German-Owned Bulk Carrier Detained in Australia Over MLC Breaches
....τι διαβάζει κανείς?? Γερμανός πλοιοκτήτης δεν ταίζει το πλήρωμα στα βαπόρια του.
Αυτό δεν συνέβαινε ούτε στα δυσκολότερα χρόνια...
Τώρα που τον έβαλαν στην σέντρα, δεν νομίζω να τη βγάζει καθαρή...
The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Anna-Elisabeth. Photo: ITF
Australian authorities have detained the Liberian-registered bulk
carrier Anna-Elisabeth has been detained after its crew complained of
insufficient food, bullying, and denial of shore leave, the
International Transport Workers’ Federation reported Thursday.
The ITF said it received the complaints on Monday, March 25, as the
German-owned ship was berthed at the Port Kembla Coal Terminal.
ITF national coordinator, Dean Summers, went on board the vessel to
investigate. “Meat and fish were freezer burnt and fresh provisions were
very low, certainly not enough to get 17 seafarers to Singapore. It is
our suspicion that this company is under intense financial pressure and
have sought to save money wherever they can. The master confirmed the
food ration was $7 per day for all meals,” said Summers.
Inspectors were also surprised to see that the company had a new crew
category of “Deck Rider” on their crew list, which the ITF said
immediately red-flagged the qualifications of all of the crew.
Due to the findings, Summers requested that Australian Maritime
Safety Authority (AMSA) inspect the vessel, citing shore leave, lack of
provisions, bullying and concern about minimum safe manning and crew
qualifications.
“We asked AMSA to confirm that the crew were qualified and safe to
take the ship to sea. We have reports that this has become a major
problem for this company now,” said Summers.
The ship was not permitted to sail by AMSA at the scheduled 6:00pm on
Monday 25 March. AMSA inspectors boarded the ship Tuesday 26 March
where a detailed inspection continued throughout the day. The vessel was
eventually detained by AMSA under the Maritime Labour Convention.
The Liberian register is reportedly sending a representative to the
ship to work with the master and owners to rectify the long list of
deficiencies.
The German owners, Johann MK Blumenthal, are notoriously anti-union and have a reputation for confrontation, says the ITF.
“We are asking the Australian Government to send an urgent alert
around the shipping world to audit and detain Blumenthal ships wherever
breaches to human rights and workers’ rights are found. Clearly, the
only thing these belly robbers understand is cost and profit,” said
Summers.
“In recent weeks, ITF inspectors in Europe have uncovered other cases
of food shortages on Blumenthal vessels. So right now, Blumenthal is a
priority for the ITF, and we will continue to inspect their vessels in
ports around the world to ensure that more than 700 seafarers across
their fleet aren’t subjected to these exploitative practices,” concluded
Summers.
The ITF says the incident marks the is the latest example of Flags of
Convenience (FoC) shipping in the Australian domestic trade. FoC ships
have grown to dominate the Australian coastal trade and are at the
centre of a dispute between maritime unions and BHP and BlueScope after
the companies replaced the last two Australian-crewed bulk ships with
foreign seafarers on FoC conditions.
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