The desperate scrawls of a desperate crew scribbled across the hull of what had become their floating prison was what it took for a group of Vietnamese seafarers aboard the MV Viet Tin 01 to draw attention to their plight.
And after at least two months of anxious waiting for flights and government permission, they are finally home thanks to union support.
The case of the 12 seafarers came to the attention of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and its local affiliate, the National Union of Seafarers Peninsular Malaysia (NUSPM), in June.
NUSPM executive secretary Ikmal Azam Thanaraj Abdullah said that the ship had been abandoned by its Vietnamese owner, leaving the crew stranded off the coast of Malaysia without food, water or fuel.
“The lack of fuel alone left the crew without cooling in the soaring daytime heat, and without critical navigational lights at night,” he said. When the NUSPM heard of the crew’s plight it began providing food and fresh water, and there was a contribution from the Vietnamese embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
“The crew were in a terrible state. They were thirsty, hungry, and at great risk of being hurt or drowned if another vessel collided with them while they slept due to the lack of lighting onboard. This was an accident waiting to happen for the stricken crew on board.”
“Working with the Malaysia Maritime Department and the relevant agent, we were able to get clearance to bring the crew onshore. Covid-19 tests were conducted and the results were all negative.”
A shipowner typically covers the cost of repatriation, including accommodation and food, while seafarers wait to board flights home at the end of their contracts. But in cases of abandonment, he reneges on this responsibility, and crew are left to find the money needed to pay for these essential costs. This is made even more difficult because employers often stop paying the crew their wages for months before they finally abandon the ship.
The ITF covered the costs of the seafarers’ accommodation and meals.
According to the ITF, the 12 Vietnamese seafarers are just the latest group in the Asia region to be unfortunate enough to experience what the organisation calls a ‘rising tide’ of abandonment cases.
