The owners of a cargo ship anchored off Malta for months in a dispute over the crew’s pay have been orderedto give the sailors almost €300,000 in salaries and repatriation costs.

Twenty-one Filipinos and their Pakistani captain, who were abandoned on MV Ladybug by their financially-stricken mother company, late last month succeeded in getting the court to order the ship’s arrest.

Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti yesterday ruled that the 20 owners, through their representative lawyer, should pay the crew €279,507.14 in overdue pay plus €14,960 for their repatriation.

The 72,000 ton, 232-metre long vehicle carrier was allowed into Maltese waters on August 10 after being stranded for months due to problems regarding wages, food provisions, fuel and water.

The crew members have been receiving assistance by local representative of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Paul Falzon, and the Embassy of the Philippines in Rome.

The vessel’s value far exceeded the claims of the crew, even when legal and repatriation costs are taken into account, Mr Falzon told Times of Malta last month.

“The crew’s claims are simple and legitimate. We are hopeful that the mother company will now agree to pay their wages and send a replacement crew,” he had said.

The sailors whose contracts are still running would be entitled to repatriation as the agreements signed had been breached by the mother company.