Half of the crew of the Malaviya Seven have returned home after almost a year stranded in Scotland.

The supply ship was detained in Aberdeen last October after it emerged sailors aboard had not been paid in months.

They are owed about £670,000 and recently won the right to sell the Malaviya at auction to reclaim their pay.

There were emotional scenes at Aberdeen Airport on Thursday as six of the crew boarded a flight home - many of whom have not seen their families in more than a year.

Rahul Sharma said: "I'm very excited to go home - I've been waiting for this moment for more than 17 months and finally the time has arrived."

The other six crew will remain aboard the Malaviya Seven until it is sold later this year.

Captain Ashish Prabhakar said: "I feel happy for them - it's been a strange emotion for me.

"We had some very good times and some tough times, but it's the belief that got us through.

"I'm happy they're leaving and I'm sure it's very soon we'll be leaving too."

Twenty-four past and present crew are due money and sailors still aboard had to agree to cap their future collective daily wages at £1100 to secure permission to sell the ship.

Several have been forced to take out loans to support their families.

The Malaviya was detained twice last year over unpaid wages. It was first held in June after being contracted to BP.

The crew were eventually paid and the ship was released but it returned to Aberdeen under a different contract two months later and detained on identical charges.

Foreign sailors working in the North Sea were owed more than £1m in unpaid wages last year alone.