The latest on cabotage in India

And how it will affect you.

http://www.moneylife.in/article/switching-off-the-lighthouses-cabotage-kills-a-maritime-nation/28743.html

And why this impacts the future of not just your jobs, or the maritime industry in India, but the larger issues therein.

Who is more corrupt, "us" or "them"? (Supply/demand side practicalities of corruption)

The easiest thing too do is to go into a self-flagellation mode on corruption. Oh, hai hai, we are a very corrupt people, race, country. But have you though - is it possible to be corrupt without the tools for corruption?

I am particularly proud of this article, along with the others on processed food, and dedicate it to my seafarer brethren. Please read, pass it on, comment. . . thanks.

http://www.moneylife.in/article/corruption-bad-tax-evasion-good-cooking-the-books-bestmdasha-basic-primer-from-transparency-international/20239.html

""Here is a simple number—The World Bank has endorsed estimates that in 2009, illicit financial flows out of developing countries were to the tune of $850 billion to $1 trillion. These were as provided by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which made a strong case to interpolate TI's figures on supply-side corruption. It was done to understand, where the corruption money went, where did it go in, and more importantly, who or what motivated it. Likewise, it is estimated that the narcotics economy from mainly developing countries reached anything between $650 billion to about $1.1 trillion per annum in 2010—figures collated from various sources-so, where did it enter the global financial network?""

""let us simplify matters. In a typical scenario, who is more corrupt, who is guiltier—a sex worker selling her body in Falkland Road, Mumbai, for whatever reason, or the customer who pays for it, for whatever reason too? Or is it the landlord, the pimp, the cops, or the system that makes it possible for this transaction to take place? Who is more corrupt? In a typical scenario, we have all been programmed to blame the bottom end of the food chain, and believe that the person selling her body, is corrupt, but we know that is not really correct. It is like calling a bottle of liquor evil. ""

""evolved something called the "Financial Secrecy Index", which listed out on scientific empirical evidence a graded list of countries, where it was easiest to park stolen assets—to put it simply. And not just did these countries simply provide the facility for parking stolen assets—they actively and aggressively went about seeking these stolen assets, in most cases actively conniving with corrupt "supply side" countries and regimes worldwide. And then, to ensure that these stolen assets could not be tracked back, they made laws of their own which simply prevented any... transparency.""

If you've got so far, you may also want to read this . . . http://treasureislands.org/ . . . especially in the context of . . . who or what does own all those FOC ships, then?

Here's an RTI on l'affaire RAK AFRIKANA that I filed . . .

To:-

 

Shri S.G. Bhandare, PIO, or incumbent PIO, under RTI Act of India 2005,

Public Authority the Dy. Director General of Shipping,

Jahaz Bhavan,Walchand H. Marg, Mumbai - 400 001 ( India)

 

dtd: 10th May 2011

 

Greetings & Jai Hind!!  Most humbly request information under the RTI Act of India, 2005,  please provide me with the following information. THIS INFORMATION IS SOUGHT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, AND THERE IS OVER-RIDING PARAMOUNT LARGER PUBLIC INTEREST TO BE GIVEN THE INFORMATION I HAVE ASKED FOR.

 

+++

 

INFORMATION REQUIRED:-

1) Please provide me a certified copy of following documents held by or available to your public authority. I would also like to inspect all concerned files online personally at New Delhi.

a) Please provide me with full style and address of the RPS agencies involved in recruiting and sending Indian seafarers on board the following vessels which have been hijacked/pirated for the period from 01 January 2010 onwards:- mv RAK AFRIKANA, mv ASPHALT VENTURE and mv SININ.

 

b) Please provide me with full style and address of the entities who are registered owners, beneficiary owners, desponent owners, tax-haven owners, secret owners, any other owners, as well as any entities holding lien on vessel and cargo of the above ships with Indian seafarers onboard:- mv RAK AFRIKANA, mv ASPHALT VENTURE and mv SININ.

 

c) Kindly provide me with information on whether contact has been established by DG Shipping with the entities mentioned in 'a" and "b" above, and if so, details thereof.

 

d) If any of the above said statutory records is not available, the complete details of how it was destroyed / weeded out in each case..

 

e) Electronic access to the catalogue (or catalogues) of all records of your public authority duly indexed in a manner and the form to facilitate right to information, either over the computer networks or in the form of a diskette or other electronic media at the prescribed fees.

 

Sent by eMail and signed hard copy, (signed) and humbly submitted,

 

 

Veeresh Malik,  D-61, Defence Colony, New Delhi - 11oo24   (mobile: 00-91-99118-25500)

 

Note 1:-Application fee of Rs. 10/- in cash shall be submitted within 30 days as per procedure laid down by DoP&T at PIO, DG Shipping, Mumbai, or at any one of the nominated APIOs located at the specified Post Offices in India, and a copy of this application along with receipt shall be sent to you co-terminus. Interim, you are requested to commence processing this RTI Application as per the RTI Act-2005 with effect from date of submission of this electronic copy, also as per the RTI Act-2005.

Note 2:- The public authority, Office of DG Shipping, Mumbai, has not yet published their arrangements to accept / accompany electronic payments for e-filings as per section 6 of the Information Technology Act 2000, is requested to do same, - and hence I am constrained to go to extra expense / trouble to file a routine email request by Postal Department also.

+++

Jugal Purohit's blog on DG Shipping and the State of Affairs there . . .

This one by Jugal Purohit (of Times Now) is eminently readable . . .


http://thoughtso.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/piracy-dgs-reacts-leaves-none-impressed/

On May 11, 2011, the Mumbai-based Director General (DG) Shipping, under fire for being unable to react effectively to the scourge of piracy affecting Indian men and waters, finally reacted as the agency issued an ’Order’ (available on the website: www.dgshipping.com). For an organisation, long seen as being on sedatives even by its own community of seafarers, this was a sizeable step. However, on closer analysis with various stakeholders, the verdict seems to echo the timeless phrase, ‘too little, too late’.


(Here;s the actual DGS order . . . 


http://www.dgshipping.com/dgship/final/notices/dgsorder4_2011.htm

Corruption in India and its relationship to shipping & banking

Much is being made about how Indian politicians and others are terribly correct. Spot on, here are some simple numbers and links:-

What we are really up against is here, this is the one-page synopsis, a longer link can be found through it:-

http://www.gfip.org/storage/gfip/documents/reports/india/india_tip_sheet.pdf

In absolutely brief bearimg + distance, in India, it took, after 1947 Independence:-

#  60 years to steal 210 billion dollars from 1948-2008.
# 3 years to steal another 260 billion dollars from 2008-2011.

Do you and I think this is only corrupt Indians doing this by themselves, that there is no connection between this and the vast number of international banks as well as, pertaining to us Indians, the huge number of ships involved in shipping activities in and around India - even coastal shipping - which are working through tax havens? Here's how the banks do it:-

http://www.undue-diligence.org/Pdf/GW_DueDilligence_FULL_lowres.pdf

How, however, do they do it in shipping? For that, over the last few days, my head is hurting reading the vast volumes of information on how rules and regulations at our very own Directorate General of Shipping aka DGS were nicely tweaked to favour shipowners operating from tax havens AGAINST shipowners operating Indian flag and even shipowners operating known flags of repute.

Fascinating. But if the Red Government can come to an end after 34 years in Kolkata, then how long does this survive in Mumbai??

Flag of Convenience offices in India do not have diplomatic immunity . . .

It appears that the so-called self-acquired "diplomatic immunity" assumed by many of these Flag of Convenience/Open register companies and their offices issuing certificates, collecting payments and doing other documentation in India is being questioned rigorously by the authorities in Delhi.


That many of the people who in the past or present represent or consult with or even have stakes in these foreign FOC offices happen to be ex-seafarers who have spent time at various levels in the regulatory and other Government bodies is not escaping this investigation, too, seems they have even gone into the close relatives aspect too.


It starts with Panama, is what I am told, including their business of issuing equivalent certification of all sorts on a price-list.


Some effect of this passing of the buck on the piracy issue, I guess, will cause this corrupt core to crumble from within. I believe two close relatives have already "resigned" and one is going back to writing books, in a nutshell?

FOC ships, piracy, dear DGS, who or where is the real shipowner?

Very often, in cases involving Indian seafarers working on foreign flag ships, through RPS companies operating under DG Shipping auspices, the big question arises:- WHO is the real ship-owner? Leave alone fraud issues like fake class, absent P&I cover, lack of insurance, sub-standard rust buckets. The big question is nobody can answer - who is the real ship-owner?

The RPS company, more often than not like in the DGCA scams, are in some way or the other related or otherwise 'friendly" to people at DGS. Same old boy network, yeah, sure. Worked wonders for all of us.

But now our old boys are getting tortured, kidnapped, imprisoned and injured, maimed, even killed. Gone too far. Time to look around and put an end to this, time to fix the rot at DGS before a scam of the DGCA sort hits the ceiling, and media.

One set of simple solutions coming from a few people I spoke with, which is another thing - here in Delhi, the fear of DGS is so all-pervasive, that everybody wants to keep their identity hidden. But OK, so this is it, especially where the real owner can not be traced, and all sorts of other entities come in front:-

1) Indian flag ship wners are covered under MSA and can easily be held  traced and liable under Indian Law.

 

 

2) Issue arises in the case of foreign flag ships which are FOC and through RPS agencies where actual ownership is not known since front company is hidden in tax havens. This is absolutely illegal under Indian laws, for Indian entities to do business with entities who are hiding behind tax havens, and DGS complicity in this needs to be investigated. How is it that our own DGS extends some sort of recognition to companies which are often nothing more than suitcases and laptops hidden in secret offices in tax havens, have they not heard of people going to jail lately, for all this? Better ask around, Shri DG and NA, and soon.

 

 

3) But interim, for immediate relief, we need to demand for Indian seafarers working on foreign flag ships through RPS companies that DGS simply ceases some of these illegal practices and just complies with Indian laws to the maximum effect so that:-

 

 

a) All bank guarantees with RPS companies be increased to Rs 50 lakhs per seafarer instead of present Rs 10000.oo per seafarer. Alternately, a policy for value of Rs 50 lakhs per seafarer be made and deposited with DGS for the next of kin. This number is basis the amount of minimum insurance and under-writing for a junior Government functionary going to Afghanistan on deputation, by the way. Add to that pension and the rest of it.

 

 

b) #Where flag of vessel is same as nationality of owner of vessel, then full KYC guidelines as set down by Ministry of Finance be complied with, before permitting Indian seafarers onboard.

 

 

     #Where flag of vessel is different from nationality of owner of vessel, then full KYC guidelines as down by Ministry of Finance be complied with for both entities, before permitting Indian seafarers onboard.

 

 

c) A separate kidnap and ransom cover to be taken for each Indian seafarer to the value of USD .5 million SDRs for usage towards ransom payments.

 

 

d) A separate death and disability insurance cover to be taken for each indian seafarer to the value of full payments til the age of 65 or 10 years, whicher is longer, in case of death or disability due to piracy/kidnap.

 

 

+++

 

Let us face it, DGS is not in a position to reconfirm the genuine-ness of P&I cover or documents of ships calling Indian ports, so trying to do so for ships trading exclusively abroad will be even tougher. Keep the added insurance in India, through Public Sector Insurance companies or GIC, all of us seafarers know that we are living and working in a dangerous profession with our eyes open - but please organise some protection for our families if we get kidnapped or fall afoul of pirates?

One way of trying to join cruise ships . . .

Advice given to a young man in Delhi on how to join cruise ships - comments and corrections as well as views apprecited and welcome:-

To join cruise ships now, you will need:-

1)  To do 4 x basic courses called STCW/78, these can be done at  SIMS/Bijwasan, and would take about 2 weeks, cost about 15k.

2) An InDOS number, which the institute will apply for you, costs about 800-1000/-

3) Then, with these two things in hand, you simultaneously start looking for jobs, for which you have to check out the newspapers, catering colleges, etc.etc.

4) Once you have an offer, that company will or may sponsor you for a CDC of that flag which their cruise ship flies. There are hardly any Indian pax ships, and they dont require anything like what you have in mind. So it will be Panama and similar. Take a look here:- http://www.tsrahaman.org/  . . . you can do the 4 courses listed in "1" over here and hopefully pick up some grapevine on agents/jobs etc. Pleasant place, residential campus.

5) One more 3 day course called Passenger Ship Course, this is done in Cal/Madras/Mumbai. But is better done AFTER you have acquired a CDC or atleast got somewhere.

6) To acquire a CDC, a govt document, involves some run-around in Mumbai as well as the courses listed in "a". Also a job offer from some shipping line. All the foegin flag consulates are de-facto present there.

You can also do the 4 courses listed in "1" at SIMS (Sriram Institute of Marine . . .) Bijwasan,
http://simsnd.org/courses.php,

These are the 4 courses you will need to do, either at SIMS/Bijwasan (day course) or at TS RAHMAN (residential, nearest station by train from Delhi will be PANVEL, do not go by air or by train to Bombay central)

Personal Survival Technique

Personal Safety and Social Responsibility

Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting

Elementary First Aid
http://simsnd.org/courses.php

+++

Please also apply to:-

mumbai.leisure@vships.com

___

What do you think, short and sweet?

Post Piracy care of Seafarers

The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) has published Preliminary Guidelines: Post-Piracy Care for Seafarers, outlining preliminary strategies on caring for seafarers (merchant mariners) affected by piracy. The document, based on cutting-edge mental health research and ongoing discussions with shipowners, crewing agencies, representatives of governments, and other stakeholders in the industry, provides practical guidelines for the maritime industry.

SCI presented the Preliminary Guidelines to Working Group 3 of the United Nations Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia on January 27, prior to the Plenary Meeting of the Contact Group the following day. SCI also plans to submit the document to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at the meeting of the Maritime Security Committee in May.

Based on experience gained through the clinical study and stakeholder responses, SCI will update Preliminary Guidelines, available online at:

http://www.seamenschurch.org/law-advocacy/piracy-trauma-study

SCI desires to speak with seafarers who have experienced piracy, including attacks, hostage-taking, or simply sailing through high risk piracy areas. Contact Clinical Researcher Michael Garfinkle, PhD at +1 212 349 9090 ext. 240 or by email at mgarfinkle@seamenschurch.org.

SCI researchers strictly protect privacy.

Indian coastal shipping may permit foreign flag ships . . .

DG Shipping has issued a note, seeking stakeholders and others to comment on a proposal to open up certain segments of coastal shipping in India to foreign flag merchant navy ships, initially only for loaded containers to be trans-shipped to and from Indian ports. The note can be viewed on DG Shipping's website, and seeks responses by 34th of November 2010.

In brief:-

# Loaded containers only to be moved between Indian ports on foreign flag vessels.
# These foreign flag container ships may be permitted relaxation in manning norms, usually not available to Indian flag ships.
# Cabotage protection will continue for other types of ships on the Indian coast.
# Preferential freight will still continue for Indian flag ships, up from 10% to 25%.
# A separate note has been issued for coastal river-sea vessels under the Indian flag too.

All in all, exciting days ahead for coastal shipping, and who knows - we may yet have a vibrant coastal shipping industry?

So, are you an NRI, or what?

Here's a quick article I did for Sailor Today on tax-free status . . . and even more relevant now than ever before. Please do visit and ask your tax consultant for more . . .

+++

The issue of a review in NRI status from, broadly, not more than 6 months a year to 2 months a year, has caused great debate and worry with seafarers - both present, prospective and past. And rightly so. This is one of the most widely misunderstood and misinterpreted aspects of Income Tax in India, which is one reason why the new Direct Tax Code (DTC) is trying to address that too. Many will now have to rework startegies.

 

Interim, here are a few basic observation, issued in best interest but without guarantee. Please do consult your own taxation entities for any decision you wish to take pertaining to fiduciary issues.

 

1) The new DTC will come into effect from the 1st of April 2012. Likely. Maybe, but at the same time, maybe earlier, maybe later. This remains to be seen.

 

2) The present dispensation of not more than 6 months in a year is water-tight. Not really, it comes with a few ryders and conditions, some extremely complex.

 

3) To be on the safe side, stay out of the country on a foreign flag ship for atleast 190 days. Apparently, that's not enough, and here are some queries being raised:-

 

# Did the ship in question visit India or enter territorial waters/Economic Zone at any time. That's 200 miles.

# Did the NRI sign an agreement with any entity/company/agent in India. If he did, how was he an "NRI"?

# Did the seafarer get "control" of the money in India? (Means - where was the bank account)

# Did the seafarer NRI exceed 365 days in India in total in the last 3-4 financial years.

# Where was his place of residence while an NRI. Ship was place of work. Explain the issue.

 

This is not something that SAILOR TODAY concurs with, or supports - but we would not be doing our job if we did not bring this to your notice. As for the Income Tax Authorities, their focus is clear - incremental taxation from any source is their aim.

 

Complicated days ahead for NRI seafarers unless something is done, and soon. Otherwise, the best advice we can give you is - proceed with caution.

 

+++

The case of the disturbing personal eMail - NORFOLK EXPRESS grounding

The Chief Officer of the NORFOLK EXPRESS received a personal eMail while on watch which troubled him so much that he lost all semblance of attentiveness, resulting in the ship going aground at full speed in the Gulf of Suez, because he was totally distracted.

Read more about it here:-

http://maritimeaccident.org/2009/10/norfolk-worries-led-to-grounding/

The lookout has been sent elsewhere for other tasks.

To quote from the article:-

A number of lessons arise from the incident, the most obvious relates to lookouts. Many of us prefer to be alone when dealing with personal issues and its tempting to send the lookout away so we can be alone with our thoughts. Unfortunately, those are the very conditions under which we need to have a lookout present in case we get so deep in our own concerns we lose track of what’s going on.
Whatever the psychological state of the officer of the watch a lookout might have made the difference.
At the same time, two alarms were not functioning, the bridge watch alarm which should have sounded every 12 minutes, and the echo sounder depth alarm. BSU says that it is uncertain that these would have alerted the chief officer to the situation.
Two GPS waypoint alarms sounded but were not responded to.

BBC ORINOCO, where was the incident, actually?

As has been repeated in many sections of the media, the BBC ORINOCO episode off Mumbai was supposed to have taken place about 450 miles West of Mumbai. Pirates attacked, crew locked themselves up, Indian Navy landed up, crew rescued, and ship back on track again.

Brilliant work by our brothers from the Indian Navy, and hats off, thank you. Hopefully they tracked down the pirates, mother ship et al, and blew them out of the water. Either way, this blog and its writer and many of our colleagues, we thank, salute and are grateful to the Indian Navy - no two ways, the best of the best.

But somewhere the media seems to have got it, incorrect. The wire service report, PTI in this case, is here, and carried in toto by most media:-

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_navy-foils-piracy-bid-450-nautical-miles-off-mumbai_1465678

There are some pretty photos up on rediff too, slideshow:--

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-how-indian-navy-rescued-a-ship-from-pirates/20101112.htm

But. But. But. Do we believe everything the media says, all the time?

Discreet grapevine informs some of us that the actual attack took place just off the Western limits of Bombay High, around 175 miles West of Mumbai, and the pirates were probably "locals".

A cap was presented to the Master of the BBC ORINOCO by the rescue team, apparently, on behalf of the Indian Navy.

So, where was this incident, and if it is right off Bombay high, then what are we looking at? One can understand the discretion on the part of the Indian Navy, but this is extremely serious, right on our doorstep and "local".

The power of the pen (keyboard . . .) at sea and ashore

Why do you think the name of your ship is written on the bow, and not simply hidden away somewhere inside voluminous documents and drawings, or replaced by an identification number like the registration number of your motor-car? Wouldn't it be simpler to replace everything by the full style and address of the corporate entity that owns/operates your ship, or the banks that hold the mortgage?

 

No, it wouldn't. Simply because your ship is known and acquires respect as well as a reputation by its name. So, as a matter of fact, do you and all of us.

 

Likewise, your views on anything in life. You can discuss them on the dining table, duty mess, smoke room or elsewhere. Or you can exchange SMS type messages, cryptic, short, hardly understood by many. Or if you really want them to be noticed - you can take the trouble of writing them down, eMail soft-copy as well as hard-copy printout, and send them out with your name appended at the end of whatever it is that you wanted to say, ask, declare, comment on.

 

The Power of the Pen. Certainly not as mighty as the waves relentlessly whipping aside as the bows slice through them. But certainly more powerful when you have the time to put your views across.

 

Write. Today. And if you feel you need a vehicle (or a vessel?) to help get your thoughts across, then this blog is the forum where you will realise the power that writing something with your name behind it wields. Or, in case you don't want to use your name, then trust me.

 

Go for it.

Casaulties in the American Merchant Navy during WW-II

++1 in 26 mariners serving aboard merchant ships in World WW II died in the line of duty, suffering a greater percentage of war-related deaths than all other U.S. services. Casualties were kept secret during the War to keep information about their success from the enemy and to attract and keep mariners at sea.++

http://www.usmm.org/

Thanks to http://adventures-of-the-blackgang.tumblr.com/

Full report on the Hanjin Gotherburd/Chang Tong collision

Seldom have I seen such amazing photographs as these. A container ship at 25 knots slices through the midships of a bulk carrier, both were in an end-on situation, clear visibility, classic case of faster vessel altering to port in a TSS, while the slower bulker alters to starboard.

http://www.bsu-bund.de/cln_005/nn_101744/SharedDocs/pdf/EN/Investigation__Report/2008/Investigation__Report__450__07,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/Investigation_Report_450_07.pdf

Worth the visit, if only for the photos.

How many people should we have on board ships??

I believe the Port State authorities in Spain and the US, and now to some extent Greece also, have recently as Port States started taking some interesting initiatives in placing their National interests first as far as safe manning onboard ships of other flags visiting their waters and ports/countries is concerned. I do not have the exact details, but have heard about how the number of watch-keepers, for example, has to be "better" if that from the flag state is at variance to what the port state expects.

There is no reason to not motivate the Indian Government to do so for all vessels calling Indian ports, also - we are not exactly minnows in the world of ocean trade either. Likewise, with some foresight, the same can be applied to ships entering Indian waters in their voyages worldwide - especially now that ships from the PG to the Far East as well as others tend to hug the Indian coast because of the Red Sea/Somalia piracy issues.

Just a thought - but worth pursuing. Or we keep our peace - Black Rose at Paradeep and similar not-withstanding. Volvo buses plying between Mumbai and Bangalore now have 4 drivers (2 for city at each end and 2 for the long haul) like do Suez Pilots - but at sea, we keep worrying about Indian seafarers becoming non-competitive?

As far as reduced manning is concerned - it is my submission that for the typical ship-owner/operator, human beings on board are certificates of competency that eat food, so the fewer the better. In the risk analysis of seaworthy in terms of documentation versus seaworthy in terms of actual facts, the cost of those lives is factored in - so the fewer the better. Barring the Derbyshire and maybe a few other cases, has anybody here heard of family or flag state pressing for investigations, lately?