Aug 09 - Desperate Call From Crews “Abandoned” In Gibraltar – “We Feel Like Prisoners In Alcatraz” Says Captain
YGTV has received a desperate call for help from the crews of four vessels stranded in Gibraltar because of financial difficulties being experienced by their managing companies.
In a detailed email, Captain Ante Rosic who is Master on the “Ardesco” which is currently berthed at the Detached Mole, explains his plight and that of other crew members on the “Short Sea”, the “Idannus” and the “Black Sea” all of which have been in Gibraltar for a few months awaiting a solution to their problems. The “Ardesco” was even, according to its Captain “drifting in the Mediterranean Sea for almost a month, including 9 days without fresh water” before it came to Gibraltar.
The respective management companies responsible for these ships and their crews have either declared insolvency, terminated agreements or are simply unable to pay wages leaving the crew little option but to stay on board in order to safeguard their company’s last remaining asset in the hope that it might be exchanged in return for the wages which they are owed.
Captain Rosic explains: “We were patient for long time, we did (and still do) our job correctly and in the best possible way. We tried to minimize the company’s expenses even for fresh water and food. We never complained or blamed the company for late salaries because we knew the shipping market was still living in crisis and we trusted in a company which has been in the shipping business since 1974.”
Since declaring insolvency at the end of May, the “Ardesco” has had its e-mail and satellite phone system disconnected . By the end of July, the ship’s mobile phone was also disconnected.
The crew have, since then, been trying to contact the directors and liquidators but with little success.
Captain Rosic explains that, even though him and his crew are technically free to leave at any time, they do not have enough funds to pay for transport from Gibraltar back home.
“Tension is growing not only because we are forced to beg the company, liquidator and bank to pay our outstanding wages, not only because our families are going into deeper and deeper debts and problems due to a lack of income, but also because on this Detached Mole we are starting to feel like prisoners in Alcatraz”.
Captain Rosic expresses his gratitude to the Tarik Shipping Agency for providing food and water.
He concludes: “We are not asking for miracles or mountains of gold. We are not asking for charity or emotional support. All what we want is humanity, and an understanding of our present hard situation and we want to get back all that we have earned with our very best work on board.”
