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Coastguards seize vessel for failing to pay minimum wage

COASTGUARDS in Scotland have seized a Maltese-flagged vessel for not paying its foreign crew the British national minimum wage of £8.72 an hour.

The vessel, Ben Nevis, is a supply ship serving North Sea gas and oil rigs.

On October 1 the government issued guidance to foreign vessels in British waters that employers must comply with UK labour legislation, including paying the national minimum wage.

Its issue followed a long campaign by maritime union RMT to improve the working conditions of foreign seafarers, including low wages.

The Ben Nevis was seized by the Coastguard Agency when it docked in Aberdeen on Monday.

Welcoming the move today, RMT said Ben Nevis’s mariners are paid just $6.35 an hour (£5.87).

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Operators in the oil and gas and renewables sector must improve due diligence in their supply chains to raise employment standards and increase jobs for local seafarers. 

“Ratings on the Ben Nevis are paid a basic $6.35 per hour, which is illegal on these routes, but the employer is trying to get out of paying even that.

“It is good to see the Coastguard Agency using their powers to protect crew from this sort of abuse, but we cannot continue to let companies off the hook when the illegal treatment of seafarers is exposed.”

RMT is fighting a long campaign against the replacement of British mariners by cheap and exploited seafarers from overseas, including on ferry routes to mainland Europe.

It is calling for all seafarers in British waters to be protected by UK labour legislation, wherever they are from, including the national minimum wage.

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