Vatican
City, 12 July 2013 (VIS) - “Sea Sunday” will be celebrated on 14
July and to mark the occasion the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral
Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples has released a message signed
by the president of the dicastery, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio ,and
the secretary, Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil, published in full
below:
“'This
world of the sea, with the continuous migration of people today, must
take into account the complex effects of globalization and,
unfortunately, must come to grips with situations of injustice,
especially when the freedom of a ship’s crew to go ashore is
restricted, when they are abandoned altogether along with the vessels
on which they work, when they risk piracy at sea and the damage of
illegal fishing. The vulnerability of seafarers, fishermen and
sailors calls for an even more attentive solicitude on the Church’s
part and should stimulate the motherly care that, through you, she
expresses to all those whom you meet in ports and on ships or whom
you help on board during those long months at sea'. These words were
addressed by Pope Benedict XVI to the participants of the XXIII AOS
Congress held in the Vatican City, November 19-23, 2012. As a matter
of fact, for more than 90 years the Catholic Church, through the Work
of the Apostleship of the Sea with its network of chaplains and
volunteers in more than 260 ports of the world, has shown her
motherly care by providing spiritual and material welfare to
seafarers, fishers and their families.
“As
we celebrate Sea Sunday, we would like to invite every member of our
Christian communities to become aware and recognize the work of an
estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million seafarers who at any time are sailing in
a globalized worldwide fleet of 100,000 ships carrying 90 per cent of
the manufactured goods. Very often, we do not realize that the
majority of the objects we use in our daily life are transported by
ships criss-crossing the oceans. Multinational crews experience
complex living and working conditions on board, months away from
their loved ones, abandonment in foreign ports without salaries,
criminalization and natural (storms, typhoons, etc.) and human
(pirates, shipwreck, etc.) calamities.
“Now
a beacon of hope is beaming in the dark night of these problems and
difficulties encountered by the seafarers.
“The
ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006), after being ratified
by 30 Member countries of the International Labour Office,
representing almost 60 per cent of the world’s gross shipping
tonnage, is set to enter into force in August 2013. This Convention
is the result of several years of relentless tripartite (governments,
employers and workers) discussions to consolidate and update a great
number of maritime labour Conventions and Recommendations adopted
since 1920.
“The
MLC 2006 establishes the minimum international requirements for
almost every aspect of seafarers’ working and living conditions,
including fair terms of employment, medical care, social security
protection and access to shore-based welfare facilities.
“While,
as AOS, we are welcoming the entering into force of the Convention
and confidently hope to see improvements on the life of the
seafarers, we remain vigilant and express our attentive solicitude by
focusing our consideration on the Regulation 4.4 of the Convention,
the purpose of which is to: ensure that seafarers working on board a
ship have access to shore-based facilities and services to secure
their health and well-being.
“We
should cooperate with the proper authorities in our respective ports
so that shore leave be granted to all seafarers as soon as possible
after a ship’s arrival in port, for the benefit of their health and
well-being.
“We
should remind port states to promote the development of shore-based
welfare facilities easily accessible to seafarers, irrespective of
nationality, race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, or
social origin and of the flag state on which they are employed.
“We
should assist the proper authorities in establishing national and
local welfare boards that would serve as a channel for improving
seafarer’s welfare at ports, bringing together people from
different types of organization under one identity.
“We
should also encourage the port authorities to introduce, aside from
other forms of financing, a port levy system to provide a reliable
mechanism to support sustainable welfare services in the port.
“Our
final responsibility is towards the seafarers. We should provide them
information and education about theirs rights and the protection
offered by this Convention, which is also considered the fourth and
final pillar of the international maritime legislation, the other
three being the International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) 1973, the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, and the International
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping
for Seafarers (STCW) 1978. Effective implementation will be possible
and real changes will happen only if the people of the sea are aware
of the content of the MLC 2006.
“Let
us ask Mary, the Star of the Sea, to enlighten and accompany our
mission to support the work of the faithful who are called to witness
to their Christian life in the maritime world.”
