PRESTIGE MASTER ALLOWED HOME, FOR NOW

By David Hughes
Published: Mon, 7 March 2005

THE master of the tanker Prestige, which broke up after being refused entry into a place of refuge by the Spanish authorities, has been allowed to return home to Greece. The judge handling the case gave Apostolos Mangouras permission to leave the country until the start of his trial, a date for which has not yet been fixed.

International Transport Workers’ Federation general secretary David Cockroft said: “Like everyone else in the world of shipping we welcome the news that Captain Mangouras is being allowed to return to Greece until his trial begins.”

He continued: “It’s good news, a long time coming. I'm only sorry that it's taken a change of government and the huge outpouring of support for the Captain to reach this point. Perhaps, after this and the release of the Karachi Eight, governments will think twice before trying to solve their political problems by picking on seafarers. Unfortunately I suspect that this is a problem that all of us in the industry will have to fight all the way.