Crew Of Russian Palladiy Vessel Detained In Busan Cannot Go Back To Russia - Trade Union

Five crew members of the Russian Palladiy vessel, detained in South Korea's Busan, are asking to help them to return home as the ship owner prevents them from doing so despite the contracts' expiry, Nikolay Sukhanov, the chairman of the Seafarers' Union of Russia, told Sputnik.

VLADIVOSTOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) Five crew members of the Russian Palladiy vessel, detained in South Korea's Busan, are asking to help them to return home as the ship owner prevents them from doing so despite the contracts' expiry, Nikolay Sukhanov, the chairman of the Seafarers' Union of Russia, told Sputnik.

"This morning we received appeals from five crew members of the Palladium tanker, which operates under the Russian flag. At the moment the ship is docked at the port of Busan for repair works. Five crew members ended their contracts two months ago. They have repeatedly appealed to the owner - the Vladivostok-based company Daltrans - to be discharged from the ship, but the ship owner has refused to do it under different pretexts," Sukhanov said.

The official also noted that the sailors had been paid only part of their salaries and had already appealed to the Russian Consulate General in South Korea saying they were forcibly kept on board the ship. The trade union has prepared an appeal to the Primorsky Region Transport Prosecutor's Office to assist the crew, Sukhanov added.

Russian Consul in Busan Roman Bykov told Sputnik that employees of the Russian Consulate General had visited the vessel twice together with representatives of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and met with both the crew and the captain.

"We talked to the captain on Monday. He assured us that the ship owner was going to come to Korea to meet with the sailors in order to solve all the issues. Several seafarers, indeed, have the right to repatriation which the ship owner must ensure. Someone's contract has already ended, someone has written a letter of resignation. The issue is about buying flight tickets for the crew, but the ship owner has no money for this, and sailors do not have money to pay for their journey back home," Bykov said.

According to the diplomat, an employee of the Russian diplomatic mission will visit the vessel again on Wednesday to provide consular assistance to the crew.

The Palladiy tanker was detained in Busan in June after seafarers complained about wage arrears.