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TMT’s Donald Duckling: the unwelcome guest

TMT’s Donald Duckling: the unwelcome guest
The Port of Tyne has just reported its highest cargo volumes for more than 50 years, handling 8.1m tonnes of cargo in 2013, a 22% increase on 2012.  But not all ships calling at the Northeast of England port have been welcomed with open arms. Bankrupt TMT vessel Donald Duckling had detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) since November 2013.

The vessel is now unmanned and berthed at the former McNulty Offshore Quay at South Shields – and there is no indication as to how much longer she will be playing the unwelcome guest.

Owned by Nobu Su’s TMT, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Panama-flagged Donald Duckling arrived in the Tyne with 18 crew on board, from Romania, India and the Philippines, and a “reputation” which meant that port state control officer Alan Thomson, who is surveyor in charge for the MCA on the Tyne, knew what to expect.

The vessel had previously been detained in Gibraltar for 120 days and then been detained in Las Palmas for non-payment of wages and a lack of food, amongst other issues. There were stories of the ship breaking down mid-voyage and the crew fishing over the side for food.

Thomson found that the crew had not been paid, there was no food on board, there was no money to buy food, there were serious problems with the boiler and the fridges were not working. There was no fuel, and therefore no engine, no light and no heat.

For two-and-a-half months, the crew were supported by the port, the Mission to Seafarers and other local charities, so that they had power, food and provisions, fresh water and mobile phone connections.

This is exactly the sort of thing the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which came into force last August, is designed to sort out, by setting down clear responsibilities for shipowner and flag in such situations – but because the UK did not formally ratify the convention until 7 August 2013, its port state control officers cannot enforce it in its totality on visiting ships until 7 August 2014.

Most of the content of the MLC can be found in various ILO conventions still being applied by the UK, says Thomson, but technicalities over the definition of abandonment meant the episode dragged out, Panama dragged its feet, and in the end the Romanian crew found their way home after a free ferry crossing offered by DFDS, and the rest of the crew were repatriated by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) at its expense.

If the same thing happened after 7 August 2014, the MCA could have forced the issue by repatriating the crew and sending the bill to Panama.

Worryingly, the chain of responsibility broke in more than once place. With action from Panama at “zero”, the Romanian and Filipino crew’s consulates were told about the situation. “But the consulates’ response was that they get up to 50 people a day, their nationals, walking in off the streets in London, destitute, with lost passports, etc.,” says Thomson. “The message was that they don’t send them home, so they were not going to start sending seafarers home.”

His frustration is evident. “Now we are just left with a piece of metal on the Tyne, but there has been all that heartache and problems for the crew. It is very emotive when you see guys who are hungry or not being paid. This happened just after the typhoon in the Philippines – the Filipino crew didn’t know where their wives were, didn’t have any money and were stuck onboard. When this ship arrived, it had no fridges working but it was going to sail through the tropics for 30 days.

“It was fantastic that local charities stepped in but this is not what the MLC is for. Panama signed up for the convention and do they really understand what they signed up for? This is very bad publicity for Panama.”