A London-based maritime trade union impounded businessman Vijay Mallya’s luxury yacht worth $95 million (Rs 617 crore) in Malta on Tuesday for not paying more than $1 million (Rs 6.49 crore) in wages to the crew, the Hindustan Times reported.
Mallya had abandoned the yacht, named the ‘Indian Empress’, in September 2017, said Nautilus International, adding that it was attempting to recover an additional $3,30,000 (Rs 2.14 crore) in unpaid wages on behalf of its members.
“Our members on board gave their employer and the ship owner multiple opportunities to pay monthly wages, displaying a loyalty and restraint greater than many would show in such situations,” The Guardian quoted Danny McGowan, Nautilus International’s strategic organiser, as saying. “These opportunities were regularly ignored by the owner, leaving us with no option but to take the case to the courts.”
Nautilus’s Legal Director Charles Boyle said crew members working on such luxury yachts often experience “exploitation and abuse”, and that is why the union had become involved in this case.
Mallya, who is facing extradition proceedings at the moment for allegedly cheating Indian banks of Rs 9,000 crore, was arrested in London in 2017 but is on bail until April 2. The case will be next heard in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London on March 16.
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