Lloyd's List

  Mutiny claim on US fishing boat is first in 30 years

    Master alleges beatings of racially divided crew by officers and
    refusal to follow orders

David Osler - Tuesday 27 October 2009

THE master of a US-flag fishing boat is set to bring charges of mutiny
against three South Korean officers on board the vessel, in what appears
to be the first use of the relevant legislation for decades.

Doug Pine, master of the 187 gt /Majestic Blue/ until earlier this
month, will also allege that some of those under his command engaged in
punishment beatings of the racially divided crew and disregarded the
official waste management plan.

The vessel, of a type known as purse seiner, is engaged in tuna fishing
in the Pacific and was this year reflagged to the US from South Korea.
On the switch, US national Capt Pine took charge in the Solomon Islands
on July 27, in accordance with flag requirements, while the former
master took the rank of fishing master.

As he freely admits, he accepted this with some reluctance, in the
absence of alternative employment given the economic downturn in the US,
as he could not find work on a tug or an offshore supply vessel.

According to Capt Pine, the eight Korean officers were frequently
violent towards Indonesians and Filipinos in the crew. The Indonesian
third officer was allegedly punched and kicked within Capt Pine’s sight,
and the chief engineer would use a bamboo stick, hitting him about the
shoulders, neck and head.

Capt Pine posted standing orders around the vessel prohibiting further
beatings, but believes that they continued nevertheless.

On his account, the Koreans continued to regard the fishing master as
their boss, and refused to obey routine commands, leaving him unable to
manoeuvre the vessel or use navigation equipment on the bridge. He also
charges that the Korean officers refused to comply with Marpol
regulations. Capt Pine’s waste-management plan was ignored, even though
the vessel had an adequate incinerator and oily-water separator.

He ultimately resorted to smuggling the ship’s satellite phone off the
bridge, after which he went to his cabin and telephoned his wife, who
recorded a message asking for assistance to be passed on to the US Coast
Guard.

He received a VHF communication from the coastguard asking him to attend
a pre-inspection meeting and was able to leave the ship by pilot boat at
Tarawa in Kiribati, where he currently remains.

Capt Pine said: “I learned enough to formally charge the Korean officers
aboard my ship with three things. First, my crew members were being
physically assaulted and beaten by the Korean officers on board my
vessel. Two, the Korean officers were guilty on a daily basis of
violating the vessel’s waste-management plan. Third, I have charged the
fishing master, the chief engineer and the second officer with mutiny.

“I was never able to command my vessel in a way that met the legal
definition of command, based on resistance and outright refusal to
follow orders, insubordination and non-co-operation, and a physical
assault upon me by the fishing master.

“There was intimidation, and what I consider to be complete manipulation
by using only the Korean language to operate the ship’s business. I was
the only American on board this ship, and I was not furnished with an
interpreter.”

Capt Pine’s accusations are being investigated by the USCG. The company
understood to operate /Majestic / /Blue / did not return a telephone
call from Lloyd’s List requesting comment.

Philip Roche, a partner at London shipping law firm Norton Rose, said he
was unaware of any cases of mutiny since an incident on a Royal Navy
minesweeper in the 1960s. Mutiny appears no longer to be an offence
under English law, and is not specifically covered by P&I insurance.

Disobedience of a lawful order would come under the “conduct endangering
ships” provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, and would be a criminal
offence, he added. Masters have the power to imprison anybody on board a
ship for the preservation of good order or discipline. They may also
require the assistance of police. “This is a common law power broad
enough to enable a master to enforce compliance with his lawful order.
If a couple of guys tried to mutiny, he would have them detained,” Mr
Roche added.

Perhaps the most famous recent mutiny on board a US merchant vessel took
place in the 1970s, when two seafarers seized control of the /Columbia
Eagle/ , which was on a Department of Defense supply charter, carrying
napalm to the US Air Force bases in Thailand for use in the Vietnam War.

Motivated by opposition to the conflict, Clyde McKay and Alvin
Glatkowski ordered the master to make for Cambodia. After months of
imprisonment, Mr Glatkowski was extradited to the US to face trial, and
served a prison sentence for mutiny, kidnapping, assault and neglect of
duty.

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Article from Lloyd's List:

www.lloydslist.com/art/1256546636751

Published: 27/10/2009 GMT

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