Stranded crew allowed to go home to Philippines

THE Filipino crew of a stranded freight ship finally flew home yesterday after a month long saga which saw them stuck in Ireland over Christmas.

The crew of the Dutch-registered ship, the Elwood, have been stranded in Ireland since the authorities here detained the vessel at Greenore port, Co Louth, when a safety inspection uncovered substandard conditions on board.

The vessel was subsequently allowed to move to Dublin.

The plight of the men took on almost comical proportions on Monday when a tug sent from Holland to collect the Elwood was also detained by safety inspectors.

However, despite the last-minute setback, seven of the 11-member crew finally flew home yesterday.

The remaining four crew members, one of whom is the captain, remained in Dublin Port last night and will stay on board until the ship can be towed. Under port rules a minimum crew must be maintained on any docked vessel.

All of the men have now been paid wages and compensation that were owed to them before Christmas.

International Transport Workers’ Federation inspector Tony Ayton, who assisted the crew’s return, said it would be another three to four days before the Elwood could finally leave Dublin.

However, Mr Ayton warned ship operators that any further substandard vessels sent to Ireland would suffer a similar fate.

“This whole thing has been like a script for a comedy show. The message has to go out to these people with substandard ships that the Irish authorities and the union organisations here are on the ball,” he said.