The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) accused the Turkish shipping company Sea Lion Shipping of disregard the fate of seafarers on board ships of the Istanbul companies, abandoned seafarers without wages in An extremely precarious situation that led one of them to attempt suicide. The ITF reported that last September 21 a seaman of the ship Med Sea Eagle, which since July has been anchored off Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, is was transported to the ground and hospitalized after taking an overdose of painkiller tablets. 'The question that the maritime community now has to ask itself - said Steve Trowsdale, ITF Inspectorate Coordinator - is: How is it things were allowed to become so serious that To push this seaman to want to take his own life? The Sea Lion Shipping - added Trowsdale - claims to be in trouble financial, but it is highly immoral, and contrary to the law international, unloading the weight of its failures on its Man. In any case, there are systems that should safeguard individual seafarers involved in this type of Situations. These systems - specified the representative of the International Union of Transport Workers - are failing because of the ambiguous behavior of the company and Why are a whole host of other people evading own responsibilities'.

The ITF announced that, when asked by the union following the attempted suicide of the seafarer, the ship's owner responded by e-mail explaining that "the financial losses suffered by the our company, together with the fact that our entire fleet is Currently unusable, they are gradually stopping all our activities. As a company, we are making every effort to remedy this situation, including assessing measures such as sale of ships'.

However, the union stressed that the priority must be be aimed at the well-being of the crews. 'The company - explained Sandra Bernal, coordinator of the ITF FOC Network for the Asia Pacific region, acting on behalf of of the crew of the Med Sea Eagle - has several times promised to pay the crew and bring them home, but these Promises were useless." In this regard, the ITF has specified that last September 8 Sea Lion Shipping sent remittances to the crew with the prospect of the next payment of their wages in arrears, but payment that was not carried out. "These people - denounced Bernal - were already stranded on board the ship for months without any report on when they could go home. They were running out of food and water And many essential medical supplies were already exhausted. Three were suffering from fever and a quarter suffered from severe pain in the back. Issuing misleading communications in such a situation is Definitely cruel. No wonder that some seafarers have been so prey to anguish. You too You would be distressed if your life were hanging by a thread to such an insensitive employer'.

The union stressed that such behaviour by the Turkish company also concerns other ships in its fleet, including the Med Sea Fox, also anchored off the Emirates United Arabs, whose ten crew members, after many months of pressure from the ITF, managed to get payment of wages and repatriation, even if - the union has specified - Four Ukrainians are still owed the pay of 26 days of work. However, these seafarers have been replaced by others. ten that have not been paid for more than three months. 'The company - accused Trowsdale - admitted to being in financial difficulties. So it hires people in full awareness that does not intend to pay them. This, in my opinion, is trafficking in human beings'.

The ITF specified that a third ship of Sea Lion Shipping, the Med Sea Lion, is currently abandoned in Africa western, with the crew being unpaid, or assisted by the company. Last June - specified the Syndicate - twelve seamen of the ship, who believed they would return to home in India, were turned away at a Guyana airport in how much it turned out that the company had provided them fake tickets.

Returning to the case of the Med Sea Eagle, the ITF has announced that the seaman who attempted suicide was discharged from the hospital but, incredibly, he was sent back on board of the ship and, in response to the suicide attempt, Sea Lion Shipping has again issued remittances to the ship's crew whereas, however, it has once again not been paid, nor has it been paid The supplies that had been Promised on September 23.

Trowsdale pointed out that, in particular, the case of the Med Sea Eagle has highlighted not only "the abominable behaviour of the shipowner', but also that of other actors involved, with "the shipping agent who refused to supply the ship until it has been paid by the shipowners, with the flag State not hired no liability, with insurers absconding and with the authority of Port State Control that intervened only after the attempted suicide of the seafarer. While all these people are trying to shirk their responsibilities, Months go by and seafarers suffer. As an industry - he concluded Trowsdale - we need to find better ways to deal with these problems. In the meantime, Sea Lion Shipping must sell at least one of its ships to end the financial crisis and start treat its seafarers with the respect they deserve."