Deadweight: The perils of seafaring life

Deadweight: The perils of seafaring life
Dennis Gorecho -June 1, 2019 https://www.panaynews.net/deadweight-the-perils-of-seafaring-life/

I WAS ELATED to see my name in the credits of the film Deadweight, a Finnish-German co-production that explores the tough working conditions in the globalized shipping business.

In 2014 I was interviewed by German filmmaker Axel Koenzen on the different issues confronting Filipino seafarers, including the perils of the profession like disability or death due to illness, injury or accidents.

Two years later, the film had its world premiere at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival. Deadweight is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry, or the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew.

Ahti Ikonen is the captain of a large 35,000-ton container vessel Brugge, which enters the port of Savannah behind schedule. As they are under deadline pressure, he violated regulations by ordering his crew to help the local dockworkers unload the cargo. Unfortunately, it costs the life of a Filipino seafarer James that threatens his career.

In the port of Rotterdam, Netherlands unionized dockworkers exploit the incident and refuse to unload the ship and called for a boycott.

The film was aptly described in the 9th Subversive Film Festival in Zagreb, Croatia as “Axel’s nautical piece which deals with the exploitation of the nautical working class that makes the functioning of capitalistic efficiency possible. With an accentuated documentary approach, through various observational methods the film speaks about responsibility, limitations, restrictions, which are symbolic of a time in which instructions are mediated through e-mail and radio, and reflect the essence of the global syndrome of mediated management – the shifting of responsibility that often falls on the lowest level executioner. The film has adapted, in its making, to the rhythm of the boat, while the author refuses to romanticize the hard and brutal working conditions of its crew.”

An interesting issue that the film seeks to address is the real cause of James’ death, whether it is due to an accident or suicide.

James is somewhat suffering from depression as his request for repatriation is not granted even if his tenure is already beyond what is stipulated in the contract. In a scene he is shown with a head injury after the illegal lashing and then as a dead person.

An interesting scene is the discussion among the crew on what will be the tenor of their testimony surrounding James’ death.

If he died due to accident, the heirs will be paid US$50,000 and an additional amount of US$7,000 to each child under the age of 21 but not exceeding four children under the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) contract. The amount is usually higher if the death is covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

On the other hand, declaring the incident as suicide will save the owners large amounts of payment for death benefits from the insurance companies.

The employer is liable to pay the heirs of the deceased seafarer for death benefits once it is established that he died during the effectivity of his employment contract. However, the employer may be exempt from liability if it can successfully prove that the seafarer’s death is caused by an injury directly attributable to his deliberate or willful act, including killing himself by committing suicide.

The investigators conclude that James died by suicide due to illegal lashing based on the testimony of the crew.

Studies identify as most frequently cited factors for seafarers’ suicide the various work-related problems which include conflicts among the crew, disciplinary problems, work pressure, cancellation of shore leave, various mental health conditions, depression, marital or girlfriend problems and alcohol consumption.

Deadweight had its Philippine premier last week at the UP Film Center in Diliman. I suggested to Axel that it be shown in schools and other venues in time for the National Seafarers Day celebration during the last week of September.