VLADIVOSTOK, April 9 - RAPSI. A Hong Kong court ordered to auction off a Bulgarian motor ship and obliged its owner to pay his debts to the Russian and Ukrainian sailors, RIA Novosti reports on Monday.

A group of Russian sailors turned to the Russian Sailors Trade Union for help last week. They complained about a several-month delay in wage payments. They also said the Sakhalin motor ship under the flag of Belize had been seized at the Hong Kong in January.

"A court in Hong Kong has ruled to have the ship sold because its Bulgarian owner cannot be reached: he does not answer to letters or telephone calls. The Sakhalin will be auctioned off in early May, but before that the company still has some time to pay its debts and get the ship back," said deputy trade union chairman Nikolai Sukhanov.

According to him the ship owner's debt amounts to $5.5 million.