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At a meeting in Kiev with Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, Volodymyr Kozak, ITF acting general secretary Stephen Cotton welcomed Kozak’s commitment to work with the ITF and its affiliate the Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union (MTWTU) to create a road map to determine the next steps and stages of implementation in Ukraine of international best practices and standards.
The meeting, on 25 April, was attended by the media, and chairs and other representatives of MTWTU and another ITF affiliate, the Trade Union of Railwaymen and Transport Construction Workers.
Cotton was in Odessa in the preceding days for the first International Forum and Conference on Seafarers’ Education, Training and Crewing, Ukraine on 24-25 April. Organised by the Odessa National Maritime Academy, the forum was supported by the ITF, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC) and key players in the Ukrainian maritime industry.
The forum focused on the challenges of education and training in a shifting technological environment; the anticipated impact of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC), which enters into force on 20 August; and the ManilaAmendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), which came into force on 1 January 2012, with a five-year transitional period until 1 January 2017.
Participants shared examples of best practice and called for innovative approaches to meet the future needs of the industry and further investment in practical, on-board training opportunities for cadets. The MTWTU also launched the ITF Black Sea Bulletin.
Commenting on the event, Cotton said: “We congratulate Professor Miyusov on thisexcellent initiative. The ITF has long recognised the importance of Ukraine, and Odessa in particular, as a key provider of quality seafarers who have a long tradition and a great future. Events such as this can only serve to enhance cooperation and build on the excellent knowledge base in the region.”
The ITF’s Black Sea Campaign week begins on 13 May, mobilising visits by joint teams of ITF inspectors and union activists to ships in the Black Sea.