Abandoned Crew with 7 Bulgarian Sailors Finds Shelter in Malta*

Several of the abandoned crew members with their luggage outside the Russian Cultural Center in Merchants Street Valletta, waiting for transport to the hotel. Photo by Chris Sant Fournier, Times of Malta

By Kurt Sansone

Times Of Malta

Saturday, May 15

A ship's crew dumped by the vessel's new owners yesterday avoided the prospect of sleeping on the street after their lawyer arranged for temporary accommodation in a Bu?ibba hotel.

Standing in front of the Russian Cultural Centre, in Valletta, with luggage stacked on the pavement, the abandoned sailors said they were relieved on hearing about the arrangement.

After leaving the ship they were receiving some assistance from the centre as the captain, although Estonian, is Russian-born.

The ship was 'arrested' in Malta after the original owners went bankrupt. On May 5, the MV Nicea was sold at auction for €851,000 to MSK, a shipping company registered in the Marshall Islands. The crew were to receive their unpaid salaries and repatriation costs from the sale.

However, the new owners were not interested in taking the crew on board and declined a separate request to pay their wages since May 5. As a result the sailors left the ship yesterday morning.

Vladimir Motsalov, the captain, appealed to the civil authorities to quickly release the money owed to them, held by the courts, so they would return home immediately.

The sailors' lawyer Cedric Mifsud said the money had not been released because of a procedural delay and the crew could expect to be paid some time next week.

"The hotel accepted my request to take them in and the crew will be paying for their accommodation when they get the money, which will also cover repatriation costs," Dr Mifsud said.

"What I find scandalous in this affair is the new owners' decision not to take responsibility for the crew. They could have at least paid for accommodation costs until the legal issues were sorted," he added.

The demoralised crew, which includes seven Bulgarians, one Georgian and seven Turkish men apart from the captain, were worried about the hardship their families faced back home since they had not been paid for six whole months.

"We are nervous. We have been under big stress. Some of us have loans to pay," a Bulgarian sailor said, insisting he could not tell his family with certainty when he would be back home.

"Is it possible to kick people off a ship with no mercy?" Captain Motsalov asked while praising the generosity of the Maltese.

The crew first caught the media's attention some three months ago after writing calls for help on bedsheets saying things like: "Help us. No food or electricity" and "Where is the ITF (International Transport Workers Federation)?"

Contacted by The Times Charles Agius, the General Workers' Union's maritime section secretary, said that were it not for the intervention of the ITF, the situation would not have reached this stage.

When the GWU got wind of the crew's plight some three months ago, he said, the union contacted the captain and the ITF.

"The case was handled by ITF's regional inspector. The crew were informed of their legal rights to obtain the money they were owed by the GWU's legal advisor. They did take the advice but as was also their right they chose a different lawyer," Mr Agius explained.

The GWU represents the ITF in Malta.

* The original title of the Times of Malta publication has been changed by Novinite.com

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