A ship that arrived in Cork early this morning was found to be paying crew-members as little as $1 an hour, according to the International Transport Federation (ITF).
The ITF said the vessel arrived in Cork at 2am and was also found to be carrying cartons of LM cigarettes, which were not in the declared cargo manifest.
The Defenderis registered in Cambodia and is operated by Forestry Shipping, based in the Latvian port of Riga, the ITF.
International Transport Federation inspector Ken Fleming of Siptu said the Russian captain was only earning $3,500 a month, instead of the $6,000 rate he is supposed to receive. Mr Fleming said the Chief Officer had been paid a total of $1,250 since January and the cook only $100 since the start of the year.
Mr Fleming said an examination had discovered that crew-members were owed a total of $92,500.
A spokeswoman for the Revenue’s Customs Service confirmed that the ship had been impounded and officers were examining the contents of the vessel. She said said a "number of cigarettes" had been found.
It is understood as manay as 45,000 cigareets were on the ship and that the declared cargo on board was timber.
