Twelve Turkish sailors stranded in Canada since April finally went home after getting free plane tickets from Air Transat and help from residents of the province of Quebec.
The mayor of the town of Sorel-Tracy started a fund-raising campaign after learning that the sailors stopped getting paid in July and were out of food by August. Residents of his town and other Quebecers contributed about $18,000 to help the men, said Mayor Serge Peloquin.
Stranded sailors ‘not uncommon’
An inspector with the International Transport Workers’ Federation says the sailors’ situation is not uncommon in Canada. The federation is going to court to try to get the sailors their wages.
The men had been hired to make minor repairs to the Phoenix Sun freighter and then to sail it across the Atlantic Ocean. The rusted 186-metre ship has been docked at Sorel-Tracey since November 2012 and residents have petitioned to have it removed.
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