And it's not only pilots with dodgy tickets! This from today's UK
Sunday Times:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Trade in bogus captain's tickets puts
sea safety at risk
Maurice Chittenden
FOR £3,000 and a passport photograph, David Cockcroft has
bought the right to captain an ocean liner or navigate an oil
tanker through the English Channel. Panama, the world's
biggest "flag of convenience" country, has made him a
mail-order first mate.
It will be less of a convenience for any passengers: the last
time Cockroft was in charge of a vessel, he was rowing it at
secondary school.
The certificate was bought by Cockroft, the secretary-general of
the London-based International Transport Workers' Federation,
from a corrupt Panamanian official through an intermediary. It
allows him to take control of a ship when the captain is asleep
or unwell.
The ease of its purchase - all Cockroft had to do was supply
his date of birth and address - highlights a growing racket in the
sale of certificates to ships' officers with bogus credentials.
Numast, the 18,700-strong union of British ships' officers,
estimates that one in 10 such certificates worldwide is
fraudulent. The Seafarers' International Research Centre (SIRC)
at the University of Wales has amassed a list of 12,635 cases
in the past five years where people have obtained forged or
bogus credentials. It admits there are likely to be many more.
An investigation by The Sunday Times has discovered that:
A British seaman forged a UK certificate as a low-ranking
deck officer and used it to obtain a master's licence from
Barbados. He was captaining a Barbadian cargo ship when he
was arrested by Northumbria police and fined £1,000.
Five of the 12 ships detained in British ports by the Maritime
and Coastguard Agency in January had officers with the wrong
certification. One ship was allowed to sail only after its Filipino
officers were replaced.
A machine stolen from the US Coastguard's office in Puerto
Rico was used to "authorise" up to 500 officers' licences.
Panama is investigating claims that two companies in Manila
were issuing up to 300 fraudulent certficates a day to Filipino
seamen, allegedly with help from Panamanian consulate
officials.
Ironically, the scandal has escalated because of an
international initiative to improve the standard of ships' officers.
A new level of certification agreed in 1995 comes into effect
next February. Junior officers are keen to obtain the "right"
paperwork without undergoing training costing up to £36,000
over three years.
At the same time there is a growing shortage of ships' officers
compared with other ratings. There are 404,000 ships' officers
worldwide and 823,000 ratings, but the demand, according to
the International Shipping Federation, is for 420,000 officers
and 599,000 ratings.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the
London-based United Nations agency that regulates world
shipping, is to discuss the bogus certificate scandal at the next
meeting of its safety committee.
Critics say it has been slow to act because its funding comes
from its 158 member states, based on the size of their fleets.
Panama, with almost 10,000 ships, pays 17% of its £18m
annual budget.
Andrew Linington, a spokesman for Numast, said: "The IMO
has produced a 'white list' of states entitled to issue the new
certification. It is more a whitewash. Some, including Panama,
are among the worst offenders."
Panama has launched an inquiry into the ease with which a
non-sailor like Cockroft could obtain his certificate. Jaime
Beitia, of the Panama maritime authority, said 22 staff, 90% of
its licensing department, had been sent home on enforced
leave while the investigation was carried out. Up to 100
certificates are issued every day in Panama.
Cockcroft, whose federation has waged war on flags of
convenience for more than 50 years, said: "The last time I was
on a ship it was a cross-Channel ferry and I was a passenger.
Giving me a first officer's certificate is like giving a Nobel peace
prize to Saddam Hussein."
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