Modern Age Slavery

About the Author

Serbian born Mladen Jakovljevic travelled around the globe while working on cruise ships for ten years. Driven by his enthusiastic and adventurous spirit, Mladen never stopped seeking justice and fighting for fair and equal treatment of all people, particularly employees in lower-ranked positions in big companies.

Dedication

Thank you to all the seamen worldwide, warriors of the sea, and people who sacrifice the present moment to create a better future for their families. Indeed, you are the real brave heroes of the seven seas. You are working long, exhausting hours for a seven-day straight for 7–10 months without a day off; with unfair working conditions and a slavery management regime, it’s not easy. Yet, you have chosen to keep your smile on, push every obstacle along the way, and make a better life for your families back home. I truly admire all of you!

Copyright Information ©

Mladen Jakovljevic 2022

The right of Mladen Jakovljevic to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

All of the events in this memoir are true to the best of author’s memory. The views expressed in this memoir are solely those of the author.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398492394 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398492400 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781398492424 (ePub e-book)

ISBN 9781398492417 (Audiobook)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I want to give my sincere gratitude to Austin Macauley Publishers for believing in me from the very beginning. This fantastic company offered me phenomenal support throughout the book publishing process. It’s easy to believe in people who have already reached certain status and level of fame. Yet, your fantastic company is unique in a fabulous way; you collaborated your professional services and unconditionally inspired first-time unknown publishers to accomplish their dreams. You are a beautiful example that there is hope in this world. Austin Macauley Publishers represents the voice of justice for millions of people around the globe. Indeed, a spectacular kind of support, professionalism. I would like to acknowledge and recognize all the people who supported me on my journey. For every seaman, a journey at sea is usually a daily battle with loneliness. Thank you to my family, who always stood up behind me and supported me, especially during the ten years of working on the cruise ship. Furthermore, thank you to all of my respected guests who made a tremendous difference for my entire family. The smallest gesture of kindness from my lovely guests gave me enormous energy to remain strong, dedicated to my goal of providing a better future for my family back home.

Introduction:

Behind the Scenes

This book is based on a true story. It should provide you with a clear picture of what it takes to work on a cruise ship; it emphasises the enormous sacrifice from seamen worldwide. While working onboard the cruise ship for ten years, many of my respectful guests asked me questions about what it looks like to live and work on the cruise ship. In fact, for our passengers on board, we had something called ‘Behind the scenes tour’ where our guests would be taken on a four-hour tour so they would be able to see some of the crew facilities on board. During that tour, a guest could have a little taste of how the crew life on board looks like, and they could explore the crew areas, crew mess, engine control room, crew bar. It also cost our guest 110 dollars to do that, and yet, there were limited spots for that particular ship tour due to high demand, often it was booked out in a few hours.

‘Modern age slavery’ is my ‘Behind the scenes tour’ for all people who wanted to know more about the reality of the crew members’ life on board the cruise ship. It should primarily serve as a voice of justice and shout out to millions of hard-working crew members worldwide. They sacrifice a moment of presence to create a better future for their families. By presenting particular events from the time when I was a crew member on board the biggest cruise line company globally, my idea was to highlight all irregularities and unfair treatment that crew members on the cruise ships are exposed to every day. After reading this book, you will gain a different perspective on the cruising industry. You will be able to understand what is behind those glorious, sensational passengers’ views from their balcony cabins, what occurred behind the regular crew member’s curtain on board.

Therefore, while writing this book, my greatest dream and inspiration was to influence future sailors to have a more compassionate approach for the crew members. I also desired to help people who have decided to work on the cruise ship with important but realistic information about a seaman’s life. More importantly, my biggest motivation was to possibly create new rules and regulations for all the seaman to be implemented fair, equal treatment, and better management onboard the cruise ships.

Moreover, an incident happened onboard the cruise ship; I was injured while performing my daily task in one of the ship’s bars. Instead of providing me with much-needed medical assistance and support at that time, the cruise line company distanced from this incident and let me suffer on my own. They even ordered a cover-up of that particular incident on board. They refused to help me anyhow in my complicated recovering stage, sending me away from the cruise ship without proper medical treatment and therapy.

Unfortunately, the cruise ship industry is almost untouchable regarding their illegal actions against the crew members. Liability does not exist because cruise lines register their ships in Panama, Bahamas, Vanuatu, etc. It operates under the flag state law and usually has lesser regulations and labour policies. This harms its crew because the company does not need to comply with US maritime law. For that reason, malpractices on board the cruise ships often go unnoticed and kept being hidden underneath. Deficient standards of working conditions exist, just like in a slavery regime. I genuinely hope that this book will create some positive difference for millions of workers worldwide.

Chapter 1

Journey, Not a Destination

The flight from Atlanta to Miami was delayed for a couple of hours. Tired and lonely, finally I have got on the plane. Unexpectedly, I sat down on my seat next to the two FBI agents and two Mexican prisoners who were probably transferred to another jail in Florida. I held a small prayer book and my wife and kid’s pictures in my sweaty hand. Another eight-month contract onboard the ship in front of me, I thought about it unintentionally – it will take forever until I see my family again. While I was observing two handcuffed Mexican prisoners next to me, I realised that, just for my freedom, I was a rich man. I have a beautiful family waiting for me to return home after completing my eight-month contract onboard the cruise ship. Once again, I will have an opportunity to visit numerous tourist destinations, meet many great people, and expand my knowledge in various life areas. Therefore, life was beautiful, or maybe I just wanted to bombard myself with positive thoughts to prevent sadness caused by separation anxiety. Probably, after ten years of working onboard the cruise ships, somehow, I have learned to trick myself into a good mood in those moments when I felt down.

The plane landed in Miami. The new contract, new challenges were waiting for me. But I was ready. Work pressure is okay; I thought so. We never know what we are truly capable of until we are being pushed to do it.

While disembarking the plane at Miami airport, I felt a new dose of positivity in my veins. I can do it. For my family, I will make them proud.

Drained and physically exhausted after several connecting flights from my home country to the US, I was on the edge of physical energy. After the plane landed, my goal was to quickly find my luggage and get on the transfer bus to a hotel where the company booked my stay for the night. It was already 8 pm. Ideally, I planned to arrive at the hotel around 9 pm to grab some dinner and rest, but it was not as smooth as expected. In the baggage pick-up area at Miami international airport, I found out that my luggage was lost somewhere on the way. That would not be a huge issue if I was not a crew member on the cruise ship. In ten years of working on the cruise ship, I have learned the same lesson; we cannot control all events and things around us, yet, we can, and we should always control how we react to it. I was trying to remain calm. Slowly, I walked into an office for lost luggage and filled up the form. They explained that there is a probability that luggage could arrive in Miami the following day and be sent directly to my hotel before joining the ship. Indeed, it was a complicated and an uncertain scenario. Because the very next day, I was about to enter the vessel for the new eight months contract, and without my luggage, it would be nearly impossible. What if luggage does not arrive on time, and all of my essential personal belongings?

Finally, around 11 pm, I have arrived at the hotel. Loud and friendly shuttle driver Claudio from Colombia wished me a bit of good luck upon arrival. The friendly staff at the front desk also made me feel welcome; they gave me a breakfast voucher for the following day and ensured that they would do whatever it took to help me with my lost luggage. The hotel staff provided me with a temporary shaving kit and a small toothbrush to refresh myself after a long connecting flight. The spacious, beautiful hotel room provided me with an opportunity to rest before joining the ship. Complimentary room service, the comfortable king-size bed, I felt like a one-million-dollar man at that moment. For sure, if I was not already an experienced sea wolf, I would probably get tricked by this modern, cosy hotel comfort for a moment. But I knew something else, for a fact, the upcoming day would bring less sweet reality, and that was true, indeed.

After a few hours of much-needed rest, I woke up with a great