Crewing agent to intervene in ship arrest cash stand-off

A REPRESENTATIVE of the Russian crewing agency of a ship which has been put under arrest in Dublin because of alleged non-payment of wages is believed to be on his way to speak to the crew.

The High Court ordered the arrest of the MV Merchant Brilliant on Friday after the International Transport Federation (ITF) revealed that the crew were owed over €150,000 in wages.

Ken Fleming of the ITF told the Irish Examiner yesterday no contact has since been made by the agency which crewed the vessel, ADG Shipping, in a bid to resolve the situation.

However, he said the crew members were determined to get the money owed to them.

“They’re apprehensive, but they’re happy enough to stick it out,” he said.

The crew is about 20-strong and about half of the members have signed an affidavit claiming that they haven’t been paid any wages by ADG Shipping.

The Merchant Brilliant dispute follows a similar incident a few weeks ago when the ITF had to intervene to ensure that crew members of a sister ship, the Merchant Bravery, were paid their wages.

Mr Fleming said on Friday that, after he went on board to speak to the crew, the agency responsible for appointing them tried to evict the workers and then tried to flee the port.

However, a ship’s arrest order was granted to Ken Fleming — who is on secondment to the ITF from SIPTU — by Judge Liam McKechnie of the High Court’s Admiralty Division.

It’s understood that notes used by the ship’s captain during discussions with the ITF contained orders from ADG Shipping to amend time sheets, change payroll details and remove documentation which would give the ITF an indication of the situation on board.

The roll-on, roll-off ship which carries container trucks is chartered by Norfolk Lines who were unaware of the crew’s wage problems and immediately withdrew their pilot when it emerged that ADG Shipping wanted the Merchant Brilliant to flee Dublin Port last week.