Latvian crew are ‘prisoners’ on ship

THE International Transport Federation (ITF) has claimed 11 crew members onboard a ship off the Louth coast are effectively prisoners, unable to go home to Latvia or berth in Ireland.

Crew members of the Latvian-registered ship refused six weeks ago to move from the quay wall of Greenore harbour until they were paid salaries withheld from them for the previous four months. The 2,000-tonne bulk freighter was carrying 1,750 tonnes of steel bars destined for the Irish market and the ship’s crew refused to move it.

The ITF succeeded in obtaining arrears of pay for the men up to the end of March but the strike action continued until the guarantee of continued pay and conditions was secured.