MWUN Rescues 18 Crew of MT Oryx Trader, Stranded At Lagos Anchorage

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has rescued the eighteen crew of a foreign vessel, MT ORYX TRADER stranded at the Lagos Anchorage and dying of hunger.

All the crew onboard are foreign nationals, their captain being a Pakistan and an Ukrainian chief officer.

The union confirmed to DAILY TREND that the ship has been abandoned at the Lagos outside bar for three months due to ongoing dispute resolution with another vessel.

The crew reportedly ran out of water, food, medical supplies and other provisions and had sent a Save our Soul (SOS) message to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) an affiliate of MWUN.

Recall that the President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju was in 2018 elected as chairman of seafarers’ section, Africa region of ITF.

Comrade Adeyanju through his Special Assistant on Media, Comrade Oniha Erazua said “The global federation of transport unions to which MWUN is affiliated informed us of the situation of the crew on board the vessel MT ORYX TRADER reportedly anchored out bar due to its arrest by the authorities”

“The situation reportedly arose from dispute between two companies.
Consequently, the eighteen member crew were abandoned and left stranded by the home company located in Greece”

“The crew had been on anchorage for over three months and had run out of water, medications, food, provisions etc”

“On the above basis, the union set up a MWUN EMERGENCY RESPONSE/RELIEF committee to evaluate the situation of the seafarers on board and determine how best for the union to respond”

“Consequently, the response team resolved to immediately solve the issue of lack of food and other necessities for the crew and set out to purchase medications, food, provisions, water, sanitizer etc which were carried by chartered boat to the crew onboard”

“To make this possible, Comrade Prince Adewale Adeyanju, PG, MWUN and his team approved over One million Naira to enable the purchase of these items and ensure the survival of our fellow crew on board”

“It is important to note that all the crew on board are foreign nationals, their captain being a Pakistan and an Ukrainian chief officer. Out of the 18 crew on board, 15 are Muslims while 3 are Christians” he said.