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Page context: Home > Transport International Magazine > Issue 25 October 2006 > Out of sight Out of mind > Case Studies
On 26 September 2005 six Chinese fishers jumped ship in American Samoa. For a few days they hid in the mountains, fearing capture by their captain. They sought assistance from their company’s agent but no advice was forthcoming. They were turned away from the police station and eventually took refuge in the Pago Pago Seafarers’ Centre, which alerted the ITF to their plight.
The men gave eye witness accounts of the extreme physical abuses suffered by crew members on board the Tunago #61, on which they “received beatings sporadically and systematically every day” at the whim of the skipper and his brother, the chief engineer. The men were also subject to death threats by the skipper, who told them that he carried a gun and that they could easily be “written off” as having been swept overboard.
One worker, beaten with an iron rod, sustained serious head injuries and, bleeding profusely, was locked up in the bow for three days without food or water. His offence was to ask for leave from the boat.
Another fisher, thought to have been chatting with a colleague, was grabbed by the hair and repeatedly punched in the face. After the first assault by the chief engineer, the man was beaten with a thick wooden rod 3ft long on his thigh, stomach and back.
For failing to secure bait firmly on all hooks before they were flung in the sea, a young fisher was attacked by the skipper who, reportedly, punched him in the face again and again then kicked him in the head when he fell to the deck. The fisher’s punishment continued with another round of baiting, making him work continuously for almost 48 hours.
Source: Dr. Christopher Evans, Director, Pago Pago Seafarers’ Centre.
On Wednesday 14 September 2005, 10 Indonesian fishers scaled the Port Company security fence in Port Nelson, New Zealand, seeking protection from the abuse and inhumane conditions on board the Sky 75, a Korean registered fishing vessel over 30 years old.
The crew complained of constant verbal and physical abuse and excessively long working hours. They were fed bad food, with rotten meat and vegetables and products past their sell-by date. They were expected to sleep 12 to a cabin, with no blankets and for washing were told to stand on deck and ‘shower’ in the waves. There was no medical provision on board, or protective clothing, and the crew gave the example of one of their number who crushed his arm in some machinery and was told to carry on working, without treatment.
In addition to the indignity and discomfort of their working and living conditions, the crew had not been paid since joining the vessel in July 2005. Each had paid over US$600 to a Jakarta manning agent to secure their jobs. The owner claimed to have forwarded their modest wages of US$200 per month to the agent in Jakarta who was then to pass it on to the fishermen’s families. This had not occurred.
In spite of the appalling conditions on board the Sky 75, eight crew members chose to stay on the vessel. Having borrowed money to pay the manning agent the ‘job fee’, they were too fearful to return home without the funds to repay their debts.
Source: Kathy Whelan, ITF Coordinator, New Zealand.
The Belize-flagged Salus arrived in Rønne, Denmark on 17 October 2001, where it was used to freeze sprats for sale in the Russian market. In February of the following year, the ITF became involved when told by crew members that none of them had been paid since their arrival on board – for some of them this was a period of two years.
Instead of paying the crew, the managing director of the Kaliningrad-based ship operators, arrived in Rønne issuing threats of violence and demanding that the crew sign a declaration against the ITF.
These were not idle threats. On 3 July he was charged by the police for punching an ITF inspector and trying to throw him off the gangway. The next day crew members reported to police that they had been warned of the imminent arrival of two new “crew members” who would “cut out their lungs and make them swim in their own blood” if they
didn’t co-operate.
Two men duly arrived, apparently seeking work as able seamen. On his return from discussions with the ITF official, one crewman was pushed around by the new arrivals while the managing director and bodyguard prevented his escape from the vessel. He was kicked and beaten on deck by the two, who then moved him to the bridge out of sight. When the police arrived they found the seafarer locked in a cabin with tape wrapped round his mouth and head, his arms taped behind his back and his feet taped together. It took five minutes to free the man who was by then fighting for his breath.
Source: Kjartan Gudmundsson, ITF Inspector, Denmark.
Section home:
Issue 25 October 2006
Other pages for Issue 25 October 2006:
Comment: Time to organise | Congress pledges more global action | Transport unions fight AIDS | Jobs and the environment | Tackling intimidation | Unity follows division | TI Briefing: The ports of convenience | Working life | My Agenda | Reflections: Readers’ thoughts
Other pages for Out of sight Out of mind:
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