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      ‘Trapped’ superyacht crew get their passports back

      1 August 2018

      Image:The superyacht Luna
      The superyacht Luna

      Having effectively been trapped in Dubai onboard a superyacht caught up in the owner's divorce dispute, Nautilus members serving on the Marshall Islands-registered vessel Luna have now had their passports returned to them.

      A successful judgment in court had ordered the return of the passports, but the local coastguard had appeared to place further obstacles in the way of the crew – arguing that a guarantee on safe manning of the vessel was required before the documents were handed back. Neither the yacht's captain nor the management company seemed willing to sign such a guarantee.

      However, after Nautilus members made representations to the emirate's British Embassy, consular staff placed pressure on the coastguard to accept the court order and return the passports rapidly.

      Nautilus strategic organiser Danny McGowan said: 'We had approached the management company earlier in the year, when there was a pay issue, to open a dialogue to resolve problems like this without the need to resort to court judgments and consular support, but this request was rebutted.

      'We already work closely with a number of strategic yacht partners  and we re-issue our call to other organisations to become part of our network to prevent matters from escalating in such a way,' he added.

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