A group of sailors has been stranded aboard an oil tanker for months in Bahrain after the shipping company they work for racked up more than $300,000 in debt.

Mongolian vessel MT Surya Kuber has been banned from leaving the country because its Singapore-based owner 7Seas Ship Management has not paid Asry and Kanoo Shipping more than $220,000, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It also owes around $118, 000 to its 16-member crew who claim they have not been paid since October.

Asry took legal action against the shipping company and its Indian owners, and a Bahrain court in February ordered the seizure of the vessel until the debts have been repaid.

“Since the seizure of the vessel, the Singapore-based managers of the ship, as well as the Indian owners, have abandoned their responsibilities and legal obligations to the 16-man crew aboard the vessel,” Asry chief executive Nils Kristian Berge told the GDN yesterday.

“Immediately upon learning this, Asry allocated resources to assist the crew and currently continues to provide food, provisions and amenities for their ongoing well-being for humanitarian reasons.”

The sailors - 14 from India and two from Myanmar - were allowed ashore yesterday to meet officials from Bahrain International Seafarers' Society and the Indian Embassy.

They recounted their ordeal during the meeting, held at the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions' (GFBTU) Adliya office, and said they have been treated like 'prisoners' for months.

“Until two days ago when unionists helped us with a shore pass, we were stranded on board and thanks to Asry we get food, but there is no air-conditioning in the vessel and we can't sleep at night,” said the vessel's chief engineer Hans Raj.

“One of the crew members, Mukesh Guleria, was supposed to get married on February 10, but he couldn't leave - now he's worried he won't even make it to his sister's wedding on April 20.

“The Myanmar crew members joined us in Bahrain and their contract was over in October.

“We all want to go back to our families and are ready to leave, provided we get assurances that we would get our wages.”

He said the vessel docked in Bahrain on December 27 and was previously stationed in Bander Abbas, Iran.

“The vessel even while in Iran was not sea worthy because it only had one anchor and a faulty generator, but the agent insisted we sail to Bahrain for repairs,” he added.

He also said that the ship's captain and chief officer left Bahrain due to medical emergencies, without getting paid.

Indian Embassy first secretary Ram Singh said it was difficult to track down company owners because they were not based in Bahrain.

“The company is not based in Bahrain or in India, so the only thing we can do is pressure the owner, which we have been doing for three months,” he said.

GFBTU activities and projects assistant secretary general Salman Al Saad said a positive step was getting the International Transport Worker Federation involved, adding 'the owner has agreed to pay the wages to the crew within three days'.

Meanwhile, Labour Ministry Under-Secretary Sabah Al Dossary said an official complaint over unpaid wages has not been filed with the ministry.

Officials of 7Seas Ship Management could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The same vessel, previously named Prathiba Koyna, was at the centre of a similar controversy in 2012.

The GDN has reported that 34 Indian sailors, who were stranded for five months, left Bahrain without their salaries. - TradeArabia News Service