Tag: abandonment of seafarers

As Human Rights at Sea informed seventeen seafarers were abandoned on the island of Kish by their respective shipping companies with salaries of almost two years and their identification papers confiscated. The allegations include food-poisoning, limited access to clean water and denial of medical treatments.

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside welcomed member states of the International Labour Organisation, Shipowners and representatives of seafarers, acknowledging the importance of seafarers’ welfare in the MLC 2006 amendments.

After more than 11 months at anchor in Sfax, Tunisia, the remaining 10 seafarers onboard the vessel MV Qaaswa departed for home on 30th April 2018. The International Transport Workers’ Federation said that the seafarers were abandoned May 2017. More than $100,000 in wages was paid to the crew.

ITF and the UAE Federal Transport Authority have joined forces with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, to protect the rights of all seafarers operating in UAE waters. The signing agreement, the first of its kind between a government authority and the ITF, took place at the IMO headquarters in London. 

The amendment will be submitted to the next ILO session for adoption. When it enters into force, it foresees that the seafarers’ wages and other contractual entitlements will continue to be paid during the entire period of captivity. This will provide the families with the necessary means of survival.

​The increased number of reported cases of abandonment of seafarers is being highlighted at the 105th session of IMO's Legal Committee, currently underway, from 23 to 25 April. A joint ILO/IMO database recorded 55 such cases during 2017, against an average 19 annually during the preceding three years.

16 crew members of the container ship 'Avonmoor', who had been abandoned in the Port of Casablanca, Morocco, since January 2018, have been now repatriated home to the Ukraine, after efforts of International Transport Workers’ Federation Inspectors, and ITF affiliate, Moroccan Workers' Union.

The UAE Federal Transport Authority for Land and Maritime has banned all ships belonging to Venous Ship Management and Operation LLC, based in Fujairah, for not protecting seafarers’ rights, operating in the UAE waters. The Indian Consulate in Dubai had blacklisted the same company in an advisory back in July 2017.

The Indian Directorate General of Shipping reported that Indian seafarers are stranded at Dubai for last 22 months, because their companies have abandoned them. India proceeded and blacklisted these companies. India instructed the recruitment agencies that placed Indian seafarers on these vessels to withdraw Indian seafarers and repatriate them.

The eleven crew of the Panamanian flagged 'Agean Princess' returned home to India and Myanmar, after being held in Ajman, UAE, for 17 months, due to a dispute between their ships operator and owner. However, ITF stressed that the crew are still owed unpaid wages going back to 2015, totaling over USD 916,000.