Criminalization is still one of the most serious threats seafarers face today.
Thus, in July 2021, the captain and three assistants of the MSC CAPUCINE R (IMO 9210086) vessel were arrested in Turkey on suspicion of drug smuggling, which was found in one of the sealed containers. Ukrainian seafarers were detained for a long time even though they could not know about the cargo's nature in the sealed container. The standard procedure is that the containers are sealed before being loaded onto the ship at the port of departure and opened only at the destination. Detailed information about this case can be found at the following link: https://mtwtu.org.ua/news/zatanuvseesa-pravosudie-ravnosilno-ego-otsutstviu.
Shipmasters are the first to suffer unwarranted detentions by law enforcement agencies solely on the basis of their superior position on the ship, regardless of whether they were on duty at the time the event qualifying as a crime occurred or whether they had an opportunity to influence the situation. Unfortunately, the case of Ukrainian seafarer Gennady Gavrylov, the captain of the AVANT GARDE (IMO 8107036) vessel, who could not leave the territory of Sri Lanka for almost six years (!!!) for a crime he did not commit, is illustrative. More details of this case can be found at the link https://mtwtu.org.ua/news/politiceskoe-srazenie-za...
Oleg Grygoriuk, MTWTU Chairman, emphasizes: "No seafarer should be criminalized just for doing their job. No seafarer should be in a position where they cannot say for sure to their families when they will come back home. The uncertainty caused by this situation brings is a heavy burden both for seafarers and their families."
To address this issue, the Marine Transport Workers' Trade Union of Ukraine (MTWTU), jointly with the Embassy of Ukraine to the UK with the co-sponsorship of Georgia, InterManager, IFSMA, and ITF submitted to the IMO Legal Committee document on the Fair treatment of seafarers detained on suspicion of committing crimes (LEG 110/4(c)/1). The document draws the attention of the Legal Committee to the serious problem of criminalization and invites the Committee to consider expediting the development of new guidelines on the above topic, evaluating cases of detention of seafarers on suspicion of committing maritime crimes, as well as promoting further awareness raising of seafarers' rights to fair treatment in cases of detention.If you become aware of cases of unjustified arrests of seafarers on suspicion of committing crimes while working on ships, please provide relevant information to the email address claim@mtwtu.org.ua
