The Works;A friendly face for seafarers at low ebb

Greg Watts talks to a man who is friend and adviser to foreign crewmen in British waters

MY role is to be a friend and helper; someone the men can speak to in confidence," says ship visitor William Terry, as he clambers up the gangplank to the 22,000-tonnes Baco Liner 1 docked in the Portof Tilbury, 25 miles dow n river from London Bridge. A former local- govern ment w orker and sales assistant, Terry has been employed by the Apostleship of the Sea for three years. It is an international Catholic organisation that provides spiritual and material help for seafarers.

Based at the Stella Maris centre, a seafarers' hotel in Tilbury town, he visits around 1,800 vessels a year, from small barges to huge oil tankers, at Tilbury, Purfleet or Coryton fuel terminal.

Pay, conditions and health and safety are often serious concerns of some lower ratings (seamen) from Third World countries, often fearful that if they speak out they will be blacklisted and unable to work at sea again, he says.

Some crew members may even have paid large sums of money to get a job.

Many of the men he meets (women are rare in merchant shipping) are from countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Russia, while officers are usually from Western countries.

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has been conducting a vigorous campaign to abolish ships which operate the flags of convenience system, w here ship owners can register vessels in countries such as Bermuda and Lebanon that have minimal, if any, maritime regulation. In fact, with the Cambodian authorities, you can register your ship over the internet. The ITF argues that the system allows ship owners to exploit crews and put lives at risk.

"It's not unusual for some ships to have a lump of concrete plugging the hull," claims Terry. "Russia had some terrible rust buckets.

Many have now been forced off the high seas by the Marine Safety Agency, which does sort of MoT inspections of ships."

Payment is also a problem.

"On one occasion, some men hadn't been paid for eight months so the ITF arrested the vessel, tow ed it to Falmouth and eventually sold it.

"If men don't get paid, their families back home have to resort to money lenders. I had one case where the captain insisted the men signed for a certain amount of money but paid them a lesser amount."

He always carries a bundle of ITF literature in various languages, though he is careful not to wave it in front of captains, who, generally, resent the ITF. "Seafarers often want advice.If the ship is sailing that night you have to act quickly."

Being at sea for long periods is far from glamorous and romantic, he stresses. "It can be very lonely. Some bigger ships might have a gym or basketball court, but many don't. And many seafarers might not see their families for months or even a year."

So what led him into the work? "I had done a lot of voluntary work and stayed at home to bring up my two children while my wife went out to work. I saw the job as an opportunity to serve the Church."

Working split-shifts, Terry's tasks also include transporting seafarers in a minibus to and from Stella Maris, helping them buy rail tickets, offering cheap international phone cards,free Bibles and woolly hats.

Tilbury alone has 3,000 vessels a year dropping anchor and he explains: "Because of the fast turnaround of vessels, some of the crews don't have time to come ashore.

When they do, they want to m ake the most of it.

"In the old days when cargo was unloaded by hand, they might be here for several days. But the average time today is 12 hours."

Seafaring facts

AROUND 7,000 foreign ships visit Britain's 650 ports each year. At any one time, there will be approximately 5,000-6,000 foreign seafarers in British waters, many fromThird World countries. Merchant shipping accounts for 95 per cent of all trade in and out of Britain. For further information contact NUMAST (the National Union of Marine Aviation and Shipping Officers) on 020 8989 6677.

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