Report: UAE-based ALCO denies sailors’ wages for 25 months, confiscates their passports leaving them stranded offshore
Summary
Date Reported: 8 Aug 2017
Location: United Arab Emirates
Companies
ALCO Shipping Services - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 9
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Bangladesh - Sector unknown , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Pakistan , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 6 - India , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Sri Lanka , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported )Issues
Right to Food , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of Movement , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Restricted mobility , Withholding PassportsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Resource Centre
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Company did not respond. The seafarers did contact the Indian Consulate but as of July 2017 it had not yet been confirmed whether they had been able to address the sailors' needs or facilitate contact with their families back home.
Source type: NGO
“Breach of Indian Seafarers Human Rights & their Abandonment”, 2 July 2017
The [nine-member] crew of the MT Ocean Pride are currently stranded on an increasingly dangerous vessel, anchored off the coast of UAE. The MT Ocean Pride is an oil/chemical tanker owned by Alco Shipping Services…Throughout their ordeal, the crew have been denied access to proper and timely medical treatment. They have not been provided with suitable facilities, food, water…and their health and wellbeing has been severely damaged as a result…Despite repeated requests for help, the crew’s correspondence has been ignored, and their salaries not paid for 25 months…[Their] passports were [confiscated] from their sign-on date, and have not been returned despite repeated requests…There is insufficient Personal Protective Equipment on board…[and] fire extinguishers…have expired. In addition, the life boats are rusted and not safe to use, and…seawater is allegedly leaking into the engine room…
[The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited ALCO Shipping Services to respond, but has yet to receive a response]