A Turkish vessel has been detained in the UK with its crew believed to be earning as little as £0.66 ($0.86) pence per hour.
The 2,300-dwt Seccadi (built 1995) is being held by British authorities at the port of Ellesmere, north England.
Handy Shipping Guide reports that maritime unions are up in arms over the pay and conditions onboard.
Voda Shipping, the vessel’s owner, has apparently responded to questions from the authorities regarding the status of its Turkish and Indian crew last week, according to the same report.
The Istanbul-based company had not responded to an e-mail from TradeWinds at the time of writing.
Tommy Molloy, a ship inspector for Nautilus International and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), said: “When crew are not paid for more than two months, not repatriated and do not have basic food requirements to sustain a healthy diet, then they are considered to have been abandoned.
“Everybody concerned has given the operator ample opportunity to resolve this matter.
“What nobody wanted is another crew stuck here for months on end relying on the goodwill of local people and organisations to keep them alive.”
A claim of more than £50,000 has now mostly been settled, but problems remain for those onboard, Handy Shipping Guide reports.
This is not the only vessel owned by Voda Shipping to have been detained this year.
According to data from Equasis, at least three more ships owned by the company have been held in various ports in previous months.
