A SHIP’S crew arrested in a Wirral port last year have been paid and flown home, according to their union.

Eight of the original Turkish crew of the Most Sky went home last year after their ship was detained in Birkenhead, but the company replaced them with new crew members from Georgia.

The Panamanian-registered cargo ship had been held in the port since November 8 last year when an inspection revealed problems including unpaid wages, no fresh food onboard, no heating, unsanitary showers, toilets and galley spaces and engine problems.

Eight weeks after the ship was detained, the ITF managed to secure a settlement for eight Turkish crew who wanted to be repatriated.

Early in December, the owners flew in a new crew from Georgia who believed they were joining a ship that was about to sail.

Tommy Molloy, representative of the maritime union Nautilus and International Transport Workers Federation said the seafarers were employed on a ‘miserable’ contract and forced into serious debt because of the non-payment of their wages.

Now the union says they are able to go home after a negotiated settlement for owed wages and repatriation was reached following the arrest and sale of the vessel.