In response to claims from the RMT published over the weekend regarding rates of pay aboard the vessel Finlandia, below is a statement from Gert Jakobsen, Vice President, Communications for DFDS.
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There is absolutely and categorically no single rank on-board the Finlandia Seaways being paid £1.64 per hour. This is simply not true and we have no idea where the RMT have got their information from. The Finlandia Seaways operates internationally and is currently assigned to the Rosyth – Zeebrugge route. She flies the Lithuanian Flag (EU Country). All of her crew are directly employed by DFDS Seaways, and are Lithuanian nationals, residing in Lithuania. The vessel is therefore subject to Lithuanian regulations as well as international regulations. As a result all salaries and other terms and conditions of employment for this crew have been negotiated and agreed by the Lithuanian Seamen’s Union and have been approved by all of the relevant international bodies.
The rates of pay for this crew have been grossly under-exaggerated by the RMT. The salaries paid to each crew member range from €1,481 per month to €6,662 per month depending on the rank and qualifications of the crew member. In addition, there are various other benefits applied such as the social benefits paid on their behalf in Lithuania and paid travel to and from work. This is several times higher than the amounts reported and a very good salary in Lithuania, where the crew members live.
In spite of the subsidies, the route has been loss making since 2008 and would not still be in operation if we hadn’t seen this as a joint interest to the benefit of society and Scottish industry and received subsidies from the Scottish Government and the EU.
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