A CRUISE vessel arrested off the Western Australian coast is embroiled in a wage dispute and a contractual dispute, which have nothing to do with each other.

MS Caledonian Sky is a Bahamas-flagged vessel operating cruise services for Australian Pacific Touring (APT), a company headquartered in Melbourne.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation Australian inspectorate boarded the vessel for an inspection while it was in Broome in August this year. ITF inspectorate co-ordinator Ian Bray claims he found the crew of 76 had been underpaid by around $2 million over a six-month period.

Arrest

The Admiralty Marshall arrested Caledonian Sky on 25 August, but the arrest was unrelated to the ITF’s allegations of crew underpayment. It was arrested as part of a contractual dispute.

Delta Corp Ship Management was appointed technical and crew manager of the vessel. It took the vessel’s bareboat charterer Delos Cruise Ventures II to court claiming Delos owed it a “substantial sum of money” under the ship management agreement it was appointed under, according to court papers.

Delos on 28 August issued a caveat against release from arrest of the vessel. Three days later, the companies Nordic Hamburg Shipmanagement (Nordic Germany) and Nordic Hamburg Shipmanagement (HK) (Nordic Hong Kong) also issued caveats against the release of the vessel from arrest.

Delos allegedly appointed Nordic Hong Kong to supply crew for the vessel, and Nordic Germany was appointed to manage the vessel. Both companies claim Delos failed to pay the agreed fees and expenses for their respective appointments.

On 4 September the Federal Court ordered the vessel be released from the arrest of Delta Corp, but it is currently unclear whether Nordic Germany and Nordic Hong Kong have obtained a warrant for the ship’s arrest. The ship is not listed as having been released from arrest on the Federal Court of Australia’s database of arrests and releases as of Thursday evening (7 September).

Crew wages

But in terms of crew wages, Mr Bray of the ITF has accused APT and Delta Corp of “deliberately avoiding” the payment of wages owed to the crew – an allegation APT has outright rejected.

The ITF lodged a formal compliant to AMSA and the Fair Work Ombudsman and said it is working closely with each agency to ensure the crew of the Caledonian Sky receive the wages apparently owed.

“There is no excuse for an Australian company operating an Australian service on the Australian coastline to be paying anything but Australian wages to its crew in line with the laws in this country, and the ITF will continue to pursue Australian Pacific Touring for this act of bastardry and social delinquency until each and every member of this crew is paid in full,” Mr Bray said.

APT denounced Mr Bray’s allegations, stating the comments fundamentally misrepresented the situation.

“APT rejects in the strongest terms the unfounded allegations of wage theft and the baseless criticisms of its practices,” the company said in a statement.

“APT’s practices are consistent with industry standards and the applicable laws.

 “As has been the practice for many years, and as the ITF is aware, APT is currently finalising the crew’s wages consistent with their Australian entitlements.

“APT has kept the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Mr Bray fully informed throughout this process.

“APT has also kept AMSA and FWO properly informed. This process is in its final stages and it is expected final adjustments to wages will be made shortly.”

APT said it was “disappointed” by the stance taken by the ITF and the way it had misrepresented its processes and the current situation.

“APT has run a successful Kimberley program for more than 40 years, and prides itself on not only our operational excellence but also our care for staff and crew,” APT said. 

“There has never been, nor is there, any avoidance of payment of any wages to the crew.”

An AMSA spokesperson told DCN it takes a zero-tolerance approach to “wage theft” and seafarer mistreatment.

“We know that wage theft is a serious issue that impacts the seafaring community, and we investigate all complaints made to us that are within our jurisdiction,” the spokesperson said.

“In cases where the complaint may lie outside of AMSA’s jurisdiction (for instance, such as those involving allowances or additional payments over and above those stipulated in the Seafarer Employment Agreement), AMSA may refer the matter either to the vessels’ flag state or to the Fair Work Ombudsman, depending on the nature of the complaint.”

The spokesperson said AMSA has been in contact with the Fair Work Ombudsman about complaints concerning the Caledonian Sky.

“The Fair Work Ombudsman is conducting an investigation relating to the Caledonian Sky ship,” a spokesperson for the ombudsman said.

“As this matter is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further at this time.”

Caledonian Sky was sold in July this year to replace another cruise vessel operating in Fiji.