ILO Home
Go to the home page
Nous contacter English - Español
> Page d'accueil   > Afficher tous les cas

Bramco 1[resolved]

IMO8814639


Abandonment ID: 00224
Nom du navire:Bramco 1[resolved]
Pavillon:Bahreïn
No. OMI (7 chiffres):8814639
Port d'abandon:Guandong shipyard, People's Republic of China
Date d'abandon:23 mars 2015
Date de notification:5 mai 2015
Gouvernement ou entité rapportante:Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF)
Nombre de marins:12
Nationalités:Bangladesh(2); Myanmar(10)
Circonstances:Crews are owed 4 months wages, and the widow of the late second officer has received no compensation in respect of the loss of her husband. No response from the company and vessel has been at dry dock for 4 years. Currently, 90% of repair work has been completed.
Actions entreprises:5 mai 2015: Autres
Attempts to contact the company and other stakeholders have been made.

20 janvier 2017: Autres
The IMO urged the flag state to resolve the case.

3 février 2017: Autres
The IMO urged the port state to help the two crew, who urgently need medical treatment, see a doctor.

16 mai 2017: Autres
The ILO sent official letters to port and flag state to urge their effort to resolve this case.

14 juillet 2017: Autres
From Sailors' Society
USD 35,000 from the seafarers Emergency Fund was paid to the families of the crew. A further USD 5,000 is about to be paid. Medical supplies were also delivered.
Situation concernant le rapatriement:5 juillet 2017: Autres
From the ITF
Eight crew members have now been repatriated arranged by the local agent. With the exception of the Master they have gone home without any wages. There are now 4 Myanmar crew and a new Bangladeshi Master on board.
Paiement des salaires:5 mai 2015: En attente de paiement
4 months of wages and the compensation for death of crew in service

21 février 2022: Réglé
All remaining owed wages have now been paid to the affected crew, as stated by the ITF
Commentaires et observations:Gouv. de Bahreïn (20 mai 2015)
Govt. of Bahrain informed that;
"The crew wages have been paid in full as of today. The crew who have completed their contract are also being repatriated. The vessel is undergoing conversion at COSCO shipyard in China and being a major project, there were some complications as a result of which the project has been delayed."

Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (20 mai 2015)
The ITF, through the communication with the Captain of the vessel who said that "Yesterday (15 May) I received USD 3000. Company promise next week rest of the balance will clear. My sign off will be of 25th to 27th May as per company information.". informed that although there is progress, it still is not complete.

Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (16 décembre 2016)
Ongoing, seafarers still abandoned

Gouv. de Bahreïn (20 janvier 2017)
From: Mayas Al Agha [mailto:Mayas.alagha@mtt.gov.bh]
Sent: 20 January 2017 17:38
To: Jan de Boer
Subject: Re: Bahrain Flag Ship Bramco1- IMO 8814639- Abandonment of vessel

Dear Mr. de Boer,
With reference to your email below, I would like to inform you that we are well aware of the crew situation on board "Bramco I", and we are very much concerned about it. We never stopped communicating with the owner to try to resolve this very serious issue by all means. The latest measure we took, to put extra pressure on the owner, is stopping all his other vessels from trading until he resolves the "Bramco I" crew issues. I just got off the phone with the owner and he claimed that he had transferred a huge amount of money to the agent but the agent stole the money! But he assured me to take immediate action with regard to the ill crew member, and to resolve the remaining crew matters very soon.
The ship was not abandoned in 2015 and was never totally abandoned at any stage since. The owner was transferring some payments every once and a while, and managed to sign off some crew members since 2015.
I will personally continue following up with the owner on daily basis until all crew's outstanding issues are resolved.
However, I believe that the Chinese Administration and port authorities need also to be involved to put pressure on the shipping agent to bear his responsibilities as the ship's agent.
Finally, i want to reconfirm to you that we are taking this matter very seriously and we are doing everything we can to make the crew happy and pleased.
Sincerely,

Mayas A. Alagha
Director, Ship Registration and Seamen Affairs
Ministry of Transportation & Telecommunications
Kingdom of Bahrain



International Chamber of Shipping (21 février 2017)
Following concerns raised on behalf of the Crew by their ITF representatives ICS requested IMHA to send a Doctor to visit the crew onboard the MV Bramco 1 which is currently at the Costco Shipyard in Huangpu, China.

A trip was made by an independent Doctor on 17th February 2016 who was greeted by the Captain who has been onboard for the last 22 months. The vessel has been at the shipyard since 2011 and since 2013 moored alongside a dry dock in the river which is only accessible by a ferry transporting workers to the dry dock.
Eight men are on board, three from Bangladesh and five from Myanmar. All eight claim to have been paid only once in January 2016 and have all only been on the ship in its current location. They claim only receiving meagre rations from the ship¡¯s chandlers who also are not getting paid. They are given rice and some eggs fish and pork. As three men are Muslim then they cannot eat pork.
The shipyard provides water and electricity , which is not sufficient to run the air-conditioning and they have no more filters for the water so need to boil it for drinking water.
The dock alongside conducts sand-blasting and painting to vessels in the dry dock so the Bramco is constantly subjected to noxious dust and fumes. The Doctor visited on a day when the outside temperature was 23C and found it to be quite warm onboard and noted that in a month or two when the weather warms up it will intolerable without air conditioning particularly as they have to keep the windows closed to guard against the dirt and fumes from the dry dock.
The crew cannot run the ship¡¯s engine or generators.
All 8 crew members were examined.

SUMMARY.
All seafarers were distressed by their situation, morale on board was very low and all of the contracts had expired.
All men are largely confined in what is in effect the industrial environment of the dry dock which is adversely affecting their health. All are becoming increasingly unfit as time progresses both mentally and physically.
Their condition may deteriorate particularly with the hot weather coming and the lack
of air-conditioning. The diet also requires improvement . Based on this report all efforts should be made by both the flag and port state in assisting the crew urgently.

Natalie Shaw
Director Employment Affairs
International Chamber of Shipping


Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (25 février 2017)
Dear all
Apparently ships chandler has now received UDS 25,000 from the owner. He will deduct money for food and pass on the remaining USD 17,000 approx to the master/vessel...
Best, Katie


Gouv. de Bahreïn (20 mars 2017)
Ports and Maritime Affairs
Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications

The letter to Mr V.K.Dewan, Chairman of BRAMCO W.L.L, was send to strongly request his company to take urgent actions to resolve this case and submit evidence to Ports and Maritime Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain within 48 hours of receiving this communication on 19 March 2017.

Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (15 mai 2017)
ITF supporting vessel arrest


Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (5 juillet 2017)
Dear All
A quick update on the Bramco 1:
Eight crew members have now been repatriated arranged by the local agent. With the exception of the Master they have gone home without any wages. There are now 4 Myanmar crew and a new Bangladeshi Master on board.
.....
The vessel remains under arrest and we await updates from our lawyer in China.
Best, Katie


Organisation Internationale du Travail (27 juillet 2017)
Dear all,

I had a meeting on 25th July with deputy Director General of China Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport, Mr Yang Xinzhai and his team to discuss our cooperation with respect to the MLC, 2006 and was able to raise the Bramco I case. So the news stand as follows:

Bramco I is not under arrest but under MSA administrative detention. Three seafarers were repatriated but five others refused repatriation until their wage arrears are paid. Resolving the problem of wage arrears is beyond MSA authority, they can only take initiative with respect to repatriation. I was informed that the court case is before the Guangdong Maritime Court and that the trial is scheduled to take place in September. In the meantime, MSA will continue to pay close attention to the living conditions on the vessel. I also drew their attention to the fact that the newly recruited Master had not been properly informed of the situation of the vessel prior to his recruitment and suggested that they follow this up with Guangzhou Ocean Ship Agency which provided recruitment services. I have also informed them about my discussion with Bahraini Government during the ILC.

I stressed the importance that MSA would continue to closely monitor the living conditions on the vessel as they indicated to me.

Let¡¯s continue sharing information about this case and how it proceeds.
Thank you
Corinne


Organisation maritime internationale (31 juillet 2017)
From: Mayas Al Agha [mailto:Mayas.alagha@mtt.gov.bh]
Sent: 31 July 2017 07:50
To: Frederick Kenney
Cc: Jan de Boer; zhangxjmot@sina.com; Hassan Al Majed; Yousif Bubshait
Subject: Crew of M/V BRAMCO-1

Dear Mr. Kenny,
With reference to our meeting last week in your office regarding the above subject.
On my return from London I promptly met the Chairman of BRAMCO GROUP, the owners of the vessel BRAMCO 1. We are pleased to advise that we have agreed on the following urgent action plan. In view of unreasonable demand by the Chinese shipyard, BRAMCO has decided to scrap the vessel and negotiate settlement with the shipyard and pay the ship crew and the bank to whom vessel is mortgaged.

In the meantime, BRAMCO also has a tug boat operating in Bahraini coastal water. I have personally influenced BRAMCO to sell this tug boat to a prospective local buyer and remit the entire proceeds to crew in CHINA to sign off the critical crews and keep only one or two as watchmen. It is likely that we may be able to achieve at least US$ 125.000/- on sale of tugboat, this transaction may happen in the next two to three days. I will keep you advised of the progress.
It is understood that the current outstanding of the crew is in the region of US$ 250,000/-. These proceeds of sale of tug boat will take care of 50% of their needs. The owning company due to certain issues has run into financial troubles but are keen to cooperate with us in solving the crew problems without any legal hassles. Therefore, the Chairman is personally discussing with the shipyard on a prompt amicable settlement through the sale of the vessel.

Thanking you for your understanding and we reassure you that Bahrain Registry of shipping gives highest priority to the welfare of the crew, while ensuring all interests of the owners.

Best regards,

Mayas A. Alagha
Director, Registration of Ships & Seamen Affairs

Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (15 août 2017)
From: Katie Higginbottom [mailto:Higginbottom_Katie@itf.org.uk]
Sent: mardi 15 août 2017 17:15
To: Noh, Jinhak ; Jan de Boer (JDeBoer@imo.org) ; Natalie Shaw (natalie.shaw@ics-shipping.org)
Cc: Wagner, Brandt ; Jonathan Warring ; Jon Whitlow
Subject: Bramco 1

Dear All

Just writing to update you on the Bramco 1 situation. The lawyer we have working on behalf of the crew attended a meeting convened by the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration on 10 August. Other participants included the vice-chairman of the Guangdong Seafarer Union, officials from the Seafarer Management Dept, a representative of COSCO (Guangdong) Shipyard and a representative of Penavico Guangzhou. The parties provided updates on the case details, litigation process, seafarers¡¯ situation and the condition of the ship.

On 14 August all the parties from the meeting also went on board the Bramco 1 to check on the crew and vessel conditions. MSA and GSU expressed the intention of contacting directly with ITF to promote a solution. We have expressed our readiness to communicate with them at any point.

Best, Katie

Katie Higginbottom

Project & Campaigns Leader
Maritime Operations
International Transport Workers¡¯ Federation


Gouv. de Bahreïn (17 août 2017)
From: Mayas Al Agha [mailto:Mayas.alagha@mtt.gov.bh]
Sent: jeudi 17 août 2017 09:17
To: Jan de Boer ; Noh, Jinhak

Subject: RE: Crew of M/V BRAMCO-1

Dear All,

I am pleased to inform you the owner has remitted a trail lot of US$ 50,000/- to be paid to the crew. He has also sent message to the master hopefully the money would be with them in China in maximum two days.

Once the receipt from the master for the first US$ 50,000/- is obtained BRAMCO has promised to immediately remit another US$ 50,000/-.

This is for your information.

Regards,

Mayas A. Alagha
Director, Registration of Ships & Seamen Affairs


Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (7 décembre 2017)
Pending update from lawyer

Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (2 janvier 2018)
From: Wilson Wang
Sent: 02 January 2018 02:15
To: Fusao Ohori
Subject: BRAMCO 1

Dear Fusao Ohori San,

Thanks for your email below. Indeed the vessel is under arrest by Guangzhou Maritime Court for the crew salary claim. Further the shipyard also has a possessory lien against the vessel for their repair costs claim. The Owners are free to negotiate with scrap buyer for a possible resale. However the Owners could not deliver the vessel to the buyer and complete the sale unless the Owners repay the crew salary and shipyard repair costs claims and clear the court arrest and the shipyard¡¯s possessory lien first. In the current court proceedings, the hearings were completed and the court is about to hand down judgment shortly.

Any further queries, please feel free to let us know.

Best regards,

Wilson Wang

Wang Jing & Co.


Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (25 mai 2018)
From: yuzhuojun [mailto:yuzhuojun@wjnco.com]
Sent: 24 May 2018 11:43
To: Fusao Ohori; Jonathan Warring
Cc: Jason Lam; Katie Higginbottom; bramco1master@hotmail.com; 'Wang Jing'; 'Wang Weisheng'; 'Zeng Axian'
Subject: ´ð¸´: BRAMCO 1

Dear Fusao Ohori,

Thanks for your mail below.
The settlement progress as stated in the previous email was unilaterally provided by the potential buyer. Whether a final agreement will be reached depends on the potential buyer and previous owners/shipyard. So far we have not been informed new progress in settlement between the potential buyer and the shipyard. We will continue keeping a close eye on the negotiation, and keep you updated.

Best regards,

Yu Zhuojun
Wang Jing & Co.


Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (5 mars 2021)
Awaiting outstanding wages to be paid by the lawyers. Disputed.

Fed. int. des ouvriers du transport (ITF) (21 février 2022)
All remaining owed wages have now been paid to the affected crew

 
Saisie: lundi - 21 février 2022 a 14:36:30
Dernière mise à jour: lundi - 21 février 2022 a 14:37:35
^ top


En collaboration avec l'Organisation Maritime Internationale