Above: Seafarers freed from the abandoned MV Jinan at a local bank to receive their wages with ITF Inspector Betty Makena Mutugi, the Seafarers Union of Kenya Secretary General Steven Owaki, and the Mission to Seafarers Port Chaplain Moses Muli, all of whom were instrumental in their release.
Eighteen crew have made it home after spending 21 months trapped on their abandoned ship. The MV Jinan (IMO 8322844) was left at the Port of Mombasa, Kenya in August 2019 by its Beirut owners Al Jinan Shipping Co. The general cargo ship is registered in Zanzibar, an autonomous region of Tanzania.
After lengthy court proceedings, the ship has been sold for scrap and the crew have been paid US$ 242,872 from the proceeds (representing the period from November 2019 to August 2020).
“I am immensely happy that these seafarers were finally paid and got back home safely,” said Betty Makena Mutugi, ITF Inspector for the area, who works for the Dockworkers’ Union Kenya. “It’s a victory for their human rights. But all that time these people were locked up in conditions as bad as a prison while the legal process ground slowly on. It is not unfair to say they have been treated worse than criminals.”
The seafarers did not have visas to enter Kenya and so were not permitted to leave the ship. They ran out of food and fresh water and had to rely on charity to survive.
It is worth emphasising that the situation effectively left innocent people in prison-like conditions for almost two years. People convicted of serious crimes may face less punishment than this.
ITF affiliate, the Seafarers Union of Kenya, worked with the ITF Inspector in the Port of Mombasa to help get these Seafarers repatriated. The union and the Department of Shipping and Maritime found a maritime lawyer to file a case their behalf. The court case started in September 2020 and concluded in February 2021. The court ordered the ship to be sold by auction and the crew paid from the proceedings. This finally happened in the last few weeks.
While this was going on, the union, together with the ITF inspector and the Chaplain of the Mission to Seafarers in Mombasa, lobbied other partners to support the crew with food, fresh water and medical treatment.
Kenya has ratified the UN’s Maritime Labour Convention which puts the responsibility on the port state to repatriate seafarers from abandoned vessels in the event that the owner, insurer and flag state cannot or do not arrange for crew to go home. Unfortunately, where there is a question mark over who is responsible, legal proceedings can take months or years to sort things out. In the meantime, the crew of a ship are left to wonder if they will ever see home again,
END
Notes:
- Thanks go to the following organisations for their help and persistence in getting these seafarers home:
- Kenya Maritime Authority
- Dockworkers’ Union of Kenya
- Mission to Seafarers
- Kenya Coast Guard Service
- Stella Maris – Catholic Diocese of Mombasa
- Seafarers Union of Kenya
- State Department of Shipping and Maritime.
About the ITF: The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is a democratic, affiliate-led federation recognised as the world’s leading transport authority. We fight passionately to improve working lives; connecting trade unions from 147 countries to secure rights, equality and justice for their members. We are the voice for nearly 20 million working women and men in the transport industry across the world.
Media contact: media@itf.org.uk +44 20 7940 9282
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