MS ''Iosif K'' is a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

owned by Creta Cargo Lines.

History

The ship was launched as ''Norwegian Challenger'' in 1978, originally owned by Steineger & Wik. She was chartered by Norient Line from 1980 to 1981 and then by OT Africa Line from 1981 to 1982. She was sold to Medorient Shipping Lines and renamed ''Jolly Bruno'' in 1982 and chartered to Ignazio Messina until 1993, when she was sold to Merchant Ferries. In 2002 she was sold to Cenargo International PLC and chartered to

Norse Merchant Ferries Norse Merchant Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operating passenger and freight RORO services between England the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History Norse Merchant Ferries was created in October 1999 when Cenargo, t ...

. In 2004 she was sold to Brilliant Shipping Ltd, remaining on charter with Norse Merchant Ferries until 2005, when she was on short term charter to Cobelfret Ferries, resuming service with Norse Merchant Ferries later in the year until 2006, when she was chartered to

Norfolk Line Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English Channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English Channel and Irish Sea; and lo ...

On 14 December 2006, ''Merchant Brilliant'' was placed under arrest in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

after the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership o ...

(ITF) obtained a warrant at the High Court, claiming that the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n crew were owed tens of thousands of

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s in unpaid wages. An inspector from the ITF met with representatives of the owner in Dublin on 19 December 2006 to discuss the case. The company agreed to pay the back wages, and the High Court lifted its order preventing the ship from leaving port. The owners then refused crew members permission to go ashore unless the money paid was returned. Eight crew members left the ship. A further dispute about the payment of arrears owed to the crew broke out in February 2007. The ship was moored off

Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal village in the Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two nuclear power stations. History Of historic ...

, having sailed from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. The crew were promised payment if they sailed back to Belfast, but eleven of the eighteen crew decided to leave. Norfolk Line had taken the ship off charter on arrival at Heysham as the ship was not being operated in accordance with the charter agreement. The Harbour Master ordered ''Iosif K'' to leave port to make way for incoming ships. The stand-off lasted for four days before the dispute was settled. Those crew wishing to leave were flown home and a new Russian crew flown in to operate her. A total of US$137,000 was paid to the crew in back pay. She was chartered by

Scandlines Scandlines is a ferry company that operates the Rødby– Puttgarden and Gedser–Rostock ferry routes between Denmark and Germany. Scandlines owns seven ferries, six of which are hybrid ferries, making Scandlines the owner of the world's large ...

in 2007 and then by Norfolk Line again in 2008. In January 2008 she was chartered by Seatruck Ferries for use on the Heysham -

Warrenpoint Warrenpoint () is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside the village ...

route. Later that year she was chartered to

P&O Irish Sea P&O Irish Sea was the trading name of P&O Ferries in the Irish Sea from 1998 to 2010, when it was rebranded P&O Ferries. History The P&O Irish Sea brand was formed in 1998 by merging the ferry operations of Pandoro Ltd (who operated freight-or ...

and the

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited (abbreviated to IoMSPCo or, locally, The Steam Packet ()) is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, having been founded in 1830. The company provides freight, p ...

. On Decembder 2019 ''Bekaa Dream'' arrived at

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and laid up in

Drapetsona Drapetsona () is a coastal town, a suburb and a former municipality in the southwestern part of the Piraeus (regional unit), Piraeus regional unit in the Athens Urban Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kera ...

. In February 2020 ''Bekaa Dream'' bought from the Greek company Creta Cargo Lines and named it ''Iosif K''.

History

References

External links