Amid coronavirus outbreak, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) managed to bring back home the fatigued crewmembers of a South Korean-owned bulk carrier, as seafarers downed their tools after working onboard with expired contracts and approaching almost a year at sea.
In fact, the stranded crewmembers were stuck onboard due to the crew change crisis of coronavirus.
As the vessel was about to berth in Panama on July 31, ITF saw an opportunity to repatriate crew via Panama and achieved to bring the fatigued seafarers back home to their families in Ukraine and Russia.
Namely, ITF noted that:
“The ITF’s Latin America/Caribbean Network Coordinator, Juan Villalón, reached out to the ship’s crew. During his discussions with them, Villalón learnt that the crew’s contracts had been doubled since they first signed, and many were quickly approaching a year – over the legal maximum.
The crew also said that the ship’s South Korean owner had promised on a number of occasions to repatriate them. Every time the promises would come, but the ship kept sailing. Crew had been growing increasingly frustrated, and now even some of their salaries had stopped being paid”.
Accorrding to ITF, the management company tried to convince the seafarers with false flight booking documents in order to stay onboard after they advised they were going to stop working upon arrival in Panama.
In light of the situation, the Panamanian Maritime Authority exposed the company’s latest lie, and arrested the vessel until the crew were repatriated.
By 6 August, past the fabricated Jamaica flight dates, the PSC had evidence that missing salaries have been paid, but repatriation had still not yet occurred, ITF reported.
“The next day four crew members signed off the Contamines as it sat in port, including the chief engineer (who is Panamanian) and the chief mate. The four were sent to a hotel, finally embarking on their voyage home.
In the following days, the company’s replacement crew arrived. And then, finally, on August 11, the remainder crew who had been on board for almost a year, left the vessel and boarded their own flights home”...ITF concluded.
