VLADIVOSTOK, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - The crews of two Russian vessels detained in China over debt arrears have appealed to the Russian president and prosecutor general to secure their return home, a trade union chief said on Wednesday.
Chinese authorities have detained the Vasily Yan cargo ship and the Professor Voskresensky vessel over debts by the owner of the ships, Russia's Arctic shipping company. Both vessels have been undergoing repair in the port of Shanghai since last September.
The 21 crew members on board the two ships have not been paid since April 2009, and currently have insufficient reserves of food, fuel and drinking water, said Nikolai Sukhanov, who heads the Russian Seamen's Trade Union's branch in the Far East.
The seamen demanded that the ship's owner pay the arrears and repatriate them.
"The seamen on the two vessels have already appealed to us for assistance, but the problem has remained unsolved," Sukhanov said.
He added that the trade union would file a case with prosecutors and police in the Far East.
The ship's owner has yet to make an official comment.
