{"id":34321,"date":"2017-06-11T17:37:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-11T16:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/?p=34321"},"modified":"2022-09-05T10:57:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T09:57:19","slug":"cruise-ships-what-the-foc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2017\/06\/cruise-ships-what-the-foc\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruise ships: What the FOC?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"648\" height=\"415\" class=\"wp-image-34322\" src=\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/cruise.jpg\" alt=\"Cruise ships: What the FOC?\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/cruise.jpg 648w, https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/cruise-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/cruise-103x67.jpg 103w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">C<\/span>ruising\u00a0 is arguably tourism\u2019s greatest 21st century success story. But it is also a story of industry failure \u2013 to learn from and act on the decades of evidence showing\u00a0 how damaging it can be for\u00a0 local people in destination ports and and marine environments.\u00a0 Read our report on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tourismconcern.org.uk\/reports\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cruise Ship Tourism<\/a>\u00a0for more on this. But here we highlight an associated issue \u2013 the plight of those working on the pleasure ships that sail our seas.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Most cruise ships sail under something called a \u2018<strong>F<\/strong>lag\u00a0<strong>o<\/strong>f<strong>\u00a0C<\/strong>onvenience\u2019.\u00a0 This means that companies choose to register their ships in a country other than the country of ownership. Common FOC nations include Liberia, Panama and the Bahamas. Flying an FOC means that ships are subject to less regulation, making it more difficult for unions, industry stakeholders and the public to hold them accountable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The system can result in:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Low wages for crews<\/li>\r\n<li>Inadequate living and working conditions<\/li>\r\n<li>Inadequate food and clean drinking water<\/li>\r\n<li>Long periods of work without proper rest<\/li>\r\n<li>Tax avoidance<\/li>\r\n<li>An outdated and harmful environmental impact.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Tourism Concern thinks this is unacceptable and wants to see the demise of the FOC open registry system. We want a cruise industry regulated by negotiated trade union agreements, based on respect for basic human rights and a fair wage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The multinational nature of cruise ship crews means that the crew members often face exploitation and abuse. Seafarers can end up working 12-hour days, seven days a week for several months just to pay back crewing agents and to pay for flights to and from the ship.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Below decks on a\u00a0cruise ship is a hidden world of long hours, low pay, insecurity and exploitation. Working days are commonly 10-13 hours long, seven days a week. Those who work continuously below deck, rarely see the light of day, let alone the sea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Wages for those on a salary can be as low as \u00a3270\u00a0a month, rising to \u00a3480\u00a0a month for skilled cooks and fitters. Many domestic staff are \u201ctip earners\u201d, paid about \u00a335\u00a0a month and expected to survive on the generosity of the passengers. Many seafarers, particularly those from the Philippines, will have to pay a crewing agent a fee of up to\u00a0\u00a31,000 to join the ship. For the lowest paid,\u00a0this can mean it takes as much as half of a typical eight month contract to repay this expense.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Another trick from the employers is to demand a \u201csecurity bond\u201d of up to \u00a3550\u00a0from each employee, supposedly to stop desertion and cover any consequent fines. The bond can extend the working time to cover expenses to six out of the eight months on board. Discipline is also harsh and often randomly applied. Passenger complaints can mean staff are transferred to less desirable stations or can lead straight to a dismissal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Whilst some cruise ships are seeking to comply with international conventions on employment and pollution, FOC\u2019s simply make it much harder to ensure that this is,\u00a0in fact, the case.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Flying an FOC means that ships are subject to less regulation, making it more difficult for unions, industry stakeholders and the public to hold them accountable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337,"featured_media":34322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,139,3844,130,534,12],"tags":[43],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cruise ships: What the FOC?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Flying an 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