The owner of a Cuban vessel has criticised the way his crew were treated on their arrival in Bermuda.

But Neil Inchcup, operator of the Jurel , vowed to finally get the clearance required to allow his fishing vessel and crew to work from the Island.

The ship -- which arrived last week -- left on Tuesday to return to Cuba to update the 26-strong crew's passports as part of their immigration applications.

Mr. Inchcup bought the vessel in order to long line fish and land his catch on the Island.

After arriving at St. George's last week it was forbidden from docking and the crew were kept on board as immigration obligations were not fulfilled.

Work permits have been applied for and Mr. Inchcup said a fishing licence has been granted.

But he is angry at the way he says he and the crew have been treated during their stay.

He complained that he and his staff were accompanied to the vessel by Police and Customs officials, even though the Jurel was not allowed to dock.

And he compared the situation to a similar case two years ago when another ship of his, crewed by Canadians, was not visited at all by Immigration officials.

The Jurel will return to Cuba so the crew's passports can be updated from 15 months to 18 months, which Mr. Inchcup said he could not understand because he had only applied for year-long work permits.

"I intend to meet all the standards Bermuda requires on the return of this vessel and hope that the crew and I will not be humiliated again,'' he said.

"I also want to emphasis that the Cuban Government has treated me with the utmost respect and congratulated me for what I wanted to do... I also hope that the Bermuda Government would show likewise to the Cuban crew of the Jurel .'' Acting Permanent Secretary of the Environment Brian Rowlinson said inspections had been made by the Department of Health and Marine and Ports.

Reports had been submitted following those checks and the owner had now been advised of certain things that needed to be done, in order to get the 55-metre vessel up to the standard required for the licence.

And the crew are still subject to clearance by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs.

Permanent Secretary John Drinkwater said certain procedures had to be finalised and until they were the crew would not be allowed to land in Bermuda.

At present they are going through the applications process to obtain work permits to allow them to fish from Bermuda.

"There are specific requirements for people from Cuba, as there are for many other countries, and the procedure may take a little longer,'' he said.

To comments made by Mr. Inchcup about the way the crew were treated, he said: "There is a difference to the extent that Cuba is a visa-controlled country.

"You need a visa to enter Bermuda. We must have concerns about people who arrive without visas.'' When the vessel first arrived, it is understood there were fears about the crew seeking asylum in Bermuda -- especially because the vessel arrived at the Island direct from Cuba.

In that situation, repatriation would have to take place through a third visa-controlled country -- which the crew would have to have landed in before coming to Bermuda.

So, for example, the crew would already have to have a return visa through UK, US or Canada. That wasn't the case and would have left officials with the headache of getting them back to Cuba.

IMMIGRATION IMM