WASHINGTON D.C., United States––If there is any one group that’s severely victimized and traumatized by the onslaught of high seas piracy by Somali pirates, it’s the hapless Filipino seafarers who work the ships.
But not everything is milk and honey at the high seas. Problems abound at every corner. There are times when the crew members are not paid their salaries for months or don’t have sufficient food, prompting them to commence protest actions on board the ships just so that their employment contracts are respected. Some Filipino sailors are also lured by the unknown in the various ports of call and end up being HIV-positive weeks or months later.
Moreover, some local manpower agencies which recruit the crew do not pay or remit to their families the bulk payment made by the European or North American ship owners, thus being victimized by one of their own. The lack of respect by foreign deck officers and captains is another epidemic in the industry, as are the ships’ substandard conditions in so-called “sweat ships.” The risks and perils of the seas likewise come with the territory. To read complete article click this here Philippine Inquirer 5/4/09
But not everything is milk and honey at the high seas. Problems abound at every corner. There are times when the crew members are not paid their salaries for months or don’t have sufficient food, prompting them to commence protest actions on board the ships just so that their employment contracts are respected. Some Filipino sailors are also lured by the unknown in the various ports of call and end up being HIV-positive weeks or months later.
Moreover, some local manpower agencies which recruit the crew do not pay or remit to their families the bulk payment made by the European or North American ship owners, thus being victimized by one of their own. The lack of respect by foreign deck officers and captains is another epidemic in the industry, as are the ships’ substandard conditions in so-called “sweat ships.” The risks and perils of the seas likewise come with the territory. To read complete article click this here Philippine Inquirer 5/4/09
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