Statoil has hired a lifting vessel from Dutch Heerema, accused of operating with wages all the way down to NOK 29 for Asian workers in the North Sea.
“That our joint oil company is surfing in such a market is reprehensible.
If this information is correct, something must happen’’, said leader, Jørn Eggum of the Federal Association to VG newspaper.
According to the newspaper, Jake Molloy, electoral representative of the RMT in Aberdeen, announced to Upstream’s oil site, that Asian workers on the lifting vessels of Heerema Marine Contractors earn as little as 45 US dollars per day. It also mentioned that Asian crew can work 12 hours shift every day for 12 weeks. With a dollar rate of 7.72, according to VG, they receive an hourly wage of 29 kroner.
Statoil will use Heerema’s lifting vessel Thialf in several operations in Norway in 2018 and next year, including Johan Sverdrup. They say Heerema has signed their “supplier’s declaration”.
“We have been assured that they do not act in breach of applicable laws or Statoil’s ‘’supplier’s declaration,” said Morten Eek, Head of Information for the Norwegian Continental Shelf in Statoil.
Michelle Brama, spokesperson for Heerema, said that for privacy reasons, no individual contract details are included.
“What we can say is that Heerema Marine Contractors has a worldwide agreement that ensures that all contracts are within the framework of the International Transport and Workers Federation (ITF),” said Brama.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
