Abandoned at sea
Manama : A group of seafarers allegedly ‘abandoned’ by their Bahraini employers are struggling in Omani waters without food and financial resources.
Employed by a Bahraini shipping company for shipping cargo in the Middle East region, the seafarers have been working without salaries for several months, which ultimately forced them to stop sailing.
Faced with dire conditions like fuel shortage and no food supplies, the seafarers are currently on the ship anchored at Omani waters without electricity, DT News was told.
Penniless and no supplies in the ship, the crew are now living at the mercy of reliefs provided by Omani authorities. The employers have not paid them for the past seven months.
“We were 18 people but most of the crew left, penniless. I don’t know if anyone received any money at all. But I know I have not received any and those whom I have been in touch with have not received any,” said Thu Ya Aung, a crew member from Myanmar who works as the second engineer in the ship.
“Right now only three of us remain in the ship and we are living a hopeless life. The captain of the ship, who is from Syria, Chief Officer who is from Jordan and myself are the only ones that remain,” Thu Ya said.
“We arrived in Oman in August, and in November three crew members from Jordan left. In the third week, five Egyptians left along with one person from Myanmar. In December, five Indians left, and in February the Romanian, who was the chief engineer left after he fell seriously ill,” Thu Ya said.
Unfolding the series of events he said, “I joined the vessel on April 8 in Jebal Ali and since then we had eight trips from Jebal Ali to Yemen and back. After four months of not getting my salary I resigned and asked to go back home, but the owner did not let this happen. Eventually, the company gave us an order to go to Salalah in Oman. When we arrived there, we decided to stop sailing and sent complaints to international labour protection organizations about our situation.”
“On November 10, I contacted the owner of the company. He told me that he would pay 50 per cent of my salary and I could go home but I did not agree. I asked for 75 per cent of the salary but he did not respond to my demand,” Thu said.
“Our families are very worried and we have little food and have not seen other human beings for months. It is such an inhuman and scary situation,” said Thu.
Owner denies charges
When contacted, the owner of the shipping company said that the crew members are cooking up stories. “I have nothing to do with them. They can claim whatever they want but there is no truth in it. If they want to manipulate things they can. Ultimately they are just tarnishing the reputation of Bahrain and that is all I can say,” said the owner.
Unacceptable: ITF
Mohammed Arrachedi, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)’s Arab World Network Coordinator, said that the shipping company must take full responsibility. He said that the owner had signed an agreement with the seafarers that he would pay 75 per cent of the salary immediately and the rest within 2 months. The agreement was not honoured, Arrachedi said.
“Currently there are three people on board who have not been paid for seven months. It is unacceptable. Not only they are unpaid but also deprived of the basic necessities such as electricity,” he said.
“It is unacceptable that they need to stay put against their will in such conditions. They should be provided with at least the basic necessities. It has been one month that they are living in a total blackout - they cannot even cook. The temperatures are rising – it’s at least 36 degrees in the afternoon.”
“The owner has failed to honour the agreement he signed with them. Many of those who left earlier have not been paid either and they still contact us for a solution,” he said
Data provided by International Maritime Organization and International Labour Organization matches the claims that the vessel has been anchored in Salalah in August last year.
Bahraini help
When contacted, Bahrain Seafarers Association said that they would seek the help of Bahraini authorities to help the seafarers.
“Since the ship is registered in Bahrain, it is a bit easier for us to get the details and help them. We are in touch with local authorities here and they are able to get in touch with the owner. We will get in touch with the local ITF representative as well,” he said.
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