Guests were not expected so the safety net was not set

Representatives of the Kaliningrad regional organization of the Seafarers Union of Russia visited the m/v FLUVIUS OTTER (flag of the Bahamas, IMO 9117961). The crew consists of Russians, Ukrainian and Cape Verdean citizens, the ship is covered by the collective agreement TCC CBA, all seafarers have contracts of employment, according to which they receive wages which are not owed.

According to the labor inspector of the KRO SUR Petr Dzendzelyuk, the vessel arrived to Kaliningrad for repairs with an intermediate berthing in the fishing port. In general everything is good on board, the crew is "fresh", recently changed, working conditions meet the conditions of the collective agreement and there are also no questions about the technical condition of the vessel. However, there were some comments.

«It was an routine inspection, the main purpose of which was to check working conditions for compliance with the requirements of the Maritime labor Convention, – says Petr Dzendzelyuk.  However, the visit to the ship itself was fraught with risk. There was no safety net on the gangway and the ladder itself was installed at a steep angle so there was nothing to hold on to when crossing the bulwark and it was very slippery after the rain».

In response to the remark, the watchman said that the guests were not expected, so the safety net was not set. The ship was moored for only a couple of hours as she was set to proceed to the nearby harbor for repairs.

The trade union inspector also found a violation of Standard a 2.3. of the MLC 2006 in terms of compliance with the maximum working hours in a seven-day period. According to the standard, working hours should not exceed 72 hours, but the as for captain’s schedule from 07.08 to 13.08 it came up to 82 hours. The work and rest hours’ list of other crewmembers was correct.

The list for August was already filled out one day in advance so the inspector drew the captain's attention to. The master explained that since today is the last day of the month, this is not done to deceive the crewmembers, but to ensure that they receive their wages on time.

«But in cases where we see a completed timesheet forward a few days we normally send a request to the company, – says Petr Dzendzelyuk».  He mentioned that the Cape Verdean seafarers on board are paid at the same rates as the rest of the crew, as per contract of employment the wage of AB is about 1,800 US dollars. Most often, even under a collective agreement, Cape Verdean seafarers are paid according to a special wage scale and somewhat lower than other crewmembers.

The crew was given publications of Maritime Unions Gerald, the ITF Bulletin, and the KRO SUR calendars.