Tag: wages

Despite new powers enabling the Police, the Border Force and the National Crime Agency to board and search vessels, Nautilus International has identified the exploitation of individuals, mainly of South and South East Asian origin, and profiteering by certain ship-owners continues.

International seafarer welfare charity, the Mission to Seafarers, announced its relaunch of the Seafarer Happiness Index in order to deliver key insights in to how to attract and maintain the seafarer workforce of tomorrow, supporting a sustainable future for the global maritime industry. 

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has banned the Panama-flagged bulk carrier DL Carnation for 12 months, after the vessel was discovered keeping two sets of wage accounts, covering up the underpayment of crew.

Despite a recovery in cargo shipping markets, ship manning costs will remain suppressed as shipowners and operators continue to be financially challenged and the officer shortfall recedes, according to the latest Manning report by Drewry consultancy.

The replacement crew of a Panama-registered ship asks repatriation, as the ship has been detained in Sharpness Docks, Gloucestershire, for over two months,  amid claims ‘modern day slavery’ conditions. The ship has been detained since early June, for unpaid wages and poor working conditions.

Hyundai Heavy Industries is asking 5,000 workers to take unpaid leave from September, as it faces a decreasing rate in ship orders until June 2018. The world's largest shipbuilder, seeks to "persuade" 30 percent of its workforce to take time off from work without pay, in order to maintain competitiveness amid industry downturn.

EU Commission proposed that the EU law should enshrine an agreement between social partners to improve the working conditions of seafarers on board of EU-flagged vessels. The proposal aims to ensure that seafarers are better protected against abandonment and to strengthen their rights to compensation.

Human Rights at Sea informed that all 16 of the former crew of the MV Liberty Prrudencia were repatriated home on 23 July 2017 and that their wages have been finally paid, after the charity and other organisations were first alerted to their plight in February of this year.

ILO Working Group of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) held a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from April 3 to 5, to examine issues related to the protection of seafarers’ wages when they are held captive on or off the ship as a result of piracy of armed robbery against ships.

The recommended ILO Minimum Wage for Able Seafarers will remain at its current level of US$ 614 basic pay per month until at least 2018.