Stranded in Greece: Pinoy seamen start getting wages – DOLE

The case of the 22 Filipino seafarers stranded in Greece, on a ship whose owner went bankrupt, has gained headway after receiving five months’ worth of unpaid salaries, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). In a release posted on its website, the DOLE said the 22 Filipino seamen of the ship Cap Thanos have received about US$300,000 for the months of May up to September 2010. Athens-based Labor Attaché George Eduvala also said that six of the ship’s crew were repatriated on October 6 as they requested, while the remaining 16 are awaiting the discharge of the cargo, set on November 15, after which they expect to get a discharge bonus of US$40,000. According to Eduvala, the remaining crewmen hope to be back in the Philippines before Christmas, except for at least four who will stay to man the vessel while waiting for the new crew. The Filipino crew who have returned to Manila are Antonio L. Arenga Jr., Glenn Barsales Onanad, Ronaldo Agbayani, Penuel Alinsod, Deogracio Manalo, and Crisente Adona. The 16 remaining crew are Leon Hilario Borneo, Rowell Geron Cervan, Marlon Gonzaga, Bliss Franciss Acain, Lemuel Revelo Obad, John Dagohoy, Eduardo Parman, Melchor Baylen Jr., Tomas Laborte, Virgilio Fajardo, George Santillan, Pedro De Jesus, Romar Delemios, Jose Joy Sendin, Catalino Pantua, and Jonathan Suplico. Cap Thanos arrived in Greece in July from Indonesia, with a cargo of crude palm oil valued at about $20 million. At that time, the salaries of the crew had not been paid for the past two months. Eduvala said the crew filed a complaint with the authorities, resulting in the impounding of the ship even as the crew had yet to be paid their wages. The crew subsequently learned that the shipowner Sea Waves SA filed for bankruptcy, raising fears that their compensation and other benefits might not be paid after all. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Athens then hired a lawyer from the International Transport Workers’ Federation, considered the largest seafarers’ union in the world. Eduvala said the POLO has been in constant touch with the ship’s captain, Leon Hilario Borneo, who updated the office on the status of their case. He likewise noted in the news release that the crew’s pay is much higher than the rates imposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and even above the rates set in the standard Greek collective bargaining agreement for seafarers. Meanwhile, Proton Bank, the receiver in the Cap Thanos bankruptcy case and the representative of the shipowner, has been providing the crew their daily sustenance like food and water, and a service boat to bring them ashore on their days of leave three or four times a week. Eduvala added that the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection (Seamen’s Labour Directorate) has reported the case to the International Labor Organization /International Maritime Organization in Geneva, and docketed the case as abandonment of a vessel by a shipowner. The vessel Cap Thanos is owned by Sea Waves SA and managed and operated by Cooperative Success Maritime SA. Its manning agent in Manila is Elvictor Human Resource Management Inc.—JV, GMANews.TV