The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MSXT Emily from Australian waters for one year, after finding apparent serious issues of wage theft and seafarer mistreatment onboard.

Following a tip-off from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), AMSA inspected the ship at the Port of Hay Point, in Queensland, and found evidence of several violations of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

The vessel had been chartered by K-Line to load a cargo of coal for discharge in Japan.

Seafarers onboard the vessel had not been paid in accordance with their Seafarer Employment Agreements (employment contracts): four contained apparently-forged signatures from employees, and five seafarers appeared to have been coerced into signing new employment agreements which had lower salaries.

In one case, a seafarer had signed a new contract, while they still held a contract valid for a further four months, for 50 per cent less pay.

Inspectors found evidence that more than US$77,000 in unpaid wages had been owed to seafarers working onboard the MSXT Emily, with the ship’s operators (MSM Ship?Management Pte Ltd?China) attempting to pay the amount owed once they were aware that AMSA inspectors were onboard.

The vessel’s operator appears to have concealed this repeated wage theft.

AMSA Executive Director of Operations Michael Drake said this was a serious case of seafarer mistreatment.

“Wage theft, forgery and coercion are serious matters, and I have been deeply troubled to hear of the conditions on the MSXT Emily,” he said.

“The workforce conditions onboard this vessel are a disgrace, and AMSA will not tolerate this in Australian waters.

“I would like to acknowledge the role of the ITF in bringing this matter to our attention, and thank them for their continued advocacy for seafarer rights and welfare.”

Mr Drake said that a one-year ban was necessary to send the message that seafarer welfare should be a priority for every shipping operator.

“Our modern economy relies on the hard work these seafarers do, and when they are mistreated, the flow-on effects can be numerous,” he said.

“Seafarers are at sea for months at a time, and if morale is low or they are in poor physical and mental health, it can increase the risk of something going wrong.

“The supply chain, including vessel charters like K-Line, need to carefully consider which operators they engage to bring vessels to Australia.

“We’re imposing this lengthy ban as a clear deterrent and recognise that these essential workers deserve the dignity and respect of fair pay and good workplace conditions.”

澳大利亞海事安全局(AMSA)禁止懸掛利比里亞國旗的散裝船MSXT Emily在澳大利亞水域航行一年，此前該船被發現明顯存在嚴重的拖欠工資和***海員問題。

根據國際運輸工人聯合會(ITF)的舉報，AMSA在昆士蘭的海因特港檢查了這艘船，并發現了幾起違反2006年《海事勞工公約》的證據。

這艘船是由K-Line租用的，用來裝載在日本卸貨的煤炭。

船上的海員沒有按照他們的《海員雇傭協議》（雇傭合同）獲得報酬：四名海員的簽名明顯是偽造的，五名海員似乎被迫簽署了工資較低的新雇傭協議。

在這個案例中，一名海員簽署了一份新合同，而他們仍然持有有效期為4個月的合同，工資減少了50%。

檢查人員發現，有證據表明，MSXT Emily船上的海員被拖欠了超過77,000美元的工資，該船的運營商(MSM ship?Management Pte Ltd?China)在意識到AMSA檢查人員在船上后，試圖支付所欠的金額。

這艘船的經營者似乎隱瞞了這種一再發生的工資拖欠行為。

AMSA運營執行總監Michael Drake表示，這是一起嚴重的***海員案件。

他說：“工資拖欠、偽造和脅迫是嚴重的問題，聽到MSXT Emily的情況，我深感不安。”。

“這艘船上的工作條件是一種恥辱，AMSA不會容忍這種情況在澳大利亞水域發生。

“我要感謝ITF在引起我們注意這一問題方面所發揮的作用，并感謝他們繼續倡導海員的權利和福利。”

德雷克表示，一年的禁令是必要的，以傳達這樣一個信息，即海員福利應該是每個航運運營商的優先考慮事項。

他說：“我們的現代經濟依賴于這些海員的辛勤工作，當他們受到***時，其影響可能是巨大的。”

“海員們一次要在海上待上幾個月，如果士氣低落或者他們的身心健康狀況不佳，就會增加出問題的風險。

“供應鏈，包括像K-Line這樣的船舶租賃公司，需要仔細考慮他們聘請哪些運營商將船只帶到澳大利亞。

“我們實施這一漫長的禁令是一個明確的威懾，并認識到這些重要的工人應該得到尊嚴和公平的薪酬和良好的工作條件的尊重。”