Condor signs agreement to protect seafarers’ rights

Image source, Condor

Image caption, Dignitaries including Baroness Vere, UK maritime minister, centre left and her French counterpart, Hervé Berville, centre right, at the signing
At a glance
  • Four ferry firms have signed voluntary agreements which protect the rights of sailors in the English Channel
  • Cross-Channel firm Condor was one of the signatories
  • If follows new legislation in March on wages for seafarers

Condor has become one of four ferry firms to sign new voluntary charters which protect the rights of sailors in the English Channel.

The charters complement laws mandating minimum wages for sailors on ferries operating cross-Channel routes.

The new charter was signed in Paris along with representatives from Stena Line, DFDS and Brittany Ferries.

The UK made the Seafarers Wages Act law in March.

Condor operates between Portsmouth, Poole, Guernsey, Jersey and St Malo, and carries about one million passengers every year.

The event to mark the new charter was hosted by French shipping minister Hervé Berville, who was joined by his UK counterpart, the maritime minister Baroness Vere.

John Napton, Condor’s chief executive, said: "We are fully supportive of the Seafarers’ Charters launched by the UK and French governments and I was delighted to be in Paris this week to sign these historic agreements."

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