30.11.2020

Russian seafarers from m/v Mubariz Ibrahimov owned by the Palmali company returned home

Alexey Korotkov, the captain of the tanker Mubariz Ibrahimov, is already at home with his family. He said that after six months of uncertainty on the Istanbul port roadstead, the repatriation was made possible thanks to the Seafarers Union of Russia and an insurance company. Despite the fact that in the summer the P&I club Alfa Strakhovanie withdrew Insurance Certificates of financial responsibility of the employer, issued under the Maritime labor Convention from 12 Palmali tankers and refused to pay salaries to the crews even for the period when the vessels were covered by its police, after lengthy negotiations held by the Seafarers Union of Russia, Alfa Strakhovanie began to fulfill its obligations for claims.

As in the case with other vessels, the insurer assumed the travel expenses and partial repayment of salary arrears to the crew of Mubariz Ibrahimov. Permission to sign off the crewmembers was issued by the port authorities of Istanbul after the incredible efforts of the lawyer of the Mubariz Ibrahimov team. The tanker itself is still anchored. There are cook, boatswain and motorist on board and the company did not provide a replacement for the top officers. Two Russian seafarers from the tanker Shovket Alekperova also returned home, e.g. the Captain and Ch. Officer, who had previously declared a hunger strike to draw attention to the problems of Palmali’s crews. A little more than a month ago, the seafarers from the Armada Pride and Baltic Mariner returned home thanks to a change of shipowners. The new owner of Armada Pride fully repaid the debt to the Russians and Azerbaijanis in the amount of 70 thousand dollars and found a replacement for them. Now it’s a new crew on board consisting of Turkish citizens. The same scheme was used to resolve the labor conflict on m/v Baltic Mariner – the new employer paid off Palmali's debts and repatriated the crewmembers, many of whom had been on board for about a year and sent a replacement crew. As for the crewmembers of Mubariz Ibrahimov, the total amount of salary arrears to 10 crew members was more than 230 thousand dollars. According to the press service of the Moscow interregional transport investigation department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, a criminal case has been opened on the fact of non-payment of wage to the seafarers.  During the investigation it was revealed that Palmali did not pay Russian citizens working on board a salary of more than 14 million 600 thousand rubles. It is also reported that despite the ever-increasing debt, the company's management, out of personal interest, sought to create the appearance of a prosperous financial situation. With enough funds to pay salaries that were transferred to the company's current accounts from various contractors, Palmali continued its operations without paying money to the crewmembers. A criminal case was opened under signs of crime under part 2 of article 145.1 of the Criminal code for full nonpayment over two months wages, investigators are currently continuing to collect evidence and inquires.

Recall that the tanker Mubariz Ibrahimov is owned by the company Armada Voyager One, which is part of the Turkish Palmali. When the shipowner began to have financial difficulties, the flag of Malta initiated inspections on her ships. In June of this year, due to non-payment of wages, the Turkish authorities at the request of the Maltese administration detained the tanker in Istanbul, where it remains to this day. There are still three Russians and three Azerbaijani crewmembers on board, many of whom have been here for more than a year. The company has not paid their salaries, the ship is out of fuel, food and water supplies. To draw attention to the problems on board, seafarers turned to the media. The Russian Consulate in Turkey is also dealing with the crew's difficulties.

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