Four Kenyan seafarers abandoned by ship owner in Oman

The Seafarers Union of Kenya (SUK) has asked the government to help return home four Kenyan seafarers stranded in Oman after their employer abandoned them.

Able Bodied (AB) seafarers Salim Mwamba, Idd Abdurahman, Omar Mwalimu, and a cook identified as Tella Hamisi are unable to return home because they have no money.

The four were on board a ship named Mv Saharla of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) registration number 7414212 which is now held at port Duqm in the sultanate of Oman after it was abandoned by the owner at Asyad Dockyard in the Middle East nation.

SUK Secretary General Atie Swaleh Ramadan said the union had received disturbing reports from the four Kenyans and two Tanzanian nationals appealing for assistance.

The four are from Likoni sub-county, Mombasa county. According to SUK, the crew have overstayed on the ship for one year and six months and have not been paid their wages for the last seven months.

Mr Mwamba pleaded with the Kenyan embassy in Oman to intervene and facilitate their safe return to Kenya following their abandonment.

“We are four Kenyans here aboard vessel MV Saharla registered in Bossaso Somalia, we are seamen from Mombasa county, the ship owner abandoned us and we haven’t been paid for the last seven months, the ship is now under the Ministry of Transport of Oman. We are appealing to the embassy of Kenya to help us get home safely,” an appeal by Mwamba read in part.

Ms Ramadhan said the seafarers have been left to fend for themselves and are living in deplorable conditions.

“From the information received, there are four Kenyans and two Tanzanian nationals abandoned by ship owners and left to fend for themselves. This is a clear abuse of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 to which Kenya is a signatory,” she said.

SUK has written a formal appeal to engage relevant government agencies to save the Kenyans who she said have continued to suffer in the foreign nation without aid.

The letter dated July 19, 2024, was copied to the Ministry of Labour, the office of Principal Secretary, the Ministry of Interior and Immigration Services, and the International Transport Federation (ITF) Mombasa inspector Betty Makena.

“We are appealing to the government to also tighten the belt in the regulation of seafarers' recruitment agencies. Some of them are illegally operating and transporting Kenyans outside the country without the involvement of the union. If the law is followed they would not witness such cases," said Ramadhan.

SUK is concerned that more seamen who are not members are working overseas and are at risk of violation from employers.

Ramadhan appealed to the government to solve the job stalemate to ensure Kenyan seafarers work in the local shipping companies where their welfare is protected.

Currently, SUK has only 3,658 registered members while over 5,000 seafarers working outside the country are yet to join the union.

Ramadhan said this exposed the seafarers to risks of rights violation. She revealed that the stranded Kenyans are not members of SUK.