Yarmouth stranded ship: Malaviya Twenty crew leave for home

The captain and remaining three crew members of an Indian-registered ship stranded in port for two years have left after handing over to a new crew.

The Malaviya Twenty has been impounded in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, since June 2016 amid a long-running legal wrangle.

The ship's new owners, who paid an undisclosed sum for it at auction, released the crew to return home after legal requirements were settled.

The four sailors who remained on board had previously been unable to leave.

Captain Nikesh Rastogi said doing so could have been interpreted as abandoning ship.

He said: "It's not an asset like a car or something that you can leave it parked, go back home, come back after two months - there are certain regulations that govern how it has to be treated."

The Malaviya Twenty was originally detained after the Maritime and Coastguard Agency found the crew and port had not been paid.

A prohibition notice on the ship was issued after defects were found, leaving it unable to be moved.

Those defects must still be put right before the ship can leave.

The captain, who took up his contract on the ship in February 2017, said the crew had kept up maintenance on the ship to pass the time.

"You learn to adapt, as in you read a lot more... you try to keep up with the news worldwide. Basically you do that or you slide into depression," he said.

The four sailors, all Indian nationals, have left the ship and are now on their way home to their families.