Also in this Week’s edition:

1. When 30+ seafarers stranded with outstanding salaries, no shoreleave, no sign off and no comm. with families for 24+ months (not covid year)

2. Unsinkable Ship (pinky promise, you will love this)

3. Book for your sea career

4. Maritime Contents for you

5. Job Listings for Seafarers.

When 30+ seafarers stranded with outstanding salaries, no shoreleave, no sign off and no comm. with families for 24+ months (not covid year)

Captain Ayyapan Swaminathan, Master M/ AZRAQ MOIAH (IMO - 961976-Flag UAE), one of the three vessels anchored in the UAE who reported that 40 crew members. of whom 30 fellow Indian nationals were stranded in three vessels owned by the same shipping company, Elite Way Marine Services EST, based in DUBAI. All three have been located in the anchorage site at the port of Sharjah in UAE, with outstanding salaries, lack of subsistence means, and no medical assistance for more than a year.

Capt. Swaminathan has been on board the vessel for twenty two (22) months, upon completion of his eight (8) months contract. For more than a year now, he has been desperately trying to seek arrangements for his sign-oft. His salaries have now been outstanding for fifteen (15) months.

Elite Way Marine Services has not provided Mr. Swaminathan and the other seafarers who have completed their respective contracts on board of MN AZRAQ MOlAH with at least the basics. Food and medical supplies are running low, dock supplies are scarce and the seafarers have to cook on top of a self-made burning fire pit.

Apart from the vessel M/ AZRAQ MOIAH, Elite Way Marine services owns three other vessels, including the deck cargo vessel M/ TAMIM ALDAR ( IMO No: 9580388, Flag-UAE) anchored 20 nautical miles away from Hamriyah port UAE. This vessel has been in a fully loaded condition with a cargo of rock stone for 13 months and the vessel is NOT UNDER COMMAND. The Tanker cargo M/T TAMIM (IMO No:9531375, Flag-Marshall Islands) and the offshore, supply M/ AL NADER (IMO No: 7027502, Flag-UAE), are both also in anchorage at the port of Sharjah, UAE. Crew members from both ships remain on board with outstanding salaries, no shore leave, no sign off and with no communication with their families.

In addition, the seafarers claim that due to lack of fuel, there are daily power cuts and that during the hot months of summer they had been left without enough fresh water to hydrate. Due to blackout conditions on the night of Tuesday 16/10/2018, the vessel M/ AL NADER/IMO 7027502/Flag-UAE/ collided with another vessel at the port of Sharjah.

The managing company and the ship-owner failed to respond to the urgent calls of the seafarers and their messages. The individual statements provided by the seafarers to HAS in writing are shocking and illustrative of a pattern of complete abandonment by the ship-owner.

Sanitary conditions are absent from all three vessels. There are no sufficient supplies of food and fresh water and no medical assistance.

The crew has reported that they have also been deprived of their travel and identification documents, which were confiscated by the UAE authorities. In a constant state of worry and in limbo, they are ultimately deprived of their freedom. with minimum to no communication with their families who are wholly and financially dependent on them.

In their own Words

AB Aniket Deulkar

"We are burning wood and cooking food on board our vessel.

The supplies are also not coming in sufficient auantity. We have Insufficient bunker and our generator is also not working properly. We have to keep our vessel in blackout condition, and due to this, last month we had a collision with another vessel. In such a serious situation our management was not responding to our calls and messages on that night. After that incident we are feeling very unsate on board now. We are feeling like we have been hijacked on our vessel by our own management. Our families' financial conditions are getting critical as the days are passing. In this critical situation we are abandoned and we are only getting take promises from our management. We have already completed our contract period of nine (9) months on board. This is our sixteenth (16) month running with pending salary of fourteen (14) months."

Bharath Haridass- Second Officer, reports on the situation on board the M/AZRAQMOIAH:

"have been abandoned by my own management. They are treating us like slaves and our basic rights have been denied. We are really suffering on board, but the company does not understand and never takes this issue as a serious matter. Me as we as my familv are psychologically affected by this and we are facing immense pressure."

G Gurunathan- Chief Engineer on board M/ AZRAQ MOIAH:

"I am from Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu, India. Last week the gaja cyclone affected my house and family members. This time also, I cannot help my family. Very bad situation."

Sourabh Naskar-Crew member on board M/ TAMIM ALDAR (IMO: 9580388 FlagUAE) with total sea time on board fifteen (15) months as of 27/11/2018 and with total pending salaries of thirteen (13) months and as of 27/11/2018:

"We haven't got enough food and water, no blanket, pillow or toothpaste. They have never done any type of tumigation and consequently our cabin is full of bed buas. It is impossible to sleep on my bed. I can't take this situation any more and now "m really very sick mentally and physically. Sir, I come from a poor family. I need my salary for my family and now my family situation is also not very good. Sir I want my sign off with my pending salary”.

In 2019

After 18 months stranded on a cargo vessel miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, with little food or water, no wages and little means of communication, Captain Ayyappan Swaminathan’s ordeal is finally over.

Speaking from his home in Kumbakonam, with his wife, Menaka and daughter, Aniya, who turned seven last week, Ayyappan said: “I cannot describe what it felt like to hold my daughter again after so many days and nights. I’m really happy. She is also very happy.”

He last saw Aniya when she was four years old.

It marks the end of a long, drawn-out case where the captain and crew were abandoned by the vessel owner, Elite Way Marine Services, unable to leave the ship fearing the loss of their claim to thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

Ayyappan sent the Guardian a video that recorded the emotional moment he finally left his ship, MV Azraqmoiah, shot from a speedboat carrying him safely to shore.

“When I touched land, I felt like flying – oh my God,” said the merchant seaman of 20 years. “This is the day we dreamed of. My cup is overflowing again and again.”

Ayyappan, who thanked everyone who helped him, said he had now been paid 80% of the $84,000 (£66,000) salary owed to him.

His two colleagues, Rajib Ali, a cook from India, and Ibrahim Adam Iazim, chief officer from Sudan, were also repatriated. Other members of the crew, who accepted 40-60% of their owed salaries, left the ship in April.

Toy too cool to have if you are a seafarer

Book for better sea career 

Excellent communicating skills have always been crucial to success in leadership and management roles like sailors—and that’s one of the reasons the first edition of this book, Mastering Communication at Work, has been an international bestseller taught at universities and referred to by leading CEOs. In the years since it was first published, it’s been the go-to “communication playbook,” helping leaders develop strategic responses and communication tactics with clear, actionable advice.

What’s changed in the last ten years? Well, nothing—and everything.
The fundamentals of effective communication are the same, as are many of the challenges leaders face, generation after generation. You still need to “match your listener’s tendency” and “validate,” and you still need to guard against “defensiveness.” What has changed is how some of the fundamentals and challenges are applied and met in today’s world—both real and virtual, in remote and on-site working environments.

Mastering Communication at Work, 2nd Edition features an essential new chapter on remote team communication along with additional content on equitable leadership and updated case studies. Throughout, you’ll find practical, hands-on advice and strategies that can help you reach your potential when preparing for big conversations and important presentations, help you reduce everyday stress and improve your organization’s performance at every level.

Found this book here

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