KANARIS

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Latest news

Death of crew member may have been contributed to convencience state flag

A crew member of the "Kanaris", killed in a shipboard incident, was stored in the ship’s freezer, alongside food provisions, as crew sought help 260 miles of the coast of Papua New Guinea. The bulk carrier was later detained in Gladstone Australia for breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention. The "Kanaris" had been en route from Huanghua in China to Australia on Feb 4, 2016, when a gantry crashed, hitting the 31-year-old Filipino on the head. Traumatised crewmates spent seven hours by his side while the first officer tried unsuccessfully to keep him alive. They then cleaned his body and stored it in the freezer until the vessel reached Lae in North PNG. The ship continued to Gladstone within hours. On arrival the International Transport Workers’ Federation notified port state control and the Mission for Seafarers. The crew thought the accident was caught by tiredness. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority detained the vesselon Feb 14 after identifying breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention. One of the officers was owed wages, the ship’s work and rest hour recordings for deck crew members were falsified and AMSA noted a failure of the ships on board complaint procedure system. PNG authorities were advised of the accident and local police in Lae, attended the vessel when the body was transferred in that port. The ship was released from detention on Feb 16 and was now in the Coral Sea on a 34-day journey to Mexico. The captain had been stood down and the traumatised officer who fought to revive the seafarer resigned from the vessel. The latest death at sea involving ships on the Australian trade comes as a Senate inquiry into the increasing use of so-called flag of convenience shipping in Australia is due to conclude. The inquiry was sparked by three suspicious deaths on board the "Sage Sagittarius" in 2012 as government moves to deregulate the coast. At a coroners inquest into the two deaths, it emerged that at the time the chief cook on the vessel disappeared, the captain had uncovered a crew plot to report him to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the International Transport Workers’ Authority for crew abuse and gun running. He had ordered the email on the cook’s computer to be deleted. The ship's black box or Ship Voyage Data Recorder (SVDR) audio had also been deleted or turned off at the time the cook disappeared. Captain Salas told the inquest the allegations were a fabrication, but he was unable to account for discrepancies and omissions from his statement to police raised in court.

Crew refused to sail after accident killled Pinoy

A stalemate between the captain and his crew over the safety on board the "Kanaris" has grounded the ship in Gladstone Harbour for now. Talks were underway with the International Transport Workers' Federation national coordinator Dean Summers to settle down the Filipino crew, but they did not want to sail because they believe the captain was unsafe. The captain too was reportedly refusing to sail unless he gets private security. One of the Filipino crew members died when the vessel was about 260 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea. It was believed the crew member was hit by a pulley in the head and died a short later after being hit. His body was removed from the ship in Papua New Guinea. Report with photo: http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/he-feels-unsafe-crew-refuse-leave-glastone-harbour/2931692/