24 seafarers abandoned since July, after their ships were detained in Ravenna Port in Italy for alleged non-payment of bunker supplies, have been repatriated.
The seafarers were crew members on board the Maltese-flagged chemical tanker Gobustan and the general cargo vessel Sultan Bey also registered in Malta.
Their ordeal began when the Gobustan was seized where it arrived on 8th July for alleged non-payment by the ship owner to the fuel supplier. The crew were not allowed to disembark as they are non-Schengen citizens and due to COVID-19 restrictions, so the ship was moored at the cruise terminal in Porto Corsini.
Days later, on 16th July the Sultan Bey, enroute from Istanbul, was also detained by the Italian authorities, after docking at the Ravenna Bulk Terminal, due to the ship owner’s alleged outstanding debts.
Stella Maris and the Ravenna’s Seafarers’ Welfare Committee stepped in to support the stranded crew members, working together with local organisations to ensure that food, supplies and fresh drinking water was available to the seafarers.
Stella Maris made a grant of £2,000 to its colleagues in Ravenna to help with the purchase of supplies for the men while plans were put in place for the seafarers’ repatriation. The crew of the Gobustan were repatriated on 3rd and 4th October while the Sultan Bey crew went home on 23rd and 24th October.
Expressing his thanks to Stella Maris, Carlo Cordone, President of Ravenna’s Seafarers’ Welfare Committee said it had been an uphill struggle to get the seafarers repatriated, due to various challenges.
This complex job, which led to excellent results and brought us at the side of these seafarers all the time, has been possible thanks to the support of many people involved, who got busy to answer our cry for help right away; thanks to the good spirit of cooperation between companies and institutions typical of our port and thanks to our ability to come together as a team in face of humanitarian emergencies
Carlo Cordone, President of Ravenna’s Seafarers’ Welfare Committee said.
