COMMENTARY: Facilitation payments - stand your ground

By Wendy Laursen, in The Maritime Executive

Excerpts:

"Sometimes [ship] captains face demands for bribes or facilitation payments at a port before shore passes are granted. Sometimes they are fined for fabricated issues relating to their crew’s nationality, their documentation or the inspection of their vessel."

. . . . . .

" 'This is not something you can tackle on your own as one company or as one shipping nation. It requires collective action by the industry and also close cooperation with inter-governmental organizations,' says Maria Bruun Skipper, senior adviser for the Danish Shipowners’ Association."

. . . . . .

"MACN and its members promote good corporate practice in the maritime industry for tackling bribes, facilitation payments, and other forms of corruption. MACN also collaborates with governments and international organizations to identify and mitigate the root causes of corruption in the maritime industry and to develop sustainable solutions."

Read the full commentary at http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Facilitation-Payments-Stand-your-Ground-2014-11-21