Skip to main content

Red listing Philippines-based manning agent ‘Able Maritime’ first step to stopping seafarer exploitation

ニュース 記者発表資料

The Inspectorate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has red listed Able Maritime Seafarers Inc after the crewing agent failed to respond to official enquiries from the ITF about the diabolical pay and terrible conditions of seafarers the company placed in work.

A flood of new allegations against the Philippines-based manning agent have emerged as a result of publicity generated by the ITF’s questions, raised publicly last month.

A red listing on ITFShipBeSure.org tells seafarers to avoid a manning agent and should trigger regulators to begin their own suspension investigations into companies they register.

The ITF is working closely with the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which regulates manning agencies in the country, to find out what went wrong in the cases where it seems Able Maritime have failed to prevent of Filipino seafarers from being exploited, and in cases where they did not adequately support the seafarers nominally in their care to get help and return safely home.

“We haven’t taken this step lightly, but the weight of evidence against Able Maritime is overwhelming and the agency refuses to engage in any dialogue about how it might put right the suffering it has caused by placing seafarers in poorly paid and often dangerous work.” ITF Inspectorate Coordinator Steve Trowsdale said. (Credit: ITF)

“Since we raised the plight of seafarers placed in jobs by Able Maritime in Fiji, Malta and on Chinese-flagged fishing boats in the Indian Ocean, the families of more than 30 other seafarers have been in touch,” said Steve Trowsdale, ITF Inspectorate Coordinator. “They want to know what has happened to pay that Able Maritime owes them and their loved ones, in some cases for amounts worth more than seven months’ wages.”

The ITF runs a directory of manning agencies as part of its ITFShipBeSure.org website. By red listing Able Maritime on this site,

John Lyod Restauro: angry at how Able Maritime treated him

it is telling seafarers to avoid using the agency when seeking work. It is also serves as a warning to ship operators and regulators internationally.

“We haven’t taken this step lightly,” said Trowsdale. “But the weight of evidence against Able Maritime is overwhelming and the agency refuses to engage in any dialogue about how it might put right the suffering it has caused by placing seafarers in poorly paid and often dangerous work.”

Real suffering

The story of John Lyod Restauro has tugged at many heartstrings. This young engineer was tricked by a last-minute switch in

contracts at Able Maritime into taking work with ferry and inter-island shipping operator Goundar Shipping in far-off Fiji. Once there, his passport was taken, and his pay was so low that he had no way to get back home. He was essentially enslaved by any modern definition.

Thanks to the efforts of ITF inspectors and others, he recently made it home to Cebu in the Philippines after nearly two years away. He is understandably angry and is speaking his mind. As a result of an interview with the Manila Times and another with an online programme called Marino Filipino TV, more than 30 relatives of other seafarers have come forward saying they are owed wages by Able Maritime.

“I feel relieved and happy about the action [the red listing of Able Maritime],” Restauro said. “We need to stop its wrongdoing, taking advantage of Filipino seafarers who just want a job at sea.”

The POEA has urged all those impacted by Able Maritime’s activities to file a formal report with POEA Legal Assistance. Arvin Peralta, the ITF’s inspector in the Philippines has been helping many of those affected understand how the system works. On 4 October, there was an online meeting with four POEA lawyers and many of the seafarers and relatives involved. Attending were Restauro and six others who went to work for Goundar Shipping, Roberto Gonzales who had his pay cut in a contract switch when he went to work with Malta Towing, and over 30 wives of seafarers currently working on Chinese-flagged fishing vessels.

On 7 October, the POEA Seabased Center got in touch with the ITF’s Peralta seeking the federation’s assistance with the Able Maritime cases.

“I am happy to help,” said Peralta. “We hope that the POEA will match the ITF’s initiative as as result of all these complaints and ban Able Maritime from operating as a manning agency. We need to stop entirely the exploitation of Filipino seafarers. This red listing is just a first step.”

“We need to stop entirely the exploitation of Filipino seafarers. This red listing is just a first step.” said ITF Inspector Arvin Peralta

END

About the ITF: The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is a democratic, affiliate-led federation recognised as the world’s leading transport authority. We fight passionately to improve working lives; connecting trade unions from 147 countries to secure rights, equality and justice for their members. We are the voice for nearly 20 million working women and men in the transport industry across the world.

Media contact: media[at]itf.org.uk  +44 20 7940 9282

現場の声

ニュース

ディーセント(衛生的な)トイレへの安全なアクセス:交通運輸労働者の基本的権利

毎年 11 月 19 日の「世界トイレ・デー」は、世界中で衛生面の危機に取り組むための行動を喚起する機会だ。 適切なトイレ施設や衛生設備への安全なアクセスと、最も重要なこととして、必要な時にそれらの施設を利用できる必要性は、広く世界中の交通運輸労働者が強く感じている問題だ。 世界的な衛生危機は世界人口の約半数に影響を及ぼしているが、私たちの生活と経済を動かしている交通運輸労働者にとって
ニュース

2024年ITF世界大会、平和、労働者の権利、国際連帯への大胆なコミットメントで閉会

マラケシュで開催された2024年ITF世界大会の歴史的最終セッションでは、全世界の交通運輸労組の揺るぎない決意を再確認し、今後5年間のITF戦略を策定する重要な動議を採択し、役員の選出も行った。 労働者の力を高め、搾取と分断を進める勢力に対抗することに明確な焦点を当てた今大会は、激動の増す世界において、正義、平等、連帯のテーマを定め、譲ることのできない一線を明確にした。その中心にあるのは
ニュース

ミレイ政権(アルゼンチン)の反労組の法律に抗議し、交通運輸労組がスト

 ITF は本日ストを決行するアルゼンチンの交通運輸労働者に連帯を送る。  アルゼンチンの交通運輸労組は、ハビエル・ミレイ大統領の労働者に対する攻撃(緊縮財政、スト権に対する攻撃、反労組の政策等)に抗議している。  ミレイ政権は、投資家に減税を施し、大企業に迎合する一方、国営のアルゼンチン航空を民営化して、補助金を撤廃しようとしている。  これまで