Delighted crew members celebrate victory

Seafarers win $100,000 overdue pay
Unions win fight for crew on decrepit detained bulker...

Seafarers, who have been stranded on board a flag of convenience vessel in Singapore for nearly three months, have won more than US$100,000 in back wages.

The 22 Indian seafarers on board the North Korean registered MV Lady Belinda, run by Blue Fleet Management based in Greece, received four months’ pay - US$102,000 - on 5 April. The 37-year-old bulk carrier, laden with iron ore became immobilised on 5 January in the northern stretch of the Malacca Straits. It arrived under tow in Singapore on 14 January and has since been detained by Singapore’s port authority.

The seafarers, who won their claim after the ITF-affiliated Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU) and the ITF came to their assistance, have now submitted requests to leave the vessel, which has been declared unseaworthy.

SMOU President Captain Robin Foo said: “It is really distressing to see that seafarers are still being unscrupulously exploited, and the unsafe working conditions onboard the unseaworthy vessel are a cause for concern for the industry”.

He added: “We are thankful for the assistance from the various seafaring welfare organisations especially the ITF and the maritime port authority of Singapore, who have helped with the humanitarian welfare of the seafarers and have assisted us with the wage recovery for the crew”.

Junior Engineer Sheikh Yakub Umar said, “We never believed we could get our money back, but the ITF and SMOU have made it possible. I’m glad that the ordeal has almost come to an end.”

The union and the ITF are now working to ensure that the vessel's owner and employer pay for the full repatriation of the seafarers as well as all additional wages incurred until they are signed off the vessel.

(Source: ITF)