ITF blames lenient Transport Canada policy for Sri Lankan Seafarer Ravindu Lakmal Pieris Telge's death

Seafarers union blames lenient Transport Canada policy for merchant sailor's death
May 23, 2019 https://ca.news.yahoo.com/seafarers-union-blames-lenient-transport-08000...

The International Transport Workers Federation says a long-standing Transport Canada policy directly contributed to the presumed death of a seafarer on a container ship who went overboard into the St. Lawrence River near Les Escoumins, Que., Sunday.

The Canadian Coast Guard suspended its search for the seafarer Monday.

He's been identified as 31-year-old Sri Lankan Ravindu Lakmal Pieris Telge, the ship's second officer.

Vince Giannopoulos, an inspector with the ITF, whose affiliated trade unions include merchant sailors, spoke with crew members aboard the Maersk Patras when it docked in Montreal Tuesday.

The crew members told Giannopoulos the second officer was unlashing containers when he fell.

"That's when the metal bars that are the main mechanism for securing the containers are undone and untied," Giannopoulos told CBC News.

'Recipe for disaster'

Giannopoulos said that at almost every other port in the world, the unlashing of containers is done by dock workers — and only once ships are safely berthed.

The Port of Montreal is an exception.

Giannopoulos said Transport Canada rules make it one of the few ports in the world that allows seafarers to unlash containers before ships arrive in port.

"It's a very precarious job at the best of times. It's one of the most dangerous jobs that happens on the waterfront," said Peter Lahay, Canadian co-ordinator for the ITF.

"When you compound that with doing it at sea, often in challenging weather conditions, it's a recipe for disaster," Lahay said.

Heavy, precarious work

Unlashing containers requires using a long metal bar to unscrew bolts that hold them in place.

Giannopoulos said the bars are often heavy and long, as was the one used by the crew member who went overboard Sunday.

"The bar weighed 23 kilograms and was four and a half metres long. So you've got this really awkward object that you're trying to manoeuvre," Giannopoulos said.

"Basically, the weight of the object kind of got the better of him. He was holding it straight up in a vertical sense, to try and unlock one of the containers," Giannopoulos said.

"It swayed a little bit too much, and the weight of the bar took him over the railing, and he went overboard," he said.

"If the seafarers weren't doing the unlashing while the ship was underway, this quite literally couldn't have happened," Giannopoulos concluded.

Transport Canada OKs practice, despite warnings

Rules set by Transport Canada allow ships bound for Montreal to begin unlashing once they reach Les Escoumins.

Lahay said it's the only port in Canada and one of few in the world where that is allowed.

He said both the port authority and the shipping companies encourage the practice, because it allows containers to be unloaded more quickly once in port.

"Captains have told us over the years that they don't find it safe, but if they don't do it, the company essentially says, 'If you don't do it, we'll find someone who can,'" said Giannopoulos.

"They might not technically be forced, but the reality of the situation is they are."

Lahay said because of how dangerous it is for seafarers, the ITF met with Transport Canada officials a year ago to urge them to ban the practice on the St. Lawrence River.