Seafarer Issues

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

In 1987, women started to work at sea as purser and stewardess which lead the management team on the Irish ferries and passenger ships. Nowadays, there are more women on board ships as Radio, Deck and even Engine officers in shipping companies that belong to European, American, Australia and Far East countries. For female seafarer, working on aboard of ship that dominated by male (male-only environment) requires great dedication, tolerance and self-belief because they may be have to confront discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and violence in their workplace on board ship.( Inese Barbare, Sandra Breiha, Inese Viesture, 2014, 28)

Mental health problems are the common problem faced by the

Indeed, the offshore wage is more than attractive compared to the Romanian onshore remuneration. For example, in May 2013 the Romanian on-shore wage was of 172.83 euro and the minimum basic wage established for 1 January 2013 by the International Labour Organization was the equivalent of 441.11 euro. Wages for senior seafaring positions and managerial functions are exponentially increased. Followed by the second motivation to join seafaring is the prospect of career advancement and attraction to the sea or to marine profession (38.09%). Family encouragement or the intention to continue the tradition are less important factors of influence for choosing a maritime

“The seven deaths categorized as other diseases include one death due to chronic alcoholism and drug misuse, giving an SMR of 1.98 (0.05 to 11.03) for the diagnostic group drug and alcohol misuse (ICD303-305). The three cases of stroke were all diagnosed as subarachnoid hemorrhages (ICD 430.9). Among the nine fatal accidents, four were accidents in the workplace giving an incidence of 1.1/10 000 years. But all four accidents were among female seafarers in male occupations giving an incidence of 10.8/10 000 for this particular group. The relative risk of fatal occupational accident for a female seafarer compared with all economically active women ashore is thus 32.2 (11.4 to 90.5) and for female seafarers in traditional male occupations 175.4 (62.3 to 493.4). Two of the fatal accidents were caused by suffocation in a tank and in the ship’s hold, respectively. Both had been asked to enter these confined spaces by superiors, although this was in violation of basic safety regulations. One female seafarer drowned in the harbor after returning from a public house ashore, and the last fatal occupational accident was caused by a maritime disaster. The remaining fatal accidents consisted of five traffic accidents, giving an SMR of 2.52 (0.79 to 5.92) for this specific cause of death. There were no non-natural deaths caused by intoxication by alcohol or drugs. None of the nine cases of suicide took place during