NIGERIA (Commonwealth Union) – When the waves come in sometimes it’s not as gentle as one might think and they crash causing enough damage to make people stop and stare. This is exactly what The Merchant Seafarers Association of Nigeria (MESAN) is doing regarding an unpaid crew.
Now the whole point of qualifying to do a certain job is that you get paid for it. Usually when one is not paid for doing their job then they will either discontinue doing it or issue multiple warning to higher management that this nonpayment will only end with them leaving their jobs. Now MESNA has issued another warning to The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) that they will not be issuing a clearance for the sale of the vessel MT ADEBOMI 1 as the owners of the vessel had defaulted in the payment to the captain named Williams Ogunsakin and his crew.
The letter that was written to the Director General on the NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh which has been dated to a year ago which was 21st September 2022 was signed by the lawyer of MESAN S’Schweitzer Grorge. The association wasted no time in informing the matter to the courts and the letter explained that whilst the courts have also now been informed, they have found evidence that the owners of the ship tried to do some shady back door dealing to get rid of the ship and forego the payment of salaries to the captain and the crew.
This has been an ongoing battle for MESAN since the year 2020 and Stallionaire Oil and Gas Limited who are the legal and rightful owners of the vessel had defaulted on salaries for the crew for over a year. The accusations were that the seafarers had not been paid salaries for the gap of December 2018 to May 2019. There was no reason for nonpayment of the crew as they finished their term and left the ship there were no complaints or any harm done to the vessel which was kept in pristine condition by the captain and his crew.
