HRAS: 30 seafarers stranded in the UAE without pay for over a year, suffering from poor health
Summary
Date Reported: 12 Oct 2018
Location: United Arab Emirates
Companies
Elite Way Marine Services - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 10
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Sudan , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 8 - India , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported )Issues
Recruitment Fees , Restricted mobility , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Right to Food , Intimidation , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of MovementResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: In February 2019 the UAE Federal Transport Authority and Mission to Seafarers took action against Elite Way Marine Services and seized the vessel. Elite Way Marine Services had promised to pay outstanding salaries to the ten searfarers onboard the Azraqmoiah as well as other ships, by selling vessels. Consequently most crew members left the ship in April 2019, accepting 40-60% of their owed salaries. The Captain, a cook from India, and the chief officer from Sudan, were finally repatriated in June 2019. The Captain said he had been paid 80% of the wages owing to him. The operations manager of Elite Way Marine Services stated that the company had been experiencing financial difficulties but that they would raise the money for the owed salaries by selling vessels.
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 10 Dec 2018
Location: United Arab Emirates
Companies
Elite Way Marine Services - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 9
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 7 - India , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported )Issues
Restricted mobility , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Right to Food , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of MovementResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: In May 2019, the ship's owner offered the crew payment of 50% of the owed wages; the majority of the crew accepted this with no further negotiation. In June 2019, the remaining four crew members left the ship in the one remaining lifeboat in desperation, but were forcibly returned to the ship by the UAE coastguard. The four sailors were later towed back to a UAE port. As of August 8th 2019, the crew had been ashore in the UAE awaiting the resolution of their case; they had informed Human Rights at Sea that their case had been lodged as a criminal complaint with the UAE Coastguard. The operations manager of Elite Way Marine Services stated to that the company had been experiencing financial difficulties but that they would raise the money for the owed salaries by selling vessels. In December 2019, it was reported in the National that the four seafarers had finalised an agreement with their employer to receive 80% of their wages. They were owed a total of US$250,000 between them.
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 10 Dec 2018
Location: United Arab Emirates
Companies
Elite Way Marine Services - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 2
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 2 - India , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported )Issues
Restricted mobility , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Right to Food , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of MovementResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: The operations manager of Elite Way Marine Services stated to that the company had been experiencing financial difficulties but that they would raise the money for the owed salaries by selling vessels.
Source type: NGO
"HRAS Case Study: Seafarers' Abdonment in the UAE", December 2018
Human Rights at Sea [HRAS] has been made aware of a series of human rights and labour abusive practices against seafarers on board three vessels in the UAE belonging to the ship-owner company Elite Way Marine Services EST, incorporated in Dubai. About thirty... seafarers contacted... HRAS to report their situation... [T]he seafarers... suffer from physical and mental health conditions and are owed more than a year's salary each... Sanitary conditions are absent from all three vessels. There are no sufficient suppliers of food and fresh water and no medical assistance. The crew has reported that they have also been deprived of their travel and identificatiojn documents, which were confiscated by the UAE authorities... [T]he Federal Transport Authority (FTA) in UAE has taken legal action and banned Elite Way Marine Services EST... on the grounds of seafarers abandonment. Seafarers contend that the owner and management are telling the FTA that they will sell the vessels and then resolve the issue soon. Yet so far there has been no action...