A bulk carrier has received a one-year ban from Australian waters after an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) investigation found issues of wage theft and worker mistreatment.
Key points:
- Workforce conditions onboard bulk-carrier MSXT Emily are alleged to be a "disgrace"
- The Australia Maritime and Safety Authority inspected the boat at Hay Point terminal on August 18
- AMSA is alleging cases of wage theft, forgery and coercion have been involved
Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MSXT Emily was inspected by AMSA at the Port of Hay Point in Queensland on August 18, following a tip-off from the International Transport Workers' Federation.
The Port of Hay Point is comprised of two separate coal export terminals and is located about 38 kilometres south of Mackay.
The ship's operator, MSM Ship Management Pte Ltd China, is responsible for paying its seafarer wages.
Although the seafarers were employed by a manning agency, an operator has a responsibility to ensure their welfare.
The vessel had been chartered by K-Line to load a cargo of coal for discharge in Japan and it was estimated there were 16 seafarers onboard.
AMSA executive director of operations Michael Drake said it was a serious case of seafarer mistreatment.
"Wage theft, forgery and coercion are serious matters and I have been deeply troubled to hear of the conditions on the MSXT Emily," he said.
"The workforce conditions onboard this vessel are a disgrace and AMSA will not tolerate this."
AMSA manager for ship inspections Stephen McMeeking said it was shocking as incidents like this were uncommon.
"Obviously an incident like this is probably one of the worst of the worst that we've seen in Australia," he said.
Mr McMeeking said the "disgraceful" conditions included seafarers being forced to pay for their own food and being unable to access necessary medical care.
"On the vessel, there's a mix of nationalities, there was Chinese, Vietnamese, seafarers from Myanmar as well so obviously, everybody has different cultural diets.
"And the seafarers who weren't from China were forced to pay an extra cash amount for food that was more culturally appropriate for them.
"Also the chief cook had a medical condition and the owners didn't provide prompt medical care for them."
Mr McMeeking said the process of inspecting large bulk carriers was done through international agreements, and AMSA had a "targeting system".
"We look at multiple risk factors, we decide to inspect these vessels from our list of priorities and risks and we attempt to find ones which hold the highest risk," he said.
More than $118k unpaid
In a public statement, AMSA said seafarers onboard the vessel were not paid in accordance with their employment contracts.
It's alleged four contained "apparently-forged" signatures from employees and five seafarers appeared to have been coerced into signing new employment agreements which had lower salaries.
It's alleged in one case, a seafarer had signed a new contact for 50 per cent less pay, while they still held a valid contact for a further four months.
"Inspectors found evidence of more than US$77, 000 ($118,000) in unpaid wages had been owed to seafarers working on board the MSXT Emily, with the ship's operators attempting to pay the amount owed once they were aware that AMSA inspectors were onboard.
"The vessel's operator appears to have concealed this repeated wage theft."
What happens now?
Mr McMeeking said seafarers would be reimbursed for their lost income, while the operator would be monitored to ensure this did not happen again.
"There's what's called a corrective action plan, which the operator has to come up with to implement to prevent recurrence," he said.
"Over the next three months, that will be monitored by other countries where the vessel visits to ensure compliance with what they said to do."
He said he hoped the lengthy ban granted in this instance would deter others from failing to maintain good conditions for seafarers in the future.
"AMSA has got a zero tolerance to people who abuse seafarers," Mr McMeeking said.