{"id":10370,"date":"2023-02-10T13:47:09","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T12:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/?p=10370"},"modified":"2023-02-10T13:49:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T12:49:05","slug":"seafarers-seize-ship-over-owed-wages-and-owner-neglect-as-senegal-shirks-obligations-to-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/seafarers-seize-ship-over-owed-wages-and-owner-neglect-as-senegal-shirks-obligations-to-crew\/","title":{"rendered":"Seafarers seize ship over owed wages and owner neglect, as Senegal shirks obligations to crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Four seafarers, with assistance from the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation (ITF), have seized a cargo ship off the port of Dakar in Senegal after months without pay and mounting danger to their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The four crew of the\u00a0MV Onda<\/em>\u00a0(IMO 8912467) had been\u00a0battling to have the engine of their vessel repaired<\/a>. Port authorities have ignored their requests for help for more than a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acting on behalf of the four crew, the ITF went to a Senegalese court to have the ship legally seized, as its ongoing position near a busy shipping lane left crew and others vulnerable to collision at night, with no engine to power the vessel\u2019s warning lights.<\/span><\/p>\n

The vessel remains seized until the owners pay the more than USD $84,000 owed in wages to the beleaguered crew. Seizing the vessel means the ship cannot be used by its owner until the debts are settled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ITF is also claiming costs from the owners as they left the ship at anchor for lengthy periods without providing adequate provisions for the crew, as a shipowner is obliged to under the\u00a0Maritime Labour Convention\u00a0<\/em>and most seafarer contracts. The ITF has stepped in on several occasions to ensure the seafarers did not starve.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Crew were forced to endure months without a working engine and basic supplies of food. Pictured: a seafarer cooks his dinner by burning timber atop the rusty vessel, 2022. | (Credit: Supplied to ITF)\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ITF has confirmed that Mr Nguetsop Pierre Robinson, of Cameroon, has presented himself to the crew as the new owner of the ship. He has attempted to trick the crew into putting the vessel back into operation in exchange for empty promises that they will be paid at some point in the future. The crew have been advised that they stand very little chance of recovering what they\u2019re owned if they accept this kind of deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

In late January, the\u00a0<\/span>lawyers of the owner made a new approach, upping their offer to get the\u00a0Onda<\/em>\u00a0moving. In trying to cut a deal with the Master of the vessel to get the vessel moving, they offered him a paltry USD $33,000. Well short of the $55,000 in wages the captain is owed. With his consent, the ITF rejected this insulting offer on behalf of the captain.<\/p>\n

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Senegal violates international law<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

However, the crew find themselves in limbo because they cannot leave the ship to go home while the dispute continues and port authorities have refused help despite clear obligations under the\u00a0<\/span>Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006)<\/a>\u00a0which Senegal has ratified. They refused to allow the ship into Dakar, claiming the port was too busy, and have persistently ignored requests from the ITF to intercede on behalf of the seafarers. In taking that approach, they are effectively violating the terms of the MLC which gives them a clear responsibility to protect seafarer welfare when neither owner nor flag State steps in. In this case, the owners allowed registration of the ship to lapse some time ago, meaning there is no flag State.<\/span><\/p>\n

Video footage from French journalist\u00a0<\/span>Hugo Clement<\/a>\u00a0of TV Station France 5, who visited the ship in the last few weeks, shows it in an unsafe state of repair with dangerous control systems and unusable life boats. As the ITF\u00a0<\/span>reported<\/a>\u00a0last year, the ship is in a busy anchorage and has intermittently been left without lights at night putting the crew, and the crews of any ship that might collide with the\u00a0Onda<\/em>, in peril.<\/span><\/p>\n

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@hugoclementk<\/a> <\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude31 Je vous embarque sur un bateau fant\u00f4me au large de Dakar, au S\u00e9n\u00e9gal ! Un cargo abandonn\u00e9 en pleine mer par son propri\u00e9taire depuis un an, avec l\u2019\u00e9quipage bloqu\u00e9 \u00e0 bord. Retrouvez notre reportage complet sur la marine marchande le lundi 16 janvier \u00e0 21h sur France 5 dans mon \u00e9mission \u00ab\u00a0Sur le front\u00a0\u00bb. <\/p>\n

\u266c son original – Hugo Cl\u00e9ment<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n