Three Turkish sailors have been stranded for 110 days aboard the M/V LOTUS, a cargo ship detained off the coast of Tunisia. The vessel’s English operator failed to pay a €3 million ($3.4 million) salvage fee after a steering failure, leaving the multinational crew unable to disembark. The Panama-flagged ship, owned by Virginia Shipping and operated by Educy Shipping, was transporting pipes from Gemlik, Türkiye, to Nordenham, Germany.
Following the steering incident, four Tunisian tugboats brought the ship to the Port of Bizerte amid worsening weather conditions. The Tunisian Port Authority subsequently billed the shipowner for the salvage operation, leading to the vessel’s detention as security for the unresolved maritime claim. Tunisian maritime law allows for such detentions until the owner resolves the dispute or provides financial security as ordered by the court.
Conditions aboard the ship have deteriorated significantly for the crew. The Turkish bosun reported that their contracts expired months ago, and they have not received any salaries. With temperatures in their cabins reaching 45 degrees Celsius and the air-conditioning non-functional, the crew faces extreme discomfort. Food supplies have also become irregular, compounding the challenges during the sweltering summer months. The situation has drawn attention from the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Türkiye’s Embassy in Tunisia.
