The seafarer sued for moral compensation with the help of the union

The court hearing in Nakhodka was held on the case of compensation for non-pecuniary damage to a member of the Seafarers Union of Russia (SUR) Stepan Aziatullin. During the service on board the tanker Avatar, he got injured and for several months was left without means of support, as the shipowner did not pay the sick leave. All this time, the Vladivostok company EM Shipping stated that there was no accident on board. The court considered the seafarer's claims for compensation legitimate and ordered the shipowner to pay him 100,000 rubles.

On April 13, 2020, Stepan Aziatullin joined the tanker Avatar, and on April 17, in the Bay of Patience in the Sea of Okhotsk, he was injured while mooring. The seafarer stumbled on the wet cargo deck while the ship’s motion, got his left foot between the pipes, fell and felt severe pain in his leg. After that, he was carried to the cabin, where the second mate gave him a painkiller injection and it was the only medical care he received during the voyage. Only after almost two weeks, on April 29, the ship arrived in Vladivostok, where a crewmember could seek the medical assistance. He was diagnosed with a broken leg and put in a cast. Stepan immediately reported this to the company’s personnel department.

Until September 17 the seafarer received medical treatment, including hospital service. However, the sick leave was not paid. As it turned out later, the captain of the ship hid information about the accident on board and did not conduct any investigation. Record of the accident was not entered into the ship's log, the seafarer did not submit a report to the captain, and the personnel department ignored his message about a broken leg.

Therefore, the company stood on the position that no accident occurred during the voyage. Only after the seafarer applied for the Far Eastern territorial organization (FETO) the report about the accident finally was delivered to the injured crewmember. According to the document, the person responsible for the incident was the seafarer himself as he «did not exercise due care when walking on the cargo deck». At the same time, the violations of the captain of the tanker were pointed out as he did not organize training and safety knowledge assessment.

Vasily Savelyev, the lawyer of the FETO, considered that the seafarer had suffered moral damage and submitted the claim to the Nakhodka Court, which satisfied the seafarer's claims.