| British shipping chamber declares Lebanon, Israel war zone |
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| Written by Book Reviews | |
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The declaration was in response to a request by the National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers, and the recognition of the ongoing conflict involving Israel and Hezbollah operating in Lebanon. As a result of the declaration, British seafarers sailing to that area will receive a war bonus, depending on their respective contracts. “As far as we know, we are the first shipping chamber (in the world) to declare those areas as a war zone,” said a spokesman for British Chamber of Shipping. The International Shipping Chamber is expected to follow suit very soon, he said. The war zone covers the coastal areas in Lebanon and Israeli waters around the port of Haifa. The declaration enters into effect immediately and will remain in effect until August 2. It will be subject to review in August. The British Chamber of Shipping is the trade association representing 134 UK-based shipowners and shipmanagers, and 793 ships of about 21 million gross tonnes. The chamber is recommending to its members that they pay British seafarers sailing to the war zone a compensation of 100 percent of basic pay. Also, shipowners should refrain from taking disciplinary action against any seafarer who declines to proceed into the war zone. The higher operating and insurance costs could discourage shipowners from trading in those areas, the spokesman said. However, the higher costs could also be passed on to charterers, and shipping in the eastern Mediterranean had been a profitable business, he added. In the past several months, ship brokers had already reported a lack of willingness by some shipowners to send their ships to that area due to safety reasons. Trackback(0)
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