Crewmembers from m/v Ugo Ocha were paid their salaries

Earlier, the seafarers from the FSO Ugo Ocha, located in the Nigerian port of Warri, asked for help from the ITF inspector in Novorossiysk, Olga Ananina. The owner of the vessel Ugo Ocha (IMO 9172856, flag of the Marshall Islands), INTEWAMACO LTD from Nigeria, has not paid the crew salaries since January. In addition, the contracts of most of the Russians, Ukrainians and Filipinos working on board have expired. The latter have been remaining on board for 15 months, which exceeds all imaginable limits and is contrary to the provisions of the MLC. The actions of the ITF inspector led to the payment of 160 thousand US dollars to the seafarers, and next week the crew is awaiting repatriation.

According to Olga Ananina, the Cyprus branch of V. Ships, which employs seafarers on the ship, made a huge effort to make this possible: «They promptly responded to the report of the problem and did everything possible to force the beneficial shipowner to repay the debts to the crew. »

It should be noted that by not paying the seafarers ' salaries, the owner not only violated the law, but also disregarded the terms of the Italian collective agreement IBF, which was on board. However, the ITF's intervention quickly changed the situation. «If there is a debt, it is better not to wait for the situation to resolve itself, but to act actively: immediately contact the trade union for help and report violations. This makes it possible to effectively solve such problems.»- Olga Ananina said