Merchants Seafarers Association of Nigeria (MSAN) has threatened to sue Stallionaire Oil and Gas Limited owners of Nigerian Ship MT ADEBOMI 1 and the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over unpaid salary of seafarers onboard the Nigerian ship, for more than one year.
The association said it is involving the International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) into the matter, stating that the association is ready to go to court over the shabby treatment of seafarers onboard MT ADEBOMI 1.
The association alleged that the seafarers were not paid between December 2018 to May 2019 when the seafarers duly disembarked from the vessel without any fracas or complaints from their employer.
Already, a petition has been written to NIMASA, it was signed by the Secretary General of MSAN, Capt. Alfred Oluwasegun Oniye and MSAN’s legal adviser, Mr. Jonathan Nwagu.
A copy of the letter which was obtained by Shipping Position Daily reads: “In December 2018, Stallionaire Oil and Gas Limited stopped payment of the crew salaries because of its burnt storage facility that has nothing to do with operating MT ADEBOMI1. The crew stayed onboard the vessel, working assiduously to put the vessel in class because the vessel was not in class at that time. They kept receiving and carrying out instructions as directed by Stallionaire and CAMSHIP.
“To our surprise, we discovered that Stallionaire Oil and Gas Limited was paid by the insurance company for the loss incurred on the burnt storage facility. CAMSHIP had also been short-paying the crew of ADEBOMI1, which is against Maritime Labour Convention and the Merchant Shipping Act, 2007. The crew taxes were also deducted but not remitted.”
The group also lamented that Stallionaire issued the Captain and entire crew dud cheque for their outstanding salary after replacing them with a new crew on May 11, 2019.
According to the petition, the affected crew include: Capt. Ogunshakin Williams (Master), Engr. Joseph Dibia (Chief Engineer) and Kolawole Bolakale Issa (Chief Cook), among others.
MSAN further stated that the victimized crew of MT ADEBOMI1 was attacked by sea pirates during their trip from Port Harcourt with Capt. Ogunshaki Williams involved in accident during the operation.
According to the association, “they had professionally discharged their duties as assigned and directed by Stallionaire Oil and Gas and its crewing agency CAMSHIP Limited”.
