It has been alleged that the Panama Ship Registry advised that seafarer contracts can be extended by a further three months with some seafarers now on course to serve a total of 17 months at sea.
Specifically, in a recent tweet Mark Dickinson, the general secretary of UK trade union Nautilus International published an image revealing that Panama enables the extension of seafarer contracts; The extension means some ships will sail with seafarers who will have worked eight months beyond the maximum period specified under the Maritime Labour Convention.
Commenting on the situation Mr Dickinson noted that “IMO, ILO PSC should immediately detain all PAN ships! This is utterly shameful & inhumane.”
Following the news, AMSA detained the vessel called Berge Heng Shan as two seafarers were found to not have a valid seafarer’s employment agreement, another two have not been working longer than 11 months onboard.
