Social Rescue Given how close we are to the roll out of MLC, it seems astonishing that a crew managed by respected companies had to be rescued recently having pleaded to be saved as they could no longer work due to long voyage delays, inadequate supplies and psychological and physical ill-health.
Even then they were only rescued when the flag stepped in after learning of the crew's plight through social media. The 23 crew on board the Hong Kong-flag bulk carrier "Haina" wrote a letter pleading to be rescued which came to the attention of Shandong Maritime Safety Administration, having been posted on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. http://goo.gl/RlqZZ The, 1993-built, 165,133 DWT bulker had been held at anchor since January 28, unable to dock as it failed to secure port clearance. This was finally enough for the crew - some of whom had been onboard for 16 months. According to Lloyd's List the crew had run out of vegetables and meat before reaching the outer anchorage. Then once outside Qingdao, having eaten nearly all the eggs on board, they were "only left with flour, rice and rotten potatoes. There was 20 tonnes of fresh water, consumed at a rate of seven tonnes per day". The ship is managed by Cosco Wallem, a joint venture founded in 2005, based in Qingdao. Wallem confirmed that Haina's delay was due to a commercial dispute. Asked to comment, Wallem sent a statement by email: "Cosco Wallem has been monitoring the level of provisions on board as certain items have been running low and we have been liaising with both the crew and the vessel owners on this matter. It seems if they had been monitoring social media they would have been in little doubt as to the situation. With the vessel about to be sold for scrap it seems little mind was paid to the poor souls left to battle on in the face of dwindling supplies and water. Perhaps crews elsewhere can learn about the power of social media, and flag States can find out the real conditions onboard their vessels. Social media could be its strongest ally in the fight against substandard ships and shoddy treatment of seafarers. If you want to be ignored send an email – if you want action turn to Twitter… = fm shiptalk ========== ------------------------------------ 1. Moderator tidak bertanggung jawab atas kebenaran isi dan/atau identitas asli pengirim berita. 2. ATTACHMENT akan dibanned, krmkan ke pelaut-owner atau upload ke FILE. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pelaut/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pelaut/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: pelaut-dig...@yahoogroups.com pelaut-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: pelaut-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
