BACK at anchor in Portland Bay, the outlook for the 36 Filipino men who have been stuck onboard the Yangtze Fortune have slightly improved.

The Federal Court ordered the sale of the ship to recover costs owed to five separate claimants on December 20 and should also cover the wages owed to the crew, who have not received pay since September.

The sale will be carried out by a shipbroker engaged by the court, though this is a lengthy and complicated process, and the crew had previously made it clear that they would not leave the ship until they had received their money.

While it needed to be moved out to make room on the Lee Breakwater anyway – for the planned visit of the cruise ship Regatta, which was subsequently cancelled on Sunday – on December 29 a court order was issued for it to be moved to anchorage prior to the expiry of the Marine Hull and Machinery Insurance on New Year’s Eve.

Neville Manson from the Portland Mission to Seafarers has been in regular contact with members of the crew, and said they are in good spirits and are well supplied since their week on shore in Portland.

“They're all okay, they have provisions and everything and they're all happy enough at the moment,” he said.

“They have supplies that will last them around a month, but they will likely be back in again once the cruise ship leaves because it is much easier for the authorities when they are tied up.”

International guidelines require that both the vessel’s flag-state and insurers act in cases of abandonment to ensure the continued welfare of the crew.

The Chinese owned livestock carrier’s flag state Liberia has been notified of the abandonment of the vessel and subsequently contacted the ship’s insurers, which have a specific abandonment policy.

This provides financial security for critical welfare items such as outstanding crew wages, repatriation of the crew and essential needs such as food and medical care, but again takes time to reach them.

In recent weeks though, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), a union supporting the crew, has been working on a solution that could see at least some of them return home, paid, before the ship is sold.

ITF Australia’s assistant coordinator Matt Purcell said he has been in contact with the lawyers of commercial ship fuel supplier Dan-Bunkering Pte Ltd which made the original claim of a US$549,695 debt to have the ship arrested.

“Even though the ship is covered by insurance, we’re keen on getting the main arrestor to settle the crew’s wages so we can get them away and paid,” Mr Purcell said.

“They're quite comfortable but obviously they want to go home, so that's what we're working on at the moment.

“The lawyers were pretty confident that we may have some good news, possibly next week.

“We had a very generous donation from Spitzer and operators, they've made a significant contribution towards the mission to the seafarers to make the crew’s life a bit more comfortable.

“We also want to acknowledge the support from the Portland community in relation to assisting the seafarers.”

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it is also working on the situation, with the interests and welfare of the crew as its priority.

“AMSA (on January 5) has also issued a notice of abandonment to the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the vessel Yangtze Fortune. This notice was issued after consultation with the vessel flag state Liberia and the International Transport workers Federation (ITF),” a spokesperson for the authority said.

“This is the first time that AMSA has had to issue an abandonment notice.

“Protecting and upholding seafarer welfare remains a high priority for AMSA.”