Seventh crewmember on board is not excessive

When the vessel is covered by the collective agreement of the ITF, most often the seafarers do not experience the problems with the crew change even under the coronavirus pandemic circumstances. Shifts are arranged on time or with a slight delay, the shipowner tries to ensure normal conditions on board, and there are no delays in wages. This is exactly the situation on board the vessel Sea Ruby (IMO 9006447, flag of Barbados, built in 1992), which recently called the port of Kaliningrad for repairs. Difficult times even presented the seafarers with a gift – an additional crewmember on board.

«In accordance with a Special agreement, six crewmembers should be on board, but in the crew list we saw seven persons, – said the technical labor inspector of the Kaliningrad regional organization of the Seafarers Union of Russia (KRO SUR) Petr Dzendzelyuk, who recently visited the ship. – It turned out that the additional employee is the shipowner's decision for the  of the period of pandemic. I would like to add that it is very good».

There are four Russians, two Ukrainians and one British citizen on board. The shipowner is also from the foggy Albion – it’s the company Torbulk Ltd. «It would be great if the seventh crewmember remained on board not only during the pandemic, but always, – added Petr Dzendzelyuk. – When the vessel is manned with crew of six people, the seafarers always work too much and we receive complains about the difficult working conditions because of short manning. Flag States have so far ignored our requests on this issue. In case of above mentioned vessel the shipowner himself went to additional, but fully justified expenses, which makes it easier for seafarers to work».