The Second Europe-Asia Maritime Summit by the MTWTU

The event was initiated by the Marine Transport Workers' Trade Union of Ukraine and attended by the General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation Stephen Cotton, representatives of the ITF affiliates from Japan, Singapore, Germany, Norway, the Philippines and India, representatives of shipowners and their associations from Norway, the Netherlands and Japan, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Maritime Administration of Ukraine, the Inspectorate for Training and Certification of Seafarers, leading maritime higher educational institutions of Ukraine, seafarers’ recruitment and placement agencies, as well as the Union members – Ukrainian seafarers.

Today, Ukraine is among the top-5 countries that supply qualified personnel to the international maritime labor market. Many foreign employers value Ukrainians for their professional skills: for many years our seafarers have successfully worked on ships of foreign shipowners.

In addition to the seafarers’ personal contribution, the development and well-being of the southern region is greatly influenced by a well-developed maritime infrastructure, represented by over 350 manning agencies, medical and training centers and other maritime institutions and organizations.

At the Summit, the Union’s task was to present Ukraine as one of the leading countries supplying personnel for the world shipping, as well as to show the foreign shipowners the advantages of Ukrainian seafarers, to promote them in the global maritime labor market.At the Summit, the Union’s task was to present Ukraine as one of the leading countries supplying personnel for the world shipping, as well as to show the foreign shipowners the advantages of Ukrainian seafarers, to promote them in the global maritime labor market.

Ukrainian seafarers work on ships all over the world. However, there exists a great number of potential employers that are not fully aware of the advantages and prospects of Ukraine as a country that trains professional personnel to the international maritime shipping.

In order to change the situation, in 2018, the Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine for the first time initiated the Europe-Asia Maritime Summit, which became a platform for presenting Ukrainian seafarers and Ukraine to a wide range of potential employers.

“We created such a pilot project last year, and it found a broad response not only among our trade union colleagues around the globe, but also among shipowners. Foreign employers are interested in Ukrainian seafarers, as in competitive, hardworking, highly skilled and well-trained specialists with worthy experience, who honor good maritime traditions,” noted Oleg Grygoriuk, MTWTU First Vice Chairman. “Last year’s Summit brought to Ukraine a number of companies and that resulted in creation of 400 new workplaces for Ukrainian seafarers. That is why, looking at the results, today we continue highlighting the advantages of Ukrainian mariners, the new opportunities in maritime education; we voice why Ukrainian seafarers are attractive to the world labor market, inform about the MTTWU projects and, in particular, about the project to prevent criminalization of Ukrainian seafarers.”

The ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton highly commended the work of the MTWTU, “Today, in Ukraine there operates the only maritime organization, affiliated to the International Transport Workers’ Federation. And this is the Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine. Under the competent guidance of its Chairman, Michael Kirieiev, who is also a member of the ITF Executive Board, the MTWTU has overcome the way from a post-Soviet union to a modern social services provider, a labor rights guarantor, which worthily does everything to increase the number of workplaces for Ukrainian seafarers in the world industry,” Stephen Cotton emphasized.

The outcome of the Summit was the adoption of the Resolution, where the participants supported the active efforts of the MTWTU aimed at the prompt Ukraine’s ratification of the MLC, 2006 and Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (№ 185); the Union’s project aimed at preventing seafarers’ involvement in maritime crimes, and also the need to conclude an agreement on the mutual recognition among member states of certificates held by seafarers.