Crew on a series of bulker newbuilding resales from a Chinese yard have been caught up in a wage row between the International Transport Worker’s Federation (ITF) and Monaco-based shipmanager Seaways Maritime International.
The ITF says it has been involved in protracted negotiations to recover outstanding wages of more than $600,000 that was owed to crew onboard the 81,000-dwt bulkers Toba and Olivia R and the 35,000-dwt Ben Rinnes (all built 2015).
Another vessel under the management of Seaways Maritime, the 38,700-dwt Ben Nevis (built 2014), has also been involved in the disputes.
TradeWinds reported in January last year that the ships were acquired as resales from Jiangdong Shipyard under a lease finance bareboat charter scheme. It involved Bank of America Leasing & Capital and companies associated with John Frangos, although this link to the Greek owner could not be confirmed at the time.
But it was Seaways Maritime that signed the wage agreement with the ITF and has been at the centre of the dispute.
The ITF says it has recovered outstanding wages of $192,000 on the Toba after the ship was detained in Liverpool; $200,000 on the Olivia R in New Orleans; five months' outstanding wages on the Ben Nevis, again in Liverpool; and $200,000 on the Ben Rinnes, when the ship was in Japan.
UK ITF inspector Tommy Molloy became involved in a drawn out wage dispute involving the Toba at the port of Liverpool in June. The vessel had been arrested by Manchester-based Salvus Law, which was acting on behalf of Chinese creditors.
Molloy said at the time that the ship's crew had exceeded contract lengths, with the captain onboard for 18 months. Food stores were empty when the vessel arrived.
He returned to the vessel four weeks later to find crew had still not been paid, seafarers had not been repatriated and the stores were again empty.
Molloy says conditions on the ship were confirmed by the ship’s flag state, the Marshall Islands. The crew were eventually paid in Singapore.
He said: “There seems to be a general acceptance that they [the company] don’t have to pay their crew's monthly as required or repatriate them on time.
"As long as the vessels can be detained, owed wages and repatriation secured, the vessels can be released to continue on their way in the certain knowledge that the cycle will continue, and they will be detained again at some stage in the future. Personally, I don’t think that’s good enough."
A spokesperson for Seaways Maritime insists all outstanding crew wages have now been settled.
He said: “We trust and respect the ITF and we are working with them.”
“There is absolutely nothing owing to the crew on these ships and not one single crew can say that they are owed one cent from us.”
The Marshall Islands Registry says it is now regularly inspecting the vessels to ensure crew are paid on time. "We take this kind of thing very seriously," a spokesperson said.
