Chinese seamen still adrift with no wages
Nearly a year after they left the shores of Sri lanka and headed home, two Chinese seamen are yet to receive their due wages and are requesting help from maritime organisations, an official with the International Transport workers Federation (ITF) here said yesterday.
Local ITF Inspector Ranjan Perera said the two Chinese were the Captain and the Chief Mate of the fishing vessel FV Tai Yaun 227 that had earlier been captured by Somali pirates before it limped into the Colombo Port at the beginning of last year.
He said after a long drawn out legal battle with the stake holders that included the 26-member crew, the ship owner, local bunkering companies and the authorities in Colombo the vessel was subsequently auctioned and the monies were used to pay the wages and other dues.
Most of the crew that included Africans, Indonesians and Chinese left the country in October last year after their back wages were settled in hard currency.
“However the two Chinese had opted to leave the country much earlier as the legal battle dragged on and they were promised their wages in due time. The responsibility of disbursing the wages was handed over to the law firm that handled the legal matters from the start to end, but now there appears to be a snag in completing the transaction with the two Chinese seamen,” Mr. Perera said.
He said the two Chinese were out of work and are finding life difficult.
The law firm has informed the ITF office in Colombo that the money totaling US$ 54,000 had been put in the respective bank accounts of the two Chinese seamen, but it could not be withdrawn due to some red tape at the exchange control with the Central Bank.
Meanwhile K. Poobalasingham with the K. P. Law Associates that handled the transaction told the Sunday Times that the delay at the Bank would be cleared soon.
“The Bank needed certain court documents before releasing the money and that procedure has now been completed and the two Chinese sailors will receive the dues by the end of August,” Mr. Poobalasingham assured.