A Resolution Supporting Seafarer Rights
Approved by the 205th Annual Meeting
of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ,
June 12, 2004
WHEREAS Jesus dignified seafaring in calling
as his first disciples from those who made their living from
the sea, and began his ministry “proclaiming release
to captives, … and setting at liberty those who are
oppressed,” (Luke 4: 18); and
WHEREAS the Massachusetts Conference of
the United Church of Christ sponsored the visit of the Freedom
Schooner AMISTAD to Boston in October 2003 to educate
its members of their Congregational heritage and tradition
of working for the release of captives and oppressed, encouraging
them to continue the work for justice; and
WHEREAS Seafarer’s Friend was incorporated
as Boston Seamen’s Friend Society in 1827 as the agent
for ministry to and advocate for seafarers on behalf of New
England Congregationalists, and continues this ministry today
in ports in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine; and
WHEREAS, a survey conducted by the Center
for Seafarer Rights and the Seaman’s Church Institute
of New York and New Jersey revealed that the United States
is the only country to require a visa of foreign seafarers
to come ashore, and numerous marine terminals in the United
States prohibit crews from leaving their ship even if they
have a visa; and
WHEREAS following the AMISTAD into
Boston Harbor was the freighter ORCHID BAY with all
but one of its crew of 22 Filipinos facing 53 days of virtual
captivity (according to the captain to the Port Chaplain,
8 days sailing from Spain and 35 days projected sailing to
Shanghai, with 10 days spent in the Port of Boston) aboard
due to a port change by the ship owner resulting in the crew
not having the proper visa for shore leave, an instance that
occurs approximately 15 times a month the past year in the
Port of Boston according to records kept by Seafarer’s
Friend chaplains; and
WHEREAS the International Labor Organization
Convention 185, Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention
(Revised) [ILO 185], awaiting ratification by the United States,
provides standards for reliable, verifiable, and internationally
acceptable identification which balances legitimate port security
requirements and the need for crews to attend to their physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs on shore leave; and
WHEREAS in accordance with international
treaties, the Maritime Transportation Security Act (effective
December 2003) in its provisions regarding security for terminals
and vessels calls on terminal owners and operators to “ensure
coordination of shore leave for vessel personnel or crew change-out,
as well as access through the facility for visitors to the
vessel (including representatives of seafarer’s welfare
and labor organizations).” [Federal Register Par 105.200];
and
WHEREAS the North American Maritime Ministry
Association, of which Seafarers’ Friend is an active
member, at its annual meeting in September 2003 in Oakland,
California, passed a resolution in support of the Seafarers’
Identity Documents Convention (Revised) [ILO 185]; and was
a contributor and supporter of shore leave provisions in the
Coast Guard interim regulations for terminals and vessels;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 205th
Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference of the United
Church of Christ invites all churches in the Conference to
study the status of seafarers and consider working for the
advocacy of seafarer’s rights to shore leave in U.S.
ports through
- Urging their congressional representatives, and through
them the State Department, for United States of America
ratification and full implementation of the Seafarers’
Identification Documents as substitutes for crewmember visas
for shore leave purposes (ILO 185).
- Urging marine terminal owners and operators who do not
allow seafarers to exercise their right to shore leave at
their terminals, especially any in Massachusetts ports,
to comply with the spirit and specifications of the Coast
Guard interim regulations for crew shore leave.
|
