Video: Hunger-strike crew can finally go home

By Marc Allen

The crew of the abandoned bulker, Ula, have ended their hunger strike and will soon be heading home, say the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).

The Ula was abandoned by her owner, Aswan Trading and Contracting, off the coast of Iran in 2019, leaving the 25 members of her crew without financial backing, a port of destination, or their wages.

The ITF stepped in to secure the crew’s back pay and was partially successful. However, the case ran on into 2020 and was complicated by the Covid crisis, with the crew unable to disembark because of Kuwaiti Covid restrictions.

Now, with the rest of their pay in limbo and their ship detained by local authorities, the fate of their remaining wages depends upon a lawsuit that seeks to sell the Ula and use the proceeds to reimburse them.