Alcohol on board cost Kaliningrad seafarers almost their entire wages

 A crew member of a foreign-flagged containership contacted the Kaliningrad Regional Organization of the Seafarers' Union of Russia for advice. 

He believed he had become the victim of the shipowner's retaliation after he and his colleague were signed off from the vessel for consumption of alcoholic drinks. 

The seafarer reported that he and another crew member had decided to have a few drinks outside working hours. The captain caught them drinking, after which they passed a breathalyzer test, which confirmed their intoxication. As a result, the seafarers were signed off from the vessel in Vladivostok for violating the shipping company's policy by drinking alcohol during the voyage. 

According to Lyudmila Izmalkova, the SUR KRO Chair, the offending seafarers did not contest their sign-off but were unpleasantly surprised by the company's decision to fly them home business class, deducting $1,700 from their wages for the ticket. As a result, with a monthly salary of $2,000, each of them received only $300. The seafarers are certain that the shipowner was punishing them for the inconvenience they caused the company, as, according to them, economy class tickets for this flight were also available. 

"In our entire experience, we have never encountered such an uncommon approach to negligent seafarers. Nevertheless, the company had every right to act this way: it fulfilled its obligations to transport the seafarers by air. The money was withheld in full accordance with the employment agreement. And the exact cost of the ticket is not specified anywhere," Izmalkova explained. 

She also noted that the seafarers could have refused the expensive tickets, returned them, or exchanged them for a cheaper option. "However, they must pay for the expenses since they used these tickets. Nothing can be done about it," she observed. 

The SUR KRO Chair further stated that the seafarers should have contacted the union for assistance when a conflict arose, as this may have enabled them to resolve the matter in a more amicable manner.