ITF: Over 50 Palmali seafarers abandoned at sea February 19, 2021, by Jasmina Ovcina
More than 50 seafarers remain trapped aboard vessels owned by a Palmali Group, which were put under the freeze, after its founder, Turkish billionaire Mübariz Mansimov Gurbanoğlu got arrested.
The billionaire is accused by Turkish authorities of colluding with the leaders of a failed 2016 coup d’état against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime.
Image credit ITF
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and its inspectors have been working on providing food, repatriation and fighting for the seafarers’ outstanding wages.
ITF Arab World and Iran network coordinator, Mohamed Arrachedi, said the Palmali abandonment cases were some of the worst he had seen.
More than 50 seafarers remain trapped aboard vessels once owned by a Turkish billionaire whose jail and bankruptcy have left his employees without food, fuel and freedom for 10 months. But Turkey can save them.
Crew of oil tanker beached off UAE to go home after four years stranded at sea
The crew of an oil tanker who have not set foot on dry land for nearly four years after being abandoned on board their ship, which later ran aground off the United Arab Emirates, are finally going home to see their families.
The seafarers, who said they experienced “living hell” on board the 5,000-ton MT Iba after the tanker’s owner hit financial problems and stopped paying salaries almost three years ago, have been given a settlement for wages owed to them. They hope to be repatriated in March.
Feb 17 2021, 4:33 PM
February 17 2021, 3:30 AM
February 17 2021, 4:33 PM
(Bloomberg) When Turkish police arrested shipping magnate Mübariz Mansimov GurbanoÄlu at his Istanbul home one Sunday last March, his legal woes set off a chain of events that have decimated Palmali Shipping, his once-flourishing maritime empire. Now a dozen of its ships sit abandoned in ports around the Mediterranean with nearly 150 mariners stuck on board, many without adequate food and water.
(Bloomberg) When Turkish police arrested shipping magnate Mübariz Mansimov GurbanoÄlu at his Istanbul home one Sunday last March, his legal woes set off a chain of events that have decimated Palmali Shipping, his once-flourishing maritime empire. Now a dozen of its ships sit abandoned in ports around the Mediterranean with nearly 150 mariners stuck on board, many without adequate food and water.
Tycoon’s Downfall Pushes Trapped Seafarers to Hunger Strike Bloomberg 2/17/2021 K. Oanh Ha
(Bloomberg) When Turkish police arrested shipping magnate Mübariz Mansimov Gurbanoğlu at his Istanbul home one Sunday last March, his legal woes set off a chain of events that have decimated Palmali Shipping, his once-flourishing maritime empire. Now a dozen of its ships sit abandoned in ports around the Mediterranean with nearly 150 mariners stuck on board, many without adequate food and water.
Workers on at least two Palmali ships have gone on hunger strike to protest the treatment they say they’ve endured. For a crew marooned in Beirut, the dramatic measure appears to have worked. After a nine-day strike, they were put on flights home Wednesday and offered $114,000 to cover some of their lost wages less than 40% of what they’re owed. Some hadn’t been paid in 15 months.