Turkish vessel Munzur to be arrested over MLC violations

Although ITF inspector Darren Procter reported yesterday that the Turkish owner had been given until 1700hrs BST to “to pay the crew and organise repatriation”, ITF has since confirmed it received no response, and intends to initiate legal action this morning.

Nearly all of the 12 crew members, of five different nationalities, were being paid below the International Labour Organisation (ILO) agreed minimum with one earning $400 per month. “The contracts of employment onboard are in breach of many Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) regulations,” said Procter.

Procter called the crew’s living conditions “appalling”, reporting that the vessel had “no hot water at the time of arrest, no washing machines, filthy bed linen, low levels of fresh food, unsafe electrics and a sanitary system which relies on a 45 gallon drum full of sea water.”

On top of this, the UK Coastguard recorded 14 deficiencies including unsafe or inoperable electrical devices, missing fire alarms, lack of training, lack of navigational charts and an inoperative GNSS navigation system.