Crew Onboard Luna have had Passports Returned

Update on divorce case affecting crew onboard superyacht Luna:

Having effectively been trapped in Dubai onboard MY Luna, Nautilus members serving on the Marshall Islands-registered vessel have now had their passports returned to them.

A court judgment had ordered the return of the crew's passports but the local coastguard had appeared to place further obstacles in their way, arguing that a guarantee on safe manning of the vessel was required before the documents were to be given 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 put pressure on the coastguard to accept the court order and return the passports as soon as possible.

Nautilus strategic organiser Danny McGowan commented, '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.