The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and its affiliated Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU) recently secured back wages and assisted with repatriation for mariners who had been stranded aboard a runaway flag ship since early January.According to the federation, a crew of 22 mariners from the Greek-owned, North Korean-flagged MV Lady Belinda received $102,000 in back pay on April 5 in Singapore. Most of the seamen, all Indian nationals, had submitted requests to leave the vessel upon receiving their salaries, citing the ship’s unseaworthy condition.
The stricken bulk carrier, fully laden with iron ore, became immobilized on Jan. 5 in the northern stretch of the Malacca Straits and had arrived under tow in Singapore on Jan. 14. The vessel had since been detained by the authorities for not being seaworthy.
The crew had sought the help of the SMOU to recover up to four months of wages.
SMOU President Capt. Robin Foo said that he was appalled at the condition of the vessel, which had a visible hole at its stern just above the water line, and at the food and water provisions for the crew, which were running low.
“It is really distressing to see that seafarers are still being unscrupulously exploited, and the unsafe working conditions on board the unseaworthy vessel is a cause for concern for the industry,” he said.
He added, “We are thankful for the assistance by the various seafaring welfare organizations, especially the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), who have helped with the humanitarian welfare of the seafarers and have assisted us with the wage recovery for the crew.”
The vessel’s chief officer, G. Ramanamurthy, expressed his relief and thanked the ITF and SMOU. “When food provisions were critical, especially during the Easter weekend, SMOU came on board with food,” he said. “When we needed to contact our families, calling cards were provided and most importantly they helped us get our hard-earned wages. I will now go back to my family and will look out for a better vessel to work on board for my next voyage.”
Junior Engineer Sheikh Yakub Umar added, “We never believed we could get our money back, but the ITF and SMOU have made it possible. I’m glad that the ordeal has almost come to an end.”
Capt. Foo noted, “We’re very happy for the seafarers and it is very heartwarming as a unionist to see the joy on the faces of the seafarers who have finally received wages that they have been owed for many months and that they have worked very hard for.”
He pointed out that there was still some unfinished business. “As the vessel is still unsafe and unseaworthy, we are now working to ensure that the vessel owner and the employers pay for the full repatriation of the seafarers on board and that they will continue to pay all additional wages incurred until the crew sign off the vessel and are repatriated.”
The ITF is a global federation of 681 transport trade unions (including the SIU) which collectively represent 4.5 million workers in 148 countries. SIU Secretary-Treasurer David Heindel is first vice chair of the ITF Seafarers’ Section.
A runaway-flag or so-called flag-of-convenience (FOC) ship is one that flies the flag of a country other than the country of ownership. According to the ITF, “FOCs provide a means of avoiding labor regulation in the country of ownership, and becomes a vehicle for paying low wages and forcing long hours of work and unsafe working conditions. Since FOC ships have no real nationality, they are beyond the reach of any single national seafarers’ trade union.
“The ITF has therefore been obliged to take on internationally the role traditionally exercised by national trade unions – to organize and negotiate on behalf of FOC crews. For 50 years the ITF, through its affiliated seafarers’ and dockers’ unions, has been waging a vigorous campaign against shipowners who abandon the flag of their own country in search of the cheapest possible crews and the lowest possible training and safety standards for their ships.”
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