Broshures depicting only the sun shine side of the cruise industry, but the dark side is looming.
"Too little space in rescue boats, dumping wages for seafarers, high toxic heavy fuel creating smog: The beautiful world of white pleasure boats gets scratches," said expert captain Wolfgang Gregor in a talk with Earl of Cruise. `Der Kreuzfahrtkomplex - Traumschiff oder Alptraum´.
Furthermore I had been talking to other people from the cruise business. I am truly divided, for on the one hand I advocate the possibility of cruising for all, but strongly criticize the negative effects.
by Earl of Cruise
"Too little space in rescue boats, dumping wages for seafarers, high toxic heavy fuel creating smog: The beautiful world of white pleasure boats gets scratches," said expert captain Wolfgang Gregor in a talk with Earl of Cruise. `Der Kreuzfahrtkomplex - Traumschiff oder Alptraum´.
Furthermore I had been talking to other people from the cruise business. I am truly divided, for on the one hand I advocate the possibility of cruising for all, but strongly criticize the negative effects.
by Earl of Cruise
QUEEN ELIZABETH of CUNARD, subsidiary of CARNIVAL CORP. anchoring in Hamburg - courtsey HAMBURG TOURISMUS
Cruises are among the global megatrends. But hardly anyone knows what is happening behind the scenes of this successful sector. "Der Kreuzfahrtkomplex - Traumschiff oder Alptraum" is the first book of an insider that illuminates the dark sides of the cruise industry. And I am lucky not to be the only one who sees the dark side ... The book is an up-to-date repository that explains the industries mechanisms, risks, and economic contexts. Safety gaps on board, precarious working conditions of the crew, lack of tax evasion and permanent environmental impacts - Wolfgang Gregor impressively demonstrates the overall social challenge of the large business with ocean liners.
From my point of view, the book was long overdue and offers an overview of a quite unscrupulous branch of the industry who is concerned about social values. It reads like a crime novel and is `not probably´ pure reality. Wolfgang Gregor understands his profession, and as a former captain, he has the best insight and sees the connections. My view on mass market cruises has been confirmed, not changed, and I can only thank the author.
From my point of view, the book was long overdue and offers an overview of a quite unscrupulous branch of the industry who is concerned about social values. It reads like a crime novel and is `not probably´ pure reality. Wolfgang Gregor understands his profession, and as a former captain, he has the best insight and sees the connections. My view on mass market cruises has been confirmed, not changed, and I can only thank the author.
Third Cruise Terminal for Hamburg, in Steinwerder - courtsey HAMBURG TOURISMUS
When Hamburg's Bürgerschaft (City parliament) was attended by the construction of a third cruise terminal in Hamburg, DIE LINKE, Germanies left winged `socialist´ party, also agreed. "The concept of the new cruise terminal on Steinwerder provided for a passenger fee of € 9.20, it was calculated that the new cruise terminal is economically self-sufficient. We think this is the right approach in the port," said political speaker for port affairs, Norbert Hackbusch.
AIDAprima embarking at Steinwerder Cruise Terminal, the new terminal in Hamburg - Source: Wikipedia
Meanwhile, Norbert Hackbusch and others in his fraction have doubted the cruise boom in Hamburg. This is also the result of the research of Wolfgang Gregor, Captain and free lance journalist and writer, 61. For a year and a half, Wolfgang Gregor has been working on a book about the shading pages of the cruise industry, which has been published by the end of 2015 - Der Kreuzfahrtkomplex: Traumschiff oder Alptraum (Amazon). What he was doing was not a good light on the industry: "I have absolutely nothing against cruising," repeated Gregor from an information evening of the Linkspartei in the Bürgersaal of the town hall. "But the trend in the industry is mass tourism. The price for these `dumping price cruises´ is that ecological and social standards are increasingly undermined."
Another book written by a former crew member - courtsey goolge books
Stewards get between US$ 1.10 and 1.23 per hour with a shift of 12 hours with the duty for finally cleaning.
The business with cruise ships is booming, 2,02 million German vacationers did take a cruise in 2016. Hamburg, for a long time `dorming´, has adjusted itself over the last few years, and now a third terminal for the floating hotels inaugurated. The operators are enthusiastic.
Captain Gregor has an interesting perspective on the cruise industry. From 18 to 32 years he sailed himself on the sea, lastly as a captain `auf Großer Fahrt´ - on High Seas. Then he went into the industry and held management positions at the lighting manufacturer OSRAM (English) or (German). Through large orders for light sources he came into contact with cruise ships. What he saw there shocked him: "A cabin steward on a cruise ship earns between US$ 1.10 and 1.23 per hour," he says, showing a collective agreement of an Italian trade union with a cruise company known in Germany. "Depending on the experience, this is US$ 450 to 700 a month. The sailors, mostly from the Philippines or other Asian countries, work on the ship for up to nine months."
The business with cruise ships is booming, 2,02 million German vacationers did take a cruise in 2016. Hamburg, for a long time `dorming´, has adjusted itself over the last few years, and now a third terminal for the floating hotels inaugurated. The operators are enthusiastic.
Captain Gregor has an interesting perspective on the cruise industry. From 18 to 32 years he sailed himself on the sea, lastly as a captain `auf Großer Fahrt´ - on High Seas. Then he went into the industry and held management positions at the lighting manufacturer OSRAM (English) or (German). Through large orders for light sources he came into contact with cruise ships. What he saw there shocked him: "A cabin steward on a cruise ship earns between US$ 1.10 and 1.23 per hour," he says, showing a collective agreement of an Italian trade union with a cruise company known in Germany. "Depending on the experience, this is US$ 450 to 700 a month. The sailors, mostly from the Philippines or other Asian countries, work on the ship for up to nine months."
Wages on board the white fleet of dreams - courtsey DIE ZEIT
The beautiful world of white pleasure boats gets some scratches when you listen to Gregor for some time. Rescue boats on ships would often have less capacity than the 100 percent of the passengers on board. "If a flag state such as Panama grants an exemption of 75 percent capacity, then no ship classification society can do anything in the world," Gregor says. As a rule, crews would have to make it with the rescue islands, which cruise companies open declared.The third municipal cruise terminal, which Hamburg has dedicated to Steinwerder summer 2015, also occupied Gregor. Because the construction cost 14 million euros less than planned, the city operator cut the passenger fees from € 9.20 euros to € 6.60. The cruise industry also considers it too expensive. Gregor considers the calculation to be economically meaningless: "Why does Hamburg subsidize an industry with the best infrastructure that puts on mass and cheap tourism at sea?" Environmental pollution by cruise ships, animation to gambling and alcohol consumption on the ships, seafarers under working conditions like in the frond service He said: "I would like another cruising trip that will not damage our social achievements."
DIE LINKE in the Bürgerschaft wants to use Gregor's research as well as his own information and view the cruise boom in Hamburg more critically. The city expects 525,000 passengers with 160 ship arrivals this year. This is less than in the record year 2014, but is at a high level in the direction of further growth, especially with the new third terminal. "There is a lot to do," says Norbert Hackbusch, "not only in the unspeakable working conditions of seafarers."
There is another severe problem - desertion on high seas. Bahamas, Malta, Italy: All 27 German cruise ships are flying under a foreign flag. The price is paid by the staff.
DEUTSCHLAND docked in London during the Olympic Games 2012 - own photography
Andreas Jungblut, once well renowned captain of DEUTSCHLAND, ZDF "Das Traumschiff", lost the fight for DEUTSCHLAND. "We have tried everything," says the long-time captain from Germany, "but in the end it was not enough."
Five years ago, Jungblut, now 63, has mutinied against his employer, REEDEREI PETER DEILMANN GmbH: at the Olympics in 2012, when DEUTSCHLAND, "Das Traumschiff", from the ZDF show, anchored as the German Olympics ship in London. The then owner of the shipping company, the Munich financial investor AURELIUS, wanted to reflag DEUTSCHLAND into that of Malta. It would have been cheaper to report the ship on the island: less tax, less levy. But when the captain publicly protested, he sent a letter to then Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck, and the federal government finally interfered, AURELIUS let the beating be. For the meantime ...
For scarcely had the waves smoothed, REEDEREI PETER DEILMANN GmbH fired the rebellious captain. AURELIUS then sold his shares to another "investor" from Munich, CALLISTA, who finally applied for insolvency for the shipping company, collapsing under the debt burden accumulated by the two investment companies, "Finanzhaie". DEUTSCHLAND finally in an auction was sold to a US investor with ~ € 35 million, still overpriced. He first reflagged the vessel into the flag of the Bahamas. The crew, who had taken care of the ship for many years, had to leave the ship. For with the German flag, the German labor law also disappeared from the ship. It was the end of an era.
Five years ago, Jungblut, now 63, has mutinied against his employer, REEDEREI PETER DEILMANN GmbH: at the Olympics in 2012, when DEUTSCHLAND, "Das Traumschiff", from the ZDF show, anchored as the German Olympics ship in London. The then owner of the shipping company, the Munich financial investor AURELIUS, wanted to reflag DEUTSCHLAND into that of Malta. It would have been cheaper to report the ship on the island: less tax, less levy. But when the captain publicly protested, he sent a letter to then Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck, and the federal government finally interfered, AURELIUS let the beating be. For the meantime ...
For scarcely had the waves smoothed, REEDEREI PETER DEILMANN GmbH fired the rebellious captain. AURELIUS then sold his shares to another "investor" from Munich, CALLISTA, who finally applied for insolvency for the shipping company, collapsing under the debt burden accumulated by the two investment companies, "Finanzhaie". DEUTSCHLAND finally in an auction was sold to a US investor with ~ € 35 million, still overpriced. He first reflagged the vessel into the flag of the Bahamas. The crew, who had taken care of the ship for many years, had to leave the ship. For with the German flag, the German labor law also disappeared from the ship. It was the end of an era.
DEUTSCHLAND in PHOENIX SEEREISEN colours and Bahamian flag, a joke to me, a ship called DEUTSCHLAND, sold in Germany for vacancies, under a foreign flag - Source: Wikipedia
The by CALLISTA cheated private investors, who after the bancrupcy sued the private investment company for setting up a fraud, the case is including AURELIUS. Both private equity fonds summed up their purchasing costs as depts for PETER DEILMANN REEDEREI - over € 65 million. CALLISTA by the way had no experience in shipping in general and passenger shipping or tourist affairs in special ...
Today, according to a research conducted by the New York COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY and the magazine DIE ZEIT, none of the 27 deep-sea cruise ships operated by German tour operators still fly the German flag. The eleven AIDA ships are registered in Italy. There is existing any minimum wage law ... The five cruisers of TUI CRUISES, a joint venture of TUI AG and ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES, with its MEIN SCHIFF fleet fly the flag of Malta. Germany's new ZDF "Das Traumschiff" AMADEA and many other `luxury´ cruisers are registered/flagged on Caribbean islands.
The flag run, flag of convenience, is part of the business model. Under a foreign flag, German owners and operators save taxes, and they save on hiring. On their dream boats, they can employ people to live and work under conditions that would be unthinkable in Germany, or with the flying the German flag. "Slagging has almost always the same motive: the costs," says Stefan Oeter, international expert on sea and sea law at the UNIVERSITY of HAMBURG. One may find that reprehensible. Only in this way have cruises also become affordable for the middle and lower middle class, and only in this way could Germany become the second largest market in the world. More than 1.8 million German citizens have been on a cruise ship on the high sea in 2015, and 2,02 million in 2016!, and DIE ZEIT, along with tour operators, offers readers' trips on the sea.
Today, according to a research conducted by the New York COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY and the magazine DIE ZEIT, none of the 27 deep-sea cruise ships operated by German tour operators still fly the German flag. The eleven AIDA ships are registered in Italy. There is existing any minimum wage law ... The five cruisers of TUI CRUISES, a joint venture of TUI AG and ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES, with its MEIN SCHIFF fleet fly the flag of Malta. Germany's new ZDF "Das Traumschiff" AMADEA and many other `luxury´ cruisers are registered/flagged on Caribbean islands.
The flag run, flag of convenience, is part of the business model. Under a foreign flag, German owners and operators save taxes, and they save on hiring. On their dream boats, they can employ people to live and work under conditions that would be unthinkable in Germany, or with the flying the German flag. "Slagging has almost always the same motive: the costs," says Stefan Oeter, international expert on sea and sea law at the UNIVERSITY of HAMBURG. One may find that reprehensible. Only in this way have cruises also become affordable for the middle and lower middle class, and only in this way could Germany become the second largest market in the world. More than 1.8 million German citizens have been on a cruise ship on the high sea in 2015, and 2,02 million in 2016!, and DIE ZEIT, along with tour operators, offers readers' trips on the sea.
Source: CruiseMarketWatch
For a few Dollars, ehm ... Euros ... e.g. € 469,00 for a 7 days cruise on one of the COSTA vessels in the Mediterranean ...
Hardly any tourism business is booming like the cruise business. For the current year the providers expect far more than two million German guests, and there would probably be more, if there would be enough ships. At European shipyards alone, 48 new cruise ships are ordered by 2019, including swimming cities for more than 5,000 holidaymakers and 1,500 crew members. According to CLIA, the industry association, 23 million passengers per year are already on the road on cruises, accounting for almost US$ 120 billion of sales. "With an almost unbeatable price-performance ratio, the cruise has arrived in the middle of our society," a representative of the association recently rejoiced.
Hardly any tourism business is booming like the cruise business. For the current year the providers expect far more than two million German guests, and there would probably be more, if there would be enough ships. At European shipyards alone, 48 new cruise ships are ordered by 2019, including swimming cities for more than 5,000 holidaymakers and 1,500 crew members. According to CLIA, the industry association, 23 million passengers per year are already on the road on cruises, accounting for almost US$ 120 billion of sales. "With an almost unbeatable price-performance ratio, the cruise has arrived in the middle of our society," a representative of the association recently rejoiced.
MEIN SCHIFF 5 of joint venture TUI CRUISES with RCI - courtsey TUI CRUISES
"Oh große Freiheit / Ich hab mich nach dir gesehnt / Du hast dich in mein Herz geträumt / Es ist schön, dich wieder zu sehn. - Oh great freedom / I longed for you / You dreamed in my heart / It is nice to see you again." So it booms every time through the ships louderspeakers, when a TUI cruiser of the TUI brand Mein Schiff depart. No passenger can stop the run-out hymn, and no one has to feel like leaving Germany so completely: My ship is standing high on the hulls of the five steel guns of the same name, as well as "Wohlfühlen", "Meeresrauschen", "Harmonie". On-board language is German, as most of the passengers are German. And the operator TUI CRUISES is based in Hamburg. But at the stern of all vessels named MEIN SCHIFF, is not black-red-gold, but a red and white banner with `Maltese Cross´: the flag of Malta.
The flag is important - The flag defines taxation and labor law on ships. All German operators have flagged out. They wanted South European or Caribbean conditions. And the flag of Malta is offering not only cheap conditions, but too the diplomatic security of the EUROPEAN UNION, e.g. for covering through ATALANTE, the EU mission offshore Somalia, protection against potentially pirate attacts.
The flag is important - The flag defines taxation and labor law on ships. All German operators have flagged out. They wanted South European or Caribbean conditions. And the flag of Malta is offering not only cheap conditions, but too the diplomatic security of the EUROPEAN UNION, e.g. for covering through ATALANTE, the EU mission offshore Somalia, protection against potentially pirate attacts.
La Valetta, capital of Malta - courtsey VISIT MALTA
The only question is: Who pays the price? In no European country are more cruise ships registered, than in the small island state of Malta. According to a database in which COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY students have recorded all ocean-going cruise ships worldwide, Malta ranks fourth, behind the Bahamas, Panama and the British overseas area Bermuda. An army of advisory firms, law firms and mediators specializes in providing cost-effective flags to shipowners. In particular they advertise with the many tax concessions. Malta therefore does not require any taxes on income from shipping and no tax on any sale of the steel gullet for ships with more than 1,000 net tons - that is, each of the TUI CRUISES MEIN SCHIFF fleet. The Maltese state charges only for the registration and a low tonnage tax. This means: very manageable costs.
According to calculations by DIE ZEIT, less than € 50,000 of taxes and fees per year will be charged to the entire MEIN SCHIFF fleet in Malta. Small money for the operator TUI CRUISES, which is owned by the travel company TUI together with the company RCL HOLDINGS COÖPERATIEF based in the Netherlands. Another tax haven, where APPLE, STARBUCKS and GOOGLE have corporations to save billions instead of paying taxes ...
According to calculations by DIE ZEIT, less than € 50,000 of taxes and fees per year will be charged to the entire MEIN SCHIFF fleet in Malta. Small money for the operator TUI CRUISES, which is owned by the travel company TUI together with the company RCL HOLDINGS COÖPERATIEF based in the Netherlands. Another tax haven, where APPLE, STARBUCKS and GOOGLE have corporations to save billions instead of paying taxes ...
Flags of in Germany sold cruise vessels - courtsey DIE ZEIT
In 2014, TUI CRUISES made a turnover of € 435 million and the profit was more than € 63 million. In Germany, the Group did not even pay € 44,000 for income taxes. Other taxes amounted to € 1.3 million. TUI CRUISES did not want to explain what is behind these items - and referred to an opinion from the CLIA industry association. In this, the delicate control did not occur at all.
Tax heaven building Amstelgebouw, Amsterdam, Prins Berhardplein 200 - courtsey Property NL
TUI's partner company is even more tax-optimized. The RCL Holdings resides at Prins Bernhardplein 200 in Amsterdam - probably the most popular address in the Netherlands, a notorious legal tax avoidance paradise for world conglomerates. The Netherlands are offering a tax saving heaven, that beat the Cayman Isles or Delaware ... More than 1,000 multinational companies share this address and a few mailboxes in the "Amstelgebouw", a beige, unobtrusive office building. Behind the RCL HOLDINGS COÖPERATIEF again stands ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, one of the leading cruise companies in the world. The company has its operational headquarters in Miami, but officially resides in Liberia. This helps in the legal tax avoidance: to US$755 million net income ROYAL CARIBBEAN in the annual report 2014 no taxes. On request, the Group did not comment on the figures.
The typical "colonial" view ... an Asian crew member serving passengers - courtsey SILVERSEA
Thus, ROYAL CARIBBEAN even topped the world market leader CARNIVAL CORPORATION. In 2015, the US parent company of the AIDA fleet reported a net income of more than US$ 1.8 billion, with revenues of more than € 15 billion. The tax burden: 42 million dollars. This is an effective rate of 2.33 percent. This is possible because CARNIVAL is officially located in Panama.
"Italy also helps with tax savings. All AIDA ships from Carnival carry this flag - although the cruisers with the `Kussmund´ sail mainly German tourists over the seven oceans. However, Italy has been lured by the shipowners for years with the wage tax deduction: the wage tax is deducted from the salary on board, but the shipowner does not have to take it to the state, he can keep it. In fact, the employer pays little more than the net salary," says Klaus Schroeter, who works at VER.DI and runs the low-cost flag campaign of the international transport workers' union ITF. The Italian state is also very cautious in the collection of social insurance contributions.
No cheap cruises with German minimum wages! The salaries are not high anyway. This is also ensured by the flags. While many European governments prescribe the shipowners to employ at least a few EU citizens on ships, Maltese law does not provide quotas. All the more crew members can then hire the suppliers (Crewing agencies) in low-wage countries like Indonesia or the Philippines. US$ 368 (about € 330) Basic salary in the month earning laundry staff or table cleaner on MEIN SCHIFF 2 according to a collective agreement, which is available to DIE ZEIT. With supplements and leave compensation they come to 770 dollars (nearly € 700).
"Italy also helps with tax savings. All AIDA ships from Carnival carry this flag - although the cruisers with the `Kussmund´ sail mainly German tourists over the seven oceans. However, Italy has been lured by the shipowners for years with the wage tax deduction: the wage tax is deducted from the salary on board, but the shipowner does not have to take it to the state, he can keep it. In fact, the employer pays little more than the net salary," says Klaus Schroeter, who works at VER.DI and runs the low-cost flag campaign of the international transport workers' union ITF. The Italian state is also very cautious in the collection of social insurance contributions.
No cheap cruises with German minimum wages! The salaries are not high anyway. This is also ensured by the flags. While many European governments prescribe the shipowners to employ at least a few EU citizens on ships, Maltese law does not provide quotas. All the more crew members can then hire the suppliers (Crewing agencies) in low-wage countries like Indonesia or the Philippines. US$ 368 (about € 330) Basic salary in the month earning laundry staff or table cleaner on MEIN SCHIFF 2 according to a collective agreement, which is available to DIE ZEIT. With supplements and leave compensation they come to 770 dollars (nearly € 700).
A spectacular view, officers of MSC CRUISES greeting passengers while embarking - courtsey MSC CRUISES
For this they have to work according to the contract up to 56 hours per week and in addition, up to 60 overtime hours a month. Makes monthly more than 300 working hours and an hourly rate of just € 2.40. We had it just some time ago ... quite a scandal in UK when media made articles about wages less than £ 2 on P&O CRUISES ...
That is still better than on some Italian ships, where in 2015 some employees were only paid € 2,20 . At AIDA, a collective agreement for restaurant assistants valid until May 2015 provided for only US$ 587 per month including all allowances. "An employee of the hotel service of the Philippines earns an average of US$ 700 to 900 per month on board AIDA," the company writes on request. Food and lodging are free; "The compensation for a comparable position on land is US$ 150 to 250 a month in the Philippines." Peter Geitmann, VER.DI´s shipping expert, said: "If these employees were to pay for the German minimum wage, they would easily get US$ 2,000." Offers like 7 days "Orient from Abu Dhabi" on the AIDAstella for € 449 would then be unthinkable.
That is still better than on some Italian ships, where in 2015 some employees were only paid € 2,20 . At AIDA, a collective agreement for restaurant assistants valid until May 2015 provided for only US$ 587 per month including all allowances. "An employee of the hotel service of the Philippines earns an average of US$ 700 to 900 per month on board AIDA," the company writes on request. Food and lodging are free; "The compensation for a comparable position on land is US$ 150 to 250 a month in the Philippines." Peter Geitmann, VER.DI´s shipping expert, said: "If these employees were to pay for the German minimum wage, they would easily get US$ 2,000." Offers like 7 days "Orient from Abu Dhabi" on the AIDAstella for € 449 would then be unthinkable.
Underpayed stewards, still with a friendly grin on their faces - courtsey MSC CRUISES
Mauritian crew member on board BLEU DE FRANCE, every time when crew member discover that I am attached to the cruise industry, I got the request for a better job, and help to avoid crewin agencies - own photography
A Sunday morning, 9:50 am at the Cruise Terminal Steinwerder, the new cruise center of the Hamburg harbor. About three hours ago, the MSC SPLENDIDA: a ship, more than twice as long and one and a half times as high as the Berlin Reichstag, with room for more than 4,500 people. Most passengers sit on the bus back home, when Piolo Abrencia (name changed) finally got down from the ship. In exactly one hour and 55 minutes, the Filipino must be on duty again, to the next tour to Scotland and Iceland. Otherwise there is a warning. The countdown is running.
MSC SPLENDIDA sailing out of Hamburg - own photography
Piolo hurries off, to the Seafarer's Lounge, the service station of the maritime mission. The smell of Asian dessigned soup steams from the door. Inside it is hot and stuffy, dozens of sailors, almost all Indonesians or Filipinos, sitting on chairs or on the floor, staring at their cheap smartphones. There is free WLAN, for which they have to pay expensive on board. Here they can call their families or transfer money to them.
"When crew members come to us regularly, we can watch them grow older every week," says Markus Wichmann, head of the Seafarer's Lounge (Seemannsmission). Eleven or twelve hours a day in shifts - from 9am to 3pm, from 5pm to 8pm, and two hours in the late evening - seven days a week, seven, eight or nine months in a row, without holidays, left behind Footsteps. "Many people," tell Wichmann, "prefer not to go to the doctor, because they want to continue at all costs, have to continue: to make money for the family. They say they give up their lives to provide their children."
"When I first started, I wanted to discover the world," says Piolo, who has been working in the industry for several years. "But I do not see anything from the world, only water and ports. We have on land a maximum of two hours off duty."
Piolo claims to work as a waiter constantly more than twelve hours a day, only once every 14 days nine hours, then the noon layer. This would be forbidden in Germany. "The German Working Time Act provides for a maximum of ten hours a day," says VER.DI expert Geitmann. "But among many low-cost flags only the international minimum standards of the Maritime Labor Convention apply." Thus, shipowners can have their people work up to 14 hours per day or 72 week hours. The CLIA industry association writes: "The cruise industry supports the efforts to set international standards for working conditions on board and to ensure compliance with them through binding government regulations."
However, according to Piolo's weekly working time, the minimum standard is still higher. It comes to 81 to 84 hours. MSC did not comment on this request. The company has long been in criticism. In 2015, a Brazilian court sentenced MSC to pay compensation to eleven former employees for "conditions analogous to slave labor". According to the judge, MSC crew members had to work up to 16 hours a day.
"When crew members come to us regularly, we can watch them grow older every week," says Markus Wichmann, head of the Seafarer's Lounge (Seemannsmission). Eleven or twelve hours a day in shifts - from 9am to 3pm, from 5pm to 8pm, and two hours in the late evening - seven days a week, seven, eight or nine months in a row, without holidays, left behind Footsteps. "Many people," tell Wichmann, "prefer not to go to the doctor, because they want to continue at all costs, have to continue: to make money for the family. They say they give up their lives to provide their children."
"When I first started, I wanted to discover the world," says Piolo, who has been working in the industry for several years. "But I do not see anything from the world, only water and ports. We have on land a maximum of two hours off duty."
Piolo claims to work as a waiter constantly more than twelve hours a day, only once every 14 days nine hours, then the noon layer. This would be forbidden in Germany. "The German Working Time Act provides for a maximum of ten hours a day," says VER.DI expert Geitmann. "But among many low-cost flags only the international minimum standards of the Maritime Labor Convention apply." Thus, shipowners can have their people work up to 14 hours per day or 72 week hours. The CLIA industry association writes: "The cruise industry supports the efforts to set international standards for working conditions on board and to ensure compliance with them through binding government regulations."
However, according to Piolo's weekly working time, the minimum standard is still higher. It comes to 81 to 84 hours. MSC did not comment on this request. The company has long been in criticism. In 2015, a Brazilian court sentenced MSC to pay compensation to eleven former employees for "conditions analogous to slave labor". According to the judge, MSC crew members had to work up to 16 hours a day.
Passenger and crew against places in lifeboats, 3,720 places in lifeboats but 4,890 person on board, makes a difference of 1,170 needed places and "offered" only in liferafts, there the crew is advised to go if ... - courtsey ZDF WISO
"In the past, cruises had a different flair. Earlier, cruises had a different flair," says Andreas Jungblut, the former DEUTSCHLAND captain. This was especially before the cruise was "democratized". On his captained dream ships, such as the BERLIN or the DEUTSCHLAND of REEDEREI PETER DEILMANN GmbH, the crew members under German flag would, of course, have had German contracts with appropriate social security. "No customer had to have a guilty conscience." But then cruises were also exclusive luxury products for the money elite or rich aristocracy. In the ´70s the term "Gesellschaftsreise", once embossed by Albert Ballin, was still in use, so with DEUTSCHE ATLANTIK LINIE on their HANSEATIC 1 (´60s) and 2, and HAMBURG.
HANSEATIC 1, ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN, nicknamed `die schöne Hamburgerin´ or the `friendly ship´, she had more space in lifeboats than souls on board - courtsey www.club-ts-hamburg.eu
NORMANDIE during lifeboat drill in Le Havre 1935, Le Vaisseau de Lunmière had the possibility to get nearly all souls off board on one side ... if ... - courtsey coloured by Daryl LeBlanc
Todays lifeboats are limited to a hight of max. 15m above the waterline, and here beginns the dilemma, they are obstructing the view to the sea, so consequently the lifeboats have to be limited for getting more expensive balcony cabins.
"For a long time, the focus was on quality, strong brands, customer loyalty. It was a shame to stick foreign flags," says Oeter, a Hamburg expert on sea law. "But for 15, 20 years, cruises are increasingly becoming a mass business and the price competition is growing."
This makes it all the more important for the trade unions to enter into the global maritime conventions, which are enacted in 2013, as well as the framework agreements with minimum wages which are concluded with the operators of ships. "There were no such international regulations at the time, and in some third world countries 800 or 1,000 dollars, including food, are a decent monthly salary," says ITF negotiator Klaus Schroeter. "But it is clear: the relatively low prices for cruises and the boom of the past years are based on the fact that many crew members are badly paid." Politicians appear to be powerless or unwilling to change anything. The EU Commission launched an investigation in 2012 to determine whether Maltas Tonnagesteuer (GT taxation) is an illegal aid. But to this day there is no result. By the way Germany has a similar low taxation, but more restricted, and hard to deal with ... Especially, when a foreign cruise company is the partner. They simply do not understand the custom, and are not willing too ...
This makes it all the more important for the trade unions to enter into the global maritime conventions, which are enacted in 2013, as well as the framework agreements with minimum wages which are concluded with the operators of ships. "There were no such international regulations at the time, and in some third world countries 800 or 1,000 dollars, including food, are a decent monthly salary," says ITF negotiator Klaus Schroeter. "But it is clear: the relatively low prices for cruises and the boom of the past years are based on the fact that many crew members are badly paid." Politicians appear to be powerless or unwilling to change anything. The EU Commission launched an investigation in 2012 to determine whether Maltas Tonnagesteuer (GT taxation) is an illegal aid. But to this day there is no result. By the way Germany has a similar low taxation, but more restricted, and hard to deal with ... Especially, when a foreign cruise company is the partner. They simply do not understand the custom, and are not willing too ...
German Tonnagesteuer (tonnage taxation) NRT €
NRT
|
€
|
|
from
|
to
|
|
1
|
1.000
|
0,92
|
1.001
|
10.000
|
0,69
|
10.001
|
25.000
|
0,46
|
25.001
|
unbegrenzt
|
0,23
|
1.000 × € 0,92/100 + 9.000 × € 0,69/100 + 15.000 × € 0,46/100 + 7.908 × € 0,23/100 = 158,49 € tonnage revenue/day
At 365 (for the fiscal/tax year) business days a tonnage gain of (365 × € 158,49 =) results in € 57,848 per year. According to the income tax rate applicable in 2011, an income tax of € 16,124 would arise irrespective of how much profit this year is actually.
In first place this taxation was implemented for container ships, but can be used for passenger vessels as well - all invoices have to be shiped from Germany, and all maintenance has to be done in Germany!
Due to the tax exemptions in § 4 No. 2 UStG and § 27 paragraph 1 No. 1 of the German Energy Tax Act, shipping is practically exempt from VAT and energy tax.
Why the Deilmann twins did not use ... I have no clue ... eventually too blonde ...
The Federal Government of Germany has recently decided to copy the Italian tax legislation on wages; Shipowners may withhold the entire wage tax of a seaman on German-flagged ships "to enable the German shipping companies to compensate for the cost of operating a ship under the German flag". With these subsidies the Berlin policy wants again to lure more ships under black-red-gold. A lot of help will hardly do - elsewhere, the rule has long been standard.
Flying the German flag is still a possibility, but it will need visionairy cruise managers - own design, rendering by GRAYST
The competition of the flags is a race down. Those who offer the cheapest conditions will often be awarded. "Changing the flag today is as easy as changing the current provider," says Wolfgang Gregor, longtime captain and freelance writer - Der Kreuzfahrtkomplex , which had been published in the late autumn of 2015 and illuminate the shadows of the industry. "If Malta wants a cent more than Panama, then you will be re-flagged." Even countries like Luxembourg, or San Marino, actually working for a ship register on its own, countries which do not even have a coast, are trying to earn a profit in the global maritime business. For them, low income from barely taxed ships is better than nothing. And all other states must go down in this race if they want to have ships under their flag at all. But after a durance of 20 years running the ship, you have to leave the flag of Luxembourg, as they wish to have "only new and newer" ships under their flag. A reason why STAR CLIPPERS went for another flag.For DEUTSCHLAND, former crew members are still planning a rescue attempt. They want to get investors to buy the ship and operate it again under black-red gold. "I believe there is a niche for exclusive cruises on a German ship with a German flag," says Captain Jungblut. He himself now controls another dream ship across the seas: a private yacht CARINTHIA VII almost 100 meters long. Owner is the department store heiress Heidi Horten. At the back the flag of Malta is flying.
CARINTHIA VII of Heidi Horten, the heir of HORTEN department stores, the yacht is captained now by Andreas Jungbluth, embarked in Canale del Guidecca, in Venezia - Source: Wikipedia (original seize)
Private yachts or charter yachts offer much higher wages for the crew, furthermore they get 10% as tip from the charter price ...
I know this article is strong tobaco, and will not please some, because I am chalking here, which damages the world image of the cruise industry.What I would like to ask is for your opinion, please don´t hesitate and post your comments and thoughts further down.
Bravo! Shared here: https://m.facebook.com/Ending-Sweat-Ship-Exploitation-in-the-Cruise-Industry-116098248406848/
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