Advocates come together to help sailors stuck for months on tugboats in Quebec port – Montreal | 24CA News
Groups that advocate for seafarers are expressing concern for 11 sailors who’re spending a harsh Quebec winter aboard three tugboats which were detained for months within the port of Trois-Rivières.
Paul Racette, who operates the Foyer des Marins seafarers’ membership within the port, mentioned the employees, who hail from Mexico, Cuba and Guyana, aren’t used to winter.
“For them, 17 degrees is cold, so imagine them having to work outdoors at the temperatures we’re having now,” he mentioned in an interview.
Furthermore, they’re weathering the winter on the moored tugboats, which he says aren’t designed for long-term residing.
“It’s very small, it’s narrow, there are no conveniences inside, so it’s problematic,” he mentioned.
The boats, that are within the 30 to 40 metre vary, had been offered final 12 months to an organization that desires to carry them to the South American nation of Guyana. But they’ve been detained within the port, midway between Quebec City and Montreal, since October on account of what Transport Canada describes as “non-compliance with various international maritime conventions,” together with labour laws that make sure the crew’s well-being.
“Before lifting the detention and authorizing the vessels to depart, Transport Canada will verify that the outstanding items have been rectified,” wrote spokeswoman Sau Sau Liu.
Racette mentioned that whereas there have been about 25 crew members initially, their numbers have dwindled to 11 as some have left and fewer have come to exchange them.
On a latest go to, two of the three tugboats might be seen moored alongside the river’s edge, dwarfed in measurement by the a lot bigger ship behind them. Canadian and Guyanese flags whipped within the wind as heavy snow fell.
None of the sailors stepped out when a reporter stopped by, and Racette mentioned none of the present crew wished to talk with media out of concern they may face reprisals.
The vice chairman for the St. Lawrence and East Coast for the Seafarers International Union of Canada, who has been working with the crew, mentioned he’s involved in regards to the sailors’ working and residing circumstances.
Vince Giannopoulos mentioned a few of these are issues of “base level legality,” together with contracts. He mentioned a number of the seafarers had been despatched to the ships with solely verbal agreements relating to pay, solely to search out upon arrival that the compensation within the written contract was far lower than promised.
His visits to the ship, the newest of which was in December, revealed “all sorts of problems,” starting from an absence of security and cold-weather gear to insufficient meals, he mentioned.
“During a couple of my visits the crew was having Mr. Noodles three times a day,” he mentioned. “That was their breakfast, lunch and supper.
“It’s hard to even find out where to begin with this story because there are just so many issues.”
Mark Wong, a seafarer from Guyana, spent six months aboard the vessels working as an engineer earlier than flying house in late December.
While he discovered the residing circumstances aboard the tugboats to be usually good, the 59-year-old mentioned it’s the primary time he’s been caught on a detained vessel for therefore lengthy.
He mentioned the scenario started to pull on as crew members needed to be switched out and inspections saved revealing extra points to be mounted.
He mentioned the arrival of winter was “terrible,” and his strongest reminiscence is the ice on the deck.
“I’m not accustomed to it,” he mentioned.
Wong mentioned he was a kind of who arrived and not using a contract, and, whereas he’s obtained his wages, he says the corporate nonetheless owes him go away pay. Despite the problems, he mentioned he could be keen to return.
“Not in the winter though,” he added.
Racette mentioned the seafarer’s membership, which has a small finances and is usually volunteer-run, has been doing what it will possibly to assist the crew. Members go to the vessels to carry treats, chat, and encourage the seafarers to go to their clubhouse, which has a pool desk, snacks, comfy chairs and Internet entry.
Volunteers have come ahead to assist drive a number of the crew to buying centres or to attend a Spanish-language non secular service, whereas group members have donated heat clothes, he mentioned.
More just lately, he’s been making an enchantment for donations to take the crew on outings similar to restaurant visits or bowling journeys.
While it’s not clear how lengthy it should take for the tugboats to get authorization to go away, Racette’s opinion is that they’ll stay within the port till not less than April when the ice clears.
