Russia’s Minister of Transport recently met with the President of the association of crewing companies, recruiting, training and placement of seafarers, also Managing Director of Marlow Navigation Russia, Oleg Shabotin, as well as president of the Russian Trade Union of Sailors, Yuriy Sukhorukov.
The meeting was organised on August 19th and covered a range of topics and issues that impact Russian seafarers.
Most notably was the requirements of STCW-95 (Manila amendments 2010), as well as Maritime Labour Convention 2006, as adopted by the International Labour Organization and ratified by the Russian Federation. According to Shabotin, some of these requirements have not yet been fully implemented, such as those relating to medical certificates issued by authorised practitioners/clinics. If not in compliance by January 1, 2017, Russian seafarers run the risk of being dismissed from vessels at foreign ports.
"The problem is we do not currently have an authorised list of doctors/clinics in Russia who have the right to carry out such medical examinations of marine specialists," stated Shabotin. "Medical examination of seafarers is a key aspect of occupational health and safety. As such, if a seafarer is not recognised as being medically ‘fit for duty’, then the full range of marine documents are also considered invalid," he added.
As explained by expert representative of Russia’s Ministry of Health, Mrs Oksana Guseva who also took part in the discussions, seafarer licenses issued prior to the 1st of January 2017 will continue to be valid for another five years, provided the seafarer is medically fit. However, those that will be issued after this date should fully comply with the Manila amendments, with Russian regulation stipulating a list of MLC authorised medical practitioners/clinics.
Minister Sokolov assured the delegation that experts and deputies of the State Duma will take the appropriate action to meet the requirements well before the deadline.
