Ship of Shame exposed

“We have been contacted by workers to say that there has been no pay for the last three months. However they were too frightened to talk to ITF inspectors who boarded the ship,” said Dean Summers, National Co-ordinator for the International Transport Workers' Federation.

“Our primary concern is for the safety, welfare and labour standards of the workers on board. It is unacceptable that workers are not paid wages and are carrying Australian coastal cargoes.”

The Federation said it was wrong that any worker employed in the domestic transport industry is forced to work for $96 basic for a 48-hour week with $2.70 per hour overtime. The 22 crew were each owed $US18,000.

Maritime Union of Australia members were prepared to take action in support of the foreign crew, but were threatened with secondary boycott legal action.

“That's the biggest industrial stick in the country,” said Dean Summers.

ITF Australia then approached the Federal Government asking them to invoke International Labor Organisation (ILO) minimum wage standards.

They also called on the ship's Australian charterers Bemax Resources to demand proper wages and to employ a vetting process in future to ensure they only use responsible and reputable ship operators.

The Equator was carrying a cargo of limonite for the Brisbane-based Bemax Resources.

Flagged in the Marshall Islands, the ship is able to ply the Australian coastal trade thanks to the massive deregulation introduced by the Howard Government, which has seen the near collapse of the Australian shipping industry.

“We are calling on the Australian Government to make sure in future all vessels are covered by international minimum agreements before issuing Australian coastal trading permits,” said Dean Summers.

Floating sweatshop

DALRYMPLE BAY, August 27: A ship owned by a notorious Greek shipping company at the centre of an international ITF campaign following systematic abuses of workers' rights has again been caught out exploiting crew.

The Greek company Ocean Freighters was the centre of controversy and protest actions by the ITF in Geraldton Western Australia only two weeks earlier, when ITF inspectors were denied access to the FoC bulk ship Pontoklydon (see below).

The Cypriot-flagged Pontovremon berthed in Darlymple Bay was carrying Greek officers and Filipino crew.

"This company has repeatedly sent workers to sea in sweatshop conditions which are unacceptable in Australia," said ITF Australian co-ordinator Dean Summers. "Port communities such as Dalrymple Bay do not welcome sweatshop ships in their ports".

"This company forces seafarers to sign away their rights of association and protection, and when confronted Ocean Freighters reach for anti-union, anti-worker lawyers around the world to protect them from exposure.

"Australian government and industry must take a tougher stand against those who seek to exploit and harm international seafarers employed to take our exports to international markets. The answer is to improve the vetting standards in Australia and only use reputable, reliable and responsible operators,” he continued.

The ITF was also targeting a sister ship the Pontomedan in the UK the same week

Crew rescue

WHYALLA: August 8: A three day stand-off won the day for abused crew on board a flag of convenience ship. The ITF escorted the four Turkish crew from FoC vessel Cape Eregli after a tense dispute between the unions and the vessel's officers.

The crew and their union had called for help, saying they were being subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

ITF Australia co-ordinator Dean Summers and ITF inspector Matt Purcell worked with branch official Clem Clothier to successfully bring the crew to safety.

"We fear that something might happen to the crew," Clem told the local media. "Their lives are in jeopardy. Between here and China is a long way and they can get rid of them in between."

One crew member even threatened self-harm if he wasn't allowed to disembark.

"They're holding people against their will, this is a human rights issue," said Dan Wakeling of the MUA at Whyalla.

The master of the ship was refusing to pay an estimated US$3000 wages owing to each of the four seafarers.

The vessel was eight nautical miles out from the port loading iron ore by barge operation and the ITF were refused access. But after the ITF initiated a dispute against the owners, which included press statements and protests to the Australian charterers, BHP Billiton and the South Australian government, the crew were released.

Indonesian-Australian joint action

GERALDTON, August 1: ITF inspector Adrian Evans and the MUA linesmen delegate Steve Penny tried to board the vessel MV Pontoklydon when it first arrived in port, but were denied access.

The master tried to make the ITF inspectors fill in a legal document declaring they were in breach of ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code), which they did not sign. He also produced an "everything OK" document written in clumsy legal jargon allegedly signed by the crew.

The ship's owner Ocean Freighters Ltd, a small Greek family company operating 10 vessels, had signed up to ITF agreements until three years ago when they were cancelled. An ITF inspector was reportedly assaulted by a ship's master while trying to board one of the vessels in an overseas port.

ITF Australia discovered that the Australian Wheat Board had spot chartered the vessel to load grain at the Port of Geraldton despite AWB's policy to only charter ITF-compliant ships. AWB admitted publicly this charter was an administrative error and said it would improve its vetting process to prevent this happening again.

Meetings were held with Geraldton Port Authority, CBH and Patrick's management who were initially supportive until Ocean Freighters Australia threatened legal action. GPA buckled. But AWU ship loaders were also included in the discussions and all offered full support for the ITF and the foreign seafarers, alongside MUA wharfies.

Over the next three days repeated attempts to access the ship, access the crew without the Greek officers and to view the wages books were strenuously frustrated.

Despite a well-run and very well supported dispute along with a highly successful press campaign the Pontoklydon eventually sailed out of Geraldton 55 hours behind schedule. ITF Indonesia however picked up the baton when the ship arrived at the port of Semarang, with rail workers joining the ITF/Indonesian Seafarers' Union (KPI) led by Hanafi Rustandi, in industrial protests.

The ITF has developed a new vessel tracking system for its growing network of ITF and affiliated union activists around the world.

“Rogue operators like Ocean Freighters must be warned that these uncovered ships of shame are not welcome in any Australian port or any other port where human rights and seafarers rights are supported,” said Dean Summers.

“ITF Australia acknowledges the support given in WA by the MUA and AWU members in Geraldton, alongside the work of the Indonesian rail and seafaring unions in Semarang.”