A Maltese court has awarded €345,000 in compensation to the crew of a Belize-registered cargo ship, which has been anchored off St Paul’s Bay since March after its owners went bankrupt.
Residents from Mellieħa and Qawra alerted this newspaper about the presence of the vessel anchored about three kilometres off the coast.
In a sentence handed down by the First Hall of the Civil Court on June 27, Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti awarded compensation to the 27 Ukrainian crew members.
The request on their behalf was filed by Paul Falzon, the local representative of the International Transport Federation, against the Pacific Future whose owners are Liberian society Machiko Carriers.
Ten crew members had already abandoned the ship during its last stop before sailing to Malta since they had not received any payments since December. The remaining 17 spent four months stranded on the ship as in such cases it not allowed to sail to another port until court proceedings are over.
Unfortunately such incidents are becoming more common
However, their gruelling experience came to an end last month when they flew back to their country as part of the compensation deal.
The Pacific Future which is still carrying a cargo of bauxite, a raw material used in the production of aluminium, is now being manned by a new crew. Sources said negotiations to find the new ship owners are going on but the issue could still take some months to be resolved.
Mr Falzon remarked that the federation, which is represented in Malta by the General Workers’ Union managed to secure an additional €50,000 to cover the crew’s travel costs back to the Ukraine.
“Unfortunately such incidents are becoming more common as the shipping industry has not fully recovered yet from the 2009 financial crisis,” noted Mr Falzon.
In total, five creditors including the ship’s crew are claiming €1.39 million. The 181-metre bulk carrier was built in 1998.
A shipping expert said such incidents are quite common especially when disputes go to court. He explained that shipping agencies are well aware that in such circumstances proceedings may take months, and so the possibility to berth in the Grand Harbour or any other port is not an option due to the huge costs involved.
The Pacific Future was detained in Maltese territorial waters on March 24, after the issue of an arrest warrant following a claim of €790,904 by Russian-owned Amsterdam Trade Bank NV.
A day later, Lukoil Marine Lubricants Limited, a Russian company specialising in the production and sale of marine lubricants, followed suit even though the sum involved was a modest €25,525.
In this case the crew members piled further misery on their bosses, by filing an arrest warrant seeking compensation of €345,000.
The latest arrest warrant was issued on July 25 following a claim of €140,000 by Malta-based Maritime Asset Security and Training Limited.