Dear colleagues on board,
On March 26, 2024, Spanaco Fidelity received a visit from the ITF in Lorient, France.
It quickly turned out that 2 crew members had called the ITF in France and complained about the Captain.
When I asked, the young representative from the ITF sent me the following email:
Quote:
The sailors complained of harassment and harassment. From the master. No problem with the previous captain, but now the cadet works a lot, for example after his watch, and cannot allow himself any rest. The captain even physically forced the sailor to continue working and physically prevented him from leaving the deck
The situation is unsustainable and the captain has to disembark. urgent, the ship cannot sail in the presence of the captain. IT IS TOO DANGEROUS
- The lashing/unlashing carried out by the crew was not paid for.
- The crew does not have access to bed linen, towels, safety shoes and gloves.
- The crew has no access to the internet.
- There are no recreational activities.
End of quote.
We were able to refute all allegations against the captain quite quickly, but the young representative from the ITF insisted on replacing the captain because she was of the opinion that this captain posed a danger to the crew.
I have known this captain for a very long time and we never had the slightest suspicion that this captain posed a danger to his crew.
But the young representative from the ITF wasn't interested in any of this and insisted on a replacement.
After consulting with the owners of the ship, we decided to take the captain of the Spanaco Simplicity, who is currently with his ship in a shipyard in Delfziel, NL, to Spanaco Fidelity by taxi (1900 km) in order to ultimately avoid a war with the ITF ignite. This could definitely have delayed the ship's departure by several days.
All this fun caused significant financial loss to the owners of the ship.
I am sure that this situation could have been avoided if the two crew members had adhered to our MLC Complain Procedure, which is posted in the mess room.
Even if a captain does not respond immediately to a crew member's complaint, anyone on board can call or write to the HLB office and your DPA's will then find a definitive solution to your problem.
So dear colleagues, if you have a problem on board, please call one of our DPA's in the office first and I promise you there is always a solution that everyone can live with.
