The Maritime Captaincy of Malaga has reported that it has rescued the 17 crew members of the ship MARINE I (currently renamed MARINE PRIME) with the tugboat LUZ DE MAR after accumulating 10 days adrift. The operation took place after complaints from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which alerted to the situation of 17 crew members abandoned without fuel, provisions, or drinking water south of the Peninsula, in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar.
According to the ITF, the MARINE I, a general cargo ship of 3,978 GT, built in Germany in 1994, has a registered owner apparently based in Liberia, although the company Electramaritime, supposedly based in Dubai, is listed as the ‘real owner’. The ship was sailing under the Panamanian flag, but according to the crew it has recently been renamed T-MARINE and now flies the flag of Comoros, also considered a flag of convenience.
In the last three days, the crew had reported various serious incidents for the safety of the ship, such as the loss of an anchor, the inoperative anchoring system, and lists of up to 45 degrees during the night of November 25th.
The ITF inspector in southern Spain, Pedro Esteban, explains that “since November 17th, both ITF personnel in Spain and Morocco had attempted to assist the crew, but without success.” Furthermore, he details that communications sent to the ship’s owner and the flag state of Panama were unsuccessful.
Despite the happy ending to the situation, the ITF union regrets that this is another case of abandonment of seafarers, declared as essential workers, who have been denied protection, as established by the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).
