Union inspector ‘feared for his life’ following ship pay dispute

AN Irish trade union inspector and his British colleague feared for their lives and were forced to barricade themselves and the Russian crew of a ship into a section of the vessel after a dispute with the ship’s owners.

The two inspectors, Ken Fleming and Bill Anderson of the International Transport Federation, boarded the Merchant Brilliant, owned by ADG Shipmanagement, at the request of the 20-man crew who had refused to sail from Belfast without the union representation.

It was the third incident in Irish waters involving a ship owned by ADG in the space of only a few months.