The crew of the vessel C Star have been caught in between a dispute which left them abandoned unpaid in Barcelona.
The rightwing youth group Defend Europe, which chartered the vessel, informed that they paid their charterer accordingly, adding that they left the ship after the charter contract ended.
“It was the mainstream-media and leftist organizations who would not stop harassing the ship owner and the calling to boycott the vessel, even after we left,” Defend Europe told World Maritime News.
The ship was at the center of the group’s efforts to block vessels rescuing refugees and migrants from sinking boats in the Mediterranean.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) informed that there are currently eight crew on the ship, which has been moored at sea off Barcelona since September 26. The ITF is working with local port state control to provide the crew with food, water and fuel.
A local ITF inspector confirmed that a decision has been made by port state control that the ship will be allowed to berth for humanitarian reasons.