Shipping corporation ‘illegally retains’ job documents, allege Banglar Samriddhi mariners

The 28 crew members rescued from Banglar Samriddhi, which was damaged in a rocket attack at a Ukrainian port and abandoned later, have alleged that the Bangladesh Shipping Corporations (BSC) has been retaining their Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDCs) illegally to bar them from leaving the corporation.

On condition of anonymity, a number of Banglar Samriddhi sailors told The Business Standard that after handing over the compensation cheques to them on 16 June, the BSC officials took their CDCs, saying that it is only a formality. But since then, whenever the sailors wanted their CDCs back, the BSC officials refused to say anything about it.

The sailors, most of whom were working on Banglar Samriddhi on contract basis, alleged that they want to return to the sea by joining shipping companies other than BSC, but they cannot do it without the continuous discharge certificate, which is a seafarer's identity document issued by his country. It is mandatory for working on a ship.

The Banglar Samriddhi crew members alleged that instead of returning their CDCs, BSC has been putting pressure on them to join a BSC ship.

One of these sailors told TBS, "Of the 28 sailors who worked on Banglar Samriddhi, only four were BSC's own manpower; everyone else was working there on contract basis.

"Most of the sailors who returned from Ukraine are no longer willing to go back to the BSC ship. But withholding our CDCs has blocked our way out. The BSC has not responded to our letters requesting the return of our CDCs."

The Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers' Association (BMMOA), an organisation of sailors in the country, has claimed that the move by BSC is not legal as it does not have the right to keep the sailors' CDCs.

BMMOA President Capt Md Anam Chowdhury told TBS, "We have learned that the Banglar Samriddhi sailors' CDCs were not returned to them. A CDC is owned solely by a sailor and the state. A ship operating agency cannot take a sailor's CDC as per its wish. The BSC does not have the right to do so."

Capt Mahbub, a senior mariner, told TBS, "According to international maritime laws, no one can keep a CDC other than the institution that issues it and the person to whom it is issued. The BSC has done this before. They do it mainly to bar the sailors from leaving the company."

Banglar Samriddhi with 29 crew members got stranded at the port of Olvia on 23 February – the eve of the Russia-Ukraine war. It was hit by a rocket on 2 March.

The merchant ship was chartered under an agreement with the Danish Charter Delta Corporation. The front of the ship got damaged in the missile attack and its third engineer Hadisur Rahman was killed. However, the 28 other sailors were evacuated.

Four months after their return to the country, on 16 June, the BSC Regional Office in the capital handed over the compensation cheque to the sailors and took their continuous discharge certificates, but they have not returned that in the last eleven days.

BSC Deputy General Manager Captain Amir Md Abu Sufian told TBS, "The sailors' CDCs were taken as an investigation into the incident is underway. The sailors have some problems too."

"Besides, the sailors' salaries for seven months have been paid. These are the reasons for taking the sailors' CDCs," he added.

BMMOA General Secretary Sakhawat Hossain told TBS, "Even if BSC takes the sailors CDCs, they can keep it for only a specified period of time, which the sailors must know."

"We have also learned that the report of the committee formed to investigate the incident did not mention any allegations against the sailors. Money alone is not enough for a sailor, returning to sea is also important for his career," he added.