ITF in race to help crew of detained cargoship
Lloyd's List
Thursday 21 October 2010
THE International Transport Workers Federation is racing against the clock in Miami to help the crew of an arrested Panama-flagged cargoship, the 1972-built, 2,499 dwt Secure.
The ship is under arrest in Miami for the third time since December last year, with the latest case understood to involve at least two crewmembers who claim to have been unpaid for 10 and 14 months.
A separate twist to the case involves the onboard death of the ship's Ukrainian chief engineer in Kingston, Jamaica.
Internal correspondence seen by Lloyd's List, including an email from Finlay McIntosh of the ITF's London-based action team, indicates that the chief engineer's family contacted Mr McIntosh last week, saying they were still awaiting the body, and that wages of some $36,000 were outstanding.
ITF labour inspector Hans Saurenmann told Lloyd's List that the union is working ceaselessly to enrol the rest of the crew before they are repatriated, so that their dues can be tabulated and the ITF can pursue their case. However, time could be running out, Mr Saurenmann said.
"This is a live situation, with really serious consequences," Mr Saurenmann said.
Miami attorney Ross Toyne said that the master shooed him off when he went to meet the crew this week, but not before two men allegedly told him of being unpaid for 10 and 14 months.
Although US admiralty law assigns superior priority to crew wages on recoveries from arrests, for crew to avail of this privilege they must first bring a lawsuit.
These developments came as plaintiff VG Investments, which has been assigned an outstanding bunker claim against the vessel has arrested Secure in the Miami River to enforce the lien arising from around $55,000 in dues outstanding.
The authorised agent for the plaintiff listed in the lawsuit could not be contacted for comment today on the situation involving the crew.
The VG Investments arrest comes after Moran Towing and Bunkers International arrested the same ship in Miami in December 2009 seeking to enforce total dues of around $40,000, and Consulores Maritimos Del Caribe arrested it again in February this year on a $23,000 unpaid bill. Both times, the vessel was released after a settlement.
The Equasis database lists Taurus Shipholding of Split, Croatia, as the vessel's owner, and the US lawsuit brought by VG Investments names this entity alongside the ship as defendants.
