Seafarers require a change as they are tired and in need of medical assistance

The crew on board the chemical tanker NAVIG8 SIRIUS (IMO 9731729, flag of the Marshall Islands, built in 2016) has not had a change since March 2020. Most of the contracts of employment of the junior and senior officers, who were supposed to stay on board for 3 to 4 months, had already ended before June 15. But, according to the seafarers, the company almost forced them to sign new contracts for another month. The crewmembers want to sign off, especially since many of them need medical care, which they do not have access to. Besides there are only 18 people on board instead of 20 people, which is not enough for the safe operation of a chemical tanker in terms of complex cargo operations with toxic chemicals. In the hope of improving the situation, the captain of NAVIG8 SIRIUS asked for help from the Far.

The ship is owned by NAVIG8 CHEMICAL TANKERS 19 INC and operated by the Hamburg-based TB MARINE SHIPMANAGEMENT. She is covered by the ITF collective agreement. According to the captain, the work on the tanker is already difficult, taking in mind the vessel performs very complex operations with many types of dangerous chemicals in the ports of Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. However the vessel has recently been hit by real misfortunes after two Filipino seafarers were seriously injured while performing work. They got spinal damage when lifting weights and body burns due to a hose collapse while washing the tank.  After incident they were discharged for medical reasons so only 18 people remained on board. Flag state, in response to this incident, provided "Dispensation Letter", which allowed the ship to continue working with such a number of crew, but the life of the seafarers did not become easier.

In addition, since April, many crew experience health problems.  6 people complain of rapid destruction of teeth, the captain's stomach ulcer has worsened so the seafarers themselves attribute it to possible chemical poisoning. However, it is impossible to organize a visit to a doctor as everywhere it is forbidden to go ashore and seafarers can only use medical advice on the radio, which, of course,  not enough. At the same time, the supply of medicines on board is rapidly running out. According to the captain, the ship is currently operating in the Persian Gulf, taking short passages and conducting many operations with various chemical cargoes. Since March, none of the crewmembers had gone ashore, which, combined with such intense labor, had left the crew literally dead tired. "Gross mistakes are already being made, which can lead to tragic consequences," he believes. The captain himself signed the contract on January 18 and he was due to be discharged in three months, but the shipowner practically imposed on him the need to extend the contract. Due to indifferent state of health, on May 26, he gave a month's notice for the end of the contract, which means that on June 26, it should be completed.

However, the captain has little faith that soon he and the rest of the crew will actually be able to leave the board as the company is silent on any requests to organize a change of crew, or just informs that at the moment the change is impossible due to the coronavirus. Despite the fact that according to the schedule, the next crew change will be possible in Sri Lanka and Singapore, the company already informs in advance that it is unlikely to be possible to organize it due to problems with air tickets, inconsistency with charterers and high cost. Because of this, the seafarers are ready to go to extreme measures. In case the shipowner does not change the crew in Singapore, where the tanker will arrive on July 8, the crewmembers will hold a strike and refuse to leave the port until they are repatriated.

According to Nikolai Sukhanov, Chairman of the DVRO SUR, the international department of the SUR is currently preparing an appeal to the company on behalf of the trade union with a warning about holding an action in the port of Singapore if the shipowner does not comply with the requirements of the crew. The union also requested assistance from ITF Germany as according to the itfseafarers.org, a collective agreement on board is concluded with the German  Union Ver. di. We add that earlier the ITF decided to support all seafarers who decided to stop working due to the end of the contract, despite possible risks to world trade. The SUR believes that the crewmembers have every right to go home, especially in light of the difficult situation on board.