The condition of the freighter Most Sky, which has been detained in Birkenhead since the 8th November, has been described as a 'disgrace' by UK trade union Nautilus International which claims that inactivity by the vessel's Turkish owners has caused the continued detention by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The vessel was refused leave to sail on the grounds that there was an unsettled claim for damage to cargo and that the crew had not been paid, there were no proper records kept of working hours and rest periods, insufficient safety procedures and equipment, waste disposal and communication problems and the fact that the crew member tasked with catering duties said he could only cook potatoes.

Nautilus International and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) inspector Tommy Molloy has been supporting the crews since the situation arose and intervened last November to recover owed wages and secure repatriation for eight crew members on the ship, following its detention. Molloy said that crewmembers had lodged a long list of complaints, including the fact that they had not been paid. Two of the crewmembers had to be treated in hospital; another had pointed out moisture running down the bulkhead to his bunk.