Vamika

The "Riroil 5", now known as KPS "Selma Sultan" and sailing under Liberian flag, left Gibraltar on May 7, 2019, at 9.20 a.m. The vessel had been arrested upon its arrival from Istanbul at Gibraltar on March 13. The ship called at Algeciras from May 10 to 12 before heading to Freetown.

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.

In the port of Azov, several Russian sailors aboard the "Riroil 5", which berthed on May 19, 2018, declared a hunger strike demanding repayment of their salary debts. The amount of debt was 100.000 dollars. Sailors of three more ships, the Turkish company Palmali did not pay salaries, some have debts of eight months. The owner gets in touch every day and promises to pay off the debt, but has not done so yet. Mariners were preparing legal claims on Palmali.