Personnel recruitment in the maritime sector has to comply with international and national requirements regarding the competence levels expected for rank. Shortage of qualified seafarers, especially officers, have been identified as a global issue that is likely to worsen in the future. For Crew Managers this may impose a challenge on hiring the right people for the job.

The committee convenes for its latest meeting (MEPC 73) in London later this month, with a lot of important ground to cover.

Credit: IMO

This, the latest in our series of first aid and health related articles, looks at the treatment of burns.

There are a large number of heat sources that can result in injury on board a vessel. Hot work, cooking in the galley or severe sunburn suffered on deck can all result in burns or scalds of a crewmember.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has recently released a Safety Notice which aims to remind vessel owners, operators and masters of the need to stow and secure cargo containers in accordance with approved arrangements. It also defines the standards that will be enforced on upcoming port State inspections of container vessels in Australian ports.

How to ease and prevent lower back pain.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime Administrator has recently received reports of confined space entry incidents on a tanker and a bulk carrier carrying their flag. These incidents, which occurred within approximately 24 hours of each other, resulted in the deaths of three seafarers, with two more losing consciousness.

In 2017, the Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU jointly carried out a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on the Safety of Navigation including ECDIS. The results of the campaign have recently been published.

Accidents in enclosed spaces have long been a source of serious injuries and fatalities. Analysis into these accidents shows that the underlying cause is often a failure to follow established procedures that are put in place to ensure the safety of seafarers. Whether this is due to insufficient knowledge or a disregard for safety precautions, the fact remains that effective training is required to increase the safety of enclosed space entry operations.

One of the world's leading paint and coating suppliers, Jotun, has co-operated with Seagull Maritime AS, to develop an informative set of e-learning modules on the theme of onboard paint maintenance, with emphasis on in-service treatments.