(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) Shore leave for seafarers is generally accepted as a custom, if not a right, essential for wellbeing and pressure relief from the responsibilities of life on board. However, it is clear that the ability of seafarers to take shore leave has been seriously eroded and may even be facing extinction.
The combination of workload on board and limited time in port make it virtually impossible for seafarers to make time for shore leave. Commercial pressures have increased, and there is a serious risk that facilities available for seafarers will decline due to a lack of demand. The culprits are multiple. Without sufficient crew on board to cover the workload, companies fail to create schedules that allow for shore leave.
Increasing numbers of inspections add to the burden. Port states can focus on security and efficient port operations without any compulsion to facilitate leave for foreign crew. The lack of easily accessible facilities and high transport costs dampen demand for shore leave, and seafarers themselves make the rational choice to stay on board. The fact that there is no single point of responsibility for the problem makes it challenging, but not impossible, to focus on effective solutions.
The purpose of this research is to quantify the current levels of shore leave in terms of frequency and length of time spent ashore and to identify the barriers. The survey benefits from a significant and representative sample size of 5,879 valid responses. It indicates that more than a quarter of seafarers do not get any shore leave at all, and a third have only one or two incidents of shore leave over the period of their contracts (6.6 months average).
When they do manage to take shore leave, 47% of those responding affirmatively spent less than three hours ashore, and 46.5% between three and six hours. The negative results were strongly correlated with the vessel types of offshore vessels and tankers. Not surprisingly, cruise ships and passenger ship crews were less adversely impacted. Officers reported going ashore less often than ratings and other ranks.
The depth of feeling on the subject from seafarers is evident from their responses to the open questions. Many focused on port state bureaucracy and security restrictions, while others highlighted the impossibility of balancing work/rest hours, watches, and compulsory overtime.
An Indian deck officer, after 6 months on board stated: “I have been working in the shipping industry since 2006. I have noticed that all the ports have slowly found ways to deny shore leave to the ship’s crew. If they can’t tell NO! straightaway, then they will impose heavy charges so that everyone automatically refuses to go ashore. Plus, the workload and the commercial pressure on senior officers are so much that they find it difficult to go ashore. Generally, oil/chemical refineries where our tankers go for loading or discharging are far away from the cities. There is nothing close by where we can go and relax a bit, have some nice food or go shopping. There are ports which force us to use boats for shore leave, and those boats are very expensive and unaffordable! After a long sailing, we feel exhausted, and it’s our right, I think, to get a shore leave.”
Katie Higginbottom, Head of ITF Seafarers’ Trust said ‘This survey confirms our fears. Seafarers are not getting shore leave because it hasn’t been prioritised as essential for crew wellbeing and the safety of the vessel. This is about setting the scene, and it is stark. We hope that the findings will promote discussion and acknowledgement that seafarers deserve a break from the vessel. Action must be taken to preserve the possibility of shore leave.’
The report is clear that the problem is systemic and multifaceted. All stakeholders, from flag States to port States, agents to shipping companies and seafarers themselves, need to collaborate to ensure that this vital component of life at sea is maintained and expanded. All parties need to recognise that, unchecked, the current regime risks the extinction of shore leave as a viable concept reinforcing the strains on an already pressurised workforce.
Click on the below image to download the report from World Maritime University, on Shore Leave:
Source: World Maritime University
