India: Ship workers challenge cut-off date for CDC eligibility

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

19 Mar 2008

The Directorate General of Shipping is having a tough time defending the "logic" of its rules regarding issuance of Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) to seamen in an ongoing case before the Bombay High Court. Seamen's Union, a trade union of merchant-ship workers, has challenged a notification issued by the DGS laying down March 28, 2003 as cut-off date for the untrained seamen to be eligible for obtaining CDC. CDC is mandatory for all seamen, as per the International Labour Organisation's guidelines. The trained seamen get it after completion of their course. But for the untrained seamen, the government brought in a scheme, whereby anyone who had three years' experience of sea-going could apply for CDC before June 19, 2001. This date for applying was extended thrice, to give the experienced seamen time to apply. Last extension was upto January 2006. While extending this date, government also relaxed the criterion of experience, from three years to two years. But while granting more time to seamen to apply for CDC, it retained a clause which High Court found, prima facie, illogical: Only those seamen who possessed the two years' experience on/or before February 28, 2003 could apply for CDC. In other words, an untrained seaman, who acquires two years' experience beyond this date, can not apply; though the date for filing application was extended upto January 2006. Hearing the Seamen's Union's petition yesterday, Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar asked government lawyer, "Can't you see the unfairness in your rules?"