VLADIVOSTOK, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian crew of a cargo vessel that has been stranded in South Korea since May were repatriated on Monday, a transport workers' group said.

The crew of the Lift-1 cargo vessel, who had not been paid wages for several months, earlier appealed to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).

"At the sailors' request, the ITF's South Korean branch has arrested the vessel and arranged their repatriation," said Pyotr Osichansky, the IFT's inspector in the Russian Far East port of Vladivostok.

Seven members of the 12-man crew have already flown to Vladivostok.

Initially, there were 15 Russians on board the Lift-1. Three managed to leave the ship earlier with the assistance of their families, and other members stayed behind to man the ship.

The vessel will be put up for auction if the ship owner fails to pay off its debt, which currently stands at $120,000, Osichansky said.

The mainly Russian crew of another vessel, the Magdalena, whose owner owes the sailors $230,000 in wage arrears, received emergency supplies on Monday after going for several days without food and water.

Several similar incidents have occurred involving Russian sailors abroad amid the ongoing global credit crunch.

A total of 654 unions representing 4,500,000 transport workers in 148 countries are members of the ITF.