More than six months after their ship's detention in Dublin Port, the remaining crew of a Tonga-registered "unseaworthy" ship were repatriated to Syria this week.
Some 10 crew members of the 836-tonne Alda K have been flown home from Dublin over the last few weeks with the help of the Irish branch of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF).
The ship was detained by the Government's Maritime Safety Directorate (MSD) last February for being unseaworthy, after it steamed into Dublin Port for repairs.
The Alda K had been detained on a number of previous occasions by other states.
More than €30,000 is outstanding in wages and allowances to the crew, Mr Tony Ayton, Irish representative for the ITWF, said.
Mr Ayton has asked the ITWF to explore legal options with a view to pursuing a civil action against the ship's owner through the French courts. It is understood the owner lives in the south of France, and intends to sell the ship for scrap.
"The conditions on board the vessel were inhuman," Mr Ayton said. By detaining it the MSD "may well have saved the lives of some of those seafarers," he added.
