The Maritime Union says the confirmed death of three Indonesian crew members missing after sinking of a fishing vessel Oyang 70 is a tragedy.

The Korean-owned Oyang 70 sank early this morning approximately 400 nautical miles off the Otago coast.

In addition to the three deaths, three crew members are still missing and 45 crew members were picked up by another fishing vessel the Amaltal Atlantis. Rescue operations are underway to find the missing men.

The Oyang 70 departed from Dunedin on the morning of 14 August.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the sinking is a maritime disaster and initial reports that the vessel had capsized in good weather conditions were extremely disturbing.

The Maritime Union would be working with the International Transport Workers Federation to provide any assistance it could to crew members, and also to find out why the sinking occurred.

At 38 years of age the Oyang 70 was one of the oldest fishing vessels in New Zealand waters.

The sinking comes just a few months after two overseas crew members died from asphyxiation aboard the bulk carrier TPC Wellington in the Port of Whangarei in May 2010.

Mr Fleetwood says the Union has encountered ongoing problems experienced by overseas crew on merchant and fishing vessels, including health and safety problems.

Oyang 70 is owned by Sajo Oyang Corporation, a company incorporated in Korea, and is registered on the Korean Shipping Registry and flies the Korean flag.

Oyang 70 has operated in New Zealand waters since the 1980s. It was convicted of spilling oil in Nelson harbour last year.

It is chartered by Southern Storm (2007) Ltd who have offices in Christchurch.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand says it has cleared the TPC Wellington to leave Marsden Point after working with crew members to arrange their repatriation.

Two crew members died on the log ship on Monday from what is thought to be asphyxiation, but investigations into the accident are ongoing.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the priority has been to ensure the welfare of remaining crew members.

He says an agreement has been reached between the company and the crew with the assistance of the ITF and Maritime Union.

The Burmese crew members would return with the vessel to Korea where the company would release them from their contract.

The crew members would be paid wages owing, repatriation costs and a bonus.

Under the agreement they would be able to refuse to carry out work they felt was unsafe.

The Maritime Union is affiliated to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which represents seafarers and maritime workers around the world.

ITF New Zealand Inspector Grahame McLaren arrived at the vessel on Tuesday afternoon and had been working with crew since that time.

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The Maritime Union says that it will be looking into health and safety aboard the bulk carrier TPC Wellington after a serious accident.

Two sailors, one Korean and one Burmese, died after suffocating in the ship’s timber hold at Marsden Point wharf near Whangarei yesterday afternoon.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says it is likely this was an unnecessary tragedy.

“Last week we commemorated International Workers Memorial Day, to remember all those workers killed and harmed on the job, and now sadly we already have more workplace fatalities.”

Mr Fleetwood says the Union is not making any assumptions about the incident.

A full investigation was required to identify what happened.

“What we will be asking about is the safety of the vessel, were all safety precautions taken, was there any use of toxic chemicals aboard the vessel, and what were the onboard conditions for the crew.”

Mr Fleetwood says that fatalities and serious injuries occurred far too often in the maritime industry, often due to corner cutting and time pressures in a deregulated industry.

He says the event was the most serious in a New Zealand port for some time.

“Firstly, before assigning responsibility to anyone, let alone the victims, we need to know the events leading up to the deaths, and whether these workers were aware of any dangers.”

Mr Fleetwood says it is common to find safety issues aboard “flag of convenience” ships and fishing vessels.

This was complicated by communication issues as many crews were comprised of different nationalities.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation, which is the global organization representing transport workers including seafarers, fisheries workers, waterfront workers and other maritime workers.

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International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) New Zealand inspector Grahame McLaren says the case of 10 Sri Lankan crew members aboard the MV Charelle docked at the Ports of Auckland are an example of the hardships experienced by seafarers around the world.

The vessel and its crew were held by Somali pirates for six months last year, only being released after a ransom was paid on 3 December 2009.

Now a new crew are waiting for tens of thousands of dollars of back pay in Auckland.

The MV Charelle was inspected by ITF New Zealand inspector Grahame MacLaren and local Maritime Union of New Zealand representatives in Auckland in March 2010.

Mr McLaren says crew members were being paid well below ITF rates and even less than International Labour Organization (ILO) minimums.

Crew are awaiting a total of $75,000 in back pay, and have not been paid for 3 1/2 months, apart from a payment of $4,000 made earlier this week.

The managers have given assurances to Maritime Union of New Zealand Auckland Local 13 President Garry Parsloe that the balance owing will be paid within a week.

Mr McLaren says crew are due to be repatriated in the next few days and replaced with a new crew, but the ITF have advised them not to leave the ship until all outstanding amounts have been paid.

The MV Charelle is a general cargo ship operating under the Antigua and Barbados flag of convenience.

The vessel is German owned and managed by New Zealand company Tradex Marine.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand has congratulated the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in its successful and ongoing campaign in improving wages and conditions in the offshore industry.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says offshore maritime workers are working in a tough and unforgiving environment and all workers benefit from strong unions like the MUA leading the way forward.

He says the recent media attack from the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE) on the MUA’s offshore strategy has blown the credibility of the AIMPE.

The AIMPE is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation, and the Maritime Union of New Zealand will be seeking an explanation of their leadership’s public statements attacking a fellow maritime union for doing their job.

The AIMPE leadership need to figure out whether they are representing workers or representing employers, says Mr Fleetwood.

Mr Fleetwood sayd the ongoing attacks on the MUA in the big business owned Australian media are to be expected and need to be countered by getting the real story out through working class communities.

“Any group of workers that is successfully organized and achieving good results are regarded as a threat to the vast profits corporate owners and managers are grabbing. So all the flak the MUA are getting is a sign you are making good progress.”

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The New Zealand Herald has an NZPA report on the situation of the Annapurna and it’s Burmese crew here.

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The Maritime Union says it is helping the Burmese crew from the seized vessel Annapurna in the Ports of Auckland.

The Liberian-flagged Annapurna was seized yesterday by creditors after it berthed in Auckland, following the bankruptcy of its owners Eastwind.

Maritime Union Auckland Seafarers Branch Secretary Garry Parsloe, who represents the International Transport Workers Federation, says the primary concern of the Union is that crew members are paid their wages.

He says the Union is ensuring that the interests of the 23 Burmese crew members are looked after.

He says provisions for the crew have been supplied as well as telephones, as some of the crew had not spoken to their families at home in months.

Mr Parsloe says he has an undertaking from the agents that a payment would be made to crew to assist them in the meantime.

He says some of the crew members had not been paid for up to a year.

Mr Parsloe says he was pleased to hear representatives of the creditors had indicated that crew wages would be at the top of the list to be paid once the ship had been sold.

He says the crew will either be repatriated with their wages or may be re-employed by a new owner of the vessel, which was their decision.

Mr Parsloe says there are often problems with “flag of convenience” ships and the treatment of their crew around the world.

ENDS

For more information contact Maritime Union Auckland Seafarers Branch Secretary Garry Parsloe on 021326261

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The Maritime Union has slammed comments by Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley about employment in New Zealand’s fishing industry, and say they make a bad joke out of the Government’s commitment to protect jobs.
Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says Mr Heatley has publicly admitted that New Zealand jobs are not a priority in the New Zealand fishing industry.
The comments were made at Parliament’s primary production select committee, when Mr Heatley was being questioned about the objectives in the 2030 Fisheries Plan.
Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union is angry and perturbed at the lack of any forethought by many of the major players in the industry and the irresponsible role of the Government.
“We do accept some fishing companies are being responsible and fishing their quota with state of the art vessels and New Zealand fishermen, but unfortunately they are fishing in competition with other New Zealand companies in joint ventures with foreign operators.”
Mr Hanson says joint venture foreign charter vessels catching New Zealand quota use and often exploit foreign crews from low wage economies.
He says promises to use New Zealand workers in the industry have been broken.
“The fishing industry is one of our most valuable assets, and New Zealand workers have the right to work in this industry as well as the responsibility to manage this globally endangered resource.”
Mr Hanson says if the private sector is unable or unwilling to train and employ young New Zealand workers, the Government should be acquiring the vessels and training New Zealand crews to fish our waters.

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The Maritime Union says that it has had enough of cowboy tactics on the Cook Strait after further revelations of another potential ferry
grounding that was narrowly avoided.

The Union is concerned about reports the ferry ‘Santa Regina’ was on auto pilot in the Tory Channel on June 9 in breach of Maritime Safety Authority rules.

Maritime Union of New Zealand Wellington Seafarers Branch President Mike Shakespeare says the latest incident aboard the ‘Santa Regina’
could have ended in disaster.

“We can no longer have these type of incidents occurring that pose a grave threat to the safety of the public and of our members.”

He says incidents such as this are the result of cost-cutting by ferry operators in a highly competitive market.

The Maritime Union is calling for stronger safety regulations and appropriate crew levels.

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The Maritime Union says attempts to sack the crew of the Cook Strait ferry “Kent” by employers Strait Shipping is driven by attempts by management to bypass new safety regulations.

Maritime Union Wellington Branch Secretary Mike Williams says the threats to sack a crew is because the workers will not compromise on health and safety.

Mr Williams says Strait Shipping was ordered by the Maritime Safety Authority to put extra crew on steering duties after a fatality in Tory Channel earlier this week following a collision involving a yacht and the ferry “Santa Regina”.

He says Strait Shipping have ordered current crew to go onto steering duties in addition to their current duties.

Mr Williams says the company is trying to get around the need for extra crew to ensure the safe operation of ferries.

“The attack on the crew is just a smokescreen for the real issue which is an appropriate level of crew, and our members are not prepared to have their safety or public safety put in jeopardy.”

Mr Williams says a national meeting of the Maritime Union executive in Wellington this morning has given its full support to the crew and their stance for health and safety.

“We cannot have managers trying to abuse regulations that are put there to protect life and limb.”

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