LETTER | Vietnam must urgently repatriate seafarers stranded in M'sia without salary, food

Twelve Vietnamese seafarers, including the vessel captain, have been stranded in Malaysian waters and living in inhumane conditions since they started work aboard the MV Viet Tin 01 in mid-March this year.

Responding to their distress call on a mobile App used by seafarers globally, the National Union of Seafarers Peninsular Malaysia’s (NUSPM) immediate action was to furnish the crew with rice and dry food provisions on June 23. NUSPM, however, wants the Vietnamese government to intervene to repatriate its citizens immediately as they are living in torturous conditions.

To hand over the provisions, NUSPM gained entry onboard the vessel anchored in Johor, with the accompaniment of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

During the visit it was learned that the vessel, which was abandoned by its owner, did not have any fuel and was in complete blackout, leaving all those onboard to live in unbearable heat during the day and being unable to light up during the night, the vessel also poses a navigational hazard.

Without power onboard, the crew are also susceptible to insect bites and without food, they are open to numerous health hazards. Their plight is very unfortunate because shortly after they started work, the movement control order (MCO) came into effect, and the crew were not able to leave the vessel either.

The seafarers took to writing their “cry for help” in bold white letters reading “Help us. No food. No salary” on the hull of their vessel because without salary, they could not afford to hire a boat to go ashore and with the MCO in effect, it became impossible to leave their vessel for food or even medical aid.

While NUSPM tries to establish contact with the vessel owner who has clearly abandoned their responsibility for the wellbeing of their crew and the vessel, we want the Vietnamese government to exercise its responsibilities as a signatory to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) which requires minimum standards to be provided to seafarers and should the owner fail to do so, the government should be able to access funds from the ship owner’s contribution to the Protection and Indemnity (P&I club) coverage.

In our letter to the Vietnam Maritime Administration and the Vietnam Embassy in Malaysia, we have also asked that all back wages are paid to the seafarers immediately as they will not be able to gain employment anytime soon, in the current climate of a pandemic.

NATIONAL UNION OF SEAFARERS OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA (NUSPM) is a union established to defend the rights, well-being and interest of seafarers.

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