M/v Bourbon made history again

The Russian-Ukrainian crew of the bulk carrier Bourbon (IMO 9588407, flag of Liberia) is starving off the coast of Manila.

The vessel itself is deenergized because of the lack of electricity on board, the provision comes to end, there is no drinking water. 15 seafarers, residents of the Krasnodar territory and the Far East, eat apples all week and try to get a clear answer from the Greek shipowner company to the question when they will return home.

– We are the crew of the ship Bourbon, help us get out of here, – such request was sent to Seafarers Union of Russia from the Philippine coast. – The situation is terrible, we don't eat, we can't wash, the main diesel generators are out of order, only emergency diesel generator is used.

The crewmembers said that they learned about the problems on board immediately after they joined the vessel on July 27 in the port of Nakhodka. It turned out that the bulk carrier less than a month ago became famous in the media. The reason then was the PSC detention due to arrears on the salary to the previous crew. The problem was solved thanks to the participation of representatives of the SUR and the timely detention of the ship in the port.

On August 3, Bourbon left Nakhodka with new crew on board bound for the Philippines. However, according to the seafarers, the ship was in a state of disrepair from the very beginning. "We had to struggle with pumping out water to avoid flooding," said one of the crewmembers.

«By some miracle, they reached Manila on August 16, and then the problems started to grow like a snowball,-says Olga Ananina, ITF inspector in Novorossiysk. – The ship was de-energized, the power was cut off so food spoiled, water is out, and crew is not paid».  Novorossiysk’s inspector immediately informed her Filipino colleague about the situation on board, he contacted the port authorities and vessel was detained. However, as Olga Ananina notes, nothing has changed for the better for the seafarers.

«The guys are afraid to continue working on board, because the ship is in distress, – Natalia, the mother of one of the crewmembers, told us. – I am very worried about my son, well, what is this situation in the 21st century? 15 people on board – no water, no food for almost a week. No one is doing anything, the ship is not being repaired. My son has been working at sea for many years but nothing like this has ever happened».

The crewing company Novomar in Novorossiysk, which employed seafarers on  Bourbon, assured us that that they learned about the problems with the technical condition of the bulk carrier at the same time as the crew members. Meanwhile, according to some reports, one of the seafarers, who was offered a job on Bourbon earlier, refused to join the vessel as soon as he saw the condition of the ship detained in Nakhodka and came back to Novorossiysk.

The head of Novomar, Vasily Vinnichenko, confirmed that the situation on board the bulk carrier is really critical, and there are a lot of questions to the shipowner. "First, the Greek company for some reason independently recruited part of the crew from unskilled fishermen from Far East it was they who caused the breakdowns. And secondly, it is not clear what the company now wants-to go bankrupt and sell the ship for debts? They have problems with insurers, with the consignee, there are 12,5 thousand tons of iron on board." Crewing agency noted that in such a situation, the seafarers should "throw all their strength" to repair the auxiliary engine and continue working.

However, according to the ITF inspector, it is simply impossible to do this on your own. "A repair team was coming on board, and even the specialists could not do anything,"- says Olga Ananina.

Returning home from Manila in terms of quarantine is very problematic. The Russian Embassy in the Philippines could help with the organization of repatriation. The consular Department assured that they will provide all possible assistance in repatriation of the crew, but stressed: "The crewmembers will have to purchase return tickets to Russia by their own."

Olga Ananina noted that the only reasonable and realistic option to resolve the situation on board is the arrest and further sale of the vessel. To do this, a representative of the flag state has already been called to Bourbon, but he is still not allowed to enter the territory of the private terminal where the bulk carrier is located.