By Avelyn Ng
For the crew on board chemical tanker Captain Silver, the past six months have been gruelling. Their employer, a ship management company in Singapore, is one of the victims in the slowing maritime industry. It was not until salaries stopped coming in that the crew started raising red flags.
The first delay was for February’s wages, which came in for most crew members a month later. The remaining, and part of March’s wages only came in May. Hearing their employer’s explanation about financial difficulties, the crew reluctantly held out.
However, when June came and their employer was still unable to issue the pending salaries in full, they decided to sail the vessel into Singapore waters and seek assistance. The crew’s captain Neeraj Khanna contacted Singapore Maritime Officers' Union (SMOU) and a P&I Club in Singapore that provides protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance to seafarers under the newly-amended international Maritime Labour Convention (effective from January 2017).
“I try to explain to them that this is your best bet. In a situation like this, our options are limited. Most of these guys do not have enough savings. If they break their loan or investment instalments, they may even suffer a penalty,” said Neeraj, who was on his first voyage as a captain.
The Intervention
SMOU, Singapore Organisation of Seamen industrial relations officers, a lawyer and this reporter made their visit on board Captain Silver on 10 July 2017.
The crew was low on provisions and lube oil, and had requested for technical maintenance several times from their company but to no avail. During our stay there, a small fire broke out in the engine room caused by the failure of the cooling system. Despite the hardship that they were going through, the captain and the crew performed their duties professionally in response to the emergency. The fire was put out almost immediately.
The lawyer, together with the union, explained the legal proceedings should the crew collectively decide to call for a “ship arrest” – a common recourse for such cases. It is a warrant from the court to seize the ship under maritime lien. The vessel will then be sold via auction by the court to recover the crew’s wages and pay off any creditor’s claims, if any. The lawyer answered various concerns from the crew such as the chances of success, repatriation needs, required documentation and length of wait.
While all parties were preparing for the worst following the visit, good news came on 27 July 2017 – the P&I Club and the ship owning company had come to an agreement to co-pay the crew, avoiding the need for a ship arrest.
A total of over USD$320,000 was reimbursed to 26 crew members on 3 August 2017. SMOU was present to facilitate the five-hour long process between the crew and the lawyers from P&I club, before sending the crew to the airport for their paid flights home.
“When I’m back, I will look after my family first. My father is old and my mother is having spinal issues. I am the only one working who can help them. They have been asking about my salary but I did not tell them about what’s happening here. It will only make them more worried,” said Third Officer Anjan Samanta, 27, who was owed over USD$10,000. He plans to continue his career as a seafarer and find work after a few months’ rest in India.
Worrying Climate
“The current maritime industry outlook is still uncertain due to the weak global demand and excess shipping capacity. These have led to weaker earnings for shipping companies and for some, bankruptcy. Mergers and alliance partnerships are also taking place to widen their reach and increase the margins through economies of scale. The concern is how all these will affect the employment of maritime workers.
“This year, out of 75 cases SMOU handled, 27 cases were related to wage disputes. We may be expecting more cases to surface in the coming months due to the uncertainty of the current maritime industry outlook and the Union will continue to do our best to protect the seafarer’s rights,” said Secretary of SMOU Gwee Guo Duan.
