When talking about corporate sustainability, we come across the letters ESG. In business life, sustainability is reflected in how the company commits to sustainability goals in its operations. Should this idea of sustainable consumption be extended to transport as well? What kind of ESG goals are the shipping companies committed to? There is a lot of talk about the environmental and safety issues of ships, but what about the social side: especially the personnel, i.e. the crew. What is the condition of sailors on ships that transport our country’s export and import products. What should we do about it?
ESG stands for Environment, Safety and Governance. It refers to aspects of business operations related to the environment, social responsibility and governance.
We are part of world trade. From the point of view of the consumer, responsibility means that we make sure how the products we buy are made from the point of view of the environment, safety and management. Who makes my clothes or my computer somewhere far away? What are the working conditions there?
Now, with the strikes, we will notice at the latest how dependent Finland is on sea transport. In normal times, dozens of ships load and unload our export and import products every day.
Should this idea of responsible consumption be extended to transport as well? How are our export and import products transported from and to Finland? What kind of ESG goals are the shipping companies going to Finland committed to? There is a lot of talk about the environmental and safety issues of ships, but what about the social side: especially the personnel, i.e. the crew. What is the working condition of sailors on ships that transport our country’s export and import products?
Maritime experts know that there are very different types of vessels on the seas, whose condition and safety level vary. The same applies to crew conditions. Sea work is hard both mentally and physically. The responsibility is heavy and you spend weeks, sometimes months at the workplace. In many Finnish and Nordic shipping companies, things are good for the crew, but there are shipping companies in the world where sailors are even starving. Not even working hours and working conditions are respected.
So what could be done about it? The Finnish seamen’s service office operating under the Ministry of Labor and Economy has for years served the crews of the Finnish shipping compnies, e.g. by delivering books, magazines, films, etc. to Finnish ships and helped the crew to recover during their free time, e.g. through exercise and training at home. The operation has been financed by seafarers, shipping companies and mainly by the state.
Now the state is cutting its funding so significantly that the future of the entire operation of the seamen’s service is threatened. In addition, we notice that the activity concerns only a part of our country’s shipping, only a good quarter of our country’s foreign trade goes on ships that fly the Finnish flag.
Instead of shutting down, FSS should be reformed so that it serves all ships visiting Finland. All the more the worse the conditions the ship’s crew work under.
FSS’s funding should be reformed in such a way that it can have its own separate services for Finnish crews and Finnish shipping companies that pay for their own services, but public funds should help FSS support all other seafarers serving our country’s maritime transport. The central government collects e.g. fairway dues that could be used to contribute to this. Financing could also be provided by ports or shippers and shipping companies as part of the port dues. In practice, the activity would certainly take place together with the Finnish Seamen’s Church.
Finland is a true shipping pioneer country only if we take into account not only the shipping companies of our own country, but also all other shipping companies and their crews who work in this tough profession, ensuring the smoothness of our foreign trade.
The article was previously published in Finnish in Navigator Magazine, an online magazine for maritime professionals, on March 15, 2024
Tales of Talsinki 