Vessel returns to harbour a month after being detained for unpaid wages
When the Defender left Cork at the end of April, the bulk of the €80,000 owed to its Russian and Ukrainian crew still had not been paid by owners Forestry Shipping in Riga.
It was the second time in a year that the company had been detected in Cork Harbour as having failed to properly pay its crew.
SIPTU trade union said it was amazed the Defender was back in Irish waters given the fact the International Transport Federation (ITF) had applied to have it blacklisted from all ports with ITF agreements.
That blacklisting process is ongoing. The ITF has also sought a High Court order forcing the Latvian owners to pay the outstanding wages.
Meanwhile, the ITF has once again demanded the gardaí investigate whether a ship off the Kinsale coastline has been used for human trafficking.
The four crew of the Lucky Star claim to have been abandoned by their captain and the vessel’s Greek owners and have been trapped on the 35m vessel, moored off Kinsale harbour, since mid-March.
When he inspected the vessel last week, ITF inspector Ken Fleming found evidence which pointed to possible human trafficking.
The crew are due to be taken off the boat and flown home later this week and Mr Fleming has asked gardaí to interview the men as they come ashore.
He said: “This fishing boat has been wandering these islands for the past few months. There is no obvious reason for its behaviour other than transporting people.
“The fact I found 10 survival suits and 26 life jackets hidden in the hold, when the crew totals five, is worrying. I have reported my findings to the gardaí but they appear uninterested.”
