Lloyd's List is part of Maritime Intelligence

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited, registered in England and Wales with company number 13831625 and address c/o Hackwood Secretaries Limited, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ, United Kingdom. Lloyd’s List Intelligence is a trading name of Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited. Lloyd’s is the registered trademark of the Society Incorporated by the Lloyd’s Act 1871 by the name of Lloyd’s.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use. For high-quality copies or electronic reprints for distribution to colleagues or customers, please call UK support at +44 (0)20 3377 3996 / APAC support at +65 6508 2430

Printed By

UsernamePublicRestriction

Crew abandoned in Singapore freed after five months

ITF secures release of 13 Filipino seafarers from abandoned livestock carrier ship

ITF said Hong Kong-based shipowner has a long history of abandoning crew, and its vessels have been detained before for violating safety and crew welfare rules

THE FILIPINO crew of a livestock carrier ship abandoned in Singapore have been returned home, after the intervention of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

Yangtze Harmony (IMO: 9318917) was arrested by Singapore’s sheriff last October on a request by Glander International Bunkering over an unpaid fuel bill.

Hong Kong-based shipowner Soar Harmony Shipping also stopped paying the entire crew, leaving them without wages or a way to get home, the ITF said in a statement. By April, the crew was owed $429,972.

A legal process to sell the ship was started and pay off its debts, including the unpaid wages owed to the crew which were stuck on the vessel, the ITF said. In January, the Singapore authorities announced the auction of the vessel, according to a court notice.

The ITF said Soar Harmony Shipping has a history of abandoning crew, and its vessels have been detained previously for violating safety and crew welfare rules.

The Yangtze Harmony’s sister ship — Yangtze Fortune (IMO 9336282) — was seized last December by the Australian Federal Court in Victoria after the owner’s refusal to make urgent repairs.

The ITF successfully lobbied to have that vessel’s flag state reduce the ship’s minimum manning levels from 30 to 16, allowing some seafarers to be repatriated earlier.

All of the Yangtze Fortune’s crew have since been repatriated.

“Between Yangtze Harmony and Yangtze Fortune, the ITF’s months of advocacy [recovered] $1m in backpay owed to the crew, as well as flights home and the feeling of freedom for every one of the 43 thankful seafarers,” the ITF said.

Related Content

Topics

  • Related Vessels
  • Related Companies
  • Related Places
  • UsernamePublicRestriction

    Register

    LL1144773

    Ask The Analyst

    Please Note: You can also Click below Link for Ask the Analyst
    Ask The Analyst

    Your question has been successfully sent to the email address below and we will get back as soon as possible. my@email.address.

    All fields are required.

    Please make sure all fields are completed.

    Please make sure you have filled out all fields

    Please make sure you have filled out all fields

    Please enter a valid e-mail address

    Please enter a valid Phone Number

    Ask your question to our analysts

    Cancel