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ITF press statement on Danish International Register deadline (1/30)

As the midnight tonight deadline set by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) for action to bring the Danish International Register in line with ILO standards approaches, David Cockroft, ITF General Secretary, said, “We do not believe all avenues of negotiation have yet been exhausted. However, the failure of those so far attempted to reach a satisfactory settlement means that - following last year’s democratically reached Fair Practices Committtee decision - from tomorrow those vessels covered by article 10/3 of the DIS Act will be classed, on a ship by ship basis, as flag of convenience vessels. Discussions on the identification of those ships and the practical implementation of the decision will begin tomorrow, unless a meaningful approach to end this impasse is made before midnight tonight. Our door remains open until then.” He concluded, “It’s the ITF’s standard practice to seek solutions through amicable dialogue and the offer of talks is on the table to the Danish Shipowners’ Association now as ever, but I’m sorry to have to say that if they’d shown a little more goodwill and a little less stubbornness all these problems could have been avoided.”