Russian seafarers received more than 16.7 million rubles of debts

The crew members of the vessels “Crystal East”, “Crystal Nord” and “Carolina Wind” of the bankrupt company “Nakhodka-Portbunker” finally received back wages  in the amount of 16.7 million rubles. Far Eastern seafarers  had been waiting for their money since 2016.

Recall, since 2017 the authorities of the United Arab Emirates had being arrested those  three tankers - one by one, and their crews were  left without water and food. The families of seafarers  sounded the alarm. State  authorities and the Seafarers' Union of Russia stepped in.

The main complaint which lead the seafarers to SUR in addition to non-payment of wages, was problems with repatriation. The representatives of the Far Eastern Territorial Organization of the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR FETO) performed a great work in supporting  abandoned and starving Russian seafarers left in the Persian Gulf. As a result, with the assistance  of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Investigation Department for Transport, all seafarers were repatriated to Russia. 

The SUR FETO lawyers, on behalf of the employees of the bankrupt Nakhodka Portbunker company, sent an appeal to the Far Eastern Investigation Department for Transport and the Nakhodka Transport Prosecutor's Office requiring debt payments. A criminal case was initiated upon the statement,  Nakhodka City Court later considered the relevant claim. The Court ruled  to recover the outstanding debt after the sale of three tankers.

This week, the three-year ordeal of the Russian seafarers struggling to secure the right to receive their wages is over. Thanks to the joint efforts of the supervisory authorities and the SUR, the crews received all their money in the amount of 16 million rubles.

“After the hype in the press and the assistance of the administration of the Primorsky region the seafarers were able to return to Nakhodka,” said Nikolai Sukhanov, SUR FETO Chairman. - They all had to wait for a long time to get the money they had earned. All our appeals to the Nakhodka transport prosecutor's office served as the basis for serious inspections which revealed violations of legislative requirements concerning payment for work by  the shipping company "Nakhodka Portbunker.  Yesterday the crews of “Crystal East”, “Crystal Nord” and “Carolina Wind” found out the labor dispute had been resolved. The bankruptcy manager  paid such a large debt after the sale of the tankers.