Crew of detained ship denied salary, water, food

Crew of detained ship denied salary, water, food
Paul Ogbuokiri March 25, 2018 https://newtelegraphonline.com/2018/03/crew-of-detained-ship-denied-sala...

The crew of two detained Nigerian flagged tanker vessels, MT United Trader and MT United Venture, (owned by a Chinese firm), have cried out to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to intervene over their alleged unjust detention in the two vessels, insisting they did not commit any crime.

Captain of one of the vessels, Mt United Trader, Captain Hassan Oseni Adeola, in a telephone interview with Sunday Telegraph, bemoaned the plight of the crew in the past nine months they have been held captive in the detained vessel.

He disclosed that the vessel is being detained by the order of a court because the owner was in default in payment of bunker (fuel) supplied to the vessel by his clients to the tune of N40 million.

Capt. Adeola said they have not been paid for nine months and therefore, they have been unable to discharge their responsibilities to their families. He said some of the crews’ wives have packed out of their matrimonial homes and their children have been sent home from school because of unpaid fees.

According to him, the ordeal of the crew, numbering 13, eight for MT United Trade and five for MT United Venture, started in July 2017, when the South African managers of the vessel, Pan Afrique Maritime Limited, suddenly abandoned them off-shore after they returned from a trip.

“They stopped supplying food to us and bunker. We made several efforts to reach the managing director and when we finally got him on phone, he said that he is no longer managing the vessel.

“It was as a result that, that we started going to NIMASA to intervene to compel the ship owners to pay us our salaries, supply us bunker, food and water, failing we said we will leave the vessel. We were, however, told be to patient and that we must not abandon the vessel for it to be washed away.

“Six of us lost patience and left while seven of us stayed on. It was on the third month that we heard that bunker supplier had obtained a court order to detain the ship and when the Navy guys came to detain the vessel, they said we cannot leave. We have been surviving on the magnanimity of those holding us captive as they give us part of their food which we cook with rain water.”

All efforts to reach the Managing Director of Pan Afrique, Ferdinand Ajikere, failed but someone who spoke from the company’s office in Port Harcourt, at the weekend, said that the company is no longer managing the vessel due to some disagreement it had with the vessel owners.
Meanwhile, Capt. Adeola had said that the crew heard in December 2017 that a new manager, GNT Maritime Chartering Limited, had taken over from Pan Afrique.

“When somebody came from there and promised to send food to us, the food came but because there was no bunker to power the vessel, we could not preserve it and it all got spoilt.

‘”All we want now is to be allowed to leave the ship and let our nine months’ salary be paid to us. If the owners are still interested in running their vessel after settling their issues with their bunker supplier, they can look for a new crew,” he said.

Meanwhile NIMASA has said that no Nigeria seafarer who is qualified to be on-board a vessel and is duly recruited will be allowed to be maltreated by the ship’s owner.

Isiche Osamgbi, Head of Public Relations of NIMASA, a Deputy Director of the agency, said NIMASA will defend the right of the seafarers whenever it is confirmed that it has been trampled upon by any ship owner.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that the Chinese owner of the vessel, on Friday, paid the crew five months’ salary out of the nine months owed them, but supplied them no food, no water, no bunker.