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Happy New Year to you all – may it be a safe one.

It still amazes me that many of the seafarers I try and help don’t have anything in writing that could be used as evidence to support their case.

Often there has been an ongoing disagreement between a crew member and a captain, or ship manager, or crew manager, and you find that most of the discussions have been verbal, which makes it impossible to show who said or promised what to whom, and when.

Here is a good example: an Eastern European officer called me from the mid-Atlantic. He explained that when he was offered his current position, he had told the company that he didn’t have a visa for the United States. This was because on a previous visit to the US, his visa had expired during his stay and he had been deported. The company, however, said this would not be a problem since the vessel would not be sailing to the US.

During his contract, the ship received instructions to pick up a cargo destined for the East Coast of the USA. Again the guy told the captain he didn’t have a US visa, who in turn informed the company. The captain was told by an agent that the guy could be repatriated from the loading port, but despite every effort this could not be arranged. So the ship eventually sailed to the US with him still on board and still visa-less.

On arrival, the US Coast Guard requested security to guard the visa-less crew member. The same thing happened at the next port.

The next month the crew member heard from his family that his allotment of wages hadn’t arrived. When he questioned the company he was told to check with his bank. Later, they told him his salary would be paid with the following month’s wages.

This went on for two and a half months before the crewing agent finally told him the company was withholding his money to pay the security bill in the US, totalling over $12,000.

By this stage, his contract had expired, but the company still refused to repatriate him. They said they would transfer him to a different ship until the “debt” had been paid off.

When I heard this story I asked the officer to send me any documents that proved that he had informed the company about his visa situation. He had nothing. Most of the communication had been verbal. The master apparently had communications about the requests to the company and the agent about repatriation, but he refused to provide any of these, arguing that he was acting under instruction from the company.

I told him he must try to get something in writing that supported his claims, otherwise the company could argue he never told them about his visa situation and that he had put them in the position of having to pay for the security guards.

A day later I called him again and he reported that the company had said they would pay his salary and repatriate him from the next port.

When I asked if he had this promise in writing, he said no! Once again he was relying on them keeping to their word.

Let’s see if the company will keep their promise. If they don’t, how do we prove that he notified them that he had no US visa?

For an inspector trying to assist you, having something in writing that supports your claim can really help us to get a case resolved. At the end of the day, it will be helpful to you.

With that in mind, here are my top tips for keeping a record:

• Make sure communication with the vessel operator, manager, owner, crewing agent, etc., is in writing, especially if it’s about an important issue.
• Even if written communication is only one-way (from you to them) it will demonstrate that you made every effort to communicate with them.
• Keep a copy of anything you send or receive.
• If they respond verbally (by telephone for instance), write to them again and ask them to kindly put their response in writing. Keep a copy.
• If you don’t have access to email or fax, and communication is via the captain, ask him for copies of any relevant correspondence in or out.
• If this is refused, put your request in writing, keep a copy and ask the master to sign and date it, confirming receipt of your request. If he doesn’t want to do this, try to get a fellow crew member to sign as a witness to the date that you made the written request.