Charity supplies food to ship in detained in Leith Published duration 17 July 2019

image caption Captain Gennadi Kukvinov said his crew was still waiting for their wages

A Russian ship detained in Leith over unpaid wages and safety issues has had fresh food delivered by a charity.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) found "several deficiencies" with the Alexander Tvardovskiy ship.

The MCA also said wages had not been paid to the crew and there were other maritime labour convention issues.

Emergency supplies were provided by the Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic charity supporting sailors.

Earlier, Captain Gennadi Kukvinov had said nine days had passed with no response to his pleas for supplies.

He said: "I sent the request for food on 8 July.

"So now we have only some remainders of food.

"No fresh fruit, some pieces of meat, some pieces of bread."

image caption The Alexander Tvardovskiy was built in 1995-96 and was previously flagged in Russia

The Alexander Tvardovskiy was formerly flagged in Russia but this was then changed to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

A representative of the Cook Islands is now travelling to Scotland to try to secure the release of the cargo ship.

The International Transport Workers Federation has told BBC Scotland that the ship's captain and another senior officer are now expected to receive their pay but it is unclear when the rest of the crew will.

Deficiencies identified

The owners have not responded to requests for comment.

A spokesman for the MCA said: "The vessel has been detained for non-payment of seafarers' wages and other maritime labour convention issues. This is in addition to not having a ISM and international ship security certificates onboard.

"The detention will remain in place until the seafarers wages are paid and other identified deficiencies are rectified."

It is not the first time the Alexander Tvardovskiy has encountered trouble in UK waters.

In August 2012 the 90m-long ship collided with dredger UKD Bluefin and another general cargo vessel, Wilson Hawk, off Immingham in North East Lincolnshire.

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