Ship fined on pay shortfall

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Panama-flagged bulk carrier AC Sesoda for deliberately underpaying its crew by more than AU$118,000, which the ship’s operator attempted to conceal from authorities. AMSA’s investigation found evidence which confirmed that a number of crew had only been paid half of their wages since October 2019. The ship was detained by AMSA and the operator was directed to pay the outstanding wages. Since then, AMSA has received evidence that crew had been paid the outstanding wages and a rectification action plan developed by the operator to ensure the same failure did not reoccur.