Eight Russian crew members of the MV Lillian, who have been in New Ross, Co Wexford, since their vessel was detained by port control inspectors on May 13th, started their journey homeward in the early hours of yesterday morning.
"A piece of me will always remain in New Ross," said bosun Vitaly Giniozubenko as the bus pulled away from the harbour. "The people here have been so warm to us and the town is such a pretty, clean town. I will never forget it."
The crew of the Belize-registered container vessel found themselves stranded in New Ross when the ship was detained by the port control inspectors after an Irish steel company refused to accept their cargo of steel rods.
The crew remained on the ship for almost five weeks, before they were persuaded by local Siptu trade unionist Dick O'Neill to allow an International Transport Federation (ITF) inspector assess the predicament of the ship and its crew.
The 30-year-old vessel was found to have structural defects and its cargo was damaged because water had been leaking into the hold.
ITF inspector Ken Flemming also found that the crew had not been paid since they set sail from Murmansk, a sea port in the extreme northwest of Russia, on April 9th.
"First of all, I asked the captain for the details of the operation of the vessel, such as the contracts and payroll. I recognised the papers he showed me as dummy documents. After that he showed me the real terms of the contracts of the crew and I saw that the crew had not been paid," Mr Flemming said.
Ship's captain Alexander Kharlamovsaid yesterday he was reluctant to allow the ship to be inspected but he then realised contact with the ITF was the only way out of a difficult situation. "None of us have ever been in this situation before and all we wanted was to get paid. We didn't want to make an issue of it, but we have families waiting at home," Mr Kharlamov said.
On June 21st, Mr Justice Paul Butler gave permission for the MV Lillian to be sold and for the crew members to be paid from the proceeds.
At a farewell gathering on the eve of their return journey, Mr Flemming told the crew that, because they had placed their trust in the ITF, they would collectively receive a payment of almost $100,000. "It has been a long road," Mr Flemming said, "When the ship is sold, if it reaches the amount of money we believe it will, you will all be paid."
However the crew's response was subdued. Several crew members, who did not wish to be named, said they still doubted whether they would receive their full payment and they were worried the legal process initiated in Ireland would not have any effect on their employers in Russia. They said they still had a sense that they were going home to their families empty-handed.
The crew greatly appreciated the support they received from the people of New Ross and from Russian people who visited them. New Ross people did more for them than the authorities of their own country and many hope to return to the town in the future, they said.
However, they said they were sorry to leave the MV Lillian.
"The ship was not to blame," said one sailor, Alexander Arbuzov. "We loved that ship and worked on it for months. It doesn't feel right to fly home."