured in the case study, it is safe to conclude that lack the lack of internet poses a great challenge for players in the maritime sector. With cruise ships charging $0.75 to $10 per minute for internet usage, it makes it difficult for many seafarers to leverage upon this provision to exercise their freedom of expression with their loved on and the rest of the world. Without this, many become victims of depression, mental torture and suicide.
I advise stakeholders to liaise with non-governmental organizations to provide free internet connections for seafarers to enable them exercise their human rights.
Furthermore, network providers should be encouraged to provide drones onshore with the capacity to provide cheap and fast internet services for seafarers.
Provision should be made to provide seafarers with free internet services daily during leisure periods to enable socialization.
Experience shows that when resources are pulled together, bulk data can be purchased at cheaper rates for internet usage. A memoranda of understanding should be signed to effect this if the other measures fail.
CONCLUSION
Although lessons from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are glaring, leveraging upon the migratory nature of the maritime industry is an effective way to translate the ripple effects of ABCD actions to address human right and ensure global human sustainability.
REFERENCES
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