The 12 crew of the Malaviya 20, which was abandoned in Great Yarmouth, UK in June last year, are on their way home, complete with all the wages they were owed, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). The Malaviya 20 is one of two Indian-owned and -flagged vessels that were effectively abandoned by their owners after they were detained in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth (IMN, January 30th 2017).
ITF inspector Paul Keenan said that the ship had been detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), primarily because of unpaid wages. “The company initially paid some of the owed money and some of the crew were repatriated. Then nothing. So in December we arrested the vessel on the crew’s behalf. The bank which owned the ship contacted us and sent a representative over to meet with the ITF in January. They agreed to pay all owed wages to the crew currently on the vessel and those who had left earlier”, Keenan said.
A combined sum of $689,679 was paid to the 33 crew who were owed wages, dating back to October 2015.
Meanwhile, the crew of the detained sister ship the Malaviya Seven remain stranded in Aberdeen. The ITF said that it was moving to arrest the vessel on the crew’s behalf.