14.07.2020

Some of the seafarers have been working on board the m/v Orient Adventure for more than a year

The contracts of employment of 11 Filipino seafarers serving on board the m/v Orient Adventure (IMO 9496329, flag of Liberia, built in 2011), have expired, five of them have been working for the 13th month. According to them, tired and exhausted crewmembers only see their way home in their dreams. Inspectors of the Kaliningrad regional organization of the Seafarers Union of Russia (SUR), who visited the ship, did not leave the situation without attention. They sent a massage to the shipowner, the Danish company Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN A/S, with request to immediately sigh off the overworked crew. There are five Russians and 14 Filipinos on board.

Otherwise, no serious problems were found on board.  The ship, which arrived from Sweden, is in good technical condition, there are no debts to the crew and she is covered by the IBF collective agreement. However, the reception to the inspectors was not at all cordial.  The captain from St. Petersburg was extremely outraged by the visit under condition of coronavirus, but during conversation it became clear that his dissatisfaction was explained not by fear of infection, but by a disdainful and disrespectful attitude to the trade union.

«The seafarer who have worked on board for more than a year, seeing the outcry of the captain, did not complain, said the technical labor inspector of the KRO SUR Petr Dzendzelyuk.  However, we tried to support them morally and left their contacts so that they could contact us later».

The inspectors were greeted in a very different way-respectfully and affably by visiting the small ship Prosna (IMO 9171101, flag of Cyprus, built in 1998). The crew consists of seven poles, the vessel is covered by the collective agreement of the Polish trade union Solidarnoœæ, the seafarers do not complain about anything. Until recently, the ship belonged to the Polish shipping company Baltramp Shipping Sp. z o. o., but she was sold just a day before the visit of the trade union’s representatives.

« It appears that it was also a sudden news for the crew, - said Lyudmila Izmalkova, technical labor inspector of the KRO SUR.  Unlike the shipowner, all seafarers are sorry to part with the ship. On average, they worked on board for more than five years, became an excellent well-coordinated team, and the captain admitted that he treats the vessel like his child».

Currently the ship belongs to the Latvian shipping company RIX Shipping. There is already a new Chief Engineer on board, who will take on responsibilities after the ship arrives in Germany with a cargo of soy flour. The shipowner promised the current crew that they will not be left without work as they will serve on board of another  company’s vessel.

Finally, the seafarers were given the publications of the Maritime Unions Herald, the ITF Bulletin and the calendars of the KRO SUR.

 

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