Cargo Ship Detained In Haifa For 18 Rule Breaches After ITF Reports Worst Conditions In 4 Years

During a recent inspection, Israeli maritime authorities seized the Palau-flagged general cargo ship, Serafina, after discovering severe inhuman conditions onboard.

The vessel violated multiple regulations, prompting Haifa’s Port State Control (PSC) to detain it after finding 29 defects, 18 serious enough to warrant detention on their own.

ITF Inspector Assaf Hadar, who conducted the inspection, stated that the conditions onboard the Serafina were the worst he had seen in his four years of inspecting ships in Israel.

The vessel was discovered with food storage freezers above 0°C, a rotten meat stench, and a bug infestation.

In addition, sanitation facilities were broken, and the crew was working without proper employment agreements.

Hadar highlighted the serious issues found onboard the vessel, including an empty fish freezer, a meat freezer with a bad odour set at 0°C, and a vegetable freezer set at 9°C.

The onboard showers were flooded, and the toilets were in disrepair, held together with steel wire.

The crew, comprising 12 Turkish nationals and five others from Azerbaijan and Egypt, also encountered chronic pest issues.

Hadar has arranged for portable toilets and showers on the dockside to meet the crew’s immediate requirements and is working to facilitate their return to their home countries.

Hadar emphasized the right of seafarers to decent working conditions and reaffirmed the ITF’s commitment to fighting for their rights.

The ITF has denounced the Serafina, flagged under Palau- an ITF-listed Flag of Convenience, as one of the worst flags in the Mediterranean Sea.

According to Equasis data, DALYAN Shipping owns the vessel and MERT MARINE CORP manages it, both based in Turkey.

Hadar criticized the conditions onboard the vessel as an absolute disgrace and stated that the ITF and its inspectors will continue to support seafarers in demanding their rights be respected.

Reference: ITF

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