MS Lyubov Orlova Credit to Adventure Canada
Workers aboard a popular Arctic cruise ship have been stranded for almost six weeks since the vessel was seized in St. John's, N.L.
The International Transport Workers Federation says the Russian owner of the ship owes $340,000 in wages to 52 crew members, most of whom are Russian.
Workers are to be paid as part of continuing negotiations to sell the vessel Lyubov Orlova to a Norwegian company.
Canadian authorities seized the ship on Sept. 25 as part of a separate legal action launched by Cruise North Expeditions.
Union spokesman Gerard Bradbury says some crew members haven't been paid since April, others since June.
Their plight has been a big story in Russia, where the government has offered to fly crew members home starting Saturday.