Thursday, 03 June 2010 22:57 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – About half of the total workforce at Burmese shipping’s Five Star Line have quit their posts as of Tuesday, saying they would seek better pay as crewmen for foreign lines.
Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL), established to finance the Burmese military, took over the Burmese shipping line, which was operating freight and passenger transport services, on April 1. Two months after the takeover, at least 550 sailors out of total 1,227 sailors, have submitted their resignations.
“We are continuing the appointments of old employees who wished to continue their service … after … seeking and receiving their consent,” a senior Five Star official told Mizzima. “And we let the employees who do not wish to continue service … resign from their jobs.”
The resigned sailors represented 350 deckhands and 200 from engine rooms. The Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDC) of those who resigned will today be transferred completely to the Seamen Employment Control Division (SECD) in Dawbon Township, Rangoon, a source said.
The CDC verifies that the person holding it is a seaman according to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers (STCW). Every seafarer must carry this log while on board ship, which is also an official and legal record of his sea experience, along with captains’ remarks.
Five Star Line has nine freighters in international waters and 16 coastal passenger ships but only 14 ships are in a serviceable condition.
After the takeover, UMEHL tried to retain employees by raising salaries under four ship-group divisions, but the move obviously failed.
Group I contains ocean-going freighters Coco Island, Kyaukphyu and Keungtung. Group II contains short-haul ocean-going ships the Tavoy, Manaung, Pegu, Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay. Group III contains Mawlamyaing, Sittwe and Ocean Brave. Group IV contains coastal domestic passenger ships including the Myitkyina and the Taunggyi.
According to the new pay-scale starting from June 1, the highest paid group of employees – captains and chief engineers in Group I ships – will get US$5,000 a month and the same ranks in Group II and Group III ships will be paid US$4,700 and US$3,500 respectively. The same ranks in Group IV will be paid Ks. 750,000 Kyats (US$750) a month.
But the seamen had complained that even this new pay scale was still less than the rates offered by foreign shipping lines.
Under state management, the Five Star Line has made losses for many years and faced redundancy problems. However the line conducted a recruitment drive recently so it would avoid serious crew shortages in its operations, a line official claimed.
operates freight and passenger services along the 1,199-mile (1,930-kilometre) coastline from Arakan (Rakhine) State in the west to Tanintharyi State in the south.
Its “Far-East” services visit Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and the line operates on Southeast Asian routes that take in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. The company also carries freight to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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