VLADIVOSTOK, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - The mostly Russian crew of a vessel stranded in Dubai have asked for international aid as they are running out of food and water, an International Transport Workers' Federation official said on Thursday.

"In their appeal, the seamen said that the vessel has run out of drinking water, and they have no desalination equipment. Fuel and food are also running out and electricity will soon be cut off," Pyotr Osichansky said in Vladivostok.

The Magdalena, flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, has been anchored in the port of Dubai since early August. Onboard are nine Russians, two Ukrainians, four citizens of the Philippines, and one Estonian.

The crew has not received any response to their plight from the vessel's owner, which owes them $230,000 in wage arrears.

This is not the first incident involving Russian sailors abroad. Last September, Chinese authorities impounded the Vasily Yan cargo ship and the Professor Voskresensky vessel over debts of the ships' Russian owner, the Arctic Shipping Company. The 21 crew members on board the two ships have not been paid since April 2009, and currently have insufficient reserves of food, fuel and drinking water.

In addition, around 60 Russian sailors on six fishing vessels were "abandoned" in Vietnam by Russian ship owners. The sailors have not been paid wages for several months.