Restructuring seafarers’ welfare under the Maritime Labour Convention: an empirical case study of Greece

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine three of the major issues relating to the welfare of seafarers, including wages, social security benefits and onboard and ashore welfare facilities and services. It is impossible to research all countries here, so this paper selects Greece – which is one of today’s primary shipping countries as for shipowning, as well as for global supply and demand for seafarers – to conduct an empirical case study. Design/methodology/approach Based on the existing knowledge and scholarship, and primary data collected in several phases of fieldwork, this paper intends to critically examine three major issues relating to the welfare for Greek seafarers, namely, wages, social security benefits and onboard and ashore welfare facilities and services. Findings This paper finds that they face poor labour conditions, which are getting worse due to the depressed world and Greek economies and intense financial pressures on shipping companies. The entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 has a significant impact on the world maritime industry. Research limitations/implications This paper critically examines the three major issues relating to the welfare of Greek seafarers. Originality/value Such issues, which Greece is facing are also common in other countries, so the findings and suggestions revealed from this paper are of importance for the global shipping industry and other states.

The Developing Global Employability Competencies of Indonesian Seafarers for Enhanced End-User Acceptance through Brand Experiences

“…Although the number of seafarers recruited from Far Eastern countries, the Indian sub-continent, and Eastern Europe is increasing, the share of Chinese seafarers in the international seafarer labour market remains stable at around 8% (Nguyen et al, 2014;Thai et al, 2013). This condition causes a scarcity of seafarers both in terms of quality and quantity, which ultimately increases seafarers' salary levels and encourages market players to recruit seafarers from "third world" countries (Lobrigo & Pawlik, 2015;Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Shore Power Deployment Problem—A Case Study of a Chinese Container Shipping Network

“…This technology, which is also known as "shore-side power", "on-shore power supply", "alternative maritime power", and "cold-ironing", reduces ship emissions while berthing, to as low as 5% of the original level, by moving the power production from dirty onboard sources to greener and more efficient large-scale power stations [10,11]. In addition to the environmental benefits, the application of SP, also, improves the welfare of seafarers [12,13].…”

“…Detailed information of the case study result. ,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66, 67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91 Routes that finally adopt SP 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35, 36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,62,63,64,65,66,67, 68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85…”

Enablers of safety citizenship behaviors of seafarers: leader-member exchange, team-member exchange, and safety climate

“…The shipping company's primary safety goal is to minimize the risk to property (ships, containers, and machinery), personnel (employees, crew, and passengers) and the environment (air, water, noise) (Chang et al, 2019). In order to improve the safety of shipping and its environment, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has developed a number of international conventions related to the safety of commercial vessels and maritime navigation, such as the "International Safety Management Code (ISM Code)"; "International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW)"; "International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)", "International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)", and "Maritime Labor Convention (MLC)" (Zhang et al, 2020). However, in spite of the IMO having several regulations on maritime safety, maritime accidents still occur frequently.…”

“…applicability might be questioned as it is unclear whether social exchange relationships and safety citizenship behavior will lead to a decrease in ship accidents. Related research has found that safety behavior is significantly related to accidents(Hofmann and Morgeson, 1999;Zhang et al, 2020). Third, a potential limitation is that it might be argued that the measurement of LMX, TMX, and safety citizenship behavior is affected by common method bias.…”