Russia pledges funds to return seamen on Chinese debt ships
Russia will provide funds to bring home some of the seamen on board two Russian vessels detained in China over debt arrears, a senior official at the consulate general in Shanghai said on Monday according to RIA Novosti.
The crews of the Vasily Yan cargo ship and the Professor Voskresensky vessel, owned by Russia's Arctic shipping company, appealed on Wednesday to the Russian president and prosecutor general to secure their return home. The two vessels had been undergoing repair in the port of Shanghai since last September, and had run low on food, fuel, and drinking water.
"Money to pay for the repair of the vessels and their return to Russia has been found," vice consul Anton Gorelov said.
He said that the initial decision to sell one of the two ships to pay off the debts had been annulled.
Gorelov added that about a third of all crew members would now be able to return home, with the remaining seamen to stay on board the ships to participate in repair work.
Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed a first deputy prime minister, Igor Shuvalov, to look into the situation in Shanghai. The owner of the ships subsequently transferred the first installment of monies due to the crews on Friday, and drinking water, food and fuel also started to arrive.
A Russian trade union also requested on Thursday international assistance for the repatriation of around 60 Russian sailors who were "abandoned" in Vietnam by ship owners.