27.10.2020

SUR helped seafarers to recover a part of back wages due to them

“A part of the back wages due to the crew of m/v "Nikolay Solodchuk" in the amount of 3.5 million rubles was paid today, we have made the  application  to the Far Eastern Investigative Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation ”, - said Nikolai Sukhanov, Chairman of the SUR Far Eastern Territorial Organization:

The crew of the Russian-flagged fishing vessel “Nikolay Solodchuk” which currently stays at the Walvis Bay port in Namibia, applied to SUR FETO asking for assistance  in recovering their wages and repatriation.

The employment agreements of the seafarers hired to for crab fishing were concluded for six months and expired long ago. 11 crew members who applied to the union were employed for work on board the ship between August 2019 and February 2020.

“The shipowner has not paid wages since February this year. The wage arrears are about 20 million rubles. The vessel is under charter, operated by a foreign shipowner. The union turned to law enforcement to help the crew”, - Nikolay Sukhanov explained.  

The trawler's crew consists of residents of Primorye, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk Region, Krasnodar. As Nikolai Sukhanov said, there is enough food and fresh water on board, the crew is in good health. Almost all crew members  have already suffered the coronavirus infection .

For his part,  Valery Tarasenko, the CEO of the shipowner – the company "Morskoy Lev" – told  TASS that various departments, including the Russian consulate, are addressing  the current situation. The vessel was transferred to a foreign owner, based in Namibia, under a bareboat charter agreement, without crew, with the condition of further sale. That is, the crew has already been hired by another owner, and all issues  about their employment, wages and repatriation should be directed to a new shipowner - a Namibia-based  company.

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