Astoria ship detained over crew welfare concerns

A cruise ship has been detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency over "serious concerns" for crew welfare.

The Astoria has been held at Tilbury Docks as a "preventative measure" and a full inspection will be carried out.

Four other ships at the Essex port and one in Bristol from the same company, Global Cruise Lines Ltd, are also being inspected.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said it has a "duty of care to investigate a number of serious concerns".

A spokesman for Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV), which operates the ships, said it was "cooperating fully" with the inspections.

"The health, safety and welfare of all their passengers and crew is CMV's top priority," he said.

The All India Seafarers Union wrote to the government of India on Tuesday requesting help for "164 crew members stranded" on board.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, Indian citizens had been "stuck in foreign waters" for 90 days, the union said.

The letter said some crew members had gone on hunger strike and "staged a peaceful protest" in a bid to be "returned home to their families".

A CMV spokesman said the company had "faced an unprecedented emerging humanitarian issue" as crew members "became stranded on cruise ships" due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

The company's chief executive Christian Verhounig said it had been in "high level talks" with the Indian government to "help facilitate" the safe return of crew members.

A spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "The Astoria was scheduled for departure [on Thursday] so we issued a preventative detention, which means it cannot leave until it has a full inspection.

"At 10:30 BST all ships from that company were boarded by surveyors at exactly the same time, which were unannounced inspections.

"The surveyors will be looking everywhere and checking everything including crew accommodation, procedures, drills, books."

If nothing is found during the inspections the ships will be free to leave the ports, but the spokeswoman said it could be "some hours" before checks were completed.

Katy Ware, director of maritime safety and standards, said: "We will always take reports around crew welfare seriously and we have used our powers as the Port State Control authority to carry out this detention so that we can investigate more fully."