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This brings Mr. Beattie to his second point. In 52 coasting vessels on which he
made enquiries he found that 16 had no cook; 29 had an ordinary seaman and two an
A.B. acting as cook, but not usually specially trained in the art, one had a galley boy
cook who had a little experience which he had picked up in the galley of a bigger
ship and four had a steward cook for the officers only. These are small ships with
small crews and therefore the officers, including the Master, and the men frequently
have very long hours of work under very trying conditions. Mr. Beattie mentions
one coaster in which the official log recorded 72 trips totalling 24,000 miles in 12 months,
and in which the Master had been on duty for as many as 127 hours in a single week.
In another ship the Master had, a short time previous to Mr. Beattie's visit, 62 consecutive
hours on duty and the mate had 32 hours' duty in 36. He gives other examples
of long hours of work by officers and men, and asks whether under such conditions
it is likely that they can keep physically fit if they have to cook their own food or if
the member of the crew acting as cook has not reasonable training and experience.
Mr. Beattie constantly sees new faces in his regular ships and finds on enquiry that
the A.B. left "with a pain in his stomach"; the ordinary was "paid off sick"; the
engineer is "having a trip ashore"; the fireman "couldn't stand it and cooking for
himself."
Mr. Beattie further draws attention to the meagre provision for the storage of the
crew's food. In many cases the food locker is an unshelved, unventilated box situated
in the living quarters and just big enough to hold six loaves of bread. It is impossible
for a man to get the food he has bought for the voyage in this locker, and consequently
food is stowed wherever there is space available, however unsuitable it may be.
Surely these are questions worthy of the consideration of the owners of coasting
vessels in the interests of efficiency as well as of the health and contentment of the
crews of their ships.
The Third International Conference of the Health and Welfare of
Merchant Seamen.
At the request of the Joint National Committee on Port Welfare and with the
sanction of your Worshipful Committee, your Medical Officer attended the abovementioned
Conference at Geneva on 5th October.
There were present at the Conference delegates from the Health Section of the
League of Nations; International Labour Office; International Transport Workers'
Federation (Seamen's Section); League of Red Cross Societies; Union Internationale
Contre le Peril Venerian; Apostolatus Maria Internationale Concilium; Denmark;
France; Germany; Great Britain; Greece; Netherlands; Poland; Sweden. The
British delegates were Colonel J. Sandeman Allen, M.P., Chairman of the National
Committee on Port Welfare; Mr. L. Bowden, Secretary of the National Union of
Seamen; Mr. F. Bowes, Honorary Secretary of the British Council for the Welfare
of the Mercantile Marine; Mrs. C. Neville Rolfe, Secretary General of the British Social
Hygiene Council; Captain F. A. Richardson, Secretary of the London Port Welfare
Advisory Council, and your Medical Officer.
Subsequent to the Second International Conference in 1929 the International
Labour Office had circulated a questionnaire to all the countries interested in shipping,
had tabulated the replies, and had drawn up draft Recommendations concerning the
Promotion of Seamen's Welfare in Ports.
These draft recommendations were arranged under the following headings:—
1. General Organisation of Port Welfare Work; the need for co-ordination of the efforts
of all concerned in Port Welfare through local committees.
2. Regulations regarding the sales of intoxicating liquor, employment of women, safety and
lighting, supervision and policing of dock areas.
3. Health, measures calculated to reduce soliciting and enticing in districts frequented by seamen ;
to promote facilities for treatment under the Brussels Agreement, and propaganda among
seafarers.
4. Accommodation and Recreation; the development of suitable accommodation for visiting
seamen and provision of institutes and facilities for recreation.