“ PERILS AT SEA.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20614, 15 May 1935, Page 5

“ PERILS AT SEA.”

British Seamen Demand Inquiry. MANNING OF TRAMP STEAMERS. (Special to the “ Star.”) LONDON. April 10. There is a growing demand among . seamen—both officers and men—for a j complete reform of the present Board of Trade regulations governing the manning and seaworthiness of tramp shipping. Mr W. R. Spence, general secretary of the-National Union of Seamen, says that nothing but a vigorous inquiry into the whole question and a new Merchant Shipping Act can remove conditions. which place thousands of British seamen in daily peril. While the regulations lav down the minimum number of “ efficient deck hands ” in relation to tonnage, there is no standard definition of an “ efficient deck hand.” The result, states the union, is that there are to-day many vessels at sea with a totally inadequate complement of deck hands. “ And that kind of thing is common in tramp steamers,” says Mr Spence. “ It is all very well for fine weather sailing, but in bad weather it is courting disaster. “My union has investigated the matter thoroughly. We have chapter and verse of Board of Trade surveyors passing as efficient deck hands men who have never trod a deck. “ Boys on Deck.” “To save expense, some owners register cabin boys, ship’s cooks, trimmers and firemen as deck hands, who, through their lack of experience, are an actual menace to a ship in an emergency. “ The Board of Trade will even take two bo} r s of one year’s experience and call them 4 one efficient deck hand.’ “ Crews are loth to coxnplayi at this kind of thing, because if their complaint is not upheld they are liable to have to pay for' the holding up of the vessel.

“ Board of Trade surveyors are also nervous, because if the owner appeals

and wins under the vague regulations the board has to pay. “.Ship’s officers are profoundly uneasy at the inefficient manning of the ships they have to take to sea, but for obvious reasons they can do nothing. “ Other matters which need urgent inquiry include the failure of steering gears—whether steering gears are properly tested and whether emergency gear is adequate. “ Another question which should be i investigated is as to how often ships’ ; tarpaulin hold-covers are inspected for ! the capacity to stand stormy weather.”

The National Union of Seamen have already taken a number of sworn affidavits. and Mr Spence is prepared to place his evidence before any court the President of the Board of Trade sets up.