Crew Leaves Stranded Cargo Vessel after Brazil Dispute

After more than five months stranded off southern Brazil amid reports of unpaid wages and mechanical woes, the remnant crew of Liberian-registered bulk carrier Adamastos was rescued Saturday, Brazilian media reported.

Half of the 23-strong crew had been taken off the vessel in December as sanitary conditions deteriorated and supplies began to run low off the southern port of Rio Grande.

Port and city authorities transferred the remaining 11 Saturday after 177 days anchored 12 kilometers (seven miles) off the coast, web news portal G1 reported.

The vessel, carrying a cargo of 50,000 tons of soybeans bound for China and worth around $18 million, had been stranded since early August after inspections by port authorities found faults including unpaid port charges, technical issues and unpaid wages totaling a reported $300,000.

The 11 -- eight Egyptians, two Romanians and a Georgian -- were brought to port and taken off for a meal, G1 reported, while authorities mulled legal action against nine companies -- four foreign and five Brazilian -- involved with the cargo aboard the vessel.

In late November, Brazil's Portos e Navios maritime trade magazine had reported the Adamastos as suffering from low power after it initially ran aground, forcing port authorities to refloat it.

The captain had earlier warned the port authority that supplies were running low and 12 of the crew were taken off last month after the ministry of labor intervened.