ITF President Condemns Vulture Fund Swoop on Frigate

ITF president Paddy Crumlin has strongly condemned the seizure of the Fragata Libertad, an Argentine navy training ship, in Ghana at the behest of a US vulture fund. The sequestration of the vessel has also been denounced by the entire ITF executive board.

Paddy Crumlin stated: “The Ghana injunction comes at the urging of one of the worst international financial predators, Paul Singer, a US hedge fund billionaire who has made a vast fortune preying on countries and workers around the world, a fortune made partly by investing in anti-union companies.”

He continued: “In trying to hold hostage one government over a dispute on sovereign debt by holding the Libertad hostage, Singer shows that he only holds one thing sacred: making more profit and building his wealth. Motivated by greed, and not the respect of the rule of law, Singer has even refused the two debt swap programmes that have succeeded in restructuring 95 percent of Argentina’s defaulted debt.”

Crumlin concluded: “Singer’s actions are further to be condemned as he is holding a training vessel of young Argentinian men and women seeking a career at sea reflecting generally the lack of regard his company has for the human consequences of their commercial decisions.”

The detention of the ship was ordered by Elliott Capital Management, which has bought up debt associated with bonds on which the Argentinian government defaulted in 2001. The company is the largest shareholder of public transport provider National Express (NEG), which stands accused by the ITF and unions of a chronic pattern of violation of the right to freedom of association for NEG employees in the United States.