Vol.4 No.4 July/August 2007

Japan targets
Filipino crews
Japan and the Philippines
further strengthened theircooperation on crew training
recently with an agreementin Manila to set up a committee to implement provisionsof the manning accord.
Signatories included International Mariners Management Association of Japan
Chairman Nobuo Kayahara,
Philippine-Japan Manning
Consultative Council President Eduardo Manese, All
Japan Seamen’s Union President Yoji Fujisawa, Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines President Gregorio Oca,
and Philippine Seafarers’
Union President Democrito
Mendoza.
The initiative is seen as
another step in joint efforts toenhance the competency of
Asian seafarers. Japaneseowners/managers want topromote the Philippine manning sector as Filipinos arecrew on more than 2,000Japanese-controlled ships andwill be employed to man 500600 newbuildings scheduled
to be delivered by 2010.
(Lloyd’s Register/Fairplay)

IBF WELFARE FUND JOINTPANEL MEETING

Former president of the
JSU Sakae Idemoto was
replaced by JSU President
Yoji Fujisawa as a member of
the Joint Panel. Fundamental
statistics on contributions to
the fund by each member of
JNG were confirmed as far as
they were noted by the secretariat, and the financial reporton the balance of the fund wasapproximately GBP488,468(about US$990,377) as of endApril 2007.
It was also agreed that toensure the practical auditingof expenditure procedures by
the Joint Panel, the program
should be approved by the
ITF-affiliated union in the
country of which the applicant
group exists before the block
application will be applied.
Furthermore, it was confirmed that a detailed time-Sex&
Smokin’
Page 3

Japan, Philippines unite on manning
Two nations form
prep committee
on seafarer issues
For Japan, it is an important issue to secure Japanese seamen and educate/train successors for bothinternational and domestic
services.
The issue is being discussed by the Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure andTransport (MLIT), which
recently released an interim
report.
Shortages of high-quality
seafarers have become avery serious problem inother countries as well,developing into an international issue.
The All Japan Seamen’s
Union (JSU) – which strives
to protect rights and maintain/improve employment
and labor conditions for all
seamen, including non-domiciled special members – willcontinue to develop activities
energetically in close partnership with the AssociatedMarine Officers’ and Sea-

IBF first-round negotiations on
welfare fund held in Sydney
The International Bargaining Forum welfare fund’s
Joint Panel Meeting and thefirst IBF round negotiationfor 2008 and 2009 was held
in Sydney May 22-25, 2007,
with JSU representatives
accompanying JSU’s president taking part in the debates. A summary of themeeting’s outcomes follows:

I
N
S
I
D
E

table and plan for expenditure would be involved in the
proposal.
IBF Working Groupon Unresolved Issues

The so-called “working
group” on unresolved issues
agreed that it should avoid adetailed debate as it mightsour relations and prejudice
the overall outcome.
A high level officers meeting took place in Tokyo, July4, 2007 with six representatives on each side.
IBF NEGOTIATIONS

Key points of the ITF
Claims for an IBF Framework Agreement for 20082009 were presented by eachside, as follows:a) A 10 percent increase intotal crew cost (TCC) andadditional increase of overtime for officers;b) The integration of theInternational Labor Organization (IBF)’s management levelcourse provisions with the IBF
Framework TCC Agreement;c) Political partnershipissues should be resolved bymutual cooperation;d) Establishment of thedeveloping economy countries’
ratings fund under the IBF
Framework TCC Agreement.

The signatories of the new crew-training scheme gather,from left to right, Nobuo Kayahara, IMMAJ chairman;
Capt. Gregorio Oca, president of AMOSUP; Yoji Fujisawa,president of JSU; Democrito Mendoza, president of PSU
and Eduardo Manese, president of PJMCC

men’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) and thePhilippine Seafarers’ Union(PSU), which are both influential seafarers’ labor unions
in the Philippines.
Improvements in mariners’ quality, however, cannot be achieved simply
through labor movements.

Sailors must all work hardthemselves if they are to provide the outstanding manpower that is required.
As such, the government,labor, and management sectors of Japan and the Philippines took the initiative
recently in signing a memorandum of understanding(MOU) on the establishmentof a committee in preparation for the Japan/Philippine
Officials, Seafarers andEmployers Colloquium on
Seafarers’ Issues, to work on
seamen-related issues in the
Asia-Pacific region, mainly
on securing mariners, educating/training future sailors, and improving seamen’scapabilities.
A signing ceremony washeld at 5 p.m. on July 12 at
the JSU-AMOSUP Mariners’ Home in Manila, at
which time the MOU was
signed by Chairman Nobuo
Kayahara of the International Mariners Management
Association of Japan(IMMAJ), President Eduardo U. Manese of PhilippineJapan Manning Consultative Council Inc. (PJMCC),AMOSUP President Gregorio S. Oca, PSU National
President Democrito T. Mendoza, and JSU President
Yoji Fujisawa.
The JSU aims to have thefive heavyweights consolidate labor and union in tackling seafarer policies in 19
economies in the Asia-Pacificregion.

JSU, seamen join FOC/POC campaign
The following are reportson the 73rd Nationwide FOC& POC Campaign and ITF
East Asia FOC & POC Campaign, which was carried out
with major support from seamen.

time.
2) Campaign Results

1) Seamen and Ports/Harbors Cooperate in FOC &POC Campaign

During the recent campaign, seamen and port/harbor conferences for tacklingflag-of-convenience (FOC)
vessels and ports of convenience (POCs) established in
15 zones across Japan
moved in step with eachother for the first time.
The campaign was run
July 2-6 at 39 major ports inJapan, joined by the National Council of Dockworkers’
Unions of Japan (Zenkoku
Kowan) and the Japanese
Confederation of Port andHarbor Transport Workers’
Unions (Koun Domei).
Seamen and port/harborworker unions of South
Korea and Taiwan also participated.
At a time when tonnage isincreasing worldwide, theworld is suffering serious
seamen shortages.
Efforts were made to seek
the ratification of the International Transport Workers’
Federation (ITF) Agree-

JSU inspectors board a
vessel during the FOC campaign.

ment, focusing upon: noncompliant FOC vessels thathave negative impacts, suchas unforgivably unfair competition and illegal labor
acts; notorious Hong Kongand Singapore-flag ships;
and other blacklisted vessels.
Messrs. Bayani A. Jaboli
and Eduardo E. Galang, whoare both the JSU’s international service staff, joined
the campaign on a full scalefrom this year for the first

During the campaign, 127
commercial vessels were
inspected in Japan, at whichtime investigations weremade via dialogues withmasters and other crewmembers into whether or
not they carry copies of the
ITF Agreement, and they
comply with it. On ships
where problems were discovered, requests were made totheir operating companies toconclude and comply withthe agreement.
As a result, five vessels
signed the ITF Agreement
and four promised to havenegotiations. Complaints
were made by crewmembersof two ships, and efforts arebeing made now to work on
their complaints.
In respect to Panamanianflag FOC vessel Apollo Beni,
mariners and ports/harbors
cooperated with each otherin staging protests at thePort of Yokohama, indicating they would reject tocarry out cargo handling
activities for the ship, demanding that it comply with
the ITF Agreement. Apollo
Beni’s owner still refuses to
ratify the agreement, but
Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha,(Continued on page 3)

M A R I T I M E N E W S /W A R N I N G S(2)Port Kembla
incident irks
trade group
The International Transport Workers’ Federation(ITF) has expressed outrage
at the use of seafarers to carryout specialized dock work following an incident in Port
Kembla, Australia on May 29.
Italian-owned, Malteseregistered bulker Capo Noliis at the center of local andinternational protests after
the crew were told to unload
the vessel’s gypsum cargo.
Capo Noli, a non-self-discharging vessel, was on its
first visit to Port Kembla ona charter for Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), having
replaced an Australianflagged and crewed ship.
The Filipino crew wereasked to unload the cargousing the ship’s equipment –a direct violation of theterms of the ITF-approved
International Bargaining
Forum (IBF) agreement covering the ship.
This states that neither
ships’ crews nor others on
board can be asked to carryout cargo handling workwithout the prior agreementof the local dockers’ union.
Members of the ITF’s affiliate in Australia, the Maritime Union of Australia(MUA), have traditionallycarried out this work. In
another violation of theagreement, the local ITF
inspector was denied accessto the crew.
A community picket sprung
up to support the union andmessages of solidarity with
the Port Kembla workers
poured in from all over Australia. Workers fear that theincident heralds further
attacks on proper conditions
on the Australian waterfront.
The ITF and the MUA
were concerned about thebreach of the agreement andits safety implications.
“ITF unions worldwide areappalled by this incident,”
said ITF General Secretary
David Cockroft. (Lloyd’s Register/Fairplay)

JULY/AUGUST 2007

Report calls for change in maritime welfare services
A new report by the Seafarers’ International Research Center has said maritime welfare services need tochange their approach if they
are to meet the needs of seafarers, echoing similar callsin the industry for change.
The report, “Port-based
welfare services for seafarers,” commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)’s Seafarers’ Trust which was published last week, documents a
year-long research project,which surveyed seafarers andship operators worldwide.
The report aimed to identify what facilities were needed, by seafarers not currently
using shore-based services,from the ITF Seafarers’
Trust and other concernedorganizations.
The survey looked at
responses from 4,000 seafarers and indicated that despite the efforts of maritime
welfare agencies, services
provided were not meetingthe needs of men at sea.
For example, it was revealed that port-based facili-ties were often bypassed as aresult of the degrading social
life at sea over the last decade.
Ship to shore communications also emerged as one of
the most mentioned concerns– the majority said they werestill not allowed to use email
when at sea, despite its existence on most vessels.
“Dramatic though theseresults are, they will notcome as a complete surprise
to ourselves and our friends
in the maritime welfare community, who are alreadyplanning ahead to meet thischange,” said ITF Seafarers’
Trust Secretary Tom Holmer.
He said that despite the“magnificent efforts” of agencies so far, they have suspected for some time that services are no longer meeting
seafarers needs.
“The loss of shore leave,
more than anything else, hasbrought us to a world where
the accommodation and services offered in seafarers’
centers must now be supplemented by new types of support,” he said. (ITF)

South Korea
moves to tackle
officer shortage

Japan’s biggest carrier group, NYK, invests in Filipino youth. (Photo courtesy of Shipping andTrade News)NYK opens training academy
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) opened its
NYK-TDG (Transnational Diversified
Group) Maritime Academy in the Philippines
last week, with the country’s President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as its guest of honor.
The new academy has a ship handling simulator, refrigerating plant simulator, language laboratories, an audio visual room,computer lab., library internet facilities, aswimming pool, a lifeboat and other training
equipment.
Josephine Francisco, president of NYK-Fil
Shipmanagement, the company’s Philippines-based crewing and training arm, says
the academy’s standard is well above theCommission on Higher Education’s current

Making a Difference“SHIPS VISITS from the union staff can improve our living
conditions,” said Capt. Benedicto E. Espedido and the crew ofBlue Ocean, posing with union officer Eduardo Galang andISS trainees Alejandro Ingente and John Canto.

requirements.
The initial intake of 120 deck and engine
cadets have been assured of employment
with NYK on graduation as they work
towards their captain and chief engineer
tickets over the next 10 years.
The NYK-TDG Maritime Academy differsfrom other maritime institutions in thePhilippines as the only maritime school
owned and funded by a single ship owner.
Ninety percent of the cadets are taking thefour-year Baccalaureate courses under a“study-now pay-later plan,” Francisco said.
“We take the [investment] risk because wehave faith in the Filipino youth,” sheexplained. (Lloyd’s Register/Fairplay)

Vietnam and South Korea
have signed an agreementthat will provide for joint,
reciprocal recognition of one
another’s ship officer licenses, which should help to ease
South Korea’s officer shortage.
The agreement will alsoenable South Korean companies to secure engineers, aswell as allowing South Korean officers to serve alongside
their Vietnamese counterparts on Vietnamese ships
and vice versa.
The agreement does not,however, specify on which
vessels the officers areallowed to serve.
The deal will be renewed
automatically after five
years providing neither
country reneges on it before
then. Currently about 500
foreign officers are employedby South Korean companies,
mostly from Myanmar(Burma), the Philippines
and China.
The country has faced ashortage of its own seamen
in recent years as maritime
graduates have deserted theshipping profession to workin other sectors of the booming economy. (Lloyd’s Register/Fairplay)

DOLE to train/assist Filipino seafarers
In a bid to further improve
the quality of Filipino seafarers, the Philippine
Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) will
establish a maritime office
to provide training and otherforms of assistance to thegrowing number of seamen.
Labor Secretary Arturo
Brion said the maritime
office will be directly under
his supervision, but it will
have a full-time maritime
officer, L/Cdr Eustacio Nimrod Enriquez as its head.
Currently serving as
deputy executive director of
the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) in Tacloban,
Enriquez will be in charge ofproviding training and assistance to Filipino seafarers,
when he transfers to the
DOLE in Intramuros, Manila for full-time work as
assistant on maritime
affairs to Brion.
Earlier, Brion met withstakeholders in the maritime industry to formulatea joint action on how toapproach common concerns
in the industry.
He said the Maritime
Office will be at the frontline
in carrying out the collaborative efforts of DOLE andits partners in the maritime
industry.
The creation of the Maritime Office, he said, isessential in view of developments in the maritime sector, adding that Enriquez
will assist him in expanding
developments beneficial toFilipino seafarers.
Danish Maersk Lines’
training facility was launched recently in Ozamis
City, in collaboration with
the Northwestern Mindanao
Institute of Technology(NMIT).
Brion said the facility provides special training on theculinary arts, such as Danish cooking, in view of thefact that Danish chefs are
getting older and set toretire in the near future.
(Lloyd’s Register/Fairplay)

S E A FARERS C O R N E R

JULY/AUGUST 2007

Smoking ain’t
cool for your toolDespite an old-fashioned association ofsmoking with a“macho” image, the real effectof smoking on a man’s libido
is quite different. Researchshows that smoking canresult in low sperm counts, adecreased quality of semen
and even impotence.
Chemicals in cigarettes
are toxic to sperm cells;enough to lower their number and density, and reduce
their mobility. They cause
damage to the DNA of developing sperm cells, whichleads to an increased risk ofinfertility.
These are just some of themany reasons why men who
consider having children are
advised to give up smoking
for good.

Statistics show that smokers are twice as likely to suffer from impotence thannon-smokers. It also leads
to artery damage whenplaques form on the artery’s
inner lining, slowing theflow of blood to the penis,
and causing an inability tomaintain an erection, due tothe abnormal decline ofblood pressure.
Experts state that recovery from erectile dysfunction
can sometimes be achieved
after quitting smoking, but
depends on the level of damage that smoking has inflicted on the body.
In a male-dominated environment, it is not surprising
to hear men openly brag
about their sexual prowess,
yet, when it comes to the

A fatigued seaman takes a break while performing an
arduous task.

topic of an inability to perform well, they usually
shrug it off, preferring to bequiet about it.
However, quitting smoking is not always an easy
feat, as many people suffer
withdrawal symptoms,

including irritability, difficulty concentrating, feelingsof depression, difficulty
sleeping, increased appetite,cravings and headaches.
These symptoms often
start just a few hours after
the last cigarette. The first(3)
72 hours of quitting are said
to be the hardest, but symptoms may persist for weeks.
Smokers have learned
that a cigarette will relievethese symptoms in a few
moments, which makes it
hard to abstain.
Several “quit smoking”
programs have been developed to help smokers overcome tobacco dependency,
including counseling services and arranging an“accountability partner” orsupport group to help overcome the addiction.
Another alternative, nicotine replacement therapy(NRT) products, such as
nicotine gum, helps one takecontrol of cigarette cravings,
by reducing symptoms of
nicotine withdrawal after
quitting smoking.
When combined with willpower, NRT can double thesuccess rate of quitting andhelps in overcoming nicotine
dependence. The World
Health Organization also
advocates the use of NRT,
which has helped millions ofsmokers quit worldwide.

VOICES fromSEAFARERS

FOC: JSU issues warnings to those against ITF pact

“Filipino Seafarers should receive
the same level of wages and benefits
as that of their counterparts in
Europe or other advanced countries
as we work the same type of ships.”
CAPT. RAYMUNDO M. CABALLES,MASTER OF
M/V PACIFIC SPIRIT(Continued from page 1)“Seafarers
should be
given incentives for their loyal workwith a certain company.”
2/O JIMMY L. LAO
MV GARDENIA ACE“On behalf ofall the Myanmar crew
onboard, we would like to thank the
JSU staff for their visits. By giving
us information regarding our agreement, we can now notify our company that they should provide or comply with the present agreement.”
CAPT. KYI LIN ZAW, MASTER OF
M/V GLOBAL EXPLORER

3) FOC Vessels Concluding the ITF Agreement
Increase in Number

CAPT. EDUARDO M. ESPERIDA JR., right,
and C/E ILDEFONSO S. HEMBRA, second
from right, recommended to
the visiting
JSU staff thatthe present
food allowance
be increased toat least US$8 due to high price ofprovisions.
“Overseas Filipino Workers arevery much affected by the sudden
strength of the Philippine currency.
The Philippine government should
set a standard rate for dollar remittances to help OFWs.”
CAPT. MELCHOR G. JAGUA,MASTER OF
M/V LUNA SPIRIT

which charters the vessel,
shippers, and the JSU are
persuading the shipowner tosign the agreement to develop healthy labor-management relations and easier-towork environments. It isprojected the owner must
continue to prepare itself
against protest activities
until it seals the agreement.
Among the 127, as manyas 60 did not carry copies of
the ITF Agreement.
The JSU is striving ambitiously to have such vessels
conclude the agreement assoon as possible by analyzing in detail the owners,
managers, and charters ofsuch FOC ships, and collecting information on theirports of call in partnershipwith their crewmembers.

The recent event was the73rd FOC campaign inJapan, the first of which was
carried out in 1984.
By 1984, when the campaign was inaugurated, only
a few commercial vessels
had signed the ITF Agreement.
Over the years since then,during which 73 campaigns
were conducted, the number
of FOC ships signing theagreement has reached1,828, and including nonFOC vessels, it has amounted to 2,100, onboard which
42,000 foreign seamen work.
Campaigns in Japan havebeen carried out jointly by
seamen and ports/harbors as
FOC & POC campaigns
since the ITF convened ameeting in Durban in Aug.
2006.
The Durban meeting
agreed on a campaign
against POCs, and it was
decided the agreement

would be incorporated in
FOC campaigns in Japan.
The ITF has decided tosupport campaigns in East
Asia that were commenced
seven years ago by Japan,
South Korea, and Taiwan,
and renamed them the ITF
East Asia FOC & POC Campaign.
4) The JSU Summarizes
Campaign Activities as
Follows:a) The JSU issued stern
warnings in all zones
against interested parties
concerned with commercial
ships that have rejected the
ITF Agreement and conduct
unfair competition.
At the Port of Yokohama,in particular, seamen andports/harbors staged firm
protest activities against
Apollo Beni, an unorganized
FOC ship, to maintain orderamong themselves, having avery big impact on society.
The JSU will continue
protest activities on anationwide scale;b) The JSU protested
strongly against illegal vessels that reject visits andinspections by, as well as
dialogues with, labor unions;
violate the right of workers
to organize (set forth in Article 28 of the Constitution ofJapan and the ILO’s Rightto Organize and Collective
Bargaining Convention);and repeat unfair competition practices.
During the recent campaign, the JSU opposed
them, using flyers.
The JSU will continue tostage protest activities andbring criticism with flyers;c) The JSU discovered that
only a few groups of dishonest shipping companies hadconstantly declined to comply with the ITF Agreement
and repeated unfair tradepractices.

The JSU will researchthese groups deeply, consolidate its strength nationwide
and worldwide, and concentrate on criticisms from society to make them sign theagreement; andd) Although non-ITF
unions in the Philippines(e.g., the ISLA, MATEU,
and UFS) and in Russia areenhancing their organizedactivities, their agreements
contain many problems,such as allowing operators
to have workers work illegally at low rates.
In partnership with the
ITF and ITF-affiliated labor
unions, the JSU will endeavor to have such shipowners
conclude the ITF Agreement.

JOKE CORNER
The Silent Treatment
The Bosun and his wife
were having problems andgiving one another the silent
treatment.
Realizing that he would
need his wife to wake him at
5 a.m. the next day for an
early morning flight to join
his ship, and not wanting tobe the first to break thesilence (and LOSE), he wrote
on a piece of paper, “Please
wake me at 5 a.m.,” and left
it where he knew she wouldfind it.
The next morning, theBosun woke up discovering
to his horror that it was 9a.m. and he had missed his
flight! Furious, he was about
to go and see why his wife
hadn’t awoken him, when henoticed a piece of paper by
the bed which read, “It’s 5
a.m. – wake up!”
Submitted by Hero(4)I N F O R M AT I O N /AD V I S O R I E S

DOLE joins duo to startloan program for OFWs
The Department of Laborand Employment (DOLE),
Smart Communications Inc.
and the Development Bankof the Philippines will soonlaunch a loan program foroverseas Filipino workers(OFWs).
Under the program, aworker’s family can start abusiness like an Internet
shop, using the interest-freeloan to purchase computers.
Labor Secretary Arturo
Brion said the loans would bepayable within an extended
period that would make iteasier for the borrower.
The department – also inpartnership with Smart
Communications, Land Bankof the Philippines and theOverseas Workers Welfare
Administration – earlier
launched the LBP Cash Cardfor OFWs, which will enable

workers to enjoy the benefitsof a faster and more efficientmode of sending money backhome.
The card is designed to provide a faster and more efficient remittance system, as
well as more accessible financial services for the convenience of workers and theirfamilies, through the Smart
Financial Services Hub,
Smart’s mobile commerce
platform.
The card will not only
enable cashless purchases inparticipating establishments,
but will also serve as an ID
card and a welfare card for
the Filipino workers overseas, allowing deductions
representing the migrant
workers’ monthly contributions to the Social Security
System, PhilHealth and PagIBIG.

LETTER fromHEADQUAR TERS

Improving work conditions, welfare fund
The JSU carries on a wide
variety of international labor
campaigns for the purpose ofprotecting rights andemployments for its nondomiciled special members,
which number more than
44,000, and improving labor
conditions and welfare programs.
As these efforts have been
introduced in JSU Maritime
Journal and on other occasions, we are sure that you
all know this.
As part of its welfare-related activities, the JSU provides the following support
activities to its non-domiciled
special members that work
onboard FOC vessels coveredby the IBF JSU/AMOSUPIMMAJ CBA, the IBF JSUIMMAJ CA, the IBF JSUIMMAJ CA (PSU), the ITFJSU/AMOSUP CBA, and the
ITF-JSU CA, making use of
the JSU Welfare Fund,which was established tocontribute to enriching welfare benefits given by enterprises:
1) Constructing as well as
managing and operating
JSU/AMOSUP Mariners’
Homes;ALL JAPAN SEAMEN’S UNION
15-26, Roppongi 7-Chome,
Minato-Ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Tel.: (03) 5410-8320
Fax: (03) 5410-8336
E-mail: iss@jsu.jp
Internet: http://www.jsu.or.jp
Publisher: Masaru Mio
Send inquiries to the attentionof Mr. Masanobu Makizoe,
Director, Foreign Trades Dept.

2) Running a system forsupporting the adoption of
onboard training video software – when commercial
vessels adopt onboard training video software developed
in response to the ISM Code,some 50 percent of required
costs are supported;
3) Providing support whenvessels install life-saving
fresh water makers – subsidies are given to commercial
ships when they install lifesaving fresh water makers;and4) Renting entertainment
videos and DVDs, and assisting in the installation of
DVD players.
These activities are managed by a committee consisting of JSU and IMMAJ
members.
The transparency of thefund is maintained throughdiscussions on the use of thesaid support activities overthe previous year and activities for the following year,
and reports on accounting
audits.
As a new project from thecurrent fiscal year, the management committee has
decided to distribute automated external defibrillators(AEDs) to 500 commercial
vessels, intending to begin
accepting applications in
September.
To our non-domiciled special members, if you needtraining video software, awater maker, an entertainment video/DVD, or an AED,
you have to apply throughyour Japanese principals,
according to rules. Even if
you apply directly to the JSUor our international staff,
they will not take your application.

JULY/AUGUST 2007

Ships required to carry pollution plan
Ships now flying the flagof a party to the OPRC-HNS
Protocol must carry a pollution emergency plan to deal
specifically with incidents
involving hazardous andnoxious substances, such as
chemicals.
The new requirement is
one of a list of measures
included in the Protocol on
Preparedness, Response andCooperation to Pollution

Incidents by Hazardous andNoxious Substances (OPRCHNS Protocol), which has
just entered into force.
The OPRC-HNS Protocol
was adopted to expand thescope of the 1990 International Convention on Oil
Pollution Preparedness,
Response and Cooperation(OPRC 1990), so as to cover
hazardous and noxious substances that, if spilled, could

EU begins European
Border Patrol Network
The European Union has launched the European Border
Patrols Network (EPN) on May 24 with the aim to stop illegal immigration and to detect emergencies at sea, thus
reducing loss of life.
The EPN will facilitate closer coordinated and cost-effective operational cooperation between the national authorities responsible for patrolling the Member States’ southern
external maritime borders.
The European Agency for the Management of Operational
Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member Statesof the European Union (FRONTEX) is the agency tasked to
implement EPN. FRONTEX is the external border security
agency of the European Union.
The implementation of the EPN will be carried out in twophases. In the first phase, the EPN will be establishedbased on Member States’ patrolling activities coveringdefined coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and theAtlantic Ocean.
In the second phase, the EPN will be further developed by
the establishment of an appropriate organizational structure, National Coordination Centers and strengthening thecooperation and coordination among Member States
involved in the network.

have a detrimental impact
on the marine environment.
The protocol defines HNS
as substances other than oil,which, if introduced into themarine environment, havethe potential to create hazards to human health, toharm living resources andmarine life, to damage
amenities or to interferewith other legitimate uses ofthe sea.

IMB launches
piracy hot line
The International Maritime
Bureauhas
launched a new hot linethat will cover any maritime crime ranging frompiracy to terrorism, as
well as human, drug or
weapons smuggling onboard commercial ships.
Maritime crimes can bereported to the following email address: <imbsecuri
ty@icc-ccs.org.uk>.
The IMB’s Piracy
Reporting Center in Kuala
Lumpur will continue tobe the contact point for the
maritime security hotline.
IMB is confident thatthe hot line will enableseafarers and others in the
shipping industry to passon suspicions regarding
any maritime crime
including terrorism on a
24/7 basis.

New staff join JSU headquarters
The JSU has invited liaison officers from the Associated Marine Officers andSeamen’s Union of thePhilippines (AMOSUP) and
the Philippine Seafarers’
Union (PSU) to work at the
JSU Headquarters as Liaison Officers as part ofefforts to strengthen its
relationship with ITF-affiliated unions in the Philippines.
With this new development, close communication
will be maintained and highly transparent and effective
relationships will be established.
The AMOSUP sent its
administrative assistant andHead of Records Department Ricardo D. Rodriguez,
while PSU sent its National
Director for Operations,
Melchor P.
Villanueva.
RicardoD. Rodriguez is the
head
of
the
Records Section andRodriguez
an Administrative
Assistant of AMOSUP.
He was a former seafarer
who worked onboard ships
from 1980 to 1985.

Melchor
P. Villanueva is adeck officer who
worked onb o a r dships from1984
to1999 beVillanueva
fore joining
the
PSU.
Before coming to Japan he
was the national director for
operations of PSU. He wasalso a council member of Formal Labor and MigrantWorkers’ Sector of National
Anti-Poverty Commission,and a member of Tripartite
Peace and Industrial Council
Subcommittee, POEA.
ISS TRAINEESWith thecontinued
increase in
the number of nondomiciled
members,
the JSU
increasedCanto
the number of its
Filipino International Service Staff (ISS) with therecent arrival of three ISS

trainees, one deck officer
and two marine engineers.
A three-month training
program that includes
Japanese language lessons
will be taken by these newstaff before their assignment to other JSU branch
offices.
JSU ISS trainee John G.
Canto is a Marine Engineerwhoworked onboard Panamanian,
Liberianand Norwegian ships
from 1979
to 2004.
JSU ISStrainee
IngenteAlejandro
G. Ingente
is a deck officer with 25 yearsof experience onboard Japanese, British, Norwegian, Australian,
Greek,
Saudi Arabian and
Libyanvessels.
Reynaldo
L. Pado, aMarineEngineer,Pado
worked 10
years onboard Japanese-owned vessels.