Date: 04 September 2013

Ukraine Seafarer’s Pre Employment Medical Scheme

Lodestar is actively working to develop loss prevention initiatives. An area of concern is that
of Pre Employment Medicals (PEMEs).

Manning agents have a wide range of practices with regard to seafarers’ medical fitness.
Whilst all seafarers must meet basic fitness requirements as required by the national law and
STCW / MLC 2006, there is often little or no general oversight as to which medical facilities
are used. Some facilities provide quality medical exams; others simply provide the minimum
examinations as required by the legislation and it has been widely reported that some clinics
may turn a blind eye to obvious deficiencies with a seafarers medical and declare the seafarer
to be fit when he clearly is not.

In a recent case we have been made aware of a seafarer with a highly suspect PEME was
employed by an owner. Within weeks of joining the seafarer had suffered a major illness
which resulted in him being taken from the vessel by helicopter and hospitalised in Central
America. After a long period in hospital he was returned to his home in Ukraine via an aero-
medical flight. Total cost in the case exceeded US$300,000 and would have been avoided if
the seafarer’s serious problems were identified during his PEME.

The advantage to shipowners is clear – whilst genuine cases of illness will still arise on board
those case where a pre existing condition has resulted in a large claim can be reduced – this
will assist owners with the benefit of not incurring a deductible, not having the loss on their
P&I record and not having to find a new crewmember to replace the sick one.

Lodestar has identified Ukraine as being a major seafaring nation and also a country where
some clinics are not providing shipowners with reliable PEME’s.

Odessa is the primary location for shipping in the Ukraine where approximately 120 manning
agents are thought to operate.
To overcome this problem and to provide owners with a choice of high quality facilities,
Lodestar has identified a number of medical screening clinics in Ukraine (Odessa &
Mariupol).

The criteria for the clinics we have selected possess the identified requirements of:

Professional skills
Suitable medical equipment
Track record of handling large numbers of seafarers including records storage.
Acceptable IT infrastructure
Ability to provide STCW / MLC PEMEs
Accreditation by foreign Governments and P & I facilities

Lodestar has created a PEME form which will be available for use only by its accredited
facilities. The use of individually numbered holographic stamps will ensure that any
fraudulent and /or unauthorised PEMEs will be instantly recognised.

We would urge owners to instruct their manning agents to only send them seafarers who have
undergone and passed a medical from one of Lodestar’s approved clinics.

For any questions or enquiries regarding the contents of this circular please contact:

C B Gill - carl.gill@lodestar-marine.com

Or

S R Kirk. – steven.kirk@lodestar-marine.com
Approved Facilities –Odessa Ukraine

Medical-Sanitary Centre of Odessa National Maritime Academy Academmarine

Medical Centre
Tel: + 38 048 728 0692
Fax: +38 048 732 4488 academmarine@yandex.ru academmarine-stf@yandex.ua
10, Malovsky St.
Odessa
Ukraine
Mr. Igor Strelnikov, Director
Mob: + 38 067 484 3446
Ms Elena I. Strelnik, Deputy Director
Tel: +38 048 733-56-09 Mob: +38 067 975 89-70

Medical Centre Archimed-T

Tel/Fax: +38 0482 32-78-70 archimed-t@mail.ru

42, Kanatnaya St.
Odessa 65014
Ukraine
Mrs. Olga Shemyakova Mob: +38 067 484 06 84

Medical Centre "Medmarine"

Tel/Fax: +38 0482 34-34-84 8,
medmarin@eurocom.od.ua
Krasnova St
Odessa 65059 Ukraine
Mr. Yaroslav S. Surmyak, Director Mob: +38 096 582 53-54
www.medmarine.od.ua

Medical Centre "Zdorovye"

Tel: +38 0482 37-74-27 54,
Fax: +38 0482 33-22-39
kuchmiy_ludmila@mail.ru
Atamana Chepygy St
Odessa
Ukraine
Dr. Lyudmila I. Kuchmiy, Director Mob: +38 067 720 74-57

Approved Facilities –Mariupol Ukraine

Mariupol Primary Health Care Center

No 4 Utility Enterprise of Mariupol Municipal Council

35 Nakhimova Lane
Mariupol 87517
Ukraine

T: +38 0629 376884 and +38 0629 408990

E: azovcenter4@mail.ru

Key Clinicians/Personnel: Mr Gennadiy Eliseyev and Mr Alexander Pasternak