The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) announced ban of the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier ‘Shandong Hai Wang’ for 12 months, over deliberate crew underpayment, on 7 July. The ship was immediately detained for breaching the Maritime Labour Convention which sets out seafarers’ rights to decent working conditions.
On Friday, 6 July, AMSA received information from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), alleging discrepancies in the payment of crew wages. As such, AMSA surveyors boarded the ship on arrival in Gladstone on 7 July to investigate the allegations.
During the inspection, the surveyors found evidence that crew had been deliberately underpaid by about $56,000 (AUD) from the amount specified in their seafarer employment agreements and detained the vessel.
AMSA’s General Manager of Operations, Allan Schwartz, said AMSA would not tolerate ships that underpay their crew in Australia:
This is the fourth time in the last year that a ship has been banned from Australian ports for underpaying crew. AMSA takes a zero-tolerance approach to the mistreatment of crew and all ships coming to our shores should be aware of the consequences. Ships visiting Australian ports are put on notice. The next ship we find deliberately and repeatedly underpaying its crew and attempting to deceive authorities, can expect an even more severe penalty than that handed to the Shandong Hai Wang.
The Shandong Hai Wang is operated by Qilu Ship Management Co. Limited.
On 12 July, AMSA was informed that all outstanding wages had been received by the crew. The ship has been released from detention this afternoon and issued with a direction notice banning its return to Australian ports for 12 months.
Several detentions and bans have been recorded in AMSA due to MLC deficiencies during last 5 years. A comparison of the 2015 and 2016 results indicated a slight improvement with respect to number of MLC deficiencies and deficiencies per inspection.
