***Why can’t we solve case of lost Rebecca?
Cruise adverts dominate most of our papers at present. They offer an exciting holiday and 21million passengers enjoy them every year. Almost two million are Brits.
But for some, this holiday paradise can turn into a nightmare with a growing number of crimes, including sex assaults and rapes, as well as people vanishing. It has led to the US Congress passing a law requiring the FBI to investigate any incident at sea involving Americans.
In March 2011, a young woman called Rebecca Coriam from Cheshire, a crew member of the cruise liner the Disney Wonder – a ship registered in the Bahamas – went missing in the waters off Mexico. The investigations by companies and countries have been far from satisfactory and little is known about how Rebecca went missing.
Despite campaigning by her family, supported by Bill Anderson from the International Transport Workers‘ Federation and her union, they’ve been told by our Government there is nothing they can do as it is outside UK inquest jurisdiction.
Cheshire police have a report from the Bahamas authorities but say they cannot disclose it to the family. The Home Office is presumably aware of the report but has done nothing, and finally told the constituency MP to make future inquiries to the voluntary body Missing Abroad.
But our Government has influence in the Bahamas and even has an accident investigation branch located there. Surely we should ensure ships registered in the Bahamas are forced to allow our detectives to investigate if crimes or incidents take place on board? Britannia used to rule the waves. Now let’s police them too.
FROM TRADEWINDS TODAY:
***Hyundai arrests TMT PCC
Hyundai Heavy Industries has had a Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT) owned car carrier arrested in Malta.
Under arrest in Malta: the B Ladybug
The South Korean shipbuilder is said to be demanding EUR 47m ($64m). However, few other details were available.
Details of the arrest of the 7,600-ceu B Ladybug (built 2011), which was built by Hyundai Samho, appear on Transportation of Malta’s website.
It also emerges that the ship was arrested late last month by the ship’s crew who are claiming unpaid wages of EUR 246,683.
TMT’s B Ladybug is one of the shipowner’s few vessels not under US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, hence Hyundai’s decision to pursue this claim.
TMT’s 7,600-ceu A Ladybug (built 2011) is already under arrest in Malta in a dispute with its 22-man crew over unpaid wages of EUR 117,656.
The request for the warrant against the ship was filed on behalf of the crew by local International Transport Workers’ Federation representative Paul Falzon.
The Transport Authority of Malta and Mega Tugs Salvage and Towage have both subsequently emerged as also having claims against the ship worth over EUR 4m.
FROM FAIRPLAY:
***HHI, crew arrest vehicle carrier in Malta
B Ladybug
A PURE car & truck carrier owned by beleaguered TMT has been arrested in Malta.
According to a notice on the website of the Transport Malta authority, the crew of B Ladybug, Hyundai HI and Hyundai Samho HI applied to arrest the vessel on 20 April and 30 September.
However, Transport Malta received the Hyundai yards’ joint application only on 4 October.
IHS Fairplay’s Sea-web data showed that the 2011-built, 72,408gt B Ladybug was built by Hyundai Samho HI in 2011. The ship was ordered for $90M in 2007, at the height of the shipping boom.
In October 2012 TMT defaulted on a dozen drybulkers worth an aggregate $650M. All 12 ships were being built at the Hyundai group: two 263,000dwt ore carriers from HHI, two 263,000dwt ore carriers, seven 84,062dwt post-Panamaxes from Hyundai Samho and a 37,000dwt Handysize bulker from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
The default preceded TMT’s revelation of its financial woes. The Nobu Su-led company is undergoing restructuring and has resorted to Chapter 11 procedures to keep creditors at bay.
Transport Malta’s website also shows a TMT-owned sister vessel, A Ladybug, arrested by its crew, Mega Tugs Salvage and Towage and Malta’s transport authorities.
For both vessels, the International Transport Workers’ Federation’s Malta representative, Paul Falzon, applied for the arrest on the crew’s behalf.
Maltese news reports said A Ladybug’s crew – 21 Fillipino seafarers and a Pakistani captain – are claiming €117,656 ($160,942) in unpaid wages.
Transport Malta has been delivering fuel and drinking water to the ship. The Philippines Embassy in Rome has also delivered supplies and promised to repatriate the Filipino seafarers when the claims are settled.
A Ladybug is not carrying any cargo since its last delivery. It called at Istanbul before arriving in Malta.
FROM LLOYD’S LIST:
***HHI puts Nobu Su car carrier under arrest in Malta
- Friday 18 October 2013, 11:24
- by Tom Leander
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A Nobu Su car carrier has been arrested at the request of Hyundai Heavy Industries.
B Ladybug, unprotected in Taiwanese owner’s ongoing bankruptcy case, has also been arrested by its crew
B LADYBUG, a car carrier owned by Nobu Su-controlled Today Makes Tomorrow, has been arrested by Hyundai Heavy Industries and its subsidiary in Malta. The South Korean yard, which has refused to discuss the case, is demanding €47m ($64m).
A note on the Transportation of Malta ship arrest website says that the ship was seized at the request of HHI and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries on October 15. The 27,000 dwt B Ladybug was built in 2011 at Hyundai Samho.
Separately, the ship’s 22-strong crew had the ship placed under arrest on September 29, claiming unpaid wages of €246,684. The vessel’s master Fabian Miranda told Lloyd’s List that the crew had not been paid for almost five months. He said the measure was a last resort by the crew, who were running out of basic provisions, to get their money and seek repatriation for crew members whose contracts had expired.
Capt Miranda, an Indian national, and the 21-member Filipino crew enacted the arrest with the assistance of Paul Falzon, the local representative of International Federation of Transport Workers.
Both arrests are unusual, but the HHI arrest opens a new chapter for embattled Taiwanese shipowner Mr Su, who has succeeded in having a portion of his marine assets placed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Houston, Texas. That case involves 17 vessels owned by single-ship entities linked to TMT, including two of Mr Su’s Ladybug car carrier series, A Ladybug and C Ladybug.
B Ladybug is not named as an asset for court protection in bankruptcy, which is apparently why HHI is pursuing its claim.
A Ladybug, in a separate case, is listed on the Transportation of Malta website as having been arrested on August 14 by Mr Falzon on behalf of its crew. Subsequent arresting parties include the Transport Authority of Malta and Mega Tugs Salvage and Towage, both named as having the ship arrested in September.
Capt Miranda of B Ladybug praised the efforts of Mr Falzon, who oversaw the arrest once the ship entered the port of Valetta for bunkering. He has ensured that the crew had basic provisions and that the master had a mobile phone.
“We’re all right for now,” said Capt Miranda, “but many of the crew members have had their contracts expire and several are under extreme pressure because they cannot repatriate funds to their families, who are depending on them for basic needs.”
Capt Miranda said that he was aware of the HHI arrest, but that he did not know the details. The crew’s case was scheduled for a day in Valetta court yesterday.
FROM TANKER OPERATOR:
***IBF celebrates 10 years of negotiations
Oct 17 2013
This week the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) started a new round of negotiations, marking the 10th year of industrial relations between the Forum”s members.
The IBF was formed in 2003 as a mechanism for collective bargaining between maritime employers and maritime unions over the wages and conditions of employment for seafarers serving on foreign flag ships covered by ITF special agreements.
Maritime employers are represented by the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC), the International Shipping Employers’ Group (ISEG), which incorporates the International Maritime Managers’ Association of Japan (IMMAJ) and the Taiwanese company Evergreen, plus the Korean Shipowners’ Association.
Together they form the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG), which allows maritime employers to present to the ITF a co-ordinated view of employers from across the world.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) represents maritime affiliates throughout the world.
The IBF negotiations include both central negotiations and local negotiations, which allow for development of core principles, which can then be incorporated into specific local arrangements. This unique approach to pay negotiations is the only example of international collective bargaining.
Speaking at the IBF meetings in St Petersburg, Russia, the JNG chairman Tsutomu Iizuka said: “The recent financial climate has put tremendous pressure on shipowners and managers to minimise costs and remain viable employers and on maritime unions to protect the wages and conditions of employment of their members.
“Over the last 10 years, the IBF has demonstrated that frank and robust negotiations between the JNG and ITF result in mutually beneficial agreements. These agreements recognise and reflect the challenges maritime employers face and respect the interests and livelihoods of the seafarers on which the industry depends,” he said.
Dave Heindel, ITF Seafarers’ Section chair commented: “The IBF continues to bear testament to the unique and successful relationship enjoyed by the ITF and JNG. Both parties understand the benefits of engaging in fully negotiated agreements between employers and unions. That relationship was sustained during a time of downturn in the industry, to which seafarers responded with moderate and pragmatic aspirations in the field of wage increases.
“We look forward to the bargaining process continuing to successfully demonstrate the ability of each party to co-operate, to work constructively and to achieve results for all those we represent,” he said.
The IBF next meets in Tokyo on 18th – 20th February, 2014. Further negotiations are scheduled for 14th-16th April 2014 and 3rd – 5th June next year.