A ship of dubious provenance
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This story is horrific. I knew those that ply the seas were mistreated, but this is absolutely crazy.
In August 2018, he learned that his mother, a teacher responsible for his excellent English, had died. That was Mohammed's low point.
"I seriously considered ending my life," he told me.
By August 2019, Mohammed was alone but for the occasional guard and trapped on a vessel with no diesel and, consequently, no power. He was legally obliged to stay aboard and was unpaid, demoralised and feeling increasingly unwell.
...
According to the International Labour Organization, there are more than 250 active cases around the world where crews are simply left to fend for themselves. It says 85 new cases were reported in 2020, which is twice as many as in the previous year.
Meanwhile, at the Iranian port of Assaluyeh, 19 mostly Indian crew members of the bulk carrier Ula are on hunger strike after their vessel was abandoned by its owners in July 2019.
A crew member recently told the shipping journal Lloyd's List that the situation on board was "very critical", with depression rife and seafarers' families running out of money.
A reminder that the world is rife with injustice.
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@just-jeepin The laws that govern crew responsibility of a ship are there for a reason and normally serve a purpose, but when the owners of the ship ditch their responsibilities then the crew ought to be likewise dissolved of any responsibility provided they don't act with malice. i.e. company abandons the ship? The crew drops anchor offshore, motors ashore, walk away.
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@just-jeepin Yeah, definitely not right. Feels like in that circumstance they should just impound the ship and repatriate the crew at the owner's expense (if the owner doesn't pay and settle the issues that led to the impounding in the first place, then just auction the ship).
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I went down a really dark hole about the conditions of certain fishing vessels in South East Asia last year. I considered posting it on Oppo.Kinja but it was heavy heavy doomscroll in the time of covid.
Obviously if your on with such a shit show of a company they aren’t following IMO or ILO so chances are the vessel itself is shit, they don’t have emergency gear, and the lifeboat if actually functioning is probably hokey. I have the luxury of never be so desperate as to set foot on a vessel like that.
It’s sad to read about the expendability of human life in this day and age but it does still go on in many other places of the world.
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@hammerheadfistpunch also, sometimes the country they happen to be in at the time won't let them come ashore due to lack of required paperwork, identification, visa rules, etc, and the lack of any guarantee that they'd be able to leave for home in a reasonable time frame
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Should of sold it for scrap!
What an awful situation but sadly not surprising. Anything 3rd or not-1st world country will commonly brings some shitshow humanitarian crisis along for the ride. Add in International maritime laws and the likelyhood of them not following them and things get spicy fast. Lotsa paperwork to get people on/off legally and very country dependent so it’s not easy if you’re trying it the right way. Takes a lot of work to move people around with all their paperwork intact, let alone ones that certainly do not.
It’s easy to say steal the fast boat and gtfo but as @Exage03040 mentioned these vessels are likely safety hell and sketch as get out. Same as their owners...
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@exage03040 said in A ship of dubious provenance:
doomscroll
What would be your definition of doomscroll?
Are you a seafarer?
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@rusty-vandura said in A ship of dubious provenance:
What would be your definition of doomscroll?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/12/ship-of-horrors-deep-sea-fishing-oyang-70-new-zealand
Part of Ian Urbina's The Outlaw Ocean https://www.theoutlawocean.com/reporting
Description of his book:
There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world’s oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to rampant criminality and exploitation.
Traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, seabound abortion providers, clandestine oil-dumpers, shackled slaves and cast-adrift stowaways — drawing on five years of perilous and intrepid reporting, often hundreds of miles from shore, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, survival and tragedy, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil and shipping industries, and on which the world’s economies rely.
Both a gripping adventure story and a stunning exposé, this unique work of reportage brings fully into view for the first time the disturbing reality of a floating world that connects us all, a place where anyone can do anything because no one is watching.
And yes, I do sail.
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@exage03040 thanks, I have a new book to read now.
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@exage03040 said in A ship of dubious provenance:
And yes, I do sail.
Why? After that post?
I knew a guy whose grandfather was rich and owned a big luxury cruiser with twin 12-cylinder diesel engines and when the guy I knew graduated from university, Gramps took him and a couple of his best buddies on an extended party cruise with sunshine and lots of beer and perhaps some fishing poles. My friend said Grampa had this giant shotgun he kept on board, perhaps a 10-gauge, and the plan was that if any pirates came anywhere near him, the plan was to begin shooting at the other boat right at the water line.
And here is one of my absolute favorite videos on the entire internet:
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@rusty-vandura said in A ship of dubious provenance:
Why? After that post?
Because I work with a company and in a country that strictly abides by IMO regulations. I make good money doing what I do and I'm very good at it. It's completely opposite from criminality that exists in the other part of the world.
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@exage03040 said in A ship of dubious provenance:
Because I work with a company and in a country that strictly abides by IMO regulations. I make good money doing what I do and I'm very good at it. It's completely opposite from criminality that exists in the other part of the world.
I'd have no reason to expect otherwise.
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@just-jeepin
I watched a video on that guy a few days ago. He was swimming to shore every couple of days to get supplies and charge his phone. I'm glad to see he's finally going home.
