Russian seafarers never fear of work

The crew fixed up the m/v Orient U (flag of Liberia, IMO 9469493) to a satisfactory technical condition and is keeping watch calmly. But the Estonian shipowner seems to be taking advantage of the situation by paying rather low wages. So, the basic rate for the AB Seaman is only $600, the  salary is $1450 and the leave pay is  $600 per  month, the captain's salary is $9000. There is no ITF collective agreement on board. Nikolay Sukhanov,  Chairman of the Far Eastern Territorial  Organization of the Seafarers’ Union Of Russia (FETO SUR) provided this information.

Yesterday FETO SUR Inspectors visited the m/v Orient U berthed at the commercial seaport of Nakhodka for coal loading. As it became known, the registered owner of the vessel is Orient U Shipping LTD from Tallinn, Estonia. The operator and the beneficiary owner of the ship, who signed the Declaration Part II and assumed the obligation to pay salaries to seafarers, is the Tallin-based company Klip Marine Ship Management LTD.

- The crew consists of  23 seafarers: 20 Russians employed all over the Russia - from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, and three Bulgarians.  The captain welcomed  us warmly on board  and showed us all the documents necessary for the inspection, – Nikolay  Sukhanov said.

According to the captain, the Estonian shipowner recently bought this ship from a Chinese company, the ship was in very poor technical condition. The new owner sought to recruit foreign crew but  failed cause  as soon as seafarers saw the technical condition of the vessel  they immediately  left the ship. As for the Russian seafarers arrived in board, the rolled up their sleeves and brought Orient U into full order. 

“No wonder that Russian seafarers  are known as some of the most hard-working  and reliable specialists in the world,” - Nikolay Sukhanov noted.

“Given that,” - he continued, - “It would be nice for  the shipowner which registered his vessel under the Liberian  flag of convenience and  employed  Russian seafarers to sign an ITF collective bargaining agreement to guarantee decent working conditions for the crew.

By the way, the captain of the Orient U showed  the FETO SUR Inspectors  the Conditions of Service for crew of m/v Orient U document - it almost fully complies with the ITF collective agreement, but there are no seals or signatures on it.

- In our opinion, such a paper can in no way serve as a guarantee of the seafarers rights,  Sukhanov added. – Therefore, we warned the crew that we would send a notice to the Estonian shipowner with a request to sign a collective agreement with the Seafarers’ Union of Russia.

After all, it is only the ITF collective agreement which  clearly and transparently describes the rights and obligations of the parties while reliably protecting the social and economic interests of workers.

FETO SUR Inspectors answered numerous questions from the crew members, handed them the magazines "Maritime Union Herald" and books on the rights of seafarers working on ships under  flags of convenience. The crew thanked the union representatives for the visit, but refused to hold on board the action against the flags of convenience on the grounds it could threaten their employment.