Seamen refuse to leave

Press, 31 January 1989, Page 1

Seamen refuse to leave

NZPA Sydney Some crew members were still aboard the New Zealand Mariner, docked in Melbourne, after the Shipping Corporation’s deadline last evening for them to leave the ship expired. The corporation’s chairman, Mr lan Farrant, yesterday warned the cooks and stewards and seamen to end their sit-in aboard the Mariner by 6 p.m. (local time) or face the “full weight of New Zealand law.” The ship’s master, who gave his name as Captain Lyon, said he had been instructed to refer all news media inquiries to the corporation in Wellington. When asked if the crew members had left the ship he said, “Some are on and some are off.” Before the corporation delivered its ultimatum it was reported that 13 New Zealanders — members of the Seamen’s Union, the Cooks and Stewards’ Union and an engineer — were refusing to leave the ship. Officers and crew were paid off on Friday and the Shipping Corporation intended to negotiate lower wages and conditions in line with those now in place on the two ships reflagged under its Hong Kong-based subsidiaries. The method planned for evicting crew members was unclear in Melbourne last evening, but one port source said that the ship’s master had power to act under maritime law. A waterfront police spokesman ’ said the police would not be involved unless there was any serious incident A spokesman for the Australian Seamen’s Union was unsure what steps the corporation would take to enforce its ultimatum. “The New Zealand Shipping Corporation is a bit archaic so it could get a few cat o’nine tails to get them off,” he said.

Ship sale, page 6