Talks were being held in Dublin today to try and resolve a dispute which has seen a cargo ship detained in port by the High Court.
The Russian agency which employs the Latvian and Russian crew of the Merchant Brilliant are alleged to own them as much as €150,000 in back pay.
Representatives of the International Transport Federation went to the High Court to have the ship "arrested" after it attempted to leave Dublin Port.
The Federation's inspectors said they had uncovered evidence of systematic underpayment of the crew.
The vessel is a sister ship of the Merchant Bravery which was involved in a similar controversy earlier this month when its crew members were found to be owed similar amounts of money which the ITF had to extract from them.
Both vessels provide a roll-on roll-off freight service between Dublin and Heysham.
Ken Fleming, who is on secondment to the ITF from the union SIPTU, claimed the St Petersburg shipping agency had gone further in trying to evade paying the crew of the Merchant Brilliant that they had with the Merchant Bravery.
He said: "On this occasion the agency went even further in trying to evade its responsibilities. Firstly, it tried to evict the crew from the Merchant Brilliant on Friday and, when this failed, it tried to leave port. This is why we had to apply to the High Court to have it detained."
He said he was meeting the ADG Shipping agents today and it was up to them what happened next.
"Hopefully I will be in a position to return to the High Court and have the order lifted on Monday, but that will only be possible if the crew are paid their arrears," said Mr Fleming.
He said the agency may try to challenge the court order but added: "As a result of our investigations, we have detailed documentation to support our case and I am confident it will only damage their already battered image even further."