This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
On July 11, 2019, the East Africa International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) officer Betty Makena revealed that fifteen Kenyan fishermen were stuck on a vessel owned by a Somali fishing company, forced to work under gunpoint without pay.
The fishermen, who were hired by an unlicensed agent in Mombasa in April 2019, were working in deplorable conditions, living and sleeping in the open. Many of them were injured and had not received medical care, according to Ms. Makena.
According to documents seen by the Nation, 13 fishermen were hired by Seaport Operations Limited on April 16, 2019, and proceeded to Somalia where they joined other two Kenyans who had been recruited earlier.
Ms. Makena said that the fishermen claimed their employer, Somlink Fisheries Investment, was forcing them to work for long hours and threatening those who resisted with a gun. The company had agreed to pay the fishermen Sh26,000 monthly, but they had yet to receive any payment since they left Mombasa in April.
The payment was below the average required by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) labour convention, which calls for an average of Sh90,000 per month. Somalia being a conflict zone, a special allowance was needed.
The seafarers lobby has contacted the Kenyan government to rescue the group, and efforts are being made to meet the recruiting agent. However, the agent has declined their requests, and it has been revealed that the company does not have a physical office.
