Seogwipo Coast Guard Cracks Down on Shipowners Illegally Employing Unqualified Foreign Crew Members

Published 09 Dec.2022 16:21(KST)

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] Seogwipo Maritime Police Station (Chief Kim Jin-young) announced on the 9th that it has caught an unqualified foreign crew member illegally employed on a fishing vessel that is not allowed to engage in employment activities, as well as the vessel owner who employed him.

The maritime police conducted an inspection at around 3:05 PM the previous day on fishing vessel A (20t, coastal longline, registered in Seogwipo, 4 crew members onboard (2 registered in the system)) approximately 37 km south of Seogwipo, and caught unqualified foreign crew member B (male, 20s, Indonesian) and vessel owner and captain D (male, 50s) who employed B.

They also confirmed that foreign crew member C (male, 30s, Indonesian, E-10 visa), who was not registered on the crew list in the Fishing Vessel Entry and Exit Comprehensive Information System, was onboard, and detected the failure to report crew changes.

Crew member B held a non-professional employment visa (E-9) which does not allow employment on vessels over 20t, but was illegally (unqualified) employed on vessel A, which is over 20t. Vessel owner D is suspected of illegally employing an unqualified foreign crew member and failing to report the crew change regarding C at departure.

The maritime police transferred crew member B to Hwasun Port for investigation and handed him over to Jeju Immigration Office at around 9:45 PM the previous day. They plan to investigate vessel owner D soon regarding the circumstances of the illegal employment.

According to Article 18 of the Immigration Control Act, those who engage in employment activities in violation of their status of stay or those who employ persons without proper status of stay may face imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won.