It is reported that in less than a week, Australian maritime officials once again banned a bulk carrier flying a foreign flag from entering Australian ports on the grounds that the ship paid too low a salary to the crew.
The Australian Maritime Safety Agency (AMSA) recently announced that it has decided to ban the flying of the Liberian flag. The bulk carrier TW Hamburg, built in 2012, with a deadweight of 93229 tons, entered Australian ports for 12 months.
The inspector of the Australian Maritime Safety Agency (AMSA) received information from the crew on the ship and learned that the crew’s employment contract had expired and they were waiting for repatriation. They boarded and berthed in Grasse on Friday, July 24. This ship in Dun Harbor. During the inspection, the crew contacted the inspector, claiming that they were not paid enough.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said that the allegations made by the crew on board were confirmed after inspection and it was determined that the crew was owed about A$42,000 in salary. According to the Australian Maritime Safety Agency’s investigation results, it was found that the crew had duplicate seafarer employment agreements, which included a wage difference of about 25%. According to the agreement, seafarers will be paid a lower salary.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority also found that the quantity and quality of the food provided on the ship was far below the standards required by the Maritime Labour Convention. According to investigators from the Australian Maritime Safety Agency, the galleys and refrigerators on the ship are very dirty, and the ship’s overall sanitary conditions are also very poor.
The Acting General Manager of the Australian Maritime Safety Agency, Michael Drake, said: “The practice of obtaining financial benefits and torturing seafarers in this way is simply the exploitation of those powerful people.” The current bulk carrier TW Hamburg The crew of is now in the process of being repatriated.
Since 2014, the Australian Maritime Safety Administration has banned 16 vessels from entering Australian ports, most of which are due to failure to pay seafarers’ wages on time and in full.
Earlier this week, for similar reasons, the Australian Maritime Safety Agency also banned the cargo ship “Agia Sofia” from entering Australian ports for half a year.
“Any ship that arrives at an Australian port under this circumstance will receive the same treatment. We will not tolerate such exploitation of seafarers in our waters.” Drake said.
The Australian Maritime Safety Agency said that it has been confirmed that the seafarers from TW Hamburg have received their due wages and have now landed ashore.
The ship has now left the Port of Glaston and was not allowed to enter the Australian port until July 29, 2021.
It is reported that after the Australian authorities discovered that a Liberian-flag vessel had violated the International Maritime Labour Law and deducted the wages of its crew members recently, local Australian officials have decided to ban the vessel from docking at Australian ports for six months.
On Saturday, after receiving a complaint from the international transport workers’ federation, inspectors from the Australian Maritime Safety Agency boarded the cargo ship “Agia Sofia” operated by the Greek shipowner Marmaras. During the inspection, the Australian Maritime Safety Agency found relevant evidence that since August 2019, some seafarers on board have not received full wages.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority stated that the total wages owed by the vessel was 45,000 Australian dollars (approximately US$32,000), which seriously violated the employment agreement stipulated in the Maritime Labour Convention.
Michael Drake, Acting General Manager of Maritime Safety Administration of Australia, pointed out that this is not the first time that the Greek shipowner Marmaras Navigation has been found to be in arrears with seafarers in Australia.
“In January 2018, the Australian Maritime Safety Agency seized another ship of this company, “Koundouros” in Port Walcott, because the company owed more than A$7,500 in salary to the seafarers on this ship.” Michael Drake Say.
“The shipowner company was very lucky at that time because the Australian Maritime Safety Agency did not make a decision to prohibit “Koundouros” from calling at the port. Before the ship was allowed to leave the port, these seafarers had already received their due salary. .”
Michael Drake added: “It is unforgivable that the second ship “Agia Sofia” was also docked at the Australian port with the same wage arrears. Such an act will not only allow us to prohibit this ship from entering the Australian port, we should not No choice.”
