A ship detained by safety inspectors before Christmas was still at Dublin Port last night after the tug that arrived to tow it to the Netherlands was also detained on safety grounds.
Eleven Filipino crewmen remained on board the ship, the Elwood, which was initially detained last month at Greenore port, Co Louth, following a safety inspection.
A dispute over wages owed to the crew was settled last week following negotiations on their behalf by the International Transport Workers' Federation.
They were to receive a total of $35,000 and were also to be repatriated to the Philippines at their employer's expense.
However, ITWF inspector Tony Ayton said the crew were told yesterday that their flight tickets home had been cancelled indefinitely because of the detention of the tug which had been due to tow the Elwood to Rotterdam. Mr Ayton has written to the crew's employer demanding that they be repatriated within 24 hours.
A Department of Transport spokeswoman confirmed that the tug had been detained by Marine Survey Office inspectors who found that it did not have the required safety certificates.
Mr Ayton said he had seldom seen a situation as "ridiculous".The crew did not mind remaining until yesterday to prepare the ship to be towed but to delay their return any longer was "unacceptable".