THREE months ago, the Greek ship Alice , sailing under a Jamaican flag, got stranded in the Dutch port of Dordrecht, its cargo of 1,500 tones of cement spoilt in heavy weather. The 22-member. all-Filipino crew has been left to sink or swim.

The Greek owner is now fighting with the insurance company over the damage claim and is desperately trying to find a new buyer for the cement. The crew is not covered in the discussions.

"We are fed up and lonely", said one of the sailors, who asked not to be identified. "Il’s been weeks since we had any mall. Our April salary has not been paid. We haven’t got a cent left, so it’s no fun to be out on shore leave. I don’t like window shopping."

Their situation could be worse. At least they have a Filipino captain who is not too bad," said Ndnoy Laconico, of the Phlliplne Seaman Assistance Programme (PSAP).

Laconico is the only paid employee of the PSAP. a 10-year-old Rotterdam-based organisation that tries to protect the rights of some 130,000 Filipino seamen in the international merchant fleet.

At this moment. Filipino crewmembers of three other ships arc in serious trouble in the Netherlands alone, tn need of legal and social aid.

Philippine seamen are popular with foreign shipowners for their willingness to work for low wages and lack of organisation.

Their numbers have increased, their working conditions have worsened." said Laconico.

The official minimum wage fixed by the International Federation for Transport Workers (ITF) is US $821 a month, but the junior sailors aboard the Alice’ receive only US $200, less even than the standard minimum of US $276 decreed by the International

Labour Organisation (ITF).

Filipino seamen also suffer other hardships. "I am the only Filipino in a completely Bulgarian crew," said a 60-ycar-old boatswain who wplkcd Into the PSAP office. "I can only communicate with my hands. The food is horrible."

His contract expires tn two months, but he wants to go home immediately. He is afraid to involve the ITF. as his contract forbids him to get in touch with the union on penalty of being balcklistcd by the shipping agents.

The fear of being blacklisted is very big. If the seamen’s documents are not properly signed by the agency at the end of his contract, it will be very hard for him to find a new job," said Wim van Wijk, PSAP chairman.

For the Philippine government, the export of marine manpower is a welcome source of income.

The government regards us as a nice way to earn hard currency," said the captain of the ’Alice’, who also asked for anonymity. Most seamen are contracted through a manning agency in Manila. Their wages are paid to their families in local currency, while the government keeps the hard currency.

Racism Is another source of abuse. Filipino sailors were recently forced to clean the deck of the German ship Sam Hunt-

by their European captain, "so they could better feel the dirt," one Filipino seamen wrote in ’Parola’, a bi-montly newsletter published by the PSAP.

Until recently. Dutch shipping companies were not allowed to sign on foreign seamen for a wage less than that of an able-bodied Dutchman. Many shipowners decided for that reason to register under another flag.

The "Dutch regulations were mitigated in 1987. Today, Filipinos form one third of the total labour force on the Dutch merchant fleet. The savings for shipowners are tremendous.

A tugboat with a crew of 10 Filipinos would cost half a million dollars less a year than one with a full Dutch crew, the Smit Lloyd salvage company calculated.

Filipino sailors themselves can do very little to protect their rights, said Paul Chapman, founder of the US Genth: for Seafarers' Rights. So many national laws and regulations are involved in international navigation that it is an impenetrable legal jungle for the individual seamen. Chapman said.

Meanwhile, competition among seamen from different Third World countries is hampering efforts to protect their interests.

As soon as the wages for one nationality of seamen rise. colleagues from other countries arc glad to work at a lower rate.

"Wages in countries like China and Vietnam arc extremely low," said Van Wijk. who predicts an Increase in the number of Chinese on the merchant fleet In the next few

years.

In the Belgian port of Antwerp, shipping inspector Harald Schmcling recently discovered a merchant ship with an all-African crew. The Africans had no contracts at all. They signed up on a bed and breakfast basis: free meals

and a bed. but no wages.

But the plight of others is hardly comforting for the crew of the Alice' who have decided to hire a lawyer. As the chief engineer had feared, the ship has been inspected and judged "unscaworthy".

If the Greek owner dc-clareds bankruptcy, banks and other commercial creditors would seized such funds as remained. Then the crew wgl end up having to pay for their flight back to Manila, out of empty pockets.