Call to appoint vessel inspectors as ferry workers return home

THE International Transport Federation (ITF) has called on the Government to appoint more inspectors to tackle “endemic” underpayment of foreigners crewing vessels operating in Irish waters.

The call was made yesterday after nine Romanian ferry workers flew home to their families with more than €26,000 in back pay between them, following the intervention of the ITF.

They had been working on the Celtic Star, a 11,000 tonne Cypriot-flagged freighter, which operates a ro-ro service between Liverpool and Dublin.