GS Spring
5 seafarers abandoned on the GS Spring (IMO 9081382, flag Saint Kitts and Nevis) in Ningbo, China, October 2019. ILO case 557, status: Disputed.
- Status
- Disputed
- Abandonment ID
- 557
- IMO Number
- 9081382
- Flag
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Port of Abandonment
- Ningbo, China
- Abandonment Date
- October 2019
- Notification Date
- 6 July 2021
- Seafarers
- 5
- Reporting Org.
- International Transport Workers' Federation
Updates
22 July 2022: International Transport Workers' Federation
The Chief Engineer was released from prison in China in May 2022 and is now back in Myanmar with his family.
10 February 2022: International Transport Workers' Federation
We are in regular contact with the wife of the Chief Engineer. The latest information we have is that the Chief Engineer and the Chief Officer are due be released from prison in China at the end of April 2022. We assume that the Superintendent , Master, and 2/O will remain in prison there until they have completed their sentences, they received longer terms of imprisonment than the C/E &C/O. The reality is that this case is never going to have a satisfactory ending.
15 July 2021: Myanmar
From Department of Marine Administration of Myanmar through IMO
5 seafarers were sentenced to prison and fined under Chinese law for smuggling into China, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Myanmar. These seafarers will be repatriated to Myanmar after their sentences by the arrangement of respective SRPS companies
6 July 2021: International Transport Workers' Federation
On 29 April 2019, the Vessel and crew were arrested and detained at Ningbo, China for alleged smuggling (Ship to ship transfer of oil to a Chinese flagged vessel). After being detained for more than two years, five of the ship’s officers have now been fined huge sums of money and imprisoned for periods ranging from three to five years. The five had allegedly confessed to smuggling, we know that these alleged confessions were made without the crewmembers having been afforded any legal advice or the benefit of an interpreter. The company have always, maintained that the vessel and crew were wrongfully arrested and detained and have stated that: the vessel never engaged in any illegal activities, but was stricken by engine problems at the location of the alleged offence.
To date, we have never received any acknowledgement or reply from the flag state.