Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Shipping and Navigation. By H. Rosman - Sailors. By O. Järte
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sailors.
591
cabin is exclusively appropriated to the Master or the crew, but subject to the
stipulation that the room or cabin shall have a capacity of at least 2’Oi cub. m
and a minimum floor area of at least I’ll sq. m per person accommodated,
and moreover come up to a certain minimum standard with respect to hygiene
and seaworthiness. The spaciousness of the lodgings on board Swedish merchant
ships, as a rule, far exceeds these minimum requirements, but the sanitary
arrangements and comfort are badly in need of improvement. The same may
be said of the scale of food prescribed by the Royal Decree of 1896 for
the-crews of Swedish vessels. The legislative proposals drafted by the Committee
on Safety of Navigation, which, at the present moment of writing, have been
passed by the Riksdag, also contain considerable ameliorations for the better
accommodation and the food on board. With a view to obtaining a foundation
on which to rear further reforms of the labour conditions of seafaring men, a
statistical investigation with respect to the sailor’s standard of life is at present
being made by the Royal Social Board.
The peculiar, the severe conditions under which the sailor exercises his
profession, have been deemed in Sweden, as in other countries, to call for
special sollicitude on the part of the body public. The State institutions for
this purpose are the Sjömanshus, Seamen Registry and Shipping Offices, and
Handelsflottans pensionsanstalt, the Mercantile Marine Pension Fund.
Sjömanshus, shortly Seamen Registry Offices, are found in 47 of the shipping
towns of Sweden. It is part of their mission to afford relief to sailors of all
ratings in distress or out of work, and to their widows and children. The costs
of these institutions are defrayed partly by the tonnage fees paid by the
shipowners and the sailor’s own shipping fees (hyresavgifter), paid by all Swedish
sailors on board ships sailing to foreign countries, inclusive of the masters,,
at the rate of 1 % of their wages or salary, and thirdly by State
subvention. In 1912 the tonnage dues amounted to 192 916 kronor, the shipping
fees to 125 848 kronor, and the State grant to 40 000 kronor. In the
same-year the sum expended in annual and occasional aid was 288 660 kronor, wages,
salaries and expenditure ran into 215 399 kronor; and the balance at the end
of the year figured at 134 247 kronor. The aggregate balance of capital held
by the Sjömanshusen was 6 029 563 kronor, which sum also includes donations.
Each Sjömanshus is governed by a Board, consisting of elected members
representing the shipowners and sailors of various ratings. The Sjömanshus are
subject to the supervision of the Board of Trade, which, at the recommendation of
the Board, appoints their Commissioner, who is a salaried official, with fiscal duties..
The Mercantile Marine Pension Fund was founded in 1864 as a set-off to the
right enjoyed by sailors on board ships sailing to foreign countries to introduce
into Sweden free of duty a certain quantity of goods (known as färing). The
State grant to this Fund was in 1912 174 075-36 kronor. Pensions are
granted to Swedish sailors who have been principally employed on board ships
sailing to foreign countries after attaining the age of 55, provided they have
been entered for 25 years on the Seamen Registry Offices. The pensions are
divided into four classes, of which the two first are intended for certified
masters, the third for other masters as well as mates and engineer, and the
fourth for other sailors and stokers on steamships. The number of pensioners,
in 1912 was in
Kr.
1st class 324 at the rate of 160 kr..........51840
2nd » 328 » » » » 120 » ......... 28 560
3rd » 233 » » * » 100 » ......... 23 300
4th > 1140 > > * > 60 > . . ....... 68 400
Total 172100
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