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 The Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union takes pride at being a professional global tripartite union, and is adamant that the Singapore Flag is not a Flag of Convenience. "SMOU developed the Seafarers’ Provident Fund, the Seafarers’ Medical Scheme and the Singapore Maritime Training Fund - all very unique initiatives - to assist our members, their employers, and enhance their capabilities."
"Nobody told us to do it, but we did, because we saw the need for such initiatives for our members and in the maritime industry," said Mr Thomas Tay, SMOU General Secretary.
SMOU has also developed a comprehensive training programme.
"For years, the international maritime industry has been concerned about the shortage of seafarers. SMOU decided develop training programmes and recruit cadets, put them through training and place them onboard ships. We also developed job enhancement and upgrading courses for junior officers and senior officers."
"Just as we want to help our members do better jobs and get better pay, we also want to be a useful partner to our members’ employers – the shipowners and shipmanagement companies - by providing them with the quality manpower that they need to man the bigger and newer ships."
 Mr Tay’s interview is published in a book, "From Aft To Fore", that will be distributed to delegates attending the union’s 8th Triennial Delegates Conference on 15 November 2008.
SMOU officials have represented SMOU at many international labour and global transport meetings, where they build dynamic relationships with international affiliates representing unions, management and governments, and maintain a global influence on international labour and maritime affairs. They also strengthen alliances with regional and international union leaders and International Transport Workers’ Federation office bearers to harness their support to protect the Singapore Flag.
"Since 1 January 1989, the Singapore Flag was deleted off the list of Flag of Convenience. We are very stringent about our checks of Singapore-flagged ships. We ensure that seafarers are properly paid, and work and live onboard in safe and comfortable conditions," said Mr Tay.
Indeed, SMOU is a professional global tripartite union.
Moving From Sea To Shore
 A seafarer will typically sail for about 30 years. They start as young as 18 and sail the seas till almost 50. Then what happens? For a start, the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union is looking to help this group of mid-career members make the conversion from the sea to shore-based positions through courses; such training opportunities are provided by Wavelink Maritime International Pte Ltd.
Captain Don Phillip, who used to be Master onboard AP Moller Singapore vessels, now lectures deck courses, and Mr Kwok Foo Sing, who used to be a Chief Engineer with Sembawang Johnson, now lectures marine engineering courses. They are just two of several maritime officers who have made mid-career switches in the past four years.
"We have to be healthy and very fit to be working onboard ships. It is a waste if we come ashore and cannot find alternative jobs," said Captain Dawood Abdul Karim, SMOU’s First Vice-President, who’s in charge of SMOU’s Silver Seafarers.
An alternative job is that of harbour craft officers. In recent years, there has been a demand for certified harbour craft officers, especially to work onboard bigger and newer vessels.
SMOU has set up a working committee to look into the development and future employment of SMOU members onboard harbour crafts. Those between 42 and 66 years old, who have Class 4 to Class 6 certificates, come under the purview of Captain Dawood. A captain working onboard a harbour craft can earn some $6,000 a month.
Brothers At Sea, Brothers Ashore
 The Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union must care for all seafarers, regardless of whether they work onboard Singapore-flagged ships or foreign vessels. So long as they are in Singapore waters and ask for help, SMOU must respond. And if a Singapore-flagged ship is in trouble in foreign waters, all the more SMOU must ensure that the seafarers onboard are taken care of, whether or not there is a Singaporean onboard.
Take the example of MV Lady Belinda, a North Korean-flagged ship that stalled in the Strait of Malacca and was towed to Singapore in January this year. The crew sent a distress signal and the union answered the May Day call. When they got on the deck, SMOU officials found the working conditions onboard unsafe and that the crew had not been paid for four months.
SMOU helped the crew (picture below) get in touch with a legal firm to recover back pay amounting to US$126,000 (about S$189,176).
 The unpaid salaries recovered for the crew of MV My Belinda was not the largest that SMOU helped with. In 2007, it recovered US$151,757 (about S$227,847) from Panama-flagged Golden Trader I.
From April 2004 to March 2008, SMOU helped seafarers from among 61 troubled vessels recover more than US$2.6 million (about S$3.9 million) of unpaid salaries.
"So long as we are in the position to help, we have to help. We cannot say the burden is too heavy. We are brothers at sea and brothers ashore," said Mr Thomas Tay, who has been SMOU General Secretary since 1978.
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