Abandoned Seafarers

[dlockers]

Stumbled upon this earlier today, it is superfascinating. It was triggered by the news that the crew on the ship that hit the Balitmore bridge are still on board because they do not have the right paperwork to disembark the ship! Turns out "abandoned seafarers" is a super common phenomena.

Anyway, the website:

Abandoned Seafarers

jamesrseal.pythonanywhere.com

And what you can discover as an example:

Database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers - Details for IMO8814639 (2015-03-23)

ILO: International Labour Organization - The International Labour Organization is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights

webapps.ilo.org

Do a quick scan and you can read all the email correspondence talking about getting these lads paid - at one point the crew had been on board for over 2 years!

Seems right up the street of some of our resident nerds......you know who you are.

 

[dowie]

Seems right up the street of some of our resident nerds......you know who you are.

Have heard of it before, part of the problem is some of these ships are owned via holding companies owned by random investor groups etc.. and I guess if there's a big issue with the ship then maybe some of them prefer to walk away.

This guy spent 4 years on one:

Stranded sailor allowed to leave abandoned ship after four years

Mohammed Aisha had been living on a ship marooned off Egypt's Red Sea coast for four years.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Jokester]

There was a shipping company went bust a few years ago and one of their ships was impounded in Aberdeen harbour for unpaid harbour fees. The crew were stuck onboard (think they were Indian) for over a year.

Database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers - Details for IMO9087312 (2016-10-06)

ILO: International Labour Organization - The International Labour Organization is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights

webapps.ilo.org

 

[Diddums]

Lol, first response

 

[BowdonUK]

That is strange. I was watching one of the airport series. This one was in Ireland.

The guy trying to enter didn't have a passport. But had a special card that seaman carry around to be admitted into a country to reach their ship.

A seafarers identity document (SID).

 

[jpaul]

still on board because they do not have the right paperwork to disembark the ship!

think that's because the fbi are collecting evidence, + ship needs to be maintained before/if they move it,
they're used to being at sea anyway - fbi apparently confiscated all crews mobiles for evidence too - the horror.

 

[EH75]

I work at sea. Luckily for a company where we still have some rights (Not many of those left - see P&O Ferries debacle the other year for an example).

Abandonment is not a new phenomenon and something that has been going on forever. Seafarers these days are generally from less developed (for want of a better phrase) countries and employed via a web of various shady holding companies located in all manner of dodgy countries. The minimum international standards for seafarers working conditions are significantly below what most in the West would consider acceptable and a lot of these people are ripe for exploitation for fear of being blacklisted. Ultimately though the conditions they work under are a big part of why we can get cheap goods and in the end nobody really cares. So on it goes.

 

[Quartz]

The crew were stuck onboard (think they were Indian) for over a year.

As I understand it, they weren't exactly stuck. They could have left at any time but then they would have forfeited wages etc.

 

[dlockers]

As I understand it, they weren't exactly stuck. They could have left at any time but then they would have forfeited wages etc.

Yeah reading a few on that website I linked in OP, a bunch seem to be about unpaid wages - the crew then "arrest" the ship(?) and then sometimes are given permission to dispose of the asset to cover their wages. Mental industry.

 

[arknor]

nothing physical can be stopping them leaving surely? they must have life boats, jump in the water and demand rescue.

why do these people not leave the ship? especially if its in a harbour.

jump in the water, they have to rescue you?

What was the crew abandoned for 2 years eating and drinking?

 

[Jokester]

nothing physical can be stopping them leaving surely? they must have life boats, jump in the water and demand rescue.

why do these people not leave the ship? especially if its in a harbour.

jump in the water, they have to rescue you?

What was the crew abandoned for 2 years eating and drinking?

They were being supported by the local Seafarers Mission here in Aberdeen.

 

[Nitefly]

nothing physical can be stopping them leaving surely?

Yes - someone rolled a 7 and moved the pirate to an adjacent hex.

 

[Dis86]

nothing physical can be stopping them leaving surely? they must have life boats, jump in the water and demand rescue.

why do these people not leave the ship? especially if its in a harbour.

jump in the water, they have to rescue you?

What was the crew abandoned for 2 years eating and drinking?

They're in a foreign country. Often with no money but owed significant amounts of back pay. Little to no documentation.

 

[Jokester]

They're in a foreign country. Often with no money but owed significant amounts of back pay. Little to no documentation.

Yeah, pretty sure in the Aberdeen case, they couldn't afford flights home, other than the master who decided to stay on to support his crew.

 

[arknor]

They're in a foreign country. Often with no money but owed significant amounts of back pay. Little to no documentation.

So they are scarred of not being paid backpay and losing their jobs if they don't stick with the ship?

sounds kinda like slavery

 

[Dis86]

So they are scarred of not being paid backpay and losing their jobs if they don't stick with the ship?

sounds kinda like slavery

Sounds like sound financial sense. Also most ports are secure places owing to ISPS regulations. Larger ports also typically have a border control and police presence on site. Both tend to frown upon people randomly trying to break out of the port.

 

[Dis86]

Also this thread is right up the street of @The Funktopus

 

[d_brennen]

Sounds like sound financial sense. Also most ports are secure places owing to ISPS regulations. Larger ports also typically have a border control and police presence on site. Both tend to frown upon people randomly trying to break out of the port.

Someone tell the Tories, so they can dismantle that too

Do crew get paid for time when ships can't move, for reasons like the Baltimore thing?

 

[Dis86]

Someone tell the Tories, so they can dismantle that too

Do crew get paid for time when ships can't move, for reasons like the Baltimore thing?

They should but it will almost certainly be claimed back from the insurers by the operator.

 

[Stu999]

There was a shipping company went bust a few years ago and one of their ships was impounded in Aberdeen harbour for unpaid harbour fees. The crew were stuck onboard (think they were Indian) for over a year.

Database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers - Details for IMO9087312 (2016-10-06)

ILO: International Labour Organization - The International Labour Organization is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights

webapps.ilo.org

Yeah, there was something like this on the Tyne a few years back and people were bringing the crew food.

Ship crew sent home after being stranded in North Shields

The Donald Duckling has been detained on the Tyne since November

www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Think there might have been a more recent one too.