The main portion of MOL’s donation will go to afflicted people on the island of Leyte, through its group company Magsaysay MOL Marine, Inc.*1  The company is planning other relief efforts as the situation unfolds.

MOL has built a deep relationship with the nation as many Filipino seafarers serve aboard MOL Group vessels, and established a maritime training center there.

To assist afflicted people of Typhoon Fengshen in June 2008, which caused severe damage to the nation, Ketsana in September 2009 (Luzon), and Washi in December 2011 (Mindanao), MOL made monetary donations and provided ocean transport of emergency relief supplies, and MOL seafarers and Magsaysay-MOL employees  conducted volunteer activities.

The MOL Group hopes afflicted people will be able to return to normal life as soon as possible, and pledges a range of ongoing measures to support relief efforts.

 (*1) Magsaysay MOL Marine, Inc.

MOL seafarer manning company in Manila. It was established as a joint venture with Magsaysay Maritime Corporation in March 1997.

It is anticipated that the ongoing wave of strike action will cause major backlogs at Lisbon commercial ports which already have a shortage of Stevedores gangs.

The following periods of strike action have been announced by Stevedores at Lisbon port commercial terminals (tanker terminals currently remain unaffected):

From 6th to 13th Nov 4 hours stoppage, every day 09h00/10h00 + 15h00/16h00  + 18h00/19h00  +  22h00/23h00 on weekdays

From 13th Nov to 20th Nov 4 hours stoppage, every day 09h00/10h00 + 15h00/16h00  + 18h00/19h00  +  22h00/23h00 on weekdays

From 20th Nov to 27th Nov 4 hours stoppage, every day 09h00/10h00 + 15h00/16h00  + 18h00/19h00  +  22h00/23h00  on weekdays

All periods whenever any outside worker or truck driver is used by the terminals 

The Stevedores’ union has also announced strike action on work carried out on any vessel at Lisbon port Liscont Container Terminal during the following periods:

On 15/11/2013 – from 08h00 up to 08h00 on 16/11/2013

On 18/11/2013 – from 08h00 up to 08h00 on 20/11/2013 

In addition, Liscont Terminal has advised that due to operational constraints, they cannot service operations during the periods between the days of strike action, which means that no operations will be performed from 15/11/2013 08h00 until 20/11/2013 08h00 at Liscont Terminal.

At Setubal and Figueira da Foz ports, strike action only applies for vessels deviated from Lisbon port.

Says Julian Isola, ISS Operations Manager: Algercias & Iberia: “It is believed that the ongoing nature of this strike action and the existing shortage of Stevedores gangs may cause major backlogs in the coming weeks, with some shipping lines considering suspending Lisbon port calls until the action has ended.  We would like to stress that tanker vessels are currently unaffected and bulk carriers are unlikely to suffer any more than minor delays.”

This new wave of strikes is a continuation of strike action last year by Stevedores who are protesting against government plans to introduce temporary contracts.

One of the main concerns is for Filipino seafarers, who represent over 20% of the world’s seafarers, to be able to contact their families and loved ones back home. Already, the Mission to Seafarers and Sailors Society are providing free phone cards, sims, and wifi to Filipino seafarers who visit their centres all over the world. The Seafarers’ Emergency Fund, administered by ISWAN, is providing funds for seafarer centres around the world to facilitate free phone calls and wifi for Filipino seafarers to call back home.

ISWAN is helping to co-ordinate the response from organisations involved in seafarers’ welfare such as the International Shipping Federation/International Chamber of Shipping (ISF/ICS), the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), and the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA).

Among the initiatives already being implemented include :

The ITF affiliate Filipino union AMOSUP using their training ship, the Felix Oca, to transport humanitarian supplies provided by Norweigan shipowners and others to the affected areas

The shipping company MOL donating US$30,000 to the relief effort

KVH’s Headland Media using their daily news bulletin, Newslink, to provide information on the typhoon and aftermath to their 100,000 Filipino seafarer readers on board 10,000 ships all over the world.

ISWAN is helping to share information and provide a service to seafarers, via their SeafarerHelp (www.seafarerhelp.org) free helpline, who are concerned about their families back home in the Philippines. SeafarerHelp will have Tagalog speakers available.

Seafarer welfare organisations and missions have also put their chaplains and welfare workers on alert worldwide to cope with Filipino seafarers who receive tragic news while at sea or in port.

Companies wishing to donate to the Seafarers Emergency Fund to provide free communications for Filipino seafarers away from home should email iswan@iswan.org.uk or phone +44 (0) 300 012 4279.

Individuals wishing to donate can do so via the Mission to Seafarers or Sailors Society.

The following online resources are available for organisations and seafarers who need further information :

People finder service via Google –  http://google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda/ 

Free telephone calls to landlines/mobiles from the Philippines with viber http://viber.com/typhoon

Reliable sources of news –  http://mashable.com/2013/11/09/typhoon-haiyan-philippines-2/

Crisis map of the disaster – http://google.org/crisismap/a/gmail.com/TyphoonYolanda

Philippine Red Cross family tracing service – +63 (0)9179519711, + 63 (0)9154940415

The SeafarerHelp website is at www.seafarerhelp.org

Updated information will appear on the ISWAN website at www.seafarerswelfare.org

The 750 TEU Canopus J operating on the Bilbao – UK service of MacAndrews made its first scheduled call at London Thamesport on Sunday 10 November. 

Commenting on the move, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, owners of London Thamesport, said:

“We welcome MacAndrew’s decision to switch all its calls from Tilbury to London Thamesport. The choice of London Thamesport by MacAndrews for all their South East calls reflects the high level of customer service we provide and our relentless efforts to provide a highly efficient, individual service to our customers.

“We have proven over the last few months our ability to adapt to a changing environment quickly and deliver the levels of service MacAndrews quite rightly demand, and we look forward to building on this new line of service and delivering the products to the market.”

Geoffrey Smith, Managing Director of MacAndrews & Company Limited, added:

“We have decided to consolidate all four of our weekly multimodal services at London Thamesport following the excellent berth productivity and minimal truck turnaround times given by the port over the last 6 months.

“Port operations are an important link in our multi modal door to door supply chain to our customers and our services from Iberia, Scandinavia and the Baltic require fast and efficient operations to provide customers with their products in the minimum transit time and that is something London Thamesport can guarantee.”

London Thamesport is one of the UK’s leading ports. Situated just 35 miles from London, it boasts a depth of 15 metres of water alongside, 655 metres of quay providing 2 operational berths equipped with 8 ship-to-shore gantry cranes, allowing high intensity operations and excellent operational performance.