CASES
Belgium – Seafarers on ISU ship left to suffer appalling conditions
Less than a year after the ITF documented the case of a seafarer aboard the Navi Vega failing to receive wages of more than USD2,000, seafarers on the ship were once again forced to reach out to the ITF for help.
Seafarers on the ISU ship have been forced to endure appalling conditions, including a lack of food on board, a galley infested with cockroaches and flies, a broken toilet and taps and no hot water.
REPORT
Belgium – Navi Vega (IMO 9481099): owed wages, sub-standard food, accommodation, June 2025
Less than a year after the ITF documented the case of a seafarer aboard the Navi Vega failing to receive wages of more than USD2,000, seafarers on the ship were once again forced to reach out to the ITF for help.
Seafarers on the ISU ship have been forced to endure appalling conditions, including a lack of food on board, a galley infested with cockroaches and flies, a broken toilet and taps and no hot water.
The horrifying conditions were uncovered at an inspection in June 2025 in Ghent, Belgium, with the ship detained by port authorities. It was also discovered that problems with the ship recorded by Port State Control inspections in Portugal, in 2023, and France, in 2024, were still unresolved.
The ship’s former Bosun is still owed wages of more than USD2,000, despite the seafarer contacting ISU for support – he never heard back from the sham union – and the ITF repeatedly contacting the flag state, Liberia, and the ship’s owner, which signed the ISU-Lanibra agreement, the Sealestial Navigation Company.
However, in Belgium the ITF was able to ensure that repairs were made to the ship’s toilet and taps, that the cockroach and fly infestation was cleared, and that fresh provisions were delivered.
CASES
Netherlands – Dutch MP targets ‘fake unions’ in maritime sector
A Dutch member of Parliament joined International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) affiliate Nautilus International’s Council meeting to discuss strategies for combating ‘fake’ unions that undermine maritime workers’ rights. Mariëtte Patijn, a labour parliamentarian with extensive union experience, shared her concerns about “yellow unions” like the International Seafarers’ Union (ISU) – which she describes as commercial […]
Brazil: Petrobras rejects sham union, ISU
The ISU made an unsolicited approach to Petrobras (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – the Brazilian Petroleum Corporation) earlier this year, seeking to sell its fake union agreements for use on the Petrobras fleet of ships. However, the approach was rejected out of hand by Petrobras, which only accepts International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) or ITF-equivalent agreements in […]
BRAZIL: SEAFARERS ABANDONED WITHOUT PAY
An international crew of seafarers on the Eleen Eva were abandoned in Brazil – and subject to wage theft of USD178,000. They reached out to ISU, but no one ever replied. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) stepped in to help: the seafarers were repatriated and received their stolen wages in full. REPORT Brazil – […]
UK: Illegal wages in P&O scandal
On 17 March 2022, 786 seafarers were summarily dismissed by British company P&O Ferries to be replaced by a far cheaper agency crew.
Greece: “Defamation, illegal acquisition, accepting the products of crime”
The Greek union, the Panhellenic Seaman’s Federation, has filed a lawsuit against ISU President Ludvik Jesenicnik.
Finland: stolen wages, ISU binned
Finland is a hot spot for trade union action against ships with ISU-Lanibra agreements: the Finnish Seafarers’ Union (SMU) has taken action against ships from 2018 through to today. In one case, after a ship docked in Rauma in 2020 and refused access to an ITF inspector who was made aware of crew complaints, the […]
Sweden: blockades scrap ISU deals
Sweden’s Service and Communications Union blockaded a bulk carrier that tried to dock in Uddevalla with an ISU-Lanibra agreement.