Indian ship crew stranded in UK for more than a year over dues dispute

An Indian ship, with its Indian captain, is stranded at a UK port for over a year due to a long-standing legal dispute over payment of dues to the harbour owners, a worker's union said today as it sought the intervention of the British port authority into the matter.

The ship, 'Malaviya Twenty', has been held at a port in Great Yarmouth, in the East Anglia region of England, since July 2016 after its Indian owners declared bankruptcy. Most of the original crew has since been repatriated back to India but Captain Nikesh Rastogi and three other crew members have been stuck aboard for nearly 15 months due to a stalemate with the harbour's owners, Peel Ports.

"The captain cannot abandon the ship because it will have consequences on his operating licence. He, along with three other crew, is stuck on board and have been undergoing severe hardship," said Paul Keenan, inspector with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) who has been involved with the dispute from the start.

Keenan says the ship could be sold for around 800,000 pounds, which would be enough to cover port dues of fuelling and docking charges, with sufficient left-over funds to cover the crew's unpaid wages and costs for the insurance company and their lawyers.

But, he alleged, that the harbour authority is being "greedy" and using an 1847 legislation to demand penalty, which in itself would run into what the sale of the ship is likely to raise.

"If they agree to settle for their costs, which is around 240,000 pounds, there would be a way forward for everyone. The crew can get paid and would be able to go back home to their families in India and the ship's deteriorating condition can be rescued," he said.

"It's entirely within the power of Peel Ports to resolve this," he added.

'MalaviyaTwenty', owned by Mumbai'sGOL Offshore Ltd, was arrested in July 2016 and issued with a distrainment order under the UK's Harbour Act, which means it cannot leave the port at Great Yarmouth.

The ITF, the workers' union assisting the crew, had facilitated the insurance company's lawyers settle four months' back wages of the original crew, who were repatriated to India.

The new crew arrived on six-month contracts, which have since expired and left them without wages since last year.

Peel Ports have refused to comment on what is an "ongoing legal dispute".