TN Sea Lady fishing vessel. Source: Clive G’ via Flickr
A BBC documentary has revealed that a Scottish fishing company, TN Trawlers, is allegedly involved in human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
“A three-year investigation by Disclosure uncovers allegations of modern slavery aboard UK fishing vessels,” said BBC.
Headquartered in Annan, Scotland, TN Trawlers is owned by the Nicholson family. Associated companies were also involved in the human trafficking schemes.
It is believed that men from the Philippines, Ghana, India, and Sri Lanka were misled by TN Trawlers about their working conditions.
The conditions of the boats subjected workers to confined environments, hunger, and thirst.
Crew staff often had to eat tomatoes to salivate their thirst, as there was not enough water.
According to BBC, Gershon stated that deckhands would drink washing water from the ship’s rusty tank.
Jaype, a Filipino worker on the TN Sea Lady boat, said he experienced verbal abuse and was treated “like a slave”.
Another man, Jovito Abiero, reported that he was occasionally sent to Tom Nicholson’s home to do gardening.
In 2012, Joel Quince was offered a job as a deckhand with TN Trawlers.
When Joel arrived in Carlisle, UK, he was picked up by Tom Nicholson Jr, and was told to hand over his documents.
Instead of an agreed upon 48-hour week, Joel had to work 18 hours a day, seven days a week — totalling to approximately 126 hours.
After a head injury, Joel left and found support at the Fisherman’s Mission, a charity that supports seafarers.
He was fixing a broken link when a tow bar sprung up. He jumped out of the way but fell and cut his head on the deck.
Crew members said that Joel was unconscious for approximately 15 minutes. Despite Joel’s head injury, Tom Nicholson Jr said they were not going to hospital. The vessel didn’t return to port until 11 hours after the incident.
Between 2012 and 2020, the Home Office’s National Referral Mechanism provided recognition to 35 men who had been trafficked by TN Trawlers and its associated companies.
Ten years later, Joel’s case reached court in 2022.
Despite the Home Office recognising that the men were trafficked, the case did not include charges of human trafficking.
Thomas Nicholson Snr, the director, was fined £13,500 ($24,024) and ordered to compensate Joel £3,000 ($5,338).
The documentary, Slavery at Sea, was released on 19 August, and shares the interviews of the workers that were exploited by TN Trawlers and associated companies.
