A Highland Merchant Navy cadet is stranded on the other side of the world after an international shipping company went into receivership.
Ruaridh Hanna is stuck aboard the Hanjin Louisiana which is at anchor in the Indian Ocean off Singapore – leaving his anxious family waiting for news at home in Beauly.
The 22-year-old was due back in Scotland earlier this month but now it is feared it might be months before he is back on shore.
The former Dingwall Academy pupil is one of around 2,500 seafarers who have been left stranded after South Korean shipping giant Hanjin went into receivership on August 31.
Mr Hanna is stuck with four fellow trainees, all of whom are studying with Clyde Marine Training at City of Glasgow College.
They are on a placement aboard the ship provided by Zodiac, an international ship management firm.
Deck officer cadet Mr Hanna boarded the Louisiana on May 5 in South Korea and was due to come ashore on September 2 in Sri Lanka.
However, when the company entered receivership it was put into a holding pattern in international waters off in the Indian Ocean.
With supplies of fresh food on board running low, the ship has since moved to a new anchor point off Singapore.
There had been a suggestion that the cadets may have been able to go ashore on a supply boat earlier this week – but this was dashed.
With the boat now stocked with provisions for another three months, his mother Rhona MacLennan, 53, is becoming increasingly worried that her son may not be home for months.
She said: “Their morale is very up and down. Sometimes they are told one thing and they get their hopes up and they are told something else.”
She said she was particularly worried as the area where the ship is currently anchored is considered to be at risk of piracy.
She said: “I’m worried, of course I am. They are at sea and anything can happen.
“They are trainees and you worry about that, they should be able to get off the boat.
“The area they are in has a known risk of piracy as well so that is just another thing to be concerned about.”
She has been in contact with the college and is growing concerned about the lack of information about the situation.
She has also been in touch with Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP Drew Hendry who has taken the issue up with the Foreign Office.
Mr Hendry, the SNP’s transport spokesman at Westminster, said: “Over the past couple of weeks my office and I have been working with (maritime union) Nautilus and other agencies to find ways making this happen and we have been utterly exasperated at the lack of ownership of the situation and poor responsiveness of Zodiac, the company the students have been placed with.
“The cadets had a glimmer of hope when it was suggested that they might have been able to get off the ship and onto the supply boat but it seems that is no longer an option.
“They now face the unwelcome prospect of been stranded for months as Hanjin continue to refuse to port their ships. Hanjin have raised cases in courts all over the world; seeking legal guarantees that their creditors won’t be able to seize the vessel and goods on-board when they dock.
“These young cadets cannot be expected to be adrift while all this plays out in the courts.”
Mr Hendry has also now raised the issue in parliament and has written to foreign secretary Boris Johnson asking for him to personally intervene.
Mr Hendry added: “Although the cadets have tried to stay positive throughout this ordeal, the very real prospect of being stranded for several month, is understandably taking its toll on them. Their families are naturally extremely anxious about the welfare of their loved ones – as we would all be.”
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are ready to provide consular assistance to any British nationals that have been affected after Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy in a number of countries.”
