The Oyang 75. (Photo Credit: Greenpeace Blacklist)
SOUTH KOREAFriday, December 05, 2014, 04:00 (GMT + 9)
A sinking ship belonging to the South Korean fishing giant Sajo Group places it in the eye of the storm again.
The 1,753 ton trawler Oryang 501 sank on Monday while while fishing for Alaska pollock in the Bering Sea and causing the tragic loss of several crewmembers' lives and the disappearance of about 30, who are still being searched.
Those on board the vessel included 11 South Koreans, 35 Indonesians, 13 Philippine crew members, as well as a Russian fisheries inspector, who was among the rescued ones.
The firm, which has been accused of alleged human rights and labour abuses, and illegal fishing and has faced legal action at home and internationally for its practices.
The set of mishaps Sajo has faced dates back to 2010, when its trawler Oyang 70 sank off the coast of New Zealand, killing six, The Korea Times reported.
The Group’s problems deepened in 2011, when 32 Indonesian crewmembers of theOyang 75 accused it of forced labor, unpaid wages and physical and sexual abuse – initiating a set of widespread allegations of labor abuses aboard Korean-flagged vessels in international waters.
According to reports out of New Zealand, the embattled Oyang 75 now faces forfeiture to the New Zealand government for fisheries violations including fish dumping.
Following the allegations of abuses in the industry, the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced a set of measures to improve conditions including the creation of a call centre for foreign fishermen.
Newspaper sources from South Korea stressed families of the men from the Oryang 501believe the sinking was a man-made disaster caused by reckless fishing in bad weather.