The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered that Rs.2.25 crore be paid as wages to the nearly 25 crew members of M.T. Chemical Arrow, now lying at the Port of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh).
Justice R. Sudhakar passed the order on an application in a civil suit by Demyanenko, Volodymyr and 26 others. The applicants were now on board the motor tanker.
The ship had been sold and the money was lying in the court, the application said. In the application, filed through counsel, S.Vasudevan and Abdul Quddhose, the applicant’s Power Agent, M. Krishna Sreethar of Ayanavaram here, said that the crew were entitled to get their wages in U.S. Dollars. As per the Merchant Shipping Act, the wages should be paid till their last day of discharge. They were entitled to be repatriated to their respective countries as per the agreement. The crew’s claim should be decided only by summary procedure as it continued stay would result in its spending money for boarding and lodging.
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