AMSA places one-year ban on cargo ship for poor treatment of seafarers

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MSXT Emily from Australian waters for one year, after finding apparent serious issues of wage theft and seafarer mistreatment onboard.

​Following a tip-off from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), AMSA inspected the ship at the Port of Hay Point, in Queensland, and found evidence of several violations of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

​The vessel had been chartered by K-Line to load a cargo of coal for discharge in Japan.

​Seafarers on board the vessel had not been paid in accordance with their Seafarer Employment Agreements (employment contracts). Four contained apparently-forged signatures from employees, and five seafarers appeared to have been coerced into signing new employment agreements that had lower salaries.

​In one case, a seafarer had signed a new contract, while they still held a contract valid for a further four months, for 50 per cent less pay.

​Inspectors found evidence that more than US$77,000 in unpaid wages had been owed to seafarers working onboard MSXT Emily, with the ship’s operators MSM Ship Management attempting to pay the amount owed once they were aware that AMSA inspectors were on board.

​The vessel’s operator appears to have concealed this repeated wage theft.

​AMSA Executive Director of Operations Michael Drake said this was a serious case of seafarer mistreatment.

​”The workforce conditions onboard this vessel are a disgrace, and AMSA will not tolerate this in Australian waters,” Mr Drake said.