By Captain William Doherty– The current unfortunate chain of occasions concerning the monetary irresponsibility of the proprietors of one the biggest united state coastwise oil service providers, Bouchard Transportation Co., and also particularly its proprietor Morton Bouchard III, wherein countless activities have actually been required upon regulative companies, particularly the United States Coast Guard, to reveal obvious shortages in risk-free procedure of United States flagged vessels mixed-up.

Today, Bouchard- run huge ocean-going tug/barge systems similar in dimension with huge oil item vessels are stranded offshore and also in ports below in theUnited States

The most unfortunate and also recurring resultant scenario is the standard “imprisonment” of teams, required by the United States Coast Guard, to continue to be aboard these vessels in need of support by the vessel proprietor.

These team participants have actually not been paid considering that January 1, 2020, and also the seafarers have actually been bought by the Coast Guard to continue to be aboard these systems for Maritime and alsoEnvironmental Safety

This is an obvious instance of why the UNITED STATE Coast Guard and also our leaders’ failing to validate the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 is the origin of the efficient “imprisonment” of these unfavorable and also innocent seafarers.

Had the United States validated the Maritime Labor Convention and also had Bouchard Transportation been needed to follow the MLC, these vessels would certainly not have actually been allowed to cruise without the “Owners” licensed proof of a “Maritime Labor Convention Certificate of Financial Responsibly” (MLC-COFR), making certain sufficient financing offered to repatriate ALL team participants in case of monetary or various other desertion.

Sadly, a substantial quantity of the U.S.-flagged ocean-going ships and also vessels have for years “slipped under the radar” for conformity with International Maritime Organization (IMO) “seafarer protective” conventions, laws and also orders.

These “loopholes” enable U.S.-flag residential solution vessel drivers to run their fleets without conformity with worldwide laws included in International Safety Management (ISM), the Maritime Labor Convention, and also numerous various other safety IMO requireds.

The Bouchard Transportation fiasco is evidence favorable that it’s time to shut these technicalities and also bring our U.S.-flagged vessels, running both globally and also locally, under ALL worldwide requireds.

That is unless our American Seafarers aren’t worth the securities managed to every various other seafarer worldwide.

Captain William H. Doherty is a an accredited United States Coast Guard Master Mariner of endless tonnage.