The 16 crew members of a Turkish-owned ship, which has been stuck in Malta for over six weeks, are still in the dark as to what will become of them once the vessel is auctioned by the courts next month.

"This is a crazy situation. We really need our salaries... Some of us have not been paid in six months. Our families at home are having to sell their belongings. We would like to be paid before the paperwork to sell the ship starts since we still do not know whether the buyer will keep us," Vladimir Motsalov, captain of the Maltese-registered MV Nicea, said.

"I am worried about the safety of my crew... They are breaking down. One of them was so desperate he tried to light a fire on the ship but we realised what he was about to do and stopped him," he said.

The MV Nicea, a cargo ship, was travelling from Gibraltar to Istanbul to pick up a consignment of trucks when it stopped in Malta for refuelling on March 5.

Once in Malta, the ship was issued with a warrant of arrest because its Turkish owners, Erwina Shipping Ltd, owe money to a bank in Holland.

The arrest warrant was issued by the Maltese courts on the request of the bank and, since then, the 6,894-tonne ship had been berthed at Parlatorio Wharf in Grand Harbour.

The court will be auctioning the ship on May 5, on behalf of the bank. Until then, the crew - seven Bulgarians, seven Turks, a Georgian and the Estonian captain - do not know when they will be able to head home or get paid. In the meantime, they have no choice but to stay on board. They need a visa to disembark and if they do, they will be automatically relinquishing their right to get paid.

Capt. Motsalov said although they had provisions of food and water, these were running out. Over the past few weeks he had been trying to contact the bank as well as the International Transport Workers Federation but had not heard from either.