- Coastguards have detained an offshore supply vessel at Aberdeen harbour amid crew welfare concerns.
- Ben Nevis will not be allowed to leave the port until an inspection is completed.
- The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said it had taken action as the Port State Control Authority for the UK.
- The RMT union welcomed an investigation being carried out.
RMT registers support for Coastguard Agency’s detention of ship for exploitation of crew, reads a press release from RMT.
Vessel detained for labour infringement
Seafarers’ Union RMT has registered its support for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s detention of the Maltese registered offshore supply vessel, Ben Nevis in Aberdeen for infringements of the Maritime Labour Convention.
General Secretary Mick Cash said, “RMT warned at the start of the pandemic that seafarer welfare standards would suffer from the arrival of more ships in the North Sea with exploited crew on board.“
Protecting crew from abuse
“Operators in the oil and gas and renewables sector must improve due diligence in their supply chains to raise employment standards and increase jobs for local seafarers,” he added.
Ratings on the Ben Nevis are paid a basic $6.35 per hour, which is illegal on these routes but the employer is trying to get out of paying even that.
“It is good to see the MCA using their Port State Control powers to protect crew from this sort of abuse but we cannot continue to let charter parties off the hook when the illegal treatment of seafarers is exposed,” he concluded.
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Source: RMT
