About the procedure for departure of seafarers to work on ships
Today, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine finally made a decision that we have been fighting for the entire 6 months since the full-scale invasion in Ukraine started and since the martial law was imposed.
Thus, the procedures for the departure of seafarers to work on ships have finally been determined.
We have repeatedly thanked everyone and everybody for supporting Ukraine and Ukrainian seafarers at every level. Today, when the ice has broken, we consider it important to mention all those who did not remain indifferent for a minute.
At the beginning of March, the MTWTU initiated an appeal from the ITF General Secretary to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the necessity to ensure the departure of Ukrainian seafarers to work on foreign ships.
We also provided sending to the government of Ukraine the joint call of the largest associations of shipowners and ship operators: International Chamber of Shipping, InterManager, InterTanko, International Maritime Employment Council (IMEC), International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), and International Federation of Shipmaster' Association (IFSMA).
We received colossal support from the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization.
We initiated an appeal on the issue of Ukrainian seafarers from the European Transport Workers' Federation to the European Commission and received support from the American trade unions, who sent a letter to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with a call to immediately coordinate the efforts of the US Department of State and the EU countries to remove the restriction on departure for Ukrainian seafarers as soon as possible.
Of course, one cannot ignore the efforts made by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and Yuriy Vaskov personally, the deputies, in particular Oleksiy Leonov, who heard the seafarers' voices. Although not to the full extent, proposals developed by our Trade Union were taken into account. It is the social dialogue we are striving for.
But undoubtedly, our seafarers and their families played the most critical role in achieving this bridge result!
And it's important to note, the seafarers didn't just rally to get out of the country; they did every effort to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defense forces, and resettlers.
You are our heroes. We are as proud of your patriotism as we are of your professional qualities!
Today's decision is a joint victory.
Of course we want to see how the procedure will function in practice as its imperfections are already obvious. And we are already working with the MIU to remove the restrictions. Together - we are stronger.
