Chinese Bulk Carrier Detained Over Crew Wages

Chinese Bulk Carrier Detained Over Crew Wages
2019-09-07 https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/chinese-bulk-carrier-detained...

A Chinese-owned bulk carrier chartered to carry coal to Korea has been detained at the Port of Gladstone by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) after crew members reported they were owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

An inspector from the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) boarded the Panama-flagged Fortune Genius when it docked in Gladstone on September 5, finding eight crew members from Myanmar who had been underpaid A$8,000 dollars each during the past six months.

The ITF says the men reported that they had been bullied and forced into working excessive hours for which they weren’t paid and asked for assistance with being repatriated to Myanmar due to concerns for their safety if they remained on the vessel.

The ITF also claims to have located fraudulent documentation, including two sets of books, which had been used to conceal the wage theft and breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention. As a result of the ITF inspection AMSA detained the vessel.

The Fortune Genius is owned by the China-based Marine Fortune Union Company, managed by subsidiary New Fortune Genius Management Limited and had been chartered by Korean company Five Ocean Corporation to transport coal from Gladstone to Taean.

ITF assistant coordinator Matt Purcell said a growing number of unscrupulous shipping companies were using rogue manning agents to exploit vulnerable crew members from Myanmar. “We carried out an inspection of the Fortune Genius as soon as it docked in Gladstone because the owner has previously been found in breach of the Maritime Labour Convention.”

ITF president Paddy Crumlin said the incident highlighted the importance of strengthening shipping laws to address the growing use of highly-exploited foreign workers in Australian waters. “Earlier this year, BHP axed the last two Australian bulk carriers — costing 80 Aussie seafarers their jobs — meaning Australia’s booming exports of iron ore, coal, and gas are now entirely carried by foreign vessels, many of which have a business model based on wage theft and exploitation.

“The detention of this vessel by AMSA is welcome, but the current system relies on the efforts of ITF inspectors and whistle-blowers among ship crews to identify problems, meaning countless cases of exploitation are slipping through the gaps.”