CIC brought $200,000 to seafarers in the Russian Far East

That is how much money the Far Eastern Regional Organization of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia helped the seafarers to obtain during a concentrated inspection campaign (CIC) aimed at checking the working conditions of crew members of marine ships that took place from September 1 through November 30, 2024.

The inspections in the Russian Far East were part of the CIC announced by the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding on Port State Control of ships to assist seafarers in the event of breach of their contracts: inspectors examined payrolls and personal contracts. It should be noted that specifically for the campaign, the Far Eastern Regional Branch of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia reached an agreement with the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office on joint inspections in the ports of the Russian Far East.

Over three months, inspectors visited 15 ships: 13 foreign-flagged and 2 Russian-flagged ones. In particular, meetings were held with Russian seafarers on “Alexander” (Russian-flagged ship, IMO 8720979) and “Georgy Ushakov” (Russian-flagged ship, IMO 9210335). As far as working conditions are concerned, the inspectors pointed out to the crew members of both ships that their labour contracts did not include insurance amounts to be paid in the event of their death during the voyage, and also the fact that the contracts didn’t contain any information about the nearest relatives who could receive such compensation.

“This is a grave violation of the requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006,” said Nikolay Sukhanov, Chairman of the Far Eastern Regional Organization of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia.

The seafarers from the ships “Winner” (under the flag of Togo), “Jet” and “Sokol 9” (under the flag of Panama) complained about wage arrears. The Nakhodka Transport Prosecutor's Office and the state port control authorities investigated such complaints: the shipowner's debt to the seafarers amounts to $76,000. Those ships were only allowed to leave the port after the debt was paid.

The inspectors paid special attention to foreign fleet with Russian seafarers on board. Nikolay Sukhanov reminded that those seafarers were sent to such ships by the crewing companies registered in the Russian Federation.

“If the agency is engaged in hiring seafarers on ships without financial guarantees of the foreign shipowner, namely, without ensuring payment of compensation to seafarers and their relatives for monetary losses they may suffer through the fault of the shipowner, the Russian crewing should compensate for the financial losses incurred,” he explained.

The labour union has also received 10 individual complaints from crew members who were at sea during the inspection campaign. Among others, the issues addressed the following problems: non-payment of wages and late sign-offs from the ships. Five seafarers were paid over $50,000 of backdated wages after their complaints, and others were repatriated at the expense of their employers.

Additionally, in September, Alexey Shevchenko, the Nakhodka Transport Prosecutor’s Deputy; Anastasia Spitsina, the Transport Prosecutor’s Assistant; and Nikolay Sukhanov, Chairman of the Far Eastern Regional Union of Seafarers, held a personal meeting with seafarers at the union’s office. E.g., the second master’s mate of the ship “Retriever” of LLC “Ussuri Import” contacted the prosecutor regarding the wage arrears. The seafarer said that after 2.5 months of work, he had not received a full paycheck. He said that the shipowner promised to pay 220 thousand rubles per month. The prosecutor drew his attention to the fact that the wage indicated in his employment contract was only 36 thousand rubles. A former crew member of the “Retriever” ship was advised to sign contracts that specify full salary. 

It should be noted that the meeting was held as part of the agreement signed between the FERO of the SUR and the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office, on interaction and cooperation regarding the issues of protecting the legal rights and interests of Far East seafarers.

“The main conclusion that can be drawn from the campaign is that a collective bargaining agreement with the seafarers’ union on ships under foreign flags and a collective bargaining agreement of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia for ships under the Russian flag is the only guarantee of the observance of the legal rights and respect for the interests of our seafarers,” emphasized Nikolay Sukhanov, Chairman of the Far Eastern Regional Union of Seafarers.