Management of Palmali to pay backdated wages to crews of four vessels staying off Rostov-on-Don port
Management of Palmali (shipping company headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey) is going to pay backdated wages to shipboard personnel of four vessels staying off the port of Rostov-on-Don within a two-week period, Rauf Aliyev, Vice-President of Palmali told IAA PortNews.
“The company makes all efforts to pay backdated wages to shipboard personnel of Riroil - 2, Riroil - 3, Riroil - 5 and Adriatic Mariner staying off the port of Rostov-on-Don within the coming two weeks, - explained Rauf Aliyev. - The delay should be attributed to difficulties with foreign banks caused by global sanctions against the Russian Federation. The company’s payment of wages is delayed by a foreign bank due to different reasons called the check of final recipient. Palmali can close the wage issue immediately upon arrival of the mentioned vessels to the port of Istanbul”. However, the crews refuse to sail to Istanbul and intend to wait until the issue is settled in the Russian port”.
Rostov media earlier quoted Leonid Glushak, head of the Rostov Region trade union of seafarers, as saying that “several Russian seafarers of Riroil - 5, a tanker owned by a Turkish firm, launched a hunger strike at the port of Azov to claim the payment of backdated wages.
Rauf Aliyev rebuts this information.
According to him, information about a hunger strike launched by the crews is untrue. Editorial teams of the media that published this information can contact the masters of those ships and obtain confirmation of the onboard situation”, said Rauf Aliyev.
IAA PortNews has contacted Anton Koptev, master of Riroil - 5. According to him, the vessel staying off the port of Rostov-on-Don is being fully supplied by a ship owner with fuel, drinking water and food. The master had spoken by phone with the Palmali management to receive clarification concerning the unpaid wages and the intentions to settle the issue. Anton Koptev also confirmed that other Palmali ships that arrived in the port of Istanbul were paid off there. However, four crew members of Riroil - 5 refused to proceed to Turkey and insisted on being paid off in the territory of Russia. Those seafarers have been paid off and left the ship. It is expected that in the beginning of the next week the company will find ways to pay off the debt to the remaining crewmembers of Riroil - 5 and the ship will set sail with a partially replaced crew.