The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Shandong Hai Wang for 12 months after it was discovered that crew had been deliberately underpaid.
On Friday 6 July AMSA received information from the International Transport Workers’ Federation alleging discrepancies in the payment of crew wages.
AMSA surveyors boarded the ship on arrival in Gladstone on Saturday 7 July to investigate the allegations.
During the inspection, the surveyors found evidence that crew had been deliberately underpaid by about $56,000 (AUD) from the amount specified in their seafarer employment agreements.
The ship was immediately detained for breaching the Maritime Labour Convention which sets out seafarers’ rights to decent working conditions.