SEAFARER JOBS ON OFFSHORE SUPPLY VESSELS

That this House notes that the planned merger in the US of offshore supply vessel (OSV) operators Gulfmark and Tidewater would create the world's largest OSV company; further notes that Gulfmark currently operate 30 British registered OSVs representing the last source of major employment for up to 300 UK seafarer Ratings on collectively bargained rates of pay in the North Sea oil and gas industry; further notes that Tidewater's global crewing model employs Filipino Ratings on a basic wage of 614 US dollars per month; is concerned by the RMT union's estimate that up to 1,000 UK seafarers have lost jobs on North Sea OSVs since oil prices crashed in 2014; notes that 166 OSVs across the North Sea are currently laid up, some in UK ports with crew paid below the national minimum wage (NMW); is alarmed that Indian crews of Malaviya 7 and Malaviya 20 OSVs were abandoned, unpaid in UK ports when their employer went bankrupt; and calls upon the Government to secure guarantees from Gulfmark and Tidewater that jobs and trade union rights for British Ratings are protected after any merger and to bring forward secondary legislation to enforce the NMW for all seafarers on OSVs from UK ports.