15.07.2020

The crew of the tanker Navig 8 Sirius was successfully discharged in Singapore

In Singapore, the crew of the tanker Navig 8 Sirius (IMO 9731729, flag of the Marshall Islands) was changed. Earlier the seafarers appealed to the Seafarers Union of Russia for assistance in repatriation. Today, the Russian captain of the ship said that «all off signers are already at home, with their families, gathering strength and preparing for further work».  He also thanked the SUR, the ITF and the company TB Marine (Hamburg) «for understanding the situation and successfully organizing a shift in extremely difficult conditions».Recall that at the end of June 2020, in the hope of signing off and helping his crew, the captain informed the Far Eastern regional organization of the Seafarers Union of Russia that no shifts had been arranged on the ship since March 2020. By the time of the appeal, the contracts of employment of most junior and senior officers have been completed, but the company almost forced them to sign new contracts for another month. The captain mentioned that many seafarers needed medical care, which they did not have access to, and the vessel was running out of medicines. Moreover, instead of the normal manning of 20 seafarers, in fact only 18 worked, as two Filipinos were signed off due to injuries received while service. However, the flag state allowed the vessel to continue operating, despite the fact that the number of crewmembers was not sufficient for the safe operation of the tanker and complex cargo operations with toxic chemicals. As per Chairman of the DVRO SUR Nikolay Sukhanov, the Union immediately involved in solving the problem. Thus, the international department of the SUR prepared an appeal to the company with a warning about the action in the port of Singapore, and also reported the situation on board to the ITF, since the ship is covered by the collective agreement. «As a result of complex negotiations with the company, we came to a compromise, we agreed to arrange a change in Singapore, - says Nikolay Sukhanov».  So TB Marine has taken all the necessary measures. The captain of the tanker Navig8 Sirius explained that the shipowner took unprecedented steps. «Despite the tight commercial schedule, our ship was laid up for the period of completion of the crew change, that is, the company requested offhire from the charterer until the end of the rotation, which inevitably entailed serious financial costs for it. The actions of the employer demonstrated the high level of competency of the management of TB Marine, not to mention the simple human attitude to us, the employees. All this is appreciated by the crew.» Nikolay Sukhanov is confident that despite the problem arisen on board in June, the company has confirmed its reliability and, of course, has strengthened its reputation among seafarers, social and business partners.

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