Andrew Stephens and Simon Bennett on Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights
Podcast, 24 June 2021
By Francesca Fairbairn , Oceans, Commodities, and Academy Programme Manager, IHRB
This Day of the Seafarer podcast brings together Andrew Stephens of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), and Simon Bennett of Swire Shipping to reflect on the ongoing maritime crew change crisis and wider human rights issues among the world’s 1.6 million seafarers.
In conversation with IHRB's Francesca Fairbairn, they discuss the impact on seafarers of being unable to disembark ships, sometimes for many months beyond the end of their contract, due to national government-imposed COVID port restrictions. A former seafarer, Simon Bennett emphasises the actions that need to be taken to ensure their wellbeing at sea - such as increasing connectivity for better contact with loved ones.
Andrew and Simon also discuss the development of an upcoming industry Code of Conduct (CoC) and accompanying implementation tools, an initiative between IHRB, SSI and Rafto Foundation, with Simon among a number of industry stakeholders on the Working Group. This project sees charterers, shipowners and operators come together to address the wider underlying and systemic issues creating labour and human rights risks for seafarers worldwide.
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Simon Bennett is the General Manager for Sustainable Development for both of the Swire group shipping companies: The China Navigation Company, whose brand Swire Shipping provides high frequency liner shipping services in the Asia Pacific market, Swire Bulk and Swire Pacific Offshore. He has worked for the Swire group shipping companies for the past 36 years, latterly at sea as Master before coming ashore in 1991 and has since then held a variety of roles for the last 12 years as the General Manager for Sustainable Development.
Andrew Stephens is the Executive Director for the Sustainable Shipping Initiative. With an international background in the maritime industry, working for leading maritime service providers, in the position of Chief Operating Officer, such as Wilhelmsen Ships Service and Wallem Group, in a career which has seen him working in the UK, UAE, USA, Norway and Hong Kong. After a successful period in both international groups he joined The Sustainable Shipping Initiative in August 2018, where he is responsible for leadership of the Secretariat.