SHIPPING is the industry which makes modern life possible — and especially in an island nation like Britain, where more than 90 per cent of our trade comes and goes by sea. However, the workers who make shipping possible remain largely out of sight and out of mind.

As the union representing 20,000 maritime professionals, Nautilus is seeking the support of Congress delegates this year to make sure that this often neglected, often exploited and sometimes abused workforce is given greater protection from government and employers.

Ours is a global industry, and it means our members are uniquely exposed to global pressures — whether that means having to fight for jobs where some foreign seafarers in our own waters are working for a fraction of the National Minimum Wage, or running the risk of interception off the Iranian coast or pirate attacks in West African waters.

The work of our members often takes them to potentially dangerous areas during times of heightened international tensions. A century after the first world war, it’s worth remembering that more than 14,000 merchant seafarers were killed during the conflict and more than 30,000 died during the second world war.

The so-called tanker war, between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s, saw the deaths of more than 400 seafarers. And we’ve also had members killed in conflicts such as the Falklands War and the Spanish Civil War. Don’t forget: these are civilians, not members of the armed forces.

With a UK-flagged tanker, Stena Impero, seized by Iran in July, and its crew still under detention, it’s more important than ever that the safety of seafarers must treated with priority.

We want to ensure that the TUC gives full support to members working in areas that have been officially designated “warlike zones” or high-risk areas and to prevent any seafarers from being victimised for putting the safety of crews before commercial interests.

Those reading about the Stena Impero’s detention in Iran might be surprised to see that a UK-flagged ship has no British seafarers among its crew. Sadly, that’s all too common today. Whilst just about everything we use, eat and wear has come to use by sea, the proportion being carried by ships flying the British flag or crewed by British seafarers continues to decline dramatically.

The total tonnage of ships flying the British flag has fallen by more than one-third since the start of the year.

The government’s own statistics show that British seafarer numbers have fallen by almost 8 per cent over the past 15 years. And, on current trends, the number of British deck and engineer officers and ratings will decline by a further third over the next decade.

We can’t allow this drift towards extinction to continue. We must stop the unregulated competition that is squeezing British seafarers out of work — even on ships trading in our own waters.

It’s time we put an end to the scandal that continues to see employment rights stopping at our shoreline. The seafarers who work on ships that operate within our waters and on the UK Continental Shelf should be treated in the same way as workers on land.

But we don’t just want to see the National Minimum Wage extended to UK waters — we want it properly enforced. We want to see an end to the repeated exemptions from work permit rules given out to windfarm workboat operators — enabling them to bring in crews from outside the EEA and, in some cases, pay them less than a couple of pounds an hour.

The government must back this up with measures to establish a level playing field and that give proper protection for British shipping and British seafarers in our coastal and offshore services.

Seafarers deliver — and we are seeking the support of Congress delegates to ensure that government delivers policy pledges to double the number of ships on the British register by 2020 and to increase cadet training levels by around one-third.

Ministers must also make sure that the support the government gives to shipowners, like the tonnage tax scheme, is tied to measures that require them to deliver increased employment and training of British seafarers.

I urge delegates to not only think of the unseen workers that help to make modern day life possible, but to help us in our continuing campaign to give them the protection they deserve.