Part of the crew of the M/V "Palladium" will return home

Yesterday, during the first hearing, the court in Busan made a decision allowing another five crew members of the M/V "Palladium", detained in South Korea , to return home. This information was reported by the Chairman of the Far Eastern Territorial Organization of the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR FETO) Nikolai Sukhanov.

The  M/V "Palladium" has been staying in the port of Busan ​​from  this spring. Initially, the mooring was necessary, as repairs were carried out on board the ship. The shipowner could not pay for these services, so the South Korean court detained the “Palladium” till the payment of  the debts for the ship repair work. In addition, the employer had a penalty for pollution of the port area in debt. The total amount of the debt amounted to $200,000. After four months of being in Busan, at the end of August, the crew went to the extreme measure: they left the anchorage without harbourmaster's ship clearance authorizing the departure.  The local coast guard caught the runaways in the Korea Strait and  towed the tanker back to the port of Busan. After the South Korean authorities returned the “escaped” ship to the port, the police detained the Master, the AB and the oiler, as well as the shipowner - the chief executive officer of  “Daltrans”, who was on board the vessel,  and took them into custody.

As Nikolai Sukhanov had previously told, after the detention, all the crew members of the tanker were questioned for about one and a half months, eventually two seafarers were allowed to leave Busan.

An oiler  and a member of the Seafarers' Union of Russian (SUR), the Second Officer  of the tanker “Palladium”, arrived in Nakhodka on October ,11.

Yesterday, on the 17th of October, the first court session was held in Busan. The court brought charges against  the three crew members and the shipowner, and decided to allow the other five crew members to return home. The next hearing is scheduled on October, 31. It remains to add that  there is necessary food and potable water supply on board the "Palladium", the power is supplied from the shore.