Seafarers’ Welfare Programme in South East Asia Launched
98 delegates representing 26 nationalities came to the Downtown East Resort in Singapore to participate in the ICMA Regional Meeting (13 & 14 Sept 07), the Ship Welfare Visitor Course (15 & 16 Sept 07), and the ICSW seafarers’ welfare seminar (17 to 20 Sept 07). Mr. Lim Swee Say, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore and Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress delivered the keynote address during the opening ceremony of the seminar.
At the seminar’s closing plenary session the delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam adopted a 4-year seafarers’ welfare development programme for South East Asia. The programme will encourage the formation of welfare committees to assist in the provision of welfare facilities for seafarers in the ports where none exist.
One of the main points of the seminar was the focus on ship visiting. Capt Derrick Atkinson of BW Shipping in Singapore provided evidence that most seafarers have no contact at all with welfare workers. Two Burmese seafarers related how they had also had no contact with any kind of ship visitor during their time at sea. The SIRC report on port- based welfare services for seafarers provided evidence to support this and delegates were challenged to try to change the situation in their countries on their return home by instituting a plan for coordinated ship visiting.
Representatives of ship owners, unions, religious organisations, port authorities and governments will form a Regional Welfare Committee, scheduled to meet by the end of May 2008 to initiate the programme.
The programme will be funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and monitored by the ICSW. “We have had a fantastic seminar”, said ICSW Chairman Bjørn Lødøen, which “highlighted by unprecedented cooperation and friendship across all cultural, religious and professional divides, thus fulfilling the ICSW’s mission to relieve the distress, suffering and need of seafarers irrespective of sex, race or creed”.
This new project mirrors successful regional programmes already achieved in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. The ICSW seminar was financed by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and The TK Foundation. (Source: ICSW, Maritime Global Net, and Shipping and Shipbuilding News, Sept 2007)
See also: Singapore 2007 ICSW Regional Seminar for South East Asia
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