The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is the Australian authority responsible for regulation and implementation of international shipping standards by vessels operating in Australian waters. AMSA is obliged to investigate any complaint alleging a breach of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006), which is an act containing fundamental principles to ensure living and working conditions for all seafarers covered by the MLC.
In recent months, two ships have been banned from returning to Australian ports for 12 and 6 months respectively, following AMSA investigations triggered by complaints reported by the International Transport Workers Federation. In the first case, the violation of MLC arose from arrears of crew’s remuneration and also from not providing safe working conditions on the board.
In August 2017, AMSA issued a 12-month ban to enter the Australian ports due to significant arrears in crew’s payments. Moreover, there were two payrolls on the board. One of them was intended to present to inspection bodies, it showed that the remuneration was paid on time and in a due amount. The other, showed a real data, indicated that the arrears in payments covering a period of at least 6 months and the amount by more than the US $ 17,000 per month.
In both cases, AMSA inspections were the result of complaints reported by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).
Source:
www.hfw.com
- Adam Gielnik