WHAT ARE FOCs?   

A brief guide to flags of convenience 

A flag of convenience ship is one that flies the flag of a country other than the country of ownership.
Cheap registration fees, low or no taxes and freedom to employ cheap labour are the motivating factors behind a shipowner's decision to 'flag out'. 
The ITF takes into account the degree to which foreign owned vessels are registered on the registry and the following additional criteria when declaring a register an FOC:
The ability and willingness of the flag state to enforce international minimum social standards on its vessels, including respect for basic human and trade union rights, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining with bona fide trade unions.
The social record as determined by the degree of ratification and enforcement of ILO Conventions and Recommendations.
The safety and environmental record as revealed by the ratification and enforcement of IMO Conventions and revealed by port state control inspections, deficiencies and detentions.
The ITF believes there should be a "genuine link" between the real owner of a vessel and the flag the vessel flies in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). There is no "genuine link" in the case of FOC registries.
These registers have poor safety and training standards, and place no restriction on the nationality of the crew. This results in seafarers not being able to communicate effectively with other crew members as they do not share a common language. With so many accidents occurring at sea each year, lack of communication can determine whether a ship is lost or saved.
In many cases these registers are not even run from the country concerned. A good example of this is the Liberian register. All its paperwork is done by a private company in the USA while the Cambodian registry is based in Singapore.
Once a ship is registered under an FOC the shipowner then recruits the cheapest labour they can find, pays minimal wages and cuts costs by lowering standards of living and working conditions for the crew. 
FOC countries top
The following 28 countries have been declared FOCs by the ITF's Fair Practices Committee (a joint committee of ITF seafarers' and dockers' unions) which runs the ITF campaign against FOCs:
Antigua and Barbuda , Bahamas,Barbados, Belize,Bermuda (UK) , Bolivia ,Burma/Myanmar,  Cambodia ,Cayman Islands (UK), Comoros, Cyprus ,Equatorial Guinea ,German International Ship Register (GIS),  Gibraltar (UK) ,Honduras, Jamaica,  Lebanon ,Liberia , Malta ,Marshall Islands (USA),  Mauritius ,Netherlands Antilles,  Panama ,Sao Tome and Principe,  St. Vincent and the Grenadines ,Sri Lanka , Tonga ,Vanuatu 

What do FOCs mean to seafarers? 
Seafarers who are employed on FOC ships are denied their basic human and trade union rights as FOC registers do not enforce minimum social standards. If they did, shipowners would soon lose interest in them. The home countries of the crew can do little to protect them because the rules that apply on board are often those of the country of registration. As a result, most FOC seafarers are not members of a trade union. For those who are, the union is often powerless to influence what happens on board.
Seafarers are vital to us. They criss-cross the globe with everything we need from bananas, oil, gas and building materials, to cloth, grain and frozen meat. They are also an invisible labour force. What goes on at sea is mostly out of sight of the regulators, so shipowners can get away with abusing seafarers' rights without detection.
During over fifty years of campaigning against FOCs the ITF has developed a network of inspectors to investigate suspect ships. Their reports reveal a catalogue of abuse of seafarers:
Very low wages
Poor on-board conditions
Long periods of work without proper rest leading to stress and fatigue
Little or no shore leave
Inadequate medical attention
Inadequate safety training
Neglected ship maintenance
Abandoned to fend for themselves and left to rely on charity. 
Unsafe 
With very little regard for safety regulations, many FOC vessels are older than the average age of the rest of the world fleet. Tens of thousands of seafarers endure miserable, life-threatening conditions on sub-standard vessels. Many of the detentions by Port State Control Authorities involve ageing and badly maintained FOC vessels that should never have sailed. Many of these ships have been referred to as "floating coffins".
Casualties are higher among FOC vessels. In 1997 46 per cent of all losses in absolute tonnage terms were accounted for by just 8 FOC registers. The top ten registers in terms of tonnage lost as a percentage of the fleet includes five FOC registers: Cambodia (1st), St Vincent (5th), Antigua (8th), Cyprus (9th) and Belize (10th).
However, it's not just the state of the ships that contributes to these high percentages. The industry recognises that 80 per cent of all accidents at sea are caused by human error. This is hardly surprising when the crew are overworked, underpaid and inadequately rested and when shipowners can avoid training crew in safety practices and recruit crew members who cannot communicate with each other. 
ITF inspections, and others carried out by the Port State Control Authorities confirm that many seafarers don't even get enough food and clean drinking water. They often report instances where food is in short supply or infested.
Unprotected top
Poor safety practices and unsafe ships make seafaring the most dangerous of all occupations - it is estimated that there are over 2,000 deaths a year at sea. Accidents are frequent. Falling down open hatches, severed limbs, scalds and burns and other injuries to seafarers are often not treated sympathetically by FOC shipowners. The delivery 
of cargoes and the costs of any delay are their only concerns.
The ITF handles many cases every year where adequate medical assistance has not been given. Some injured seafarers have been abandoned ashore, or removed from costly hospitals to be sent home for cheaper, often  inadequate treatment.
Even worse, seafarers on their own have little chance of winning compensation. A severed hand can end a seafaring career, and with it rob a large extended family of a regular income. The ITF pursues these cases through the courts but often they must unravel complex company structures before they can work out who has responsibility for the ship and its crew. The FOC system makes it easy for shipowners to ignore their responsibilities.

Unpaid top
The ITF hears daily of crews owed large sums of money. Some crews simply aren't paid and those that are, find it difficult to send money home to their families because it is well below established international standards. In many cases months go by without any sign of money promised to them. More and more desperate, the crew has no way of escaping. With no pay seafarers cannot even afford to make their own way home. FOCs also have the worst record for abandoning crew. They are stuck on the ship with no union to support them and no way of contacting the owner.
One of the most successful aspects of the ITF Inspector's work is gaining back pay for seafarers. In 1997 the ITF secured US$37 million in wages being withheld from seafarers on FOC and other sub-standard vessels. A quarter of all FOC vessels are now covered by ITF agreements giving direct protection to over 80,000 seafarers. 
Undervalued top
Despite the hardships many FOC seafarers are too frightened to complain. In Manila, in the Philippines - the world's leading crew supplying nation - fleet manning agencies blacklist outspoken seafarers.
It is common practice for a ship's Captain to write "ITF Troublemaker" in a seafarer's discharge book. With such a mark on their record a seafarer may never be employed again. Some seafarers have even been jailed on returning home. With thousands wanting their jobs, they lack any power to protect themselves. And with even more cheap sources of labour opening up - notably China - conditions and pay can only get worse.
The ITF's campaign against FOCs has resulted in better working and living conditions for seafarers of all nationalities. Without the ITF imposing regulations on FOC ships by way of collective agreements there would be no protection and rights for thousands of seafarers today. Although the exploitation of seafarers will no doubt continue, the ITF intends to fight and expose it every step of the way
Standardisation of working conditions is the ultimate goal, and trade unions play a crucial role in achieving this. When national regulation can be so easily undermined by any successful company with branch offices in other countries, international trade unionism is essential. Without it, working conditions will inevitably plummet. 

 ITF CLAIMS RUSSIAN PAYMENTS

THE International Transport Workers' Federation has claimed a string of successes in action taken by its officials in Vladivostock as part of the ITF’s latest Asian Week of Action . ITF inspector Petr Osichansky, said "“As of today there are 101 vessels in Pusan with Russian crews aboard, 15 of which are flying flags of convenience. We have inspected the following Russian flagged vessels: Pogranichnik Petrov; Haiduk; Mys Bligan; Mys Slepikovskogo; Mys Gvozdeva; Mys Chuprova; Zaschitny; Saran; Yeventa; Sinegorye; Yamsk; Sedovo; and Irida. “Owed back wages of US$860,000 were discovered on six of the above – there were similar problems on some of the others, but the crews were uncommunicative." IT appears owners were persuaded to pay. Mr Osichansky said :“After negotiations with the owner of Mys Bligan (ex-Rekin) and Haiduk a settlement was signed under which on the Mys Bligan US$287,511 plus a daily allowance of around $10,000 will be paid till 15 October and $112,969 will be paid till 15 November. On the Haiduk the owed $244,529 will be paid till the beginning of November. Similar action is likely in other Russian Far East ports. Mr Osichansky added: “About 70 seafarers have joined the Seafarers’ Union of Russia. Further inspections are planned for the port of Vostochny. The Russian flagged Zagorsky was arrested to secure a back wages claim of 617,168.00 roubles (about US$20,000).” Steve Cotton, Secretary of the ITF’s Special Seafarers Department described the news as a “typically striking effort by Petr, working with our Korean allies. This is the kind of work, without fear or favour, that can improve seafarers’ lives.” Although the Russian unions have been first to report actions ships can also be expected to be subject to ITF action of varying forms in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

Story provided by Hong Kong Shipping News International