Ac-Sesoda

On Sep 22, 2020, the AMSA banned the 'AC Sesoda' from Australian ports for deliberately underpaying its crew by more than AUD $118,000. They boarded the ship at Mourilyan on Sep 17 to investigate allegations about underpayment. During the investigation, evidence confirmed that a number of crew had only been paid half of their wages since October 2019. The ship’s master and Taiwanese operator, Sincere Industrial Corporation, attempted to conceal the underpayment from the inspectors by only producing a fabricated wage record. The AMSA detained the ship and the operator was directed to pay the outstanding wages. Since then, they received evidence that the crew had been paid the outstanding wages and a rectification action plan developed by the operator. The ship was released from detention and issued with a 12-month ban, prohibiting it from entering an Australian port. It was the fourth ship that we have banned this year for serious and breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention. Collectively, the seafarers on these four ships were underpaid in excess of $290,000, funds which were recovered through our actions.