Australia has banned a bulker from its waters for 12 months after the vessel was found to be underpaying its crew.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) received a complaint via the ITF alleging discrepancies in the payment of wages aboard the 82,000-dwt DL Carnation (built 2014).
An AMSA surveyor subsequently found that the ship was operating with two sets of wage accounts on board.
One set of accounts showed the amount of pay the crew should have been receiving in line with their Seafarer Employment Agreements and the other showed what the crew were actually receiving.
A comparison of the accounts showed the crew were being underpaid in excess of $17,000 per month with records found reflecting this back to at least April of this year.
AMSA’s general manager of operations, Allan Schwartz, said the keeping of two sets of accounts is extremely concerning.
“By maintaining multiple accounts of wages it demonstrates a knowledge and intent to not only withhold wages but to also actively deceive authorities,” Schwartz said.
“This is completely unacceptable behaviour and will not be tolerated in Australia.”
AMSA received confirmation on Thursday 14 September that the outstanding wages had been received by the crew and the vessel was released from detention.
“For a first breach AMSA’s response would normally be to detain the vessel until the problem is rectified,” Schwartz said.
“In this case, given the concerning existence of fake accounts and the intent to deceive authorities, AMSA has decided to issue a 12 month ban to the DL Carnation and will increase inspections for all other vessels belonging to this company.
“Shipping companies should be aware that AMSA has the power to ban entire fleets if we uncover systemic issues within an operation and will not hesitate to do so where deliberate non-compliance is uncovered.”
