Cardiac issues onboard ship are a big concern but how healthy are your crew’s teeth? Research has shown that the poor state of your second mate’s rotten molar could be doing more damage to his health than just a nasty toothache and a bad bout of halitosis!

Dental health is believed to have an impact on coronary health and there have been studies done that suggest clean and healthy teeth are a good marker for good coronary health. This is an important finding for the maritime sector because of their onboard working schedules. If someone has an erratic schedule it is tough to be vigilant with the more mundane daily functions such as cleaning your teeth because you are either tired or overworked.

Indeed, dental issues are becoming so worrying that many screening companies are asking examining physicians to perform a dental examination and have added sections to their paperwork to increase scrutiny of their seafarers’ dental health.

As Mark Kelly from Andersen Kelly said: “I have noticed when looking at the statistics that more seafarers are complaining about their teeth. One reason for this is that in the US the average age of the mariner is increasing. We weren’t supposed to have our teeth for as long as we live but if we can we will.

“We have heard of a mariner who was taken off a vessel complaining of a pain in his hip but it turned out that the infection that had set in his hip originated from his tooth. There is increasing medical evidence that dental health is indicative of the holistic health of your body. After examining the patient, doctors were certain the infection migrated from the oral cavity in his mouth entered his blood stream and settled in his hip. They don’t know how long it took.

“When they looked at the pathogens they found they came from mouth and they checked his mouth and found problems he was not aware of. He probably had had a toothache but ignored the pain which eventually went away.”

The call for all ships to be fitted with defibrillators to protect seafarers against the threat of heart attack was brought home to the international shipping community with sad consequences at the Posidonia shipping exhibition in Greece when a 72 year old visitor to the show collapsed and died from a heart attack.

Medics from the Hellenic Red Cross were called to the entrance to the show on Thursday after the visitor was reported to have collapsed and had stopped breathing. They immediately performed CPR and then used a defibrillator supplied by Ship Medical, sponsors of the Red Cross first aid station. Ship Medical had supplied the defibrillator because of the fear of such an event occuring.

A medic from the Hellenic Red Cross, who tried to save the man’s life, said they managed to maintain CPR until the ambulance arrived. He said that without doubt, defibrillators should be an essential item of equipment onboard every ship.

As the new diving season gets underway, Hutton’s is advising its customers in the offshore and diving industry to ensure their onboard first aid equipment complies with the latest legislation.

New regulations introduced in 2009 by the Diving Medical Advisory Committee, (DMAC) make a number of changes, the most significant of which is the addition of a defibrillator as a required item of first aid equipment. The new rules also recommend that medical equipment be held at the site of an offshore diving operation.

Hutton’s Medical has in stock new first aid kits which are compliant with the regulations. Copies of the new regulation are also available from Huttons Medical.

As 2010 heralds the Year of the Seafarer, InterManager – the international trade association for shipmanagers – has pledged to pull out all the stops in its support of crew members worldwide.

InterManager President Roberto Giorgi said: “Last year we were heartened by the support we received from throughout the shipping world as we fought for the release of the unjustly-jailed officers from the Hebei Spirit. Now, in the Year of the Seafarer, our campaign will be even stronger and I am sure we can count on even greater support from the industry.”

Welcoming the Year of the Seafarer, Mr Giorgi, whose members between them represent more than 125,000 crew members, called for the shipping industry to be more proactive in its defence of seafarers. He said: “2010 will be a very important year because of the Year of the Seafarer. And 2011 will see the implementation of the new Maritime Labour Convention. So I believe in 2010 and 2011 there will be much more effort and commitment from everybody, the IMO included, to try to find a solution not just on criminalisation but also on piracy.”

The international community must work together to tackle the increasing problem of piracy, Mr Giorgi advised. “What we need is to have one way to fight piracy rather than different approaches from different countries,” he said, calling for international legislation to harmonise the approach ship owners and managers can take to protect their crews and ships from pirate attacks. “We need to define international legislation so that all shipowners are able to access the same tactics rather than some being forbidden by their individual nations’ laws,” he said.

Mr Giorgi also foresees a difficult year ahead for the shipping industry. “2010 will be a tougher year for many shipping companies, he predicted. “2009 was a difficult year but, although the dry cargo and container markets were down, during the first six months the tanker market was still quite good. In 2009 a lot of shipowners were emerging from the previous years of good markets so they had healthy balance sheets and cash reserves. Now, particularly in a business like containers, I see a lot of distressed assets. Owners and shipmanagers will need to ensure the costs are right, but I do foresee some problems for some owners,” he warned.

A new trade association armed with a broad mandate to represent and promote the health and medical interests of the world’s seafarers, port workers and cruise passengers as well as improve shipboard hygiene is launched in London today (Jan 4th).

The International Maritime Medical Association (IMMA), as it is to be known, will look after the medical interests of those involved in the shipping industry worldwide and work to lobby politicians and regulators who influence this important sector of the global shipping industry. It will work alongside, and draw on the medical expertise, of the International Maritime Health Association, an existing members’ association for maritime doctors and port clinics.

IMMA, which is a ‘not for profit organisation’, will operate out of the Baltic Exchange in London. It will not only represent the medical and health interests of the maritime sector globally, but also act as a legislative watchdog and lobby for change as and where necessary. It is the only trade association of its kind in the world.

Armed with a mandate to highlight the health and medical issues of the world’s seafarers equally from an owners’ and managers’ perspective as well as through the eyes of the seafarer and the unions, IMMA will bring the views of the ship and crew manager and the seafarer to the forefront when influencing future regulation of this key area of the global shipping industry.

It has established a permanent secretariat in The Baltic Exchange in London to support and promote the interests of its members. A fully-employed Secretary General has been recruited and a nine-strong board of directors bringing together expertise from the medical as well as shipowning, P&I, port agency and medical auditing spheres is being assembled.

Michael Van Hall, President of Gezellig, Inc. and formerly President of van Hall Health Inc. and Managing Director Maritime Sector at Health Systems International, Indiana, has been elected as the association’s first President.

Full membership of IMMA is open to all stakeholders interested in seafarer and maritime health, fitness and medicine: notably port and shipboard doctors; port clinics; hospitals; medical and speciality medical groups such as dentists and orthopaedists; pharmacists and medical equipment and drug supply and testing companies; P&I Clubs; port agents and port operators as well as shipowning and shipmanagement shipping companies.

IMMA will operate as the ‘Go-To’ place for advice and services on, for example, pre-employment medical examinations (PEME), nutrition/dietary, keeping a crew fit and healthy, immunisations, training of the ‘medical’ person onboard, telephone and web-based medical advice and advice and guidance relating to the operation of doctors and hospitals in the major ports of call.

Michael van Hall said: “Seafarer health has become such a crucial issue as concern over the seafarer shortage problem impacts on lengthening sea-time, longer working hours and less relaxation time. Conversely, crew managers and ship owners are finding it hard to balance the demands for higher operational output from their seagoing workforce with the needs for a healthy and contented crew base. And that is before we consider the insurance implications of rising health costs in a sector that suffers from a lack of understanding and empathetic regulatory structure.

“IMMA has been formed to represent and tackle all of these issues from a practitioners’ as well as from an employers’ standpoint,” he added.

InterManager, the international trade association for the shipmanagement industry, has expressed its extreme anger and deep sorrow after a seafarer died at the hands of pirates.

The Chief Officer of the panamax crude oil tanker Cancale Star died and several crew members were injured when the Liberian-flagged vessel was attacked by pirates off the coast of Benin, West Africa. The Ukrainian officer was fatally injured as pirates attempted to board the ship and the crew fought back. The crew regained control of the vessel and captured one pirate who they handed over to authorities at the port of Cotonou, Benin.

InterManager’s members represent some 125,000 crew members onboard more than 3,700 ships. President Roberto Giorgi said: “InterManager expresses its sincere condolences to the family of the Chief Officer who lost his life performing his duty. We wholeheartedly condemn the actions of these pirates and call on the international community to join forces to tackle the increasingly violent piracy off the West African coastline.”

InterManager is backing a call from an InterManager member Tsakos Shipping and Trading SA, for the deployment of UN Naval forces and the introduction of safe transit corridors in Nigerian waters to prevent further losses of life.

Roberto Giorgi’s company, V.Ships, experienced Nigerian piracy at first hand one month ago when a crew managed bulk carrier was attacked by pirates with semiautomatic weapons and some crew members were injured. He said: “The issue of piracy is not only related to Somalia and the Gulf of Aden but affects many areas around the world and has done for many years. These attacks in West Africa are quite common and are often much more brutal than in Somalia.

Mr Giorgi called for stronger international legislation to defeat the escalating global threat of piracy. “We need stricter international rules which are applied and implemented equally and effectively throughout the world,” he said, calling on all government authorities to be more proactive in preventing piracy on its shores.”

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today reminded mariners about the importance of taking necessary precautions and implementing best practices in the wake of recent attacks on the Harriett and Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia.

“These ships’ successful defence against pirates should serve as a reminder to the maritime industry of the best practices that can keep crews safe on the seas,” said Secretary LaHood. “Mariners should heed the lessons learned from past attacks and review defensive measures so that they are prepared when traveling through high-threat areas. The U.S. government will continue to work with ship operators to protect U.S. citizens in regions where piracy still poses a serious threat.”

Last week, the Harriett thwarted a pirate attack by outrunning the pirate ship. Yesterday, guards aboard the Maersk Alabama repelled a pirate attack using small arms fire. No casualties were reported in the incident, which took place 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast.

This was the second attack by pirates against the Maersk Alabama this year. In April, pirates hijacked the ship and took Captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days until he was freed by Navy SEALs.