Kaohsiung-headquartered Jumbo Sino Development of Taiwan is the latest shipowner to be publically shamed for abandoning its crews amid the protracted downturn. 19 crewmembers – a mix of Chinese and Burmese nationals – working on the Shun Da and Yong Win 18 chemical tankers, have been left to fend for themselves at a ship repair yard in Haiphong in northern Vietnam.
On May 13, the two vessels came to Nam Trieu shipyard (pictured) at which point the owner abandoned the ships and crew, with up to nine months of pay missing too.
Vietnamese authorities are now working to repatriate the crews.
This is the latest in an ever increasing series of crews being abandoned by vessel owners – something Splash intends to campaign to highlight to charters those owners who have a track record of crew neglect.
Reverend Ken Peters from the UK charity Mission to Seafarers told Splash last week: “Seafarers are the easy target for reducing costs but inflicting such punitive measures on the innocent and ignoring their plight is unconscionable. Such behaviour is unacceptable and the shipping industry ought to speak out about those who, in attempts to maintain their other trades, sacrifice individual ships to uphold their business.”
