On Monday 26 January 2015 Ste´phane Raison, Chief Executive Officer of Dunkerque-Port, and Philippe Bertone`che, Chairman of the Seafarers’ Welfare Council of the Port of Dunkirk, signed a Partnership Charter for the welfare of seafarers.
In Dunkirk the Seafarers’ Welfare Council groups together four associations: La Mission de la Mer, Les Amis du Marin, the Seafarers’ Centre and the Seamen’s Club. They work all year round to help seamen, visiting ships calling at the port, offering transport to the city and hostels, providing seamen with a place to relax and enabling them to communicate with their families, who are often very far away.
The purpose of this Charter is to set out, formally and permanently, the terms and conditions of the support which Dunkerque-Port gives to the associations for their action in favour of the seafarers calling at the Port of Dunkirk.
Besides the port’s contribution, the services and activities of these associations are funded by the subsidies of the local partners and by a system of voluntary contributions from operators in the maritime sector (shipowners and shipping agents).
These provisions are based on Convention No. 163 of the International Labour Organization, ratified by France and incorporated in the Maritime Labour Convention.