TKKD: "Pilot boat standards should be determined, occupational deprivation right should be returned to pilots"

The Turkish Pilots Association has issued a press release regarding the pilot transfer work accident that resulted in the death of Pilot Cafer Kıribrahim the other day. President Capt. Mutlu Dündar and Secretary General Capt. The statement, signed by Gürhan Aktürk, is about making new regulations regarding the service standards of the pilotage profession and the standards of pilot transfer engines. determinations were requested. The release is as follows:

 TURKISH MARITIME PILOTS' ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE

On Monday, 18.07.2022, he fell into the sea during the transfer process from the pilot engine named “Yalova Pilot 2” to the tanker named “Alhena”, where he will provide pilotage service, in the ship anchorage area of ​​Yalova Çiftlikköy, and after a while, he was taken from the sea by the Marine Police boat and first aid was made, then the 112 Emergency Service teams Our professional martyr Kapt. This is our press release regarding the Cafer Kıribrahim accident.

First of all, we wish God's mercy on our martyr of the profession, our condolences to his grieving family, fans, colleagues and our maritime community. The fact that our very esteemed pilot colleague Captain Cafer Kıribrahim has been martyred on the job, besides our great sadness, imposes responsibilities on all of us to ensure that there are no similar work accidents, no loss of life and injuries, and safer working conditions.

We learned with regret that our colleague fell into the sea during the transfer of the pilot, could not be taken from the water for a while and passed away. In this regard, all kinds of measures, both equipment and legislation and standards, should be reviewed and evaluated. The current situation should be determined, if there are any deficiencies, they should be corrected if there are deficiencies, and the existing one should be developed so that there are no other occupational accidents. We bring to the attention of our government the main issues that need to be addressed in order to ensure the safety, service quality and efficiency of the pilotage profession:

Inclusion of Limit Values ​​Regarding Air and Sea Conditions in the Related Legislation Specific to Ports:

Pilots are the providers of a service that is provided continuously, regardless of summer and winter, day and night, holidays, holidays or work days. This continuity should not cover the conditions that everyone can accept and that the service cannot be carried out safely, as is practiced in the ports of many developed countries. However, unfortunately, it is not sufficient to determine and implement the limit values ​​of weather and sea conditions in our country, except for individual applications, in our national legislation, where pilotage service can be provided safely in our ports. Providing service in our ports outside the limit values ​​of the weather and sea conditions may cause the safety of maneuvering and navigation at risk, as well as causing injury or even death to the pilots providing the service during and/or due to bad weather and sea conditions during the transfer of the pilot. For this reason, it would be appropriate to determine the limit values ​​and include them in the Ports Regulation, taking into account criteria such as ports, docks, ship type, and the type of service to be provided.

Pilot Boat Standards:

An important part of the transfer of the pilot is related to the transportation of the pilot boat, helicopter and similar sea and air vehicles. Unfortunately, the legal requirements and national standards of commonly used pilot boats have not yet been determined. Minimum technical equipment and equipment rules of pilot boats should be defined in a legislative text. These rules should also cover the number and qualifications of the personnel who will be on the boat during service on the pilot boat. These standards should be determined by taking into account the qualifications and numbers of the personnel who will use the technical equipment (crane equipment, equipment and equipment for human rescue from the sea such as "Jason's cradle"), and the training and training requirements required to remove a person who falls into the sea without delay and without being harmed. In the construction of pilot boats, new boats should be built by following the developments in the world in recent years, using sample models, projects, specifications and similar guides, and existing old boats should be adapted to them.

Returning Our Right to Deprivation Accounting and Recognizing the Occupation as “Hard and Dangerous Work”:

All our seafaring colleagues, including the pilots, should be returned to their rightful owners as soon as possible. Injuries and deaths in occupational accidents prove the difficulty and weariness of the maritime profession in general. Pilots work in ports where accidents are most common, in narrow, shallow and restricted waters, on different ships, with an intense and heavy work tempo. The fact that they join and leave the ships they will serve, from a moving sea vessel to another moving vessel, with a rope ladder called the cross, to which they hold on, to be exposed to all kinds of risks that may occur on the vessel during the service, by being on the vessel that is actually served, are just a few of the known challenges. Maritime profession in general and pilots have always served with high sacrifice and deprivation. The routine work of sailors, their regular voyage is almost an adventure for other people. Distance, separation, deprivation, shift work, having to work at night, being exposed to seasons or climatic conditions, cold or heat, sun, wind, waves are the known difficulties of maritime. However, different working environments, different ships have their own challenges. Seafarers, who ensure the continuity of the supply chain, continue to work in unexpected difficulties such as war and epidemics, and are among the professions that ensure the continuation of life for all humanity in the world, and therefore are considered to provide an important service in the world, and are known as key workers, critical workers or basic workers. Seafarers should not be deprived of the legal guarantees they deserve in terms of working conditions and personal rights. For these reasons, the Pilotage and the Maritime profession in general should benefit from the rights of attrition. For this, it is included in the scope of Article 40 of the Law No. 5510, and the actual service period is increased. should be allowed to take advantage of them.

In addition, our profession should be evaluated within the scope of the Heavy and Dangerous Works Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 16.06.20004 and numbered 25494.