wages

ITF exposes crew underpayment and starving in Australia

ITF informed of another case of crew underpayment in Australia, involving the 80,000-tonne bulk carrier ‘Villa Deste’ at a BHP terminal in Queensland. Crew aboard the ship contacted the ITF pleading for help, claiming to have no food and no onboard wages, and being fed on a $4 food budget per day.

According to ITF, BHP is continuing to block ITF’s requests to inspect the vessel, currently at anchor at BHP’s Hay Point Coal Terminal in Mackay, north Queensland, which is due to berth tomorrow.

ITF...

https://safety4sea.com/itf-exposes-crew-underpayment-and-starving-in-australia/

ITF exposes wage theft on ship at Port Kembla

A case of wage theft onboard a Panamanian-flagged vessel in the Australian Port Kembla was exposed after intervention from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

Inspections by ITF inspectors in Western Port and Port Kembla of the BlueScope chartered bulk carrier ‘Ken Ei’, in January, led to $38,384 in coastal wages being paid immediately in cash to the 20 Filipino seafarers crewing the ship, ITF informed.

Upon arriving in Western Port, the crew on the KEN EI immediately asked our...

https://safety4sea.com/itf-exposes-wage-theft-on-ship-at-port-kembla/

Life at Sea report: Eight challenges to crew welfare

British charity Apostleship of the Sea issued their Life at Sea report detailing cases they have encountered while providing support to seafarers around the world in 2017-2018. These stories, summarizing the eight challenges that crews of today have to face, aim to demonstrate that, by working in partnership, we can all improve the lives of seafarers and fishermen around the world.
  1. Hospitalisation: Seafarers endure the daily risks of an industrial workplace as well as a dangerous natural...

https://safety4sea.com/life-at-sea-report-eight-challenges-to-crew-welfare/

Petition started for 40 seafarers abandoned in UAE

British human rights charity ‘Justice Upheld’ has started a petition for 40 seafarers from India, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea and Ethiopia, who have been deliberately abandoned at sea on ships owned by an UAE-based shipping company for over 27 months without pay. The charity notes that this practice forms a breach of International Conventions in relation to Human Rights.

The charity addressed this petition to Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin...

https://safety4sea.com/petition-started-for-40-seafarers-abandoned-in-uae/

Nautilus International challenges UK government over Brexit ferry charters

The UK government’s move to spend more than £100m to secure additional ferry capacity to keep trade flowing in the event of a no-deal Brexit could create a costly and damaging own goal for the British shipping industry by undermining existing operators who train and employ British seafarers, Nautilus International has warned.

Nautilus is challenging ministers to ensure that seafarers serving on the chartered ships are employed on UK wages and conditions, and is questioning whether the government...

https://safety4sea.com/nautilus-international-challenges-uk-government-over-brexit-ferry-charters/

Why shipping must shed focus on human rights at sea

Human rights at sea gains significant attention of the maritime community. Due to its diversified identity, shipping constitutes a friendly field for human rights abuses, with human trafficking, illegal migration, slavery and abuse in fishing sector and even the unsafe working conditions in many Southeast Asian ship recycling facilities being among the key areas of concern.

On 10 December 2018, the world celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)....

https://safety4sea.com/cm-why-shipping-must-shed-focus-on-human-rights-at-sea/

India blacklists three ships over seafarers abandonment

The Indian Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) issued a circular informing that three ships and their related owners and recruiting agencies have been blacklisted over abandoning and taking no action for the Indian seafarers who have been stranded in Iran for the last 12 months.

According to the DGS, the seafarers in these vessels are distressed, not paid wages, and not repatriated after completion of their contracts. The Indian mission abroad has also informed that the said companies continue...

https://safety4sea.com/india-blacklists-three-ships-over-seafarers-abandonment/

Agreement reached to increase minimum wage for seafarers

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), convened in Geneva at the Joint Maritime Commission Subcommittee on Seafarers Wages. The two organizations decided to update the minimum wage for an able seafarer by 27 USD over the next 3 years.

ITF and ICS convened at the Joint Maritime Commission Subcommittee on Seafarers Wages, to review the ILO Minimum Wage for an Able Seafarer (AB) provided for in Code B of the Maritime Labour Convention,...

https://safety4sea.com/agreement-reached-to-increase-minimum-wage-for-seafarers/

Talking about the gender pay gap in shipping

The EU celebrates today, 3rd of November, the Equal Pay Day, in a bid to highlight the difference in the average gross earnings of women and men in global business. Women in the European Union still earn on average 16.2% less than men, while in the maritime field, the figure climbs to 45%, leading us to assume that gender pay gap is the top of the iceberg along other factors keeping women away from shipping careers.

Several discussions and a gradually greater awareness around gender equality in...

https://safety4sea.com/cm-talking-about-the-gender-pay-gap-in-shipping/

Abandoned Chief Officer in Kish Island repatriated after charity intervention

British charity Human Rights at Sea announced the successful repatriation of an Ethiopian Chief Officer who was abandoned on Kish Island, Iran, ‘after a direct, but polite intervention by the charity’. The Chief Officer was also owed outstanding wages which have now been paid in full.

The abandoned seafarer contacted the charity on 12 October to outline that, having completed a six month contract, he had been extended by four further months without pay before the owner had deducted two months...

https://safety4sea.com/abandoned-chief-officer-in-kish-island-repatriated-after-charity-intervention/

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